Commentary: On Genesis

In the beginning (Genesis 1:1)

R. Isaac said: The Torah should have started from This month shall be for you (Exodus 12:2), as it is the first commandment that Israel were commanded. What is the reason why it opens with In the beginning? It is in accordance with the verse that says: He declared to His people the power of His works in order to give them the heritage of nations (Psalms 111:6). For if the nations of the world were to say to Israel, “You are robbers, as you conquered the lands of the seven nations,” they could respond, “The whole earth belongs to the Holy One. He created it and gave it to whomever He pleased. It was with His will that He gave it to them, and it was with His will that He took it from them and gave it to us.”

In [be-] the beginning, [God] created

This verse is clearly calling for homiletic interpretation, in the manner of our rabbis: For the sake of [bishvil] the Torah, which is called the beginning of His way (Proverbs 8:22), and for the sake of Israel, who are called the beginning [or first fruits] of His increase (Jeremiah 2:3)—[(God) created].

If you want to explain this in accordance with its plain meaning, you should explain it as follows: In the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth, the earth was unformed and void, and there was darkness, and God said, “Let there be light.” Scripture is not coming to teach the order of creation, to say that these were first, since if it was coming to teach that, it would have written: “At first He created the heavens, etc.” For you have no instance of re’shit [the beginning] in the Bible that is not attached to the ensuing term. For example: In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 27:1); the beginning of his kingdom (Genesis 10:10); the beginning of your corn (Deuteronomy 18:4). Here, too, you must say that “In the beginning, God created [bara’,] etc.” is like “In the beginning of the creation [bero’].” A similar case is: when the Lord spoke at first with Hosea, [and the Lord said to Hosea] (Hosea 1:2), which means “at the start of the Lord’s speaking to Hosea, and the Lord said to Hosea.”

You might contend that it is in fact coming to teach that these were created first, and it means “at the beginning of it all, He created these.” Now, you do have verses that deploy an elliptical style and omit a word, such as: Because it did not close up the doors of my womb (Job 3:10), without specifying who is the one closing up; and such as: he shall carry away the spoil of Damascus (Isaiah 8:4), without specifying who is the one carrying it away; and such as: Does he plow with oxen? (Amos 6:12), without specifying, “Does a man plow with oxen?”; and such as: Declaring the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), without specifying, “Declaring the end of a matter from the beginning of a matter.” But if so, you should be puzzled at your own claim, since the waters were first, as it is written: and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2), even though scripture has not yet revealed when the creation of the waters occurred. You have thus learned that the creation of the waters was before the earth. Furthermore, the heavens [shamayim] were created from fire [esh] and water [mayim]. One must conclude that scripture teaches nothing about the earlier or later order of creation.

God created

It does not state, “the Lord created,” because initially it arose in His thought to create it through the attribute of judgment. When He saw that the world could not endure, He gave precedence to the attribute of mercy and had it partner with the attribute of judgment. This is the meaning of the verse: on the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven (Genesis 2:4).¹ [ . . . ]

And they heard [the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the direction of the day] (Genesis 3:8)

There are many aggadic midrashim that our rabbis have already arranged in their appropriate places in Midrash Rabbah and the other midrashic collections. I have come only to present the plain meaning of scripture and those aggadot that explain the words of scripture, each statement in its proper manner.

And they heard

What did they hear? They heard the sound of the Holy One as He was walking in the garden.

In the direction of the day

In that direction where the sun goes, which is the western one, as the sun is in the west toward the evening, and they offended in the tenth hour [of the day; b. Sanhedrin 38b]. [ . . . ]

[And the souls] which they had acquired [‘asu; lit., made] in Haran (Genesis 12:5)

As he had ushered them beneath the wings of the divine presence. Abraham converted the men while Sarah converted the women, and scripture gives them credit as though they had made them. The plain meaning of the text is that they acquired for themselves servants and maidservants, as in: he has acquired all this wealth (Genesis 31:1), and: while Israel acquires [‘oseh; lit., makes] wealth (Numbers 24:18)—an expression denoting purchasing and accumulating.