Category: Chapters of Genesis

7:1 The Final Call:  With the Flood to begin in seven days, God bid Noah to enter the Ark with his family.  In addition to the pair from each species that he had been commanded previously to bring, he was now told to bring seven pairs of animals that the Torah would later declare to be clean (kosher) so that he would be able to use them as offerings when he left the Ark (Rashi).  They would also provide him with a supply of livestock for food, in anticipation of God’s removal of the prohibition against eating meat (9:3) (Radak).

Notice also that in the previous chapter, the name Elohim (God) was used indicating God’s Attribute of Justice.  Here He is called Hashem, the God of Mercy, for He is saving Noah from the Flood, and, in addition, He is saving Noah’s entire family and possessions, which, on their own merits, did not deserve to be saved.  The Name Hashem is also an indication that Noah’s future offerings would be accepted, since the chapters dealing with offerings use only the Name Hashem (Ramban).

“..to be righteous before Me”  – For you are righteous – and not the members of your household.  Therefore the verse says, come, you and all your household into the ark – it is only for your sake that they are being saved (Sforno).  This interpretation is strengthened by the fact that 8:1 says: And God remembered Noah, and makes no mention of his children (Minchah Belulah). 

Kli Yakar notes that God had never before singled out Noah as the righteous man of that generation as long as Methuselah was still alive and there was also the possibility that the generation night repent.  When Methuselah died and they persisted in their wickedness, however, God singled out Noah and finalized the decree.

7:2  “..of every clean animal..”  – In order words, from every animal which will one day be declared ‘clean’ – as food for Israel.  This shows that Noah studied Torah (Rashi).  

Ramban explains that God fully explained to Noah the signs of ritual cleanliness for beast and fowl as found in Leviticus 11.  For the sake of being brief, the Torah describes them here as ‘clean’.  The reference to ‘clean’ does not refer to physical cleanliness, but to ritual acceptability.

The concept of ‘clean’ animal is mentioned here for the first time.  It can have no other meaning than acceptability for sacrifice, because heretofore, animal flesh for food was forbidden.

“..take unto you seven pairs..”  – One should not ask ‘why seven and not six or eight.’  Know that God in His wisdom ordained that seven would serve the higher purpose He intended (Radak).

The animals that came to preserve their species came of their own accord, prompted by the Divine Will.  God gave Noah the merit of catching those that were destined to be slaughtered, for, in His great benevolence, God would not have these animals offer themselves for death.  At the same time this teaches man that clemency must be exercised even toward animals (Ramban). 

7:4  “For in seven days time..”  – What purpose was served by these seven days?

** Rav said:  These were the days of mourning for Methuselah, thus teaching that lamenting for the righteous postpones retribution;

** Another meaning is:  After the seven days during which the Holy One blessed be He, reversed the order of nature, the sun rising in the west and setting in the east – that the wicked might be arrested by the phenomenon and led to repentance..

** And another interpretation:  God showed them the bounty of the righteous in the World to Come so that they might closely examine their own ways and say “Woe unto us over this good which we are forfeiting!” – for they had corrupted their way on the earth.

“..forty days and forty nights..”  – According to the Midrash: ‘They have transgressed the Torah which was later given after forty days’ … ‘they corrupted the features of the human embryo which take shape after forty days…’

7:6  “Noah was six hundred years old..”  – Rav Yehudah said: The year of the Flood is not counted in the number of Noah’s years.  For he was 600 years old when the Flood commenced, the Flood lasted a year in all, and he lived 350 years after the Flood (9:28) yet his lifetime is given as 950 years, not 951.  The reason for this was that it was a year of such suffering and tribulation that it was as if he had been dead during that year.  But, it is counted in the chronological reckoning of the total number of years from the world’s creation when we determine the seasons and intercalations.

7:7  “Noah, with his sons..”  – The men and women are listed separately because marital intimacy was forbidden at a time when the whole world was in distress (Rashi).

“..because of the waters of the Flood.”  – Rashi interprets this phrase to mean that Noah entered only at the last moment:  ‘Noah was of little faith, believing and yet not believing that the Flood would come, and he did not enter until the rising water forced him to do so.’  As the Midrash comments: ‘He lacked faith: had the waters not reached his ankles, he would not have entered the ark’.

How can we say that the righteous Noah was lacking in faith? – Noah could not bring himself to believe that the Merciful God would truly destroy all life.  Or, Noah thought that the onslaught of the water would cause the generation to repent and win God’s mercy; he did not reckon on their continued stubbornness.  Nevertheless, Scripture implies a criticism of Noah because he should have obeyed despite his calculations.

7:9  “two by two..”  – Ramban comments that one pair of every species, the clean ones included, came of its own accord, meaning that God caused them to come instinctively.  As for the additional six pairs of the kosher animals that Noah would use later for offerings, he had to gather them himself.  For God to have sent these animals to Noah without any effort on his part would have diminished the significance of his offerings.  A person’s free-willed offering is an expression of his gratitude or an effort to increase his closeness to God.  Consequently, it is his own desire and his own exertions that give value to the offering.

7:11  Zohar states that this verse, which speaks of a deluge emanating from above and below, alludes to the potential of a great flood of spiritual growth that was destined for that year.  It would have been the year when the Written and Oral Torahs were given, but mankind failed dismally and was undeserving of the opportunity.

The subterranean fountains burst forth and the waters inundated the earth in a great seismic upheaval filling up the valleys, while simultaneously the torrential rains fell from heaven in such force that, figuratively speaking, the very ‘windows of the heavens’ opened up, causing complete havoc and obscuring day and night (Ibn Ezra; Radak)

The waters were scaling hot, notes the Talmud (Sanhedrin 108b).

7:12  “And the rain was..”  Noting that later (verse 17), the narrative mentions ‘Flood’ while here it refers to ‘rain’, Rashi explains that when the water descended, it began gently because it still could have become a rain of blessing had the people belatedly repented.  Only when they refused did it become a Flood (Zohar 1:25).

7:13  “On that very day..”  – Rashi comments: Scripture teaches you that his neighbors threatened to kill him and smash the ark if they saw him entering it, whereupon God said: ‘I will have him enter the ark before the eyes of everyone and we shall see whose word prevails!” (Midrash).

“Noah came..”  – It would have been easier to simply state ‘the sons of Noah’ without naming them.  However, they are specifically listed, and Noah’s name is repeated three times in this verse, to emphasize that each entered and was saved by his merit (Ibn Caspi).

7:15  “..they came to Noah ….in pairs”  – Two of every species – male and female – came of their own volition on that very day when the rains began and not before, because it was God that commanded, and His spirit which gathered them (Isaiah 34:16) (Ramban).

Malbim says that every phrase in this verse is laden with the wondrous spectacle of the event: And they came to Noah – Although most animals run away from man;  to the ark – although animals despise confinement and cling to their freedom to roam: two and two – and not more; of all flesh – not even one species was missing.

7:16  “And Hashem shut it on his behalf”  – On that day God caused the whole earth to shake; the sun darkened, the fountains raged, lighting flashed, and thunder roared as never before.  But the sons of man remained obstinate.

When the Flood began to rage, seven hundred thousand men surrounded the ark and begged Noah to let them in.

‘Have you not all rebelled against God and said He does not exist?’ Noah said to them.  ‘That is why God is now destroying you just as I have been warning you for the past 120 years, and you would not heed the call.  Yet now you desire to be spared?’

‘We will repent now!’ they cried.  ‘Only open the door of your ark for us.’

‘Now that you are in trouble, you finally agree to repent? Why did you not repent these last 120 years which were extended to you just for that very purpose? Now that you are beset with problems you finally come.  But it is too late: God will not now hearken to you.  You are doomed, and your pleas are to no avail.’

The people tried to forcibly enter the ark to escape the rains but the wild animals surrounding the ark drove them away, to meet their death in the Flood…(Sefer HaYashar).

7:17  The Ravages of the Flood – Hoffman writes: There is an abundance of repetition in this narrative in order to give vivid expression to the great deluge.  Therefore, entire verses are devoted to illustrate each aspect of the miracle.

Accordingly, verse 17 tells of the abundance of water and the lifting of the ark; verse 18: the floating of the ark; verse 19: the total submergence of the mountains; verse 20: the 15 cubit height of the water over the mountains.

Similarly, when describing the destruction of the earth, an entire verse is devoted to each point; verse 21 declares that all earthlings died; verse 22: that this death was the fate only of those creatures who live on land; verse 23: in the almost total calamity only Noah and those who were with him were saved.

7:21  “..and all mankind.”  – The verse lists the creatures in the order in which they were overcome by the Flood: First the birds and finally man (Ha’amek Davar).

The birds were overcome first, because they were too frail to withstand the downpour – then the domesticated animals; then the wild beasts many of whom dwelled in caves high in the mountains which protected them somewhat longer from both the lower and upper waters: they perished when the waters covered the mountain peaks; man probably tried every method known to him to survive: he climbed the highest trees atop the highest mountains; tried building rafts, etc.  There were individuals who survived longer than others. But by the time the waters reached a level of fifteen cubits above the mountain peaks, combined with the strength and ravages described in these verses even man perished (Malbim).

7:22  “..whatever was on dry land,”  – Maharsha, citing Zevachim 113b, states that the scalding heat of the flood waters did not affect the fish because the ravages of the Flood were directed to dry land.  The fish did not participate in man’s sins, and they were spared.

This is also implied by verse 17: ‘The Flood was upon the earth’ – not on the sea.

Ramban suggests that it is conceivable that the flood-waters mingled with the seas and heated only the upper waters while the fish descended to the depths and thereby survived … For none of the fish were brought into the ark to keep their seed alive, and no mention is made of fish in the covenant in 9:9-10.

7:23  “And He blotted out all existence..”  – After having stated in the previous verse that they died, it now adds that the Flood blotted out, dissolved, their bodies, and this is the meaning of the verb in Numbers 5:23: ‘and he shall blot them out in the waters of bitterness’ (Ramban).

“And they were blotted out from the earth.”  – The repetition of the verb emphasizes their total obliteration.  Their very names were blotted out from the world; they left no seed (Ibn Ezra).

7:24  The storm prevailed and all the living creatures in the ark were terrified.  The lions roared, the oxen lowed, and the wolves howled…and Noah and his children cried and wept, thinking that death was at hand.

Noah prayed to God and said: ‘Hashem, help us, for we have no strength to bear this evil that has encompassed us, for the waves of the waters have surrounded us, mischievous torrents have terrified us, the snares of death have come before us; answer us, Hashem, answer us, light up Your countenance toward us and be gracious to us.  Redeem and deliver us.’

God listened to his voice, ‘and God remembered Noah…’ (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer; Zohar).

6:1   “And it came to pass”  – The Talmud notes that it is a tradition that wherever the term ‘and it came to pass’ occurs in Scripture, it foretells trouble.  Thus, here introduces ‘and Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great’ (v5) (Megillah 10b)

The Torah introduces the account of the flood by telling us that as soon as man began to multiply they began to sin.  God, however, waited until they were steeped in their full measure of sin before he punished them (Ramban).

“..and daughters were born to them.”  – Radak comments that the daughters are specifically mentioned here because they are crucial to the narrative; it was through them that the wickedness was perpetrated.

6:2  “..the sons of rulers (God)”  – These were the sons of the princes and judges, for Elohim always implies rulership, as in Exodus 4:16 ‘and you shall be his master (Rashi)’.  The daughters of man were the daughters of the general populace; the multitude, the lower classes (Rambam) who did not have the power to resist their superiors (Radak).  Thus, the Torah begins the narrative of the tragedy by speaking of the subjugation of the weak by the powerful.

According to many commentators, literally the sons of God, are the God-fearing descendants of Seth, while the daughters of man (implying less spiritual people) are the sinful descendants of Cain.  The results of such marriages was that Seth’s righteous descendants sunk as well and suffered the doom that overtook all mankind with the exception of Noah and his family.

Another view of this verse is from the Talmud (Yoma 67b) which takes the view that “sons of God” could refer to ‘godly beings’ or ‘angels’.  Quoted from the introduction to Midrash Aggadas Bereishis, it addressed this Talmudic allusion:

“Angels Uzza and Azael who’s abode was in the heavens but descended to earth to prove themselves.  While still in heaven they heard God say, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth’.  They replied, ‘what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You think of him?’ (Psalms 8:5; i.e. ‘You are right; man did not deserve to be created!’)

God said to them: ‘If you lived on earth like these people and beheld the beauty of their women, the Evil Inclination would enter you, too, and cause you to sin!’

They replied: ‘We will descend and yet not sin.’  They then descended, and as the verse says, ‘the godly beings saw the daughters of man.’  When they saw them they asked to return to heaven, and they pleaded to God: ‘This trial is enough for us!’

But God answered: ‘You have already become defiled, and you shall never again become pure!’ 

6:3  “My spirit shall not contend evermore concerning man..”  – Some interpretations:

Rashi: ‘My Spirit shall not be discontent and contentious within Me concerning man much longer; not for long will My Sprit continue to contend within Me whether to destroy or to show mercy.’

Radak: ‘No longer shall the exalted Spirit which I have lowered to reside in man be in constant strife with the body which draws him to animal lust.’

Or ‘HaChaim perceives this verse as God’s determination to no longer enter into dialogue with His creatures to reprove and debate with them as was His practice earlier when He addressed the serpent, the woman, Adam, and Cain.  Now that their abominations increased, God said: My Spirit will no longer enter into direct, personal judgment with man.

N’tziv:  Man is composed of two parts: the spirit; and the flesh.  Life is a struggle for domination between these two forces.  In this verse, God foretells that man will continue to fall victim to his physical lust.  Thus the verse is rendered: My Spirituality will not dominate man for he is a creature of flesh.

Ramban: This verse is reminiscent of Psalm 49:13 ‘He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away…’

Minchah Belulah:  ‘I implanted My Spirit in man so he should be guided by it.  But by his evil ways man has turned even his spirit into flesh.  This is unlike the righteous who transform their physical selves into spiritual beings.’

“..his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”  – I will not inflict punishment on mankind immediately:  I will grant them a probationary period of 120 years in which to repent.  If they refuse, I will then bring a Flood upon them (Targuimn; Rashi; Ramban)

Although the Torah records this decree after the birth of Noah’s children we must remember that events in the Torah are not always related in chronological order (Pesachim 6b) and we must assume that since Japheth, Noah’s oldest son was born a hundred years before the Flood, the decree must have been issued twenty years before Noah had any children (Seder Olam; Rashi; Ibn Ezra.)

This interpretation gains credence from the Midrash: Longevity was one of the beneficent powers lost through the sins of the Generation of the Flood, for though Adam sinned he lived to the age of 930 (5:5) but, when the Generation of the Flood sinned, God reduced the normal life span to a hundred and twenty years.  In the Messianic future, however, God will restore Man’s longevity as in Isaiah’s prophecy (65:22): ‘They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree shall be the days of My people, and My chosen shall long enjoy their handiwork (Midrash HaGadol).

6:4  “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days..”  –  The Giants – They were so called because they fell and caused the world to fall (Rashi) and because the heart of whoever saw them fell in amazement at their colossal side (Ibn Ezra).

Hirsch notes the Nephilum were products of the Cainite line which submerged the spiritual thus causing gigantic physical growth.  Had the mixture of the spiritual line of Seth with the physical line of Cain achieved the ideal result, a race of spiritually inclined giants would have resulted.  Unfortunately, the physical overpowered the spiritual.

“…and also afterward..”  – Although they witnessed the destruction of the generation of Enosh when the ocean rose and flooded a third of the world, they still did to humble themselves and repent (Rashi).

“..when the sons of God would consort with the daughters of man..”  – Although Ramban comments that the interpretation of these verses as referring to ‘fallen’ angels fits into the language of the verse more than all other interpretations, he avoids delving into this because of the mysteries it involves, and prefers to interpret that the b’nei Elohim, who were the Sethite line and were endowed with Adam’s distinguished godly likeness, took women by force and their offspring stood out from their fellow men by virtue of their great stature.  They were termed ‘Nephilim’ which means ‘inferior ones’ as in Job 12:3 ‘I am not ‘nophel’ – inferior – to you’ because they were inferior to their parents although they were mighty men in comparison with the rest of the generation.

So if we follow Ramban, then, the verse is to be rendered:  ‘The Nephilim’ – who were descendants of Adam through Seth – ‘were on the earth in those days and also after that’ when the Nephilim themselves begot children when the b’nei Elohim had come in unto the daughters of man and begot children’ (in other words, when the first generation who were call b’nai Elohim because they were of absolute perfection, caused the daughters of men to beget Nephilim – who were inferior to them); ‘these were the mighty men’ – in comparison to the rest of the generation; ‘that were evermore the men of renown’ – they were the men of renown in later generations.

6:5  “Hashem saw..”  – When God looked down, He saw that man had brought great evil – harm and injustice – into the world.  The present was immeasurably bad, the future would be worse (Hirsch).

“..upon the earth..”  – The verse stresses upon the earth because it was the violence that man was perpetrating upon his fellow man that most angered God (Leach Tov).

“..that every product of the thoughts of his heart was but evil always.”  – Every thought conceived by man was continually motivated only toward evil, not good (R’ Meyuchas); they would not listen to rebuke and there was no prospect of repentance (their corruption of total and complete) (Sforno).

According to Radak, of the two inclinations, good and evil, that are normally found in man’s heart, that generation of man turned both to absolute evil.

God said: Look at the ways of the wicked!  When I created man I gave him two servants, one good and one evil…Not only have they failed to turn the Evil Inclination towards good; they have made the good one evil!’ (Midrash Aggadas Bereishis)

6:6  “Hashem reconsidered having made man on earth,”  – He reconsidered and His thoughts were turned from His attribute of Mercy to the attribute of Justice – from that of upholding the world to that of destroying it. (Rashi)

Ibn Ezra notes the difficulty of depicting God as ‘regretting’ and comments that such terms as ‘regret’ cannot be applied to the Creator, rather they are anthropopathic (describing human feelings to something that is not human) because ‘the Torah speaks in the language of man.’  Man perceives this Divine manifestation as if it were regret.  Similarly He was saddened, is an anthropomorphic antonym of such concepts as {slams 104:31 ‘Let Hashem rejoice in His handiwork’ for God ‘rejoices’ when man earns His graciousness.  

Rav Joseph Albo explains the concept of ‘The Torah speaks in the language of man…’ Since in human phraseology, when a king punishes those who have rebelled against him, he is said to be jealous and revengeful and full of wrath, so it is said of God when He punishes those who violate His will that He is a jealous and avenging God and is full of wrath because the act which emanates from Him against those who transgress His will is similar to the act of a revengeful, grudging, and jealous person.  The attribution sorrow to God must be explained in the same way.  Just as human beings feel sorrow when necessity compels that their works be destroyed, so the Torah says ‘it grieved Him at His heart’, and in the immediate sequel we read” ‘And Hashem said, I will blot out man whom I have made….for I regret having made them.’  ‘Regret’ is applied to God because He performs the act of a person who regrets what he has made and desires to destroy it..’

“He had heart-felt sadness.(He was grieved)”  – Sforno says ‘He was grieved’, because God does not desire the death of the wicked but that he should repent and live.

As Rav Yehudah said: God was grieved because the execution of judgment is always displeasing to Him.  Similarly, at the time when Israel crossed the Red Sea, when the angels came as usual to chant their praises before God on that night, God said to them: ‘The works of My hands are drowning in the sea and you will chant praises?’ (Zohar).

6:7  “And Hashem said..”  –  Noting that ‘Hashem’ (Lord), which indicates God in His Attribute of Mercy, is used in these verses of judgment instead of the more appropriate Elohim (God), which indicates His Attribute of Justice, the Midrash (33:3) comments:

‘Woe to the wicked who turn the Attribute of Mercy into the Attribute of Justice.  For wherever ‘Hashem’ is used it indicates the attribute of mercy, as in the verse ‘Hashem, Hashem, God merciful and gracious’ (Exodus 34:6); nevertheless, here it is written ‘And Hashem saw that the wickedness of man was great’; and ‘Hashem reconsidered…’; ‘and Hashem said I will blot out man’.

Torah Shelemah suggests that the point might be ‘that man’s wickedness was so great that even in His capacity ‘Hashem’, the God of mercy, He had to decree destruction upon them; or: while it appeared that He was now acting as the God of Judgment in truth that very judgment, stern though it was, would ultimately prove to be an act of mercy, for thereby a higher humanity was enabled to arise’.

Hirsch elaborates:  ‘Hashem, the same mercy, the same God of love that had placed man on earth, now proclaims his destruction.  Man’s corruption was so great, that the very extermination was an act of mercy.’

The more esoteric implications of these matters, according to Ramban, constitute ‘a great mystery which may not be written. Whoever knows it will understand why the Four Letter Name, Hashem, is written here while in the rest of the chapter and in account of the Flood the name “Elohim” (God of Judgment) is used.’

Let no one deceive himself: Although He is long-suffering, God does not overlook transgressions.  Man must remember that he will ultimately be held accountable for his actions, because God collects His due and retribution finally comes…He waits for the opportune moment when man’s evil is great, as He acted toward the generation of the Flood, granting them an extended period of apparent immunity but: ‘When Hashem saw that man’s wickedness was great in the earth’ … ‘Hashem said: I will blot out man’ (Bamidbar Rabbah).

“..for I have reconsidered (for I am sorry) .. having made them.”  – The question is asked here, in 1 Samuel 15:11, and Exodus 32:14: How can we associate the concept of reconsideration and regret with God?  We must understand that it is impossible for God to promise and then change His mind, or find Himself unable to carry out His promise.  Such behavior is possible only for humans.  But there is another form of regret; God created man to serve Him and to contribute to the divine Glory.  If man sins and becomes unworthy of this calling, and, as a result, is wiped off the earth, it seems as if God recanted when it is actually man who falls short (B’chor Shor).

Or HaChaim notes that if the cause of man’s destruction had been only his own sins, then people below the age of punishment would have been spared.  Rather the reason is God’s regret for having made him.  If so, even the righteous would be included in the Decree.  But Noah was spared by God’s grace.

6:8  – “But Noah found grace with Hashem.”  – God’s grace was to make possible the salvation of Noah’s family, for otherwise only he would have been spared.  Although Noah was a righteous man, he did not influence his generation to know God, therefore his merit was insufficient to save others.  Only a righteous person who attempts to make others righteous can bring about their salvation, because he can then influence them to repent (Sforno).

Hirsch concludes the Sidrah with the thought that after 1656 years of history, God was ready to wipe away all creation and carry on His plan with one man and his family.  As Psalm 29 proclaims, the Presence of God feels all that is awesome and sublime.  Nevertheless, Hashem sat at the Flood: He remained firm and unshaken, refusing to compromise His plan for the education of mankind.  Such firmness is the precondition of peace as the psalm concludes “Hashem will give strength to His people, Hashem will bless His people with peace.

We will break from Chapter Six to the Overview of Noah and Abraham.

6:9  Noah re-established the human race after the Flood.  He was like Adam in that he too was the father of mankind.  Therefore, although it has already listed Noah was the last link in the genealogy of his predecessors, the Torah begins the narrative anew, mentioning him and his children again, as the ancestors of mankind after the Flood.

“Noah was a righteous man,..”  – Kli Yakar notes that after the phrase ‘these are the descendants of Noah” one would expect to see the names of his children.  Instead it says ‘Noah was a righteous man’.  He cites a Midrash which quotes the verse from Proverbs 11:30 – The fruits of the righteous is a tree of life’ which the Sages apply to Noah, for he did not die until he saw the world repopulated and seventy nations descended from his loins.  Yet his righteousness is recorded as his offspring.  For the sequence of the verse is: These are the descendants of Noah; Noah was a righteous man: his righteousness is his primary offspring.  

“perfect in his generation;”  – the word perfect in this case implies that Noah was born circumcised.  This connection between circumcision and perfection is strengthened by the fact that Abraham was not called upon to attain ‘perfection’ (17:1) until he was instructed to undergo circumcision.   All agree that he was not as great as Abraham.  The Sales seek to point out, however, that the righteous of each generation must be judged and respected in terms of their own time and are placed by God in their particular generation according to its needs.

“Noah walked with God”  – Rashi notes that it is written of Abraham (24:40): ‘Hashem, before Whom I walked’ Noah walked with God, in the sense that he needed His support (to maintain his righteousness), while Abraham was morally strong enough in his righteousness to walk alone, before God.  

6:10  Hirsch comments that the names of Noah’s children indicate their sharply differing personalities.  Shem (from ‘name’) is the thinking person because man’s wisdom lies in his ability to understand the nature of a concept or thing and define it, ‘name it’, so to speak.  Ham (from ‘heat’) is the sensuous, passionate person.  Japheth (from ‘openness’) is the seeker after beauty who is open to external impressions.  All three characteristics were saved from the Flood and all can be turned to the service of God when guided by the spiritual greatness of Noah.

6:11-12  The behavior of people deteriorated.  At first they were corrupt – being guilty of immorality and idolatry – and they sinned covertly, before God.  Later, the earth had become filled with robbery – which was obvious to all.  Then the entire earth was corrupted, because man is the essence of the world, and his corruption infects all of Creation (Zohar).  Such is the progression of sin.  It begins in private, when people still have a sense of right and wrong.  But once people develop the habit of sinning. they gradually lose their shame, and immoral behavior becomes the accepted – even the required – norm.  In Noah’s time, the immoral sexual conduct of the people extended to animals, as well, until they too cohabited with other species.

The Midrash teaches that they stole from one another in petty ways that were not subject to the authority of the courts.  Though this not the gravest kind of sin, it is morally damaging in the extreme, because thievery within the letter of the law weakens the conscience and corrupts the social fabric (Hirsch).

6:13-22  The decree…  God decreed that a generation that behaved so immorally had forfeited its right to exist, but even then, He extended mercy to them.  God could have saved Noah in many ways.  Why then did He burden him with the task of constructing an Ark for, as the Sages teach, one hundred twenty years?  So that when the curious would see him cutting lumber and working on the Ark for so long, they would ask him why.  He would answer, “God is about to bring a Flood on the world because of your sins,” and they would thus be inspired to repent … But instead of seizing the opportunity, Noah’s contemporaries scoffed at him (Rashi).

Note:  Zohar states – We have a dictum that when death rages in a town or the world at large, no man should show himself in the street because the destroying angel is then authorized to kill indiscriminately.  Hence the Holy One, blessed be He said to Noah, ‘Take heed and do not expose yourself to the destroyer so he will be powerless over you’.  You may think that there was not any destroying angel here but only the onrush of overwhelming waters.  This is not so; no doom is ever executed on the world, whether of annihilation or any other chastisement, without the destroying angel in the midst of the visitation.  So here: there was indeed a flood, but this was only an embodiment of the destroyer who assumed its name.

When Noah was informed of the Flood to come, he was unmoved.  Instead of begging for mercy on behalf of the world, Noah asked God what would become of him.  Scripture, therefore, rightfully calls the Flood ‘the waters of Noah’ (Isaiah 54:9); they are attributed to him because once he was assured of his own survival in the ark he did not seek mercy for the world.

The Baal Shem Tov notes that the Hebrew word for Noah’s ark also means ‘a word’.  Noah, clothed in his righteousness, withdrew into his ‘words’ – into the words of Torah-study and prayer.  He walked with God, and cut himself off from the sinfulness of his society.

Moreover, when men came to him and inquired about the huge ship he was building, he told them of the impending Divine punishment – the Flood.  But only then, when he was approached, did he scold and rebuke them and tell them to mend their ways; he did not take the initiative.  He was content to save himself.

This type of conduct is called in Yiddish” A tzaddik in pelt’ – a righteous man in a warm fur coat.’  There are two ways to warm oneself in a cold room: One is to build a fire – in which case everyone in the room benefits from the warmth; a second way is to put on a fur coat – in which case the wearer of the coat is warm but everyone else in the room remains cold.  Wrapped up in the cozy warmth of his own righteousness, he is not really concerned with the bitter cold of those ‘outside’.

6:14  “..make the ark with compartments'”  – Hirsch observes that it does not say ‘for the ark’.  The structure was planned for its compartments.  It was not meant as a home for Noah and his family with the incidental purpose of accommodating animals, rather it was intended for the salvation of all life.

6:15  Even according to the smallest estimate of 18 inches per cubit, the dimensions of the Ark were 450 x 75 x 45 feet = 1,518,750 cubic feet.  Each of its three stories had 33,750 square feet of floor space for a total of 101,250 square feet.

6:17  “..to destroy all flesh.”  The Hebrew word for ‘destroy’ is the same as for ‘corrupt’.  The punishment was thus measure for measure: ‘for all flesh had become corrupt’ (verse 12): now I have decreed to destroy all flesh.

6:18  “But I will establish My covenant with you,..”  –  Rashi, following the Midrash, comments that this covenant was needed to guarantee that the food in the ark would not spoil, and that the wicked of the generation would not kill him.

The Midrash comments… ‘You were indeed the builder, but were it not for My covenant which stood you in good stead could you have entered the Ark?’  Therefore it is written” ‘But I will establish My covenant with you’ when you are brought into the ark.

Ibn Ezra concludes, however, that the interpretation most acceptable to him is that ‘covenant’ refers to the rainbow (9:13) which God was to establish after the Flood as a covenant rewarding Noah for complying with His command.

So which covenant does this refer to?  The covenant that heaven and earth will never entirely cease, as in the verse (Jeremiah 33:25 ‘If not for My covenant by day and by night, I had not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth’ – in other words meaning – the apparent meaning is: ‘were it not for My covenant at the night and day of creation, heaven and earth would not enjoy permanence’.

Abarbanel similarly cites the verse from Jeremiah which identifies the act of creation as God’s ‘covenant’.  He explains that our verse refers specifically to the covenant which God had made during the Six Days of Creation confining the waters to one place (1:9).  In the face of this generation’s corruption, He was suspending that covenant; however, He promised Noah that for the purpose of saving him and his family, He would nevertheless fulfill His covenant regarding the established order of creation.

6:19  ‘..shall you bring into the ark..’  – The command here cannot mean that God intended for Noah to actually bring in these animals; the animals will come of their own accord.  The meaning of the verse is rather that he should help them enter and provide for their welfare.

“..two of each..”  – As the following verse explains, these animals were to be one male and one female, so that the species could be replenished after the Flood.  In the case of the kosher species that could be used for offerings, Noah was later commanded to bring seven pairs (7:2), so that he could bring offerings of gratitude and commitment after returning to dry land.

There were many huge beasts, such as elephants, and so many species of all sizes that even ten such arks could not have held them all, along with one year’s provisions.  It was a miracle that the small Ark could contain them.  Even though the same miracle could have taken place in a smaller ark, thus sparing Noah the hard physical labor of building such a huge one, nevertheless, God wanted it to be so large in order to make the miracle less obvious, because people should try to reduce their reliance on miracles as much as possible.  (Rambam)

6:20  The phrase ‘according to each kind’ implies that he was to take only those that had kept to their own species, and who had not committed the perversion of mating with other species.  God’s decree was that only those animals whose purpose it was to be preserved (7:3) would come of their own accord.  Therefore, Noah ‘took’ only those ‘clean’ beasts which God commanded him.

6:21  “And as for you, take yourself…”  – According to Kli Yakar this phrase is to be interpreted: take from your own possessions and not from another’s.  Noah might have rationalized that since the generation was about to perish anyway, he could take their belongings.  Therefore God told him: Take only from your own possessions, however limited and seemingly insufficient they are for the intended purpose, in order to accentuate the miracle.

Noah was not to expect them to bring along their own food the way animals usually prepare their winter food during the summer.  This was to be Noah’s responsibility; he would gather the food and the animals would be sustained through him (Malbim). 

The Midrash comments that the greater part of his provisions consisted of pressed figs along with various greens for the different animals.  He also stored away vine-shoots, fig-shoots, olive-shoots, and various seeds for future planting after the Flood.  This is implied by the term ‘and gather it in to yourself – because a man does not ‘gather’ (in the sense of ‘store away’) anything unless he needs it for later’.

Ragbag suggests that for Noah to have known how much food to gather he must have been told approximately how long God was planning for them to stay in the ark.  Others maintain that Noah did not know how much to prepare; that the food sufficed was itself part of the miracle.

5:1    “This is the account of the descendants of Adam -“  – A new narrative begins, enumerating the generations  from Adam to Noah.  The genealogy traces the line through Seth for it was through him that the human race survived; Abel died without issue, and Cain’s descendants perished (Radak).

Malbim, too, comments that in a real sense the entire history of the ‘generations of Adam’ begins with this verse.  For this reason there is an opinion in the Midrash that this verse forms the true beginning of the Torah, in the sense that everything preceding it rightfully belongs to the ‘history of heaven and earth’ (2:4) rather than of man.  The descendants of Cain are considered insignificant because they did not survive.

According to the Talmud Avodah Zarah 5a:  ‘What is the meaning of the verse – (the literal translation of this verse is “this is the book of the generations of Adam”)?  What it implies is that God showed to Adam every generation with its expositors (a person or thing that explains complicated ideas), every generation with its Sages, every generation with its leaders….’

When God showed these generations to Adam, he saw among them David who was destined to live for only three hours.  Adam then turned to God, asking: ‘Can his fate not be changed?’

‘Thus have I decreed’, was His reply.  “What is the span of my life?”, Adam asked.

On being told that he would live one thousand years, he asked whether he would be permitted to make a gift.  When God agreed, Adam exclaimed, ‘I hereby give to David seventy years of my own life!’  Adam then said: ‘O Master of the world, how beautiful is his reign and the gift of song given him, to sing of Your glory, for seventy years!

“He made them in the likeness of God.”  – Man’s true state of nature is not that of a mentally and morally restricted savage, as most people think.  On the contrary, his true natural state is his likeness to God.  Then, as the world blossoms around him as a paradise, he is mentally awake and morally pure, listening to the Voice of God wandering in the garden; for ‘on the day that God created man,’ he was Godlike and pure, striving upwards to God.

5:2  “He created them male and female.”  – Right from the very beginning God created ‘mankind’ male and female, with equal Godliness and of equal worth.  Neither was more in the likeness of God than the other, both were given the same blessing by God, both together were given the name ‘Adam’… (Hirsch).

“He blessed them..”  – By endowing them with the power of procreation (1:28).  This indicates that begetting children is not simply a natural function, but comes as a specific ‘blessing’ of God.  Adam and Eve were not ‘born’; they were created from nothing and were blessed with the ability to procreate (Ramban).

Harav David Cohen points out that male and female components were originally created in the single body of Adam. Thus, when God named him Adam, it was simplicity that his female part – which was later to become a separate human being – was also called Adam, because male and female were two halves of one whole.

5:3  “In his likeness and his image,”  – The verse mentions this to indicate that God gave Adam, who himself was created in God’s likeness, the capacity to reproduce offspring who were also in this noble likeness.  This is not mentioned concerning Cain or Abel because, since their seed perished, the Torah did not wish to prolong the descriptions of them (Ibn Ezra; Ramban).

5:4-23  Ten Generations from Adam to Noah

• Adam: died in the year 930 from Creation;
• Seth: born in the year 130 from Creation, died in 1042.  After his time, people begin to do evil.
• Enosh: 235 – 1140;
• Kenan (Cainan): 325 – 1235;
• Mahalalel: 395 – 1290;
• Jared: 460-1422;
• Enoch: 622-987
• Methuselah: 687-1656;
• Lamech: 874-1651;
• Noah: 1056 – 2006

     Noah was born 126 years after Adam died; Lamech was the farthest descendant Adam lived to see.

5:24  “And Enoch walked with God and then he was no more,”  – Enoch lived sixty-five years and he begot Methuselah; and Enoch walked with God after having begot Methuselah, and he served Hashem and despised the evil ways of man.  And the soul of Enoch was wrapped up in the instruction of Hashem, in knowledge and in understanding, and he wisely returned from the sons of men and he separated himself from them for many years.

The commentators point out that ‘and he was no more’ as a delicate expression for death or ‘sudden disappearance’  which is not uncommon in Scriptures.  See, for example, such phrases as Job 7:21: “You shall seek me and I shall not be”; Psalms 39:14: ‘Before I depart and will be no more’; Proverbs 12:7: “the wicked are overthrown and are no more”.

The Midrash states that all sevenths are favorites and greater sanctity rest upon them: thus Enoch was the seventh generation .. Moses was the seventh generation from the beloved Abraham … David was the seventh son of Jesse.  

Although Enoch’s generation was sinful and served idols, Enoch recognized his Creator and he taught men to walk in the ways of God.  He turned many people – including kings and princes – to righteous conduct and during this time peace and prosperity reigned in the world.

At the age of 300, God took him up to heaven in a fiery chariot, to serve Him there, and appointed him ruler over the angels (Sefer HaYashar).

5:25-27  Methuselah – According to the Seder Olam Rabbah, he studied under Adam for 243 years, and according to Bava Basra 121b, he is one of the seven ‘links’ in the eternal chain which bridged the lifespan of mankind.

His righteousness was such that the angels eulogized him, and the Flood was withheld from the world until his seven day mourning period ended. (Sanhedrin 108b)

5:28  “And he begat a son.”  – Da’as Zekeinim comments that the verse alludes to the fact that Lamech did not name the child immediately at birth.  This was at the advice of the righteous Methuselah who cautioned him to delay naming the child because the people of that generation were sorcerers who would have placed a spell upon him had they know his name.  

Yalkut Shimoni cites the above Midrash and explains that sorcery is ineffective unless one knows the correct name.  Accordingly, Methuselah names him Noah, but advised Lamech to publicly call him Menechem, meaning ‘comforter’.

5:29  “And he named him Noah saying, ‘This one will bring us rest (or comfort) … from the toil of our hands … from the ground which Hashem has cursed”  – There is a tradition from Adam to his descendants that the curse on the earth: ‘in sorrow shall you eat of it … thorns and thistles shall it product for you … with the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread’ (3:17-19) would be in effect only during Adam’s lifetime as the verse indicates: ‘all the days of your life… until you return to the earth’.  Chronologically, Noah was the first one – in our genealogical list of the leaders of the various generations – born after Adam’s death.  Beginning with him the severity of the curse would diminish.  Lamech was aware of this tradition, and therefore gave him that name (Pirei d’Rabbi Eliezer; Abarbanel).

The Midrash also notes that Adam was told that the curse would last until one of his descendants was born circumcised.  When Lamech saw Noah born that way, he knew that with this child the curse ‘rested’ (Tanchuma).

Also, Noah was the first to fashion agricultural tools, giving them respite from the laborious toil of farming manually (Tanchuma).  Also, with his birth they ‘rested’ from the famine that began in the days of Lamech (Rabbah).  Man would still have to toil, but the intent is that Noah considerably lightened the burden by ingeniously introducing agricultural tools (Radak).

5:32  ‘..five hundred years old..”  – The Midrash notes why all his contemporaries begot at the age of one hundred to two hundred years, while Noah did not have children until he was five hundred years old.  The Holy One, Blessed be He reasoned: ‘A flood is soon to come.  If I give him children now and they are wicked, they will have to drown in the flood, and I do not wish to grieve this righteous man.  If, on the other hand, they are righteous (and over the next few hundred years they will multiply greatly and will each have large families), I will have to trouble him to build many arks..’

God therefore withheld children from him until he was five hundred years old so that even Japheth, the eldest would be less than a hundred at the time of the Flood.  Before the giving of the Torah, as in Messianic times, someone younger than 100 was considered a minor in matters of responsibility for sin and liability to divine punishment.  

Me’am Loez adds that after the Torah was given, the age of responsibility for punishment was twenty,  When people lived to such advanced ages, a 100 year old was comparable to a present-day teen-ager.  However, Adam was punished although he was but a day old when he sinned because, as God’s handiwork, he was endowed with more intelligence.  Additionally his responsibility was greater because he heard the prohibition directly from God.

Harav David Cohen notes that following the Flood, as the human lifespan was shortened drastically, so, too, there were other changes, all of which followed an apparent ratio of 1:5.  Shem, the last person born before the Flood, lived 600 years; Moses lived 120 years, a typical life-span for the righteous of the period.  Similarly, the age of divine punishment went from 100 to 20; and the age at which men could beget children went from 65 (5:16) to 13.  Thus, as man’s lifespan shortened, so did his physiology in the same proportion.

“..Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”  – Japheth was the eldest, but Shem is mentioned first because he was a righteous man; he was born circumcised (a sign of righteousness), and Abraham descended from him (Rashi)….  He was also a High Priest, and the Temple would one day be built in his territory (Midrash).

According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 69b), Shem is mentioned first because Scripture enumerates them accordingly to their wisdom, not age.  The proof is that had they been listed according to age, Shem would have to be at least two years older than Japheth – one year older than Ham who in turn would have to be one year older than Japheth.  Noah begot children when he was 500 years old and the flood began when he was 600 years old (7:6).  Now, in 11:10 Shem is described as being 100 years old when he begot Arphaxad ‘two years after the flood’.  If Shem were the oldest, he would have been slightly less than 100 when the flood commenced and 102 years old by the time he begot Arphaxad!  Therefore, we must conclude that Shem was the youngest.

4:1  “Now the man had known his wife Eve,..”  – The translation in the past-perfect follows Rashi, that the conception and birth of Cain had occurred before the sin and expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden. 

“I have acquired a man with Hashem.”  – As partners with Hashem.  “My husband and I were created by God alone, but through the birth of Cain we are partners with Him” (Rashi).

Note:  From the beginning of Genesis until 2:4, God is referred to exclusively as ‘God’, indicating His attribute of strict justice with which He initially created the world.  From 2:4 until this verse, He is designated as ‘Hashem’ God (except for verses 3:1-5 where the conversation is with and by the serpent) indicating that He tempered His justice with mercy as implied in His name ‘Hashem’ so that the world could exist.  From the birth of Cain, when the Evil Inclination increased, He is referred to only as ‘Hashem’ indicating that God discarded His attribute of strict justice and rules the world with mercy alone, for the world could not endure otherwise.

4:2  “Abel became a shepherd, and Cain became a tiller of the ground”  –  Because Abel feared the curse which God had pronounced against the ground, he turned to caring for sheep and herds (Midrash; Rashi).

Meat was prohibited to them (being permitted only in the days of Noah (see 9:3).  Nevertheless, milk, butter, wool, and the skins of dead animals were permitted to them.  Abel’s work consisted of shearing the sheep for their wool, and milking the cows (Mizrachi).  

Like the Patriarchs, Moses and David, Abel chose a profession that permitted him to spend his time in solitude and contemplation of spiritual matters (HaK’sav V’HaKabbalah).  Cain, however, chose an occupation that, though essential, can lead its practitioners to worship nature and enslave others to do the hard work of the fields in an effort to attain and develop property.  Although Abel was younger, his occupation is mentioned first because he chose a more spiritual pursuit.

Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer notes that they would exchange with each other the products of their respective pursuits.  Thus the system of bartering goods and services was instituted by God from the very beginning of creation.

4:3  “And after a period of time..”  – Various interpretations of ‘days’ are offered by the Midrash and commentators ranging from ‘an indefinite period’ to ‘forty years’.  Ibn Ezra and Radak cite various verses (Leviticus 25:29; Exodus 13:10) where ‘days’ means a full year.

Midrash Aggadah interestingly comments that it was the season of Passover and Adam said to his sons: “At some time in the future all the people of Israel will bring their Paschal sacrifices during this season, and they will be favorably received by God.  This is therefore a beneficial time for you, too, to bring a sacrifice to God, and He will be pleased with you.”

…of the fruit of the ground;”  – From the subtle contrast between the simple description of Cain’s offering and the more specific description of Abel’s offering in the next verse, the Sages derive that Cain’s offering was from the inferior portions of the crop, while Abel chose only the finest of his flock.  Some say Cain’s was from the leavings, while there is Midrash which says it was flax-seed.  His sacrifice was therefore not accepted (Ibn Ezra; Radak).

Note:  Midrash Tanchuma relates that, according to the Sages, Cain’s offering consisted of (lowly) flax seed, while Abel’s consisted of wool.  For this reason, the blending of flax and wool was later forbidden (Deuteronomy 22:11) because God said: It is not proper to mingle the offering of a sinner with the offering of the righteous.

Hirsch writes that Cain brought to God some of the produce of the earth, but without troubling to choose the finest.  He is content with a minimum.  Such a person devotes only spare time to God; donates only ‘the lame and the sick’, and whatever is expendable.

4:4  “..as for Abel, he also brought…”  – Abel was not content to bring from his material substance.  He was totally devoted to God; he was ready to offer all of himself in addition to his animals.  Therefore, his sacrifice was so much more acceptable.

Hirsch writes – For Abel took of the very best firstlings of his flock.  He who brings the first and the best, places his relationship to God in the foreground; for him this relationship is the first and most important.  Everything else in life is secondary.

“Hashem turned to Abel and his offerings..”  – A fire descended and licked up his offering (Rashi), which was the way that God showed His regard for pleasing sacrifices, as He did in the Tabernacle (Leviticus 9:24) and with Elijah ( I Kings 18:38).

The verse does not read ‘to Abel’s offering’, but rather ‘to Abel and to his offering’:  Abel himself was pleasing and so was his offering; it was not merely the better quality of Abel’s offering that made his sacrifice more acceptable, and Cain’s less; it was their conduct that was decisive.  Abel was accepted because of his lofty deeds, while his brother was rejected because of his despicable ways…   Abel’s offering was in a spirit of humility while Cain’s was in a spirit of arrogance (Zohar).

4:5  “He did not turn. This annoyed Cain exceedingly..” – God detested both Cain and his offering, because Cain did not offer his sacrifice until he filled his own belly, and then gave of the leavings; whereas Abel gave of the firstlings, before enjoying any personal benefit (B’chor Shor; Tur).  Cain was annoyed because he did not understand how he had sinned.  

4:6  “And Hashem said to Cain..”  – God addressed him in order to teach him and generations after him the way of repentance.  A sinner can atone for his sins if he will but repent sincerely (Radak).

“Why are you annoyed and why has your countenance fallen?”  – “Why are you annoyed” as though My acceptance of your brother’s sacrifice was arbitrary or unjust!  “And why has your countenance fallen?”  When a fault can be remedied, one should not grieve over what has passed, but rather concentrate on improving matters for the future (Sforno). 

In this verse God tells Cain (in a theme later echoed by the Prophets) that He does not desire sacrifice but obedience..(Malbim).

4:7  “…sin rests at the door.”  – If you succumb to your Evil Inclination, punishment and evil will be as ever-present as if they lived in the very doorway of your house (Sforno).  

The Evil Inclination is like a guest…. At first he is shy and undemanding, then he will begin making requests and – unless he is controlled by his host – will continue to take liberties and impose until he becomes virtual master of the house.  So, too, the Evil Inclination.  He will never seek to drive man to major sins at first, for people will not obey.  He begins with small sins and, unless held in check, develops in man a pattern of sin until he is powerless to stop (Me’am Loez).  

“Its desire is toward you..”  HaRechasim LeBik’ah, as well as several other commentators explain the subject of this phrase as being Abel, it reverts back to the beginning of the verse, which when rearranged would translate as such:  Why are you downcast that I accepted the offering of Abel, your younger brother, while yours I did not accept?  If you will better your ways, you will have pre-eminence above him as the eldest and you will be the object of his love and desire, and you will rule over him as a master over a servant.  However, if you do not better yourself, your punishment awaits you at the door of your tent and you will not be absolved.

“..you can conquer it.”  – You can prevail over it if you wish (Rashi), for you can mend your ways and cast off your sin.  Thus God taught Cain about repentance, and that it lies within man’s power to repent whenever he wishes and God will forgive him (Ramban).

4:8  “Cain rose up against his brother and killed him.”  – The Midrash relates that Abel was the stronger of the two, and the expression ‘rose up’ can only imply that Cain had already been thrown down and lay beneath Abel.  But Cain begged for mercy, saying: ‘We are the only two in the world.  What will you tell our father if you kill me?’  Abel was filled with compassion, and released his hold.  Cain then ‘rose up and killed him.’  

As the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37b) relates: not knowing which blow would be fatal, Cain pelted all parts of Abel’s body, inflicting many blows and wounds, until he killed him by striking him on the neck.

4:9  “Where is Abel your brother”  – The question is rhetorical, for God knew full well where he was.  He engaged Cain in a gentle conversation to give him the opportunity to confess and repent (Rashi; Radak; Sforno), but Cain misunderstood.  He took God’s question to indicate ignorance about Abel’s whereabouts, so he denied knowledge.  The reference to Abel as his brother was to allude to Cain, that he had a responsibility for Abel’s welfare but he denied that brotherhood imposed responsibility upon him.  

Kli Yakar notes that since Cain had offered a sacrifice to God, he must have recognized that God is aware of human deeds and could not therefore have thought that God was oblivious to his act.  This response to God is therefore not to be understood as an incredulous question.  He attaches it instead to the previous statement and renders: ‘I was not aware that I was to guard my brother and protect him from murder.  I had no idea that murder is sinful’.

Me’am Loez suggests that in those early days in the history of the world, people were as yet unaware of which blow could be painful and which could be lethal.  Cain, in his jealous rage, attacked Abel and sought to hurt him, but he did not know that death would result from his blows (although he probably was aware that murder was sinful).

4:10  “..the blood..”  – The Hebrew word is literally ‘bloods’.  The word is in the plural, implying that Cain’s crime was not limited to one person; he had shed Abel’s blood and the blood of his potential descendants.  Alternatively, this teaches that he bled from many wounds.

Seeing that Cain was being insolent, God challenged him forthright by revealing that He was aware of Cain’s crime (Midrash Aggadah).

4:11  For Cain was a farmer and his punishment was that the land would not yield its full produce and he would be forced to wander far away seeking more fertile farmland.  Thus his curse came ‘through the ground’ (Ibn Ezra; Ramban; Sforno).

The Mechilta relates that when the Egyptians drowned, the Sea refused them and cast them upon the dry land, but the land, too, refused to harbor them and cast them back into the Sea saying: ‘For receiving the blood of Abel, who was but an individual, I was cursed.  How then shall I receive the blood of this vast multitude?’  The land persisted in her refusal until God reassured her that He would not bring her to judgement.

You have killed your brother and covered his blood with the earth, and I will decree that it uncover the blood, ‘and she shall no more cover her slain’ (Isaiah 26:21) for the earth, together with all that is covered up in it, such as seed and plant will be punished.  Bloodletting which ‘pollutes the land’ (Numbers 35:33) brings a curse upon its produce (Ramban).

4:12   There is a double curse here: That the earth would no longer yield its natural fertility for his benefit by making fruit trees productive; and that it would not even respond to his plowing and sowing as before (Ramban).  For when man tears apart the bond between himself and God, then God tears apart the bond between man and the earth (Hirsch).

‘..you..”  – Rav Eleazar said: ‘To you it shall not yield its strength, but to another shall yield it (Midrash).  Therefore the curse was specifically directed to him, while in the case of Adam’s curse (3:17), which was meant to apply eternally to all mankind, the curse was directed to the earth (Radak).

This is the third curse: that he will be a vagrant and a wanderer in the world.  In other words, he will always wander, without the tranquility to remain in one place, for the punishment of murders is banishment (Ramban).

4:13  Is my iniquity too great to be forgiven?  My punishment is too great to bear!

4:14  ‘Can I be hidden from Your Presence?  I will not be able, out of shame, to stand before You in prayer or bring a sacrifice,,” (Ramban)

‘Yet You in Your boundless mercy have not decreed death upon me … Behold, my sin is great and You have punished me exceedingly.  Protect me that I should not be punished with more than You have decreed, for if I must be a fugitive and wanderer, unable to build myself a house and fence at any one place, and without Your protection, the beasts will kill me.’  Thus Cain confessed that man is powerless to save himself by his own strength, but only by the watchfulness of the Supreme One (Ramban).

If your protection were still upon me I would not worry.  He Who commanded the earth to give its fruit will command the Heavens to sustain me.  My fear is that bereft of Your presence and watchfulness I will be easy prey for anyone who wishes to molest me.  Having no secure place, any creature could kill me and no one will avenge me.  Thus, my punishment is truly more than I can endure…

4:15  “..whoever slays Cain before seven generations..”  Rashi interprets this as ‘an abbreviated verse with an implied cause: Whoever slays Cain will be punished; as for Cain, only after seven generations will I execute My vengeance upon him, when Lamech, one of his descendants will arise and slay him.’

Harav David Feinstein explains that the postponement of the ultimate punishment of Cain is a manifestation of God as long suffering and patient.  Nevertheless, Cain was punished to wander the earth.  It is similar to a man who lends someone a large sum of money and accepts payment at the rate of a penny a day.  He is patient and merciful, but he does not forget the right to payment.  So, too, God is patient and merciful in deciding upon the mode of punishment, but he exacts it nonetheless.  As a result of his minuscule daily suffering as a wanderer Cain’s punishment was deferred for hundreds of years.

“..Hashem placed a mark upon Cain..”  – As far as how or what the mark was, the Torah nor the Talmud reveals what the mark was. 

For more background on Cain and Abel, reference the blog  “Ancient Book of Jasher 1 – Creation to Abel”

4:16  –  “Cain left the presence of Hashem..”  – He departed in (pretended) humility as though he could deceive the Most High (Rashi).  It is obvious that Cain did not actually deceive God.  God ‘sees the heart’ and was fully aware that once Cain received clemency, he would resume his evil ways.  Nevertheless, Cain claimed sincerity and God allowed him a degree of clemency assured that in the course of time Cain’s wickedness would become apparent to all.  At that time, God would exact full punishment (Harav David Feinstein). 

“..settled in the land of Nod”  –  Nod means ‘wandering’ – the land where exiles wander about.  However, he did not find any rest there for his fate was to be a ceaseless wanderer.  He is identified with this region, however because it was there that he spent most of his time; his family resided there; and it was there that he would return periodically during his wanderings (Abarbanel).

“..east of Eden.”  –  To the east of Eden, where his father had been exiled when he was driven out of the garden (3:24).  Notably, the eastern region always forms a place of refuge for murderers, for the cities of refuge that Moses later set aside were also to the east, ‘the place of sun-rise’ (Deuteronomy 4:41)

4:17 – “..a city-builder,”  – It does not say, he built the city.  The term ‘builder of a city’ implies that his personality is being described.  Cut off from the earth, Cain was left only with his own intelligence and talent which he utilized to build cities.  Urban life, unlike rural life, ‘cultivates’ its inhabitants.  Hence, the following verses list the sophisticated skills that were developed in his inhabitants (Hirsch).

“…named the city after his son..” – Thus proclaiming that he did not build it for himself because he was cursed and a wanderer.  Rather it would be as if Enoch had built it for himself (Ramban).

4:19 –  This verse could simply have said ‘and Lamech begot Jabal … etc’ listing the births of generations as it does in succeeding chapters but the Torah goes into the narrative (verses 23-24) to inform us that God kept the promise that ‘vengeance shall be taken on Cain after seven generations.’  For after Lamech had children – the seventh generation – he arose and slew Cain (Rashi).

4:22 –  “..the sister of Tuval-Cain was Naamah” – Her name, meaning lovely, is mentioned because she was the wife of Noah, and her deeds were lovely and pleasant (Rashi).  She was famous and, being a righteous woman, she gave birth to righteous children.  Thus, a token remembrance of Cain was left in the world (Ramban).

4:23-24 – Lamech’s Plea.  Lamech was blind and his son Tubal-cain used to lead him.  One day, Tubal-cain saw Cain and mistaking him for an animal, he bade his father to shoot an arrow, which killed Cain.  When Lamech realized he had killed Cain, he beat his hands together in grief and accidentally struck his son, killing him, too.  This angered his wives who refused to live with him, and he tried to appease them.  He demanded that they obey him and come back, for, he asked, since he had not killed intentionally, could he be considered a murderer?  As to their fears that God would punish him, he contended, “If the punishment of Cain, an intentional murderer, was delayed until the seventh generation, surely my punishment will be deferred many times seven because I killed accidentally!”  He used the number seventy-seven to denote many times seven – a long period, not meaning exactly seventy-seven (Rashi).

4:25 – “And Adam knew his wife again..” – This occurrence happened previously but first the Torah completed the entire narrative of Cain and Abel and now returned to detail the generation of Seth and his descendants.  This is an example of ‘the Torah does not concern itself with chronological sequence’, the Torah arranges each general topic (such as the story of Cain and Abel) separately (Aderes Eliyahu).

Adam saw that Abel was dead, Cain was cursed, and Cain’s descendants had gone in evil ways.  He ‘knew’ his wife again – after a separation of 130 (Midrash) – to ensure that worthwhile forebears of mankind would be produced (Malbim).

4:26 – “Then to call in the Name of Hashem became profaned.” – The generation of Enosh introduced idolatry, which was to become the blight of humanity for thousands of years.  By ascribing God-like qualities to man and lifeless objects, they created the abominable situation in which to call in the Name of Hashem became profamed (Rashi). 

Note:  Rambam thought this so very fundamental that he wrote at length:

     In the days of Enosh, the people fell into gross error, and the wise men of the generation began to give foolish counsel.  Enoch himself was among those who erred.  Their error was as follows” ‘Since God created these starts and spheres to guide the world, set them on high and allotted them honor, and since they are ministers who service before Him, they deserve to be praised and glorified, and honor should be rendered them.  It is the will of God, blessed be He, that men should aggrandize and honor those whom He aggrandized and honored – just as a king wants respect to be shown to the officers who stand before Him, thereby honoring the king.  When they conceived this idea, they began to erect temples to the stars, offered up sacrifices to them, praised and glorified them in speech, and prostrated themselves before them – to obtain the Creator’s Favor, according to their corrupt notions.  This was the root of idolatry, and this was what the idolaters, who knew its fundamentals, said.  They did not however maintain that, except for the particular star which was the object of their worship, there was no God.  All knew that He alone is God; their error and folly consisted in imagining that this vain worship was His desire.

     In course of time, false prophets arose who asserted that God had commanded and explicitly told them, ‘Worship that particular star,…offer such and such sacrifices to it.  Erect a temple to it.  Make a statue of it, to which all the people – the women, children, and the rest of the community – shall bow down’ …. They began to make figures in temples, where they would assemble, bow down to the figures, and tell all the people that this particular figure conferred benefits and inflicted injuries, and that it was proper to worship and fear it.

     So gradually the custom spread throughout the world to worship figures with various types of worship, such as offering them sacrifices and bowing to them.  As time went on, the honored and revered Name of God was forgotten by mankind, vanished from their lips and hearts, and was no longer known to them.  All the common people and the women and children knew only the figure of wood and stone, and the temple edifice in which they had been trained from their childhood to prostrate themselves to the figure, worship it, and swear by its name.  Even their wise men, such as priests and the like, also fancied that there is no God save for the stars and heavenly spheres for which the figures were made.  

     But the Creator of the Universe was known to none, and recognized by none, save a few solitary individuals, such as Enosh, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, and Eber.  The world moved on in this fashion, until the Pillar of the World, the Patriarch Abraham, was born (Hilchos Avodas Kochavim 1:1,2)

The Torah does not say how much time elapsed between the creation of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.  The Sages, however, tell us explicitly that all the events related here – including the birth of Cain and Abel – occurred on the day Adam was created.  He had been given only one commandment: not to eat from the tree, and now his resolve would be tested to see if he could withstand temptation.  

The consensus of the commentators is that the serpent of the narrative was literally a serpent.  They differ regarding what force it represented: the Evil Inclination, Satan, or the Angel of Death.  According to the Midrash, before this cunning beast was cursed, it stood erect and was endowed with some faculty of communication.

The day on which man was created consisted of twelve hours: In the first hour, Adam’s dust was gathered; in the second, it was kneaded into a shapeless Man; in the third, his limbs were shaped; in the fourth, a soul was infused into him; in the fifth, he arose and stood on his feet; in the sixth, he named the animals; in the seventh, Eve became his mate; in the eighth, they procreated – ‘ascending as two and descending as four’ – (Cain and his twin sister were born, for Abel and his twin sisters were born after they sinned Yevamos 62a); in the ninth, he was commanded not to eat of the tree; in the tenth, he sinned; in the eleventh, he was judged; and in the twelfth, he was expelled from Eden and departed (Sanhedrin 38b).

3:1  “Now the serpent was cunning, beyond any beast of the field’  – The consensus of the Commentators is that the serpent is to be interpreted literally.  Their differences seem to lie in what the snake embodied and by what force he was harnessed: the Evil Inclination, the Satan, or some other counterforce represented by the most cunning of the beasts of the field, who according to the Midrash, stood erect and was endowed with some facility of communication before he was cursed.

“..did God say..’  The serpent did not utter God’s Personal Name, Hashem, because that Name was unknown to it IIbn Ezra).

“You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?”  – The serpent, in his cunning, knew this was not the case.  He purposely expanded the prohibition in order to incite her and engage her in open debate.

3:3-4  ‘….which is in the center of the garden..’  According to Midrash Tadshe 7 and Midrash Aggadah, however, God never told Adam that it was a Tree of Knowledge – He simply called it ‘the Tree in the midst of the Garden.’  When Moses was told to write the Torah, he was given its name according to the final result.  And why did God prohibit this tree?  So that whenever Adam would look upon it he would think of his Creator, recognize his responsibilities to Him and not be arrogant.

‘..nor touch it..’  – God had commanded them only not to eat, but Eve added to the prohibition.  The outcome of her doing so was to diminish the commandment.  The serpent pushed her against the tree and said: “Just as you did not die from touching it, so you will not die from eating it!” (Midrash; Rashi).  Thus, the serpent convinced her that God’s death threat was merely to intimidate them not to eat, but that they would not truly die.

‘Fool! God did not prohibit this tree out of any great love for you!  It is not poisonous or harmful to you and you won’t die from it!  He threatened you with death so you should exercise greater restraint regarding it, because He does not want you to attain more than He already allowed to you’ (B’chor Shor; Radak)

3:5-6  ‘..your eyes will be opened..’  – Hirsch comments:  ‘He has forbidden you to eat only to keep you in childish dependence of Himself.  Eat, and your eyes will be opened!  You will gain understanding, be able to know for yourselves what is good and what is bad.  With this understanding you will become independent of God and thus, yourselves godlike.  Even the smallest animal around you possesses the understanding of what is good and what is bad for itself’.

‘..for God knows..’  – The serpent used another ploy familiar to those who try to rationalize the Torah away.  They contend that those who convey and interpret the Law of God are motivated by a selfish desire to consolidate power in themselves.  “God did not prohibit this tree out of any concern for yours lives, but because He is aware that by eating from it you will attain extra wisdom, and become omniscient like Him.  Then you will be independent of Him” (Hirsch).  The tempter did not explicitly tell the woman to eat the fruit, but he had enveloped her in his spell.  She looked on the tree with a new longing – its fruit was good to eat, a delight to the eyes, and it would give her wisdom.  Then she brought it to Adam and repeated everything the serpent had told her.  He was, at one with her, and not blamless – not unreasonably deceived – and therefore liable to punishment (Radak; Ibn Ezra).

‘..and she gave also to her husband..’  The Midrash says it took tears and lamentations on her part to prevail upon Adam to take the step.  Not yet satisfied, she gave of the fruit to all living beings, that they, too, might be subject to death.  

3:7  ‘..the eyes of both of them were opened..’  – It is not said ‘And the eyes of both were opened and they saw‘, for what man saw previously and what he saw now were precisely the same; there had been no blindness which was now removed, but he received a new faculty whereby he found things wrong which previously he had not regarded as wrong (Moreh I:2). 

The serpent was right: they had become enlightened people.  But their first realization was – that they were naked!  Man need not be ashamed of his body as long as it stands in the service of God.  But when this condition is not entirely there he feels shame in his nakedness.  This shame awakens the voice within us, the voice of conscience that reminds us we are not meant to be animals (Hirsch).

‘..they sewed together a fig-leaf..’  According to the Talmud (Berachos 40a) the forbidden tree was a fig-tree, and by the very thing by which they were disgraced were they restored.  For as the Midrash states, Adam tried to gather leaves from the trees to cover parts of their bodies but he heard one tree after the other say: ‘this is the thief that deceived his Creator… take no leaves from me!’  Only the fig-tree allowed him to take its leaves, because it was the forbidden fruit.  Adam had the same experience as that prince who seduced one of the maid-servants in the palace.  When the king, his father, banished him, he vainly sought refuge with the other maid-servants, but only the one who had caused his disgrace would help him.  

3:8  ‘The heard the sound of Hashem God..’  It was unlike any sound they had ever heard before.  God caused His sound to be heard to afford them the opportunity of hiding (Radak);

and also to teach etiquette: Do not look upon a man in his disgrace.  God did not appear to them immediately after they sinned and were disgraced, He waited until they had sewn fig-leaves together and only then ‘they heard the sound of Hashem God.’  

‘…toward evening (cool of the day)..’  In the direction in which the sun sinks – the west, for towards evening the sun is in the west and they sinned in the tenth hour (Sanhedrin 38b; Rashi).

Hirsch renders the phrase: ‘They heard the voice of God withdrawing in the garden in the direction of the day – the West.  This is profoundly significant because, in the Holy Temple, the Holy of Holies was in the west and the eternal light of the Menorah was turned toward the west, implying that God withdrew His Presence westward.  According to the Midrash, this was the first tragic withdrawal of the Divine Presence in the history of the world…’

3:9  ‘…Where are you?’  – God knew where he was, but the question was merely a means of initiating a dialogue with him so he would not be terrified to repent as he would be if God were suddenly to punish him.  God acted similarly with Cain (4:9); with Balaam (Numbers 22:9); and with Hezekiah (Isaiah 39) (Rashi; Ibn Ezra).

For God, in His mercy, desires the repentance of the wicked so He can avoid punishing them (Mizrachi).

Moralistically, God’s conversation with Adam and Eve teaches that before a human judge condemns someone he should first confront him personally to ascertain whether he has an explanation.  For though God was full familiar with all the facts, He did not punish them until He conversed with them and afforded them the opportunity to reveal any excuse they might have had (Ralbag).

3:10-11  ‘I was afraid because I was naked.’  – Adam did not confess to hs actual sin.  According to him, he hid only out of modesty.  But God presses harder…. (Chizkuni)

‘Have you eaten of the tree..’  God knew the answer, but He wanted to elicit Adam’s response…and repentance. (Radak)  God opened the dialogue to give Adam the opportunity to acknowledge his sin and be pardoned.  But Adam did not confess.  Instead, as the next verse shows, he hurled against God the very kindness which God had shown him, the gift of Ev e, by implying that God had caused him to sin by giving him that woman (Midrash Aggadah.)

3:12  ‘..the woman whom You gave..’  – Adam pleaded before God: ‘Master of the Universe! When I was alone did I sin in any way against You?  But it was the woman whom You had brought to me, that enticed me away from Your Bidding’. (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer 14)

Adam thus displayed his ingratitude for God’s gift to him. (Rashi)’

(Additionally, it must be stressed that Adam was unjustified in implying that God thrust Eve upon him.  Recall 2:20 that mentions that God did not create woman until Adam demanded her.)

‘..and I ate.’  – In an astounding interpretation, the Sages note that the verb is in the future tense, as if Adam was saying, “I ate and I will eat again!”  Michtav MeEliyahu explains that Adam assessed himself objectively and said that if he were to be faced with a similar temptation, he would probably succumb again.  A sinner cannot hope to escape from his spiritual squalor unless he is honest with himself.

3:13   “What is it that you have done?”  What she had done was abundantly clear.  This rhetorical question was not to elicit information, but to give Eve an opening to express remorse and to repent. (Sforno)

Since the commandment had been given only to Adam, why was Eve punished?  Ramban explains that Eve had been included in the prohibition since she was part of him – bone of his bones.  Additionally, she was punished for misleading Adam and causing him to sin; that was a greater sin than her own eating.

3:14-21:  The sinners are punished.  Although this was surely a punishment for Adam and Eve’s misdeed, it should not be understood as a retaliation.  By assimilating into their nature an awareness of and a temptation to sin, Adam and Eve became unworthy to remain in the spiritual paradise of Eden; consequently they were expelled.  As a result, life changed in virtually every conceivable way.  Death, the need to work hard physically as well as spiritually, the pain of giving birth, and the millennia-long struggle to regain that lost spiritual plateau are all part of the decree God was about to pronounce.

3:14  “..to the serpent..”  He was the instigator of it all so he was cursed first; then Eve, and finally Adam (Chizhuni).

”Because you have done this..”  The Midrash notes that with Adam, God first discussed the matter; with Eve He first discussed the matter; but with the serpent He entered into no discussion (but immediately cursed him).  The reason being that God said: ‘The serpent’ is ready with answers: If I discuss it with him, he will answer me: “You commanded them and I commanded them: why did they ignore Your command and follow mine?”  God therefore pronounced His sentence immediately.

Cursed…beyond… – The whole world, including animal life, had been doomed by man’s sin to suffer as a means of his betterment, but the serpent most of all (Hirsh; Malbim).

The Mechilta cites the beautiful parable of a king who decreed that his son be given an annual salary so that he would have no cause to see his father all year long.  The prince was heartbroken because he was denied access to the love and concern of his father.  So, too, the snake.  The serpent was denied the need to pray to his Creator for sustenance as do the other animals.  This was its curse.  

”  all the days of your life.”  Including the days of the Messiah.  This curse will never be removed.  Even in Messianic times (when ‘the wolf and the lamb shall eat together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox’) ‘the serpent’s food shall be dust’ (Isaiah 65:25) (Malbim).

3:15  “I will put enmity..”  What the serpent set its eyes on was not proper for it; what it sought was not granted to it, and what it possessed was taken from it.  God said: I designed you to be king over every animal and beast; but now ‘cursed are you beyond all cattle and beyond every beast of the field’; I intended you to walk with an erect posture; but now ‘you shall go upon your belly’; I intended that you eat of the same dainties as man; but now ‘dust shall you eat’.  You schemed to kill Adam and take Eve; but now: ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed’.

“..pound your head, and you will bite his heel.”  Man will wield the advantage in the conflict between himself and the serpent, for man will pound the serpent’s head, but the serpent will bruise him only in the very heel with which man crushes the brain (Ramban).

3:16  Before the sin, Adam and Eve lived together and she conceived and gave birth immediately and painlessly.  Now that would change.  Conception would not be automatic, and there would be an extended period of pregnancy and labor pains (Sforno).

‘..and he shall rule over you.”  Her punishment was measure for measure.  She influenced her husband to eat at her command; now she would become subservient to him (Ramban).  The new conditions of life that made sustenance the product of hard labor would naturally make women dependent on the physically stronger men.  Obedience to the Torah, however, restores her to her former and proper status as the crown of her husband and pearl of his life (Proverbs 12:4,3) 31:10) (Hirsch).

The Sages ordained that a man should honor his wife more than himself, and love her as himself.  If he has money, he should increase his generosity to her according to his means.  He should not cast fear upon her unduly and his conversation with her should be gentle – he should be prone neither to melancholy nor anger.  

They have similarly ordained that a wife should honor her husband exceedingly and revere him….and refrain from anything that is repugnant to him.  This is the way of the daughters of Israel who are holy and pure in their union, and in these ways will their life together be seemly and praiseworthy (Rambam, Hil. Ishus 15:19-20).

3:17  “Because you listened…”  People always make choices in life and they are responsible for them.  Adam failed to exercise his responsibility to investigate what he was being offered and to realize that when he had to choose between pleasing God and pleasing the one who was offering a momentarily enticing choice, the first allegiance had to be to God. 

According to the view that Adam was unaware at the time that the fruit he was eating was of the forbidden tree, the verse is quite correct: Adam was not primarily blamed for eating of the tree, because he was unaware; he was accused of ‘listening to the voice of his wife’ – for accepting his wife’s counsel blindly without investigation.  As Or HaChaim puts it, he succumbed to her voice without examining the content of her words.

“…cursed is the ground because of you;”  The commentators ask: Why does the earth deserve punishment because of man’s sin?  Several reasons were given in the Midrash:

• The earth was punished because it was created only for mankind .. The result being that, when the earth does not yield its produce, man must turn to his Father in Heaven. 
• The earth is, in a sense, the ‘mother’ of man, for he was taken from it, and a mother is ‘cursed’ when her children sin, as in 27:13 ‘upon me is your curse, my son’.
• The earth ‘sinned’ on the third day of Creation when it yielded up trees whose barks were inedible.
• Because the earth did not ‘speak out’ against the evil deed, it was cursed….For when men transgress less vital sins God smites the fruit of the earth (with the result that man’s toil tilling the earth is in vain).

3:18  ” ..thorns and thistles..”  Since the earth will yield thorns, thistles, and other weeds, you will have no choice but to eat them (Rashi).  You will now be forced to eat herbs rather than the fruits of the garden to which you were heretofore accustomed (Radak)

3:19  “..by the sweat of your brow..”  The Midrash records that when Adam heard the words ‘thorns and thistles shall it bring forth and you shall eat the herb of the field’, he broke out in a sweat and said: ‘What!  Shall I and my cattle eat from the same manger?’  God had mercy upon him and said” ‘In consideration of the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread’.  

“For you are dust..”   The implication is that death was not a curse but a natural consequence of Man’s nature.  Since he originated from the earth it is only natural that age and deterioration would return him to his origin.  Had he not sinned, however, he would have purified his physical nature and risen above his origin (Eliyahu).  In this regard, it is noteworthy that the bodies of outstandingly righteous people that have been exhumed were found not to have decomposed.  They had so exalted their behavior that their bodies had become holy and no longer subject to the ravages of the earth.  This is why Elijah and Enoch were able to ascend to heaven at the end of their lives without dying, and why Moses could live among the angels for forth days without eating and drinking.

3:20  ‘..called his wife’s name Eve’ –  He named her, just as he named all the creatures.  By use of the general term, woman (2:23), Adam identified her as the female of the human species.  Now he gave her a personal name, Chava (Eve) (Radak).  

The Hebrew word, Eve, means the same as ‘living’.  Thus, her name indicates that she is the mother of all the living.  The Midrash perceives in the name ‘Chavah’ a play on the Aramaic word ‘Chivya’ which means serpent: ‘She was given to him for an adviser but she counseled him like the serpent’.  

3:21  “..and He clothed them.”  – Not only did God Himself make them comfortable garments, He Himself clothed them to show that He still loved them, despite their sin (R’Bachya). 

Note:  The Midrash comments that these garments were embroidered with pictures of all the animals and birds.  When Adam and Eve wore them they had dominion over the animals, and were invincible.  They were handed down from generation to generation to Methuselah and to Noah who took them into the Ark.  Ham stole the garments passing them on to Cush who in turn hid them for many years until he passed them on to his son Nimrod.  Nimrod’s prowess as ‘a mighty hunter’ (10:9) is directly attributable to these garments.  When Esau slew Nimrod, Esau appropriated them.  These were the ‘coveted garments of Esau’ (27:15).  These were the garments worn by Jacob when he received Isaac’s blessing, after which they were concealed. (See Torah Sh’lemah 3:184; Sefer HaYashar 7:24)

3:22  “..man has become like one of Us..”  “Free Will is bestowed on every human being.  If one desires to turn towards the good way and be righteous, he has the capacity, and if one wishes to turn towards the evil way and be wicked, he has the capacity.  And thus it is written in the Torah ‘Man has become unique of himself’ which means that the human species had become unique in all the world, there being no other species like it in that man, of himself, and by the exercise of his own intelligence and reason, knows what is good and what is evil, and there is none who can prevent him from doing that which is good or bad.  This being the case, there was apprehension ‘lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life.”  (Omkelos; Hilchos Yeshivah 5:1)

3:23  “..Hashem God banished him..”  God had originally created man outside of the Garden of Eden (2:9, 16), and placed him there where all his needs were supplied with a minimum of effort.  He had only to till the land and guard it against wild animals.  But Adam proved unequal to even this past; by his negligence he allowed the serpent to enter the garden with disastrous results.  Therefore, God removed him and returned him to his source where he would have to toil excessively just to provide his own sustenance.

3:24  “..drove out the man..”  Hirsch explains that ‘drove out’ implies man’s greater separation from God.  Having disobeyed God, man was forced to fend for himself in exile from His presence to learn the necessity for the guidance of God and to feel the yearning for His nearness.

“the Cherubim..”  These were destructive angels, who have the responsibility of preventing man from discovering and re-entering the garden..  Although they guarded the entire garden, the verse specifies that they guarded the way to the tree of life because that was their primary function.  This ‘guarding’ was not in the sense of protecting it, but in honor of its exalted status.

R’Yaakov Kamenetsky noted that the term Cherubim is also used to describe the sacred, angel-like children that were carved from the cover of the Holy Ark; here they are destructive, and there they represent the life-giving powers of the Torah.  This alludes to the paramount importance of education.  Children can become holy or destructive, depending on how they are reared..

Hirsch explains that on a lofty plane, guarding the way to the tree of life, can mean to protect and preserve the way so that it shall not be lost for mankind, so that he will be able to find it again and ultimately go back on it… He finds support for this in the fact that this task was entrusted to Cherubim, the same word used to describe the golden protectors of the Holy Ark in the Tabernacle and Temple.

Malbin concludes: They guard the way to the tree of life, preparing it so that man can attain it after his soul separates from his body and returns to its Father…

3:22-24 Summary:  God grieved at the sin and its results, for Adam had now made it impossible for God to let him stay in the garden.  By eating from the Tree of Knowledge, Man had become, like the Unique One among us’, meaning that he had become unique among the terrestrial ones, just as God is unique among the terrestrial ones, for now Man can discriminate between good and bad, a quality not possessed by cattle and beasts (Rashi).  Because Man has this unique ability to know good and evil, and his desire for sensual gratification had become enhanced, there was a new danger.  If Man kept the capacity to live forever, he might well spend all his days pursuing gratification and cast away intellectual growth and good deeds.  He would fail to attain the spiritual bliss that God intended for him.  If so, Man had to be banished from Eden so that he would not be able to eat from the Tree of Life and live forever (Rambam; Sforno)

2:1   “So the heavens and the earth and all their hosts were finished.” – Ramban explains that the ‘host’ of the earth refers to the beasts, creeping things, fish, all growing things, and man; the ‘host‘ of the heavens refers to the luminaries and the stars, as in Deuteronomy 4:19  ‘and when you lift your eyes to heaven and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars: all the host of heaven’.  The phrase also alludes to the formation of the angels as part of the work of creation, and the souls of man of all generations, which, according to Ramban were created in the work of creation.  (Chavel)

Everything created in heaven and on earth forms one great ‘host’ whose central point is its creator and master…Great and small we all stand on our post with powers given us to accomplish our task, all members of God’s one great host.  His is the power and the greatness… ours the obedience, the punctuality, the loyalty…  (Hirsch)

2:2   “His work which He had done..” Everything is now in a state of completion.  Thus, God concluded His purposeful work so that no further creative or developing action of His would follow others than the maintenance of the existing universe in its existing working condition.  

‘Work’  When applied to God, ‘work’ must be understood in this context: not as ‘toil’, a concept inapplicable to God, but as a reference to the result of His creative activity.

2:3   “And God blessed the seventh day and hollowed it.”   ‘Blessing’ refers to abundant (spiritual) goodness, for on the Sabbath there is a renewal of physical procreative strength, and there is a greater functioning capacity in the power of reasoning and intellect.  He ‘hallowed it’ (made holy, sanctified) it by having no work done on it as on the other days.  (Ibn Ezra)     What is more – the sanctity of the Sabbath provides the blessing of success for the activity of the week days.

According to Radak, ‘blessing’ is the abundant well-being brought about by the Sabbath. It is the day when, free from mundane worry, man can immerse himself in wisdom and spirituality.  God thus blessed this day by commanding the Jews themselves to rest on it and hallow it.  He hallowed it by sanctifying and distinguishing it from ordinary days.  It is the day during which the Jews abstain from work as a sign between them and God that they are holy by virtue of their observance of the Sabbath which testifies to the divine creation of the world.

Rashi, however, following the Midrash, explains that the verse does not say ‘which God created and made’ – implying a future action, indicating that some parts of Creation should logically have been created on the seventh day (Mizrachi).  Instead God created them on the sixth day because as the Midrash states, three things were created every day except for Friday when six things were created: its own quota plus that of the Sabbath.

2:4  “Hashem God” or “Hashem Elohim” – Why use both names in the reference?  Hashem refers to God under His “Attribute of Mercy” and also refers to the eternal self existence and continuity while Elohim refers to Him as the “Attribute of Judgement”.

The use of ‘Hashem’ in this verse is commented upon in the Midrash: ‘This may be compared to a king who had some empty glasses.  The king said” ‘If I pour hot water into them, they will burst; if cold they will contract and snap.  So he mixed hot and cold water and poured it into them and they therefore remained unbroken…

Similarly, God said: If I create the world on the basis of mercy alone (represented by ‘Hashem’), its sins will abound; on the basis of judgement alone (‘Elohim’), it cannot endure.  Therefore, I will create it on the basis of both judgment and mercy and may it then stand!  Hence the combined expression: Hashem God!

Thus, in telling of the Creation of the Universe as a whole – ‘heaven’ is mentioned first, for, indeed, the celestial beings can endure being governed by Justice alone.  But when man is to enter the scene, ‘earth’ is mentioned first and the added use of ‘Hashem’ signifies that His justice must be tempered with mercy (Kli Yakar).

2:5  According to Ramban, the simple meaning of the verse is that the lush green vegetation  were indeed created on the third day in their full stature, but that Scripture now tells us that there was no one to further plant and sow them, nor could the earth be productive until the mist ascended and watered it and man was formed to cultivate and guard it.

Hoffman thus perceives the continuity of verses 5-7 as follows: Before anything sprang forth from the earth….mist ascended from the earth and watered the soil….from which God created man.

2:6  “A mist ascended from the earth”  This verse describes the preliminary steps of man’s creation: God caused the deep to rise filling the clouds with water to moisten the dust, and man was created.  It is similar to a kneader who first pours in water and then kneads the dough.  Here, too: First, ‘He watered the soil” and then ‘He formed man’ (Rashi). 

“…and watered the whole surface of the soil.”  The moistening was only on the surface, unlike rain whose moisture penetrates deep into the soil.  The impending creation of man required only surface moisture (Ha’amek Davar).

2:7  Unlike the animals who were brought forth entirely from the earth (1:24), man is distinctive in that God formed him and breathed into his nostrils the soul of life..  

Hirsch notes that it does not say that God formed man from the dust of the ground but He formed him of dust from the ground.  God formed from the dust, only that which is earthly in man, and which will eventually return to earth.  Man’s human life, however, was not taken by God from the earth: God breathed that part into his countenance and only thereby did man become a living creature…  For man is unlike animals, in that only the dead material came from the earth to form him, but it was the Breath of God that transformed that lifeless dust into a living being which raises man above the animal forces of physical necessity and makes him free, endowed with the ability to master and rule over the earthly within him.

“...and He blew into his nostrils the soul (or breath) of life;”  God thus made man out of both lower (earthly) and upper (heavenly) matter: his body from the dust and his soul from the spirit (Rashi).

Soul is a term that applies to man only.  It refers to the uppermost soul that comes from God, and which provides man with his superiority of knowledge, speech, and intellect beyond all animals … and which will one day submit to judgment (B’chor Shor).

Ramban comments that since this soul was breathed into his nostrils by God, it follows that man’s soul was of Divine essence and that Scripture specifically mentioned the Source of man’s soul in order to make it clear that the soul did not come to man from the elements.

“and man became a living being.”   Living in Hebrew suggests that a being has attained the highest degree of perfection possible for that particular creature.  Animals achieve that state of being entitled, a living soul’ just by existing according to their intended state.  Man, however, attains this status only when his rational soul functions perfectly, whereas a Jew reaches this state of living when he perceives his role as a servant of God, for this is the motive of his creation.  This fundamental concept is alluded to in Habakkuk 2:4, which according to this interpretation should be given: ‘And the righteous shall, by virtue of his faith, be called, ‘living’.

2:8  The Garden of Eden  “Hashem God planted…”  God’s full Name is mentioned in connection with this planting to demonstrate that these were His plantings, the prearranged work of His hands about which He decreed precisely where the garden and each tree would be, unlike the other places on earth where the trees grow without specific order (Midrash; Ramban).

“a garden in Eden..”  A place on earth whose exact location is unknown to any human being (Midrash; HaGadol).  

“and placed there the man whom He had formed.”  God ‘placed’ him there but he was not created there.  Hirsch comments that this does not mean merely placing there, but it indicates the position he was to occupy 

Had man originated in the Garden of Eden he would have thought that the whole world was like that garden.  Instead, God formed him outside the garden so he saw a world of thorns and thistles.  Only then did God lead man into the choicest part of the garden (Chizkuni).

2:9-14  These verses describe in detail the garden that was created especially for man.  Man’s inhabitation continues in verse 15.

2:9  “..a tree of the knowledge of good and bad”  The Midrash discusses what kind of tree it was.  Several options are offered: *It was wheat…which at the time grew lofty as the cedars of Lebanon; *It was grapes..; *It was the estrog (citron) tree, as it is written (3:6)  ‘and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food’ … For what tree is it whose wood can be eaten like its fruit? None other than the esrog tree; *It was a fig…   But it is said that the Holy One Blessed be He did not, and will not reveal to man what kind if tree it was … for He was anxious to safeguard mankind’s honor and His own .. He did not reveal the nature of the tree so that it might be said, ‘through this tree Adam brought death into the world.’

Hirsch says that, as is plain from the chapter, the tree’s fruit was succulent and tempting, yet man was forbidden to eat from it.  Because it was against God’s will that man partake of it, its eating was naturally ‘bad’ no matter what the senses might dictate.  Thus the tree was there to demonstrate that ‘good and bad’ are concepts that are dependent on the will of God, not the senses of man.

2:10  “..a river issues forth from Eden..”  The river in Eden overflows and waters the garden without need of man or his toil.  For man was placed there to ‘tend and guard it’ (verse 15) but he did not have to water it; that was taken care of by the river. (Radak)

2:11 – 14  “..Pishon..the one that encircles the whole land of Chavilah..”  Rashi and most commentators identify Pishon with the Nile.  Chavilah is mentioned twice in the Torah and in order to identify which one, the Torah describes it as the place ‘where there is gold‘.  In 2 Chronicles 9:10, it clearly identifies the Chavilah near Ophir as having gold.  Since Cush and Ashur do not share their names with any other countries, no further description of them is needed.

The Midrash notes that at this chronological point in time Chavilah, Cush, and Asshur did not yet exist as countries, but the Torah refers to them by the name which those districts would bear in the future (Kesubos 10b).  

Gichon – The identity of this river, too, is a matter of uncertainty, for as Rashi notes in Berachos 10b, the Gichon mentioned in 2 Chronicles 32 is ‘not the large river’, which does not lie in Eretz Yisrael, but it is the Siloam pool near Jerusalem referred to in 1 Kings 1:33 – ‘the spring east of Jerusalem’.

Chidekel – Most identify this river as the Tigris.

Euphrates – Rashi comments that this is the most important of the four rivers on account of its connection to Eretz Yisrael of which it was to be the ideal boundary, as in 15:18 ‘To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.’  Rashi also comments that because it is associated with Eretz Yisrael it is called ‘great’ although it was the last river to issue from Eden.  

2:15 – Man in the Garden  After the description of the Garden and its rivers which began in verse 9, the narrative resumes where it left off at the end of verse 8: the theme of man’s entry into the Garden of Eden.  

2:15  ‘..and placed him in the Garden of Eden,” – as one who gently places down a precious treasure giving it fullest care and attention.  The Midrash writes “He showed him the garden from end to end and made him its king and ruler.’

     ‘..to work it and to guard it.” –  The Midrash gives an allegorical interpretation of this ‘work’ in Eden:

     “What labor was there in the midst of the garden that the verse should say to work it and guard it? 

      – Perhaps you will say: To prune the vines, plough the fields, and pile up the sheaves.

     But, did not the trees grow up of their own accord?

      – Perhaps you will say: There was other work to be done, such as watering the garden.

     But did not a river flow through and water the garden (verse 10)?

     What, then, does ‘to work it and guard it’ mean?  To indulge in the words of the Torah and to ‘guard’ all its commandments, as it says further (3:24): “to guard the way to the tree of life” – and the ‘tree of life’ signifies the Torah, as it is written (Proverbs 3:18): “it is a tree of life to those that grasp it”.  

     ‘..work it and guard it’ – Great is work because even Adam tasted nothing before he worked, as it is said, “and He put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and guard it”, and only then ‘from every tree of the garden you may eat’.  In other words, only after God told him to cultivate and keep the garden did He give him permission to eat of its fruits for it is improper for man to benefit from this world without contributing something beneficial towards the settlement and upkeep of the world (Torah Temimah).

2:16-17  Hoffman explains that the ‘knowledge of good and evil’ means the recognition of good and evil, or more properly, discerning righteousness and its opposite – and distinguishing between them: ‘to discern between good and evil (i Kings 3:9) – to choose the good out of the deep conviction and to dispel everything evil.  This is a capacity not possessed by young children (Deuteronomy 1:39); it is acquired but later lost again in extreme old age during the second childhood (II Samuel 14:17,20).  Only during young manhood does man acquire this capacity (Isaiah 7:15), and it is a pre-eminent trait of divine beings (3:5, 22).

Why, then, should man be prohibited from partaking of a tree the fruits of which can so greatly ennoble him?  And why was man created without this capacity?

     The answer is that man’s capacities for moral attainment must be drawn out and developed through discipline and testing.  Man cannot be born with this full knowledge; it must be the result of living a life subordinated to the Will of God as revealed in His Torah even when the reasons underlying God’s commands are beyond man’s understanding.  For man’s instinctive perception of the best may be contrary to the lofty calling of man and judged by God as a capital crime.

‘..you must not eat thereof..’  Note that God did not specifically prohibit eating from the tree of life because the tree of knowledge formed a hedge around it; only after one had partaken of the latter and cleared a path for himself could one come close to the tree of life (Chizkuni).

The tree of life is not mentioned because had man not sinned he would have lived forever regardless, and the question of his partaking of the tree of life was academic.  It was only after he sinned and was punished with mortality that God said (3:22): ‘and now..(after having already sinned and been sentenced to eventual death) ..lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life..’  

‘..you shall surely die’  God did not threaten immediate death for Adam reached the age of 930, but that death would be the ultimate result of the sin.  The exact nature of death is recognized even today, as a still unsolved physiological problem.  The prophet proclaims that death will disappear from the world (Isaiah 25:8) when mankind once again achieves the closeness to God that was intended at Creation.  

2:18-25  A Companion for Adam – This passage does not describe a new creation; it merely elaborates upon the making of the creatures mentioned in 1:25.  God knew that Adam needed a companion.  Her purpose was not for reproduction, for Adam had been created with that function.  Rather, God wanted Adam to have the companionship, support, and challenge that is present in good marriages, and He wanted the children who would be born to Adam and his future mate to be reared by both a father and a mother.  The needs for assets in human life are too obvious to require elaboration.  But before creating  Adam’s helpmate, God brought all the creatures to him so that he could see for himself that none was suited to his needs, and he would ask for a companion.  Then he would appreciate his newly fashioned mate and not take her for granted.

2:18  “..it is not good that man be alone..’  Alone does not imply that man would have been unable to propagate, for, as noted in 1:27, man was created with two ‘faces’ – in other words, endowed with both the male and female characteristic, so that as a single being he could have conceived and given birth.  Rather God then declared that is would be good that she ‘help’, separate from him and be facing him, and therefore be more functional (Ramban; Vilna Gaon).  

‘..a helper corresponding to him.’ – (literally, a helper against him)  If the man is worthy, the woman will be a helper; if he is unworthy, she will be against him (Yevamos 63a; Rashi).  Many have noted that the ideal marriage is not necessarily one of a total agreement in all matters.  Often it is the wife’s responsibility to oppose her husband and prevent him from acting rashly, or to help him achieve a common course by questioning, criticizing, and discussing.  Thus, the verse means literally that there are times a wife can best be a helper by being against him (see 21:10-12).   A wife is neither man’s shadow nor his servant, but his other self, a ‘helper’ in a dimension beyond the capability of any other creature.  

2:19  ‘  and brought them to the man to see what he would call each of them”  God brought the animals to man for a double purpose: to have man name the animals and therefore establish his lordship over them; and to satisfy man that he could not hope to find from among them a suitable companion – to serve the dual function of helping him and physically and spiritually, and at the same time be his intellectual equal (Storno).

So the question arises: Why did God put Adam through this series of tasks?  Why was man not originally created with a separate female counterpart as were the other creatures?

Talmud Kesubos 8a writes: ‘At first the intention was to create two, but ultimately only one was created.’  The Talmud does not imply that God ‘changed His mind’ but that the introduction of ‘it is not good that man should be alone’ and man’s quest for a companion and helper from among the animals – although this unsuccessful quest was obviously known by God in advance and that it would not be fulfilled – was designed to stress the sacred and precious nature of this partnership.  God willed that man should experience life without a woman for a brief time before her creations so that her arrival would be precious to him.

God as Master of the universe proclaimed His sovereignty.  He named the light, the darkness, the heavens and the earth.  But it is man, in his God-given role as governor of the earth (1:28), who is called upon to name his subjects – the animal world.

2:20  ‘..man assigned names…’  God brought the creatures before him in pairs so he should name also the females.  The males of certain species are called by one name, such as bull or ram; while the female counterparts are called by another name such as cow or ewe.  Furthermore, according to Ramban, this ‘naming’ implied recognizing their nature and separating them by species, clarifying which are fit to mate with one another.  As the verse continues, among them all he did not find a natural companion for himself. (Ramban) 

Man, indeed, found animals which would be helpful and serviceable to him.  They could qualify as help.  What he could not find among all the creatures that passed before him was – one that would correspond to him on an equal social and intellectual level (Chizkuni).

God paraded all the animals before Adam in pairs of every kind.   Adam said:  Every one of these has a mate except for me!  And why did God not create her for him at the beginning?  Because God foresaw that he will complain against her and she was therefore not given him until he expressly asked God for her……But as soon as man demanded her, then immediately Hashem God caused a deep sleep to descent on man.

When the earth heard what God resolved to do, it began to tremble and quake.  ‘I do not have the strength to provide food for the herd of Adam’s descendants.’   But God pacified it by saying, ‘I and you together, will find food for the herd’.  Accordingly time was divided between God and the earth.  God took the night and earth took the day.  Refreshing sleep nourishes and strengthens man, it give him life and rest, while the earth brings forth produce with the help of God who waters it.  Yet man must work the earth to earn his food.  (Midrash HaGadol)

2:21  ‘..He took one of his sides’  Although the word is commonly rendered as ‘one of his ribs’, the commentators are nearly unanimous in the actual translation as ‘one of his sides’.  Hirsch observed that word never appears elsewhere in Scriptures as a ‘rib’ but always as a ‘side’.  Keeping in mind also that when God created man, He created both male and female – two sides.

2:22-23  ‘..Hashem fashioned the side that He had taken from the man into a woman..’  Unlike man, the material, for woman’s body was not taken from the earth.  God built one side of man into woman – so that the single human being now became two.  Thereby, the complete equality of man and woman was irrefutably demonstrated (Hirsch).

‘and He brought her..’  The use of the phrase ‘and He brought her’ is explained by Ibn Ezra as being Adam’s reaction upon awakening and seeing this woman.  He surmised that, like the other creatures, she was brought to him from elsewhere.  It was only when he gazed upon her and realized that part of his body was missing, that he was moved to declare ‘bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!’ (Chizkuni).

2:24  As long as man was alone, his condition was not ‘good’ (v18).  Once the division between man and woman had been made, it was no longer possible for man to find fulfillment alone.  Without his wife, he was only half a man.  He can achieve wholeness only with her (Hirsch).

Hirsch continues: Man is not unique among living beings in having a sexual life.  But other creatures require mating only for the purpose of breeding; because male and female were created simultaneously, they can function independent of one another.  Man is different: woman was created from man to show that only in partnership do the two form a complete human being.  But that can only take place if at the same time they become one mind, one heart, one soul … and if they subordinate all their strength and efforts to the service of a Higher Will.

2:25  ‘..and they were not ashamed’  For they did not yet have a concept of modesty to distinguish between good and bad since the Evil Inclination was not yet active and would not be so until he had eaten from the tree (Rashi).

1:1 Day One   “In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and earth”  This verse has been debated for thousands of years.  Was this all a part of day 1 or is it simply a statement of fact?  In summary – some write:
     Ramban:  the work of creation is a deep secret which cannot be comprehended from the verses, nor can it be definitively known except through the tradition going back to Moses our teacher who heard it from the mouth of the Almighty.

     Rashi:  the verses do not deal with the sequence of Creation.  The intent of the verses is to declare that God, alone, as Master of the World is the Source of all Creation, and gave the land to whom He pleased, and according to His will later took the land from the Canaanites and gave it to Israel.

     Rambam:  The Account of the Beginning belongs to those matters which are mysteries of the Torah, …not to be divulged and which may not be explained except orally to one man having certain stated qualities(Moses) – therefore the knowledge of this matter ceased to exist in the entire religious community.  This was inevitable, because this knowledge was transmitted only from one principal to another and was never committed to writing.

     “In the Beginning…”  The final letters of the first three words in Hebrew of the Torah spell “truth”.  It is customary for a liturgical poet to fit the initials of his name into the stanzas of his work; God did the same.  The Sages say the seal of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, is Truth.  Therefore he placed His seal upon the first words of the Torah.   

     “..of God’s creating..’  God – God is undefinable because He is beyond the perception of our physical senses.  Rambam explains that Moses, when he asked God ‘Show me, please, Your Glory,’ (Exodus 33:18), requested that the ‘existence’ of God should be distinguished in his mind from other beings so, that he would become aware of the true existence of God, as it is.  God replied that it is beyond the mental capacity of a living man, composed of body and soul, to attain a clear understanding of this truth.  But the Holy One imparted to him an awareness of what no man knew before him, and no man will know after him. (Hilchos Yesodai HaTorah 1:10)

1:2  “with darkness upon the surface of the deep,”  ‘Darkness” – was darkness created?  The mention of darkness in this verse introduces the need for the creation of light in the following verse.  Had there not been darkness, He would not have commanded that there be light. (Mizrachi)

     The Talmud comments that ‘darkness’ is one of the things created on the first day.  Ten things were created the first day: heaven and earth, tohu (isolation) and bohu (void – desolate of all habitation), light and darkness, wind and water, the measure of day, and the measure of night. (Chagigah 12a)  Therefore the commentators point out, darkness is not merely the absence of light, but it is a specific object of God’s creation.  That this is so is clearly stated in Isaiah 45:7 where God describes Himself as “He who forms the light and creates darkness.’

     “..the Divine Presence hovered upon the surface of the waters”  The water mentioned in this verse is not the water that is in the ‘seas’ (verse 10).  It is clear that there was a certain common matter which was called ‘water’.  Afterwards, it was divided into three forms; a part of it became ‘seas’, another part of it became ‘firmament’; and a their part became that which is above the ‘firmament’ – entirely beyond the earth.  (Moreh Nevuchim 2:30)

1:3  “God said, ‘Let there be light,”  The Talmud (Chagigah 12a) states that the light created on the first day is identical with the luminaries (verse 14), for the luminaries were created on the first day but were not suspended (in the firmament) until the fourth day.

     The Sages state that the luminaries were ‘suspended’ on the fourth day.  Note that they did not use the verb ‘created’ but ‘suspended’.  ‘Light’ in our verse designates the sun, moon, and the stars which were created on the first day along with the heaven, earth, light, darkness, air, and water.  God thus prepared the potential for everything on the first day….Note that from the first until the fifth day you will not find either the words ‘created’ or ‘formed’.

     Note: Radak explains: ‘Although the luminaries were not suspended in the firmament until the fourth day, they were created with the spheres on the first day.  Everything was created simultaneously but each of their individual potentials was not manifested until the respectively designated day.  Even light did not dispense its rays causing the earth to sprout forth its vegetation until God commanded that there be luminaries in the firmament to give light upon the earth (verse 15) and to perform their function in the terrestrial world.

     It is one of the mysteries of creation beyond human comprehension that although everything was created simultaneously – at one instant with one Word – on the first day, there was nevertheless a ‘sequence’, with the creation of darkness preceding the creation of light and so on.

     ‘The light that was created that day was so exceedingly intense that no human being could gaze upon it; God stored it away for the righteous in the Hereafter’ (Sefer HaBahir)

     Also, the verse does not read and it was so, as it does on the other days, because this light did not always remain in that unchanged state as did the other creations. (Ramban)

1:4  “God saw that the light was good,”  Rashi’s interpretation follows the Talmud Chagigah 12a: ‘The light the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, one could see thereby from one end of the world to the other, but as soon as He saw the corrupt actions of the wicked, He arose and hid it from them and reserved it for the righteous in the time to come.’

     The Chidushei HaRim once remarked: “We are indeed fortunate that God hid away this first light.  He knew that the wicked are capable of blemishing even that!’

     The light-day refers to the deeds of the righteous, and the darkness-night refers to the deeds of the wicked (Midrash) 

1:5  “And God called to the light: ‘Day’..”  The Talmud renders not “He called”, but rather “He summoned” and interprets: ‘God summoned the light and appointed it for duty by day, and He summoned the darkness and appointed it for duty by night’ (Pesachim 2a)

     It must be noted that here again, the Torah – given to man – speaks in human terms and views everything from his perspective.  In reality, the terms light and darkness, designating day and night, are valid only in human terms.  When we perceive a certain period to be ‘day’ this is true only in terms of our geographical location: others experience ‘night’ at this very same time.  In divine terms, therefore, as we imagine Him peering down from His heavenly abode, there is no one ‘time’ that is truly night nor one time that is truly day.  The Torah speaks from the viewpoint of man.’

     “and to the darkness He called: ‘Night’..”  The Midrash comments that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not link His name with evil but only with good.  Therefore, it is not written here ‘and God called to the light day and to the darkness “God’ called night, but ‘and to the darkness He called night.’  

     “and there was evening and there was morning’  Thus the Sabbaths and festivals begin in the evening – ‘from evening unto evening’ (Leviticus 23:32)

1:6 Second Day  “..in the midst of the waters,”  i.e. in the exact center, the separation between the upper waters and the firmament being equal to the separation between the firmament and the waters on the earth.  Thus we learn that the upper waters remain suspended by divine edict (Rashi)

1:7  “…the waters which were above the firmament”  Me’am Loez states that though the water above the firmament is of a spiritual nature, we are nevertheless obliged to believe that there is, indeed, water there, as King David said: ‘Praise Him, heavens of heavens, and you waters that are above the heavens.’ (Psalms 148:4)

     “…and it was so.”  If the verse had already said “And God made’, why must it repeat ‘and it was so’?  The phrase implies absolute eternity in an unchanging state from the day of its creation.  Nevertheless, it must be understood that God renews the Creation daily – otherwise it could not continue to exist.  Hence, there is no self-sustaining permanence in Creation.  When we speak of the permanence of the universe, we mean that it is His will that creation be renewed constantly.  

     Rashi notes that the Torah does not conclude this verse with the phrase ‘that it was good’ as it does on the other days of Creation because the task of creating the waters, although begun on the second day, was not completed until the following day when they were gathered and became seas.  Incomplete work is still imperfect because having not yet attained its intended state, it could not be described as ‘good’.  However, on the third say, when the work of the waters was completed, the expression ‘that it was good’ is said twice – once for the completion of the second day’s creation, and once for the new creation of the third day (plant life).

1:8  “God called to the firmament: Heaven.”  Heaven is a compound of two words ‘carry water; the waters God divided above and below.  This is not the heavens mentioned in the first verse for those heavens encompass all extraterrestrial, spiritual aspects of creation.  This ‘heaven’ is so important because through it comes everything the earth receives from the heights of heaven.  Even light does not come direct and pure to earth, but only through this ‘heaven’ where it is refracted and filtered to be prepared and made ready for its work on earth.  

1:9 Third Day  “..waters beneath the heavens be gathered in one area..”  God laid down a line to contain the waters and define their boundaries – as expressed in Job 38:8, 11 ‘(God)..who enclosed the sea … and said: “Until here shall you come, but no further”.

     Zohar Chadash states that while the earth was still submerged beneath the water, it dried up in anticipation of God’s directive.  The mention in our verse that the ‘dry land’ should appear implies that dry land already existed but could not appear until the water receded.  This is one of the reasons the earth is names from the root word ‘rush’ because it rushed to do the will of the Creator in anticipation of His word.

1:10  “God called the dry land: Earth,”  According to Ramban, God gave them names when they assumed the forms described, for initially both the waters and the dry land were referred to collectively as ‘the deep’.

     ‘Earth’ referred to that which was below the firmament – the area which He reserved for human habitation.  When the ultimate Purpose drew yet closer, and He gathered the waters of the earth into the seas, then the connotation of ‘earth’ became even more specific: only the dry land – the dwelling place of man – is referred to as ‘earth’. (Malbim)

1:11  ‘Let the earth sprout..”  The earth was granted the power to sprout forth new vegetation forever, but man must first sow – only then will the ground yield up its produce.  The exception to this rule was the original vegetation which sprouted solely at God’s command.  

     “..fruit trees yielding fruit..’  God commanded that it be a fruit tree: that the taste of the tree be the same as its fruit.  The earth, however, disobeyed and brought forth ‘tree yielding fruit’.  Therefore, when Adam was cursed for his sin, the earth, too, was remembered and punished (3:17)  (Rashi, Midrash)

     Ramban notes that the creation of barren trees is not mentioned here.  He suggests that originally all trees bore fruit, but barren trees came into existence when the earth was cursed due to the sin of Adam.

     Abarbanel stated the tree cannot reproduce unless its seed is placed upon the land through planting, then the fruit will produce another fruit similar to it.  

     Thus, from this potential seed bearing force in the earth, all vegetation emanated…from this force the grass and trees in the Garden of Eden and in the world originated.  For as the Sages have said: ‘On the third day He created three things: trees, grass, and the Garden of Eden.  (Ramban)

1:12  “..and God saw that it was good.”  Akeidas Yitzchak comments that the earth progressed toward its purpose and perfection with these two utterances of the day; therefore, ‘that it was good’ was pronounced for each of them.  With the appearance of dry land the earth emerged from its state of ‘tohu’ (desolation); and with the appearance of vegetation it emerged from its state of‘bohu’ (void).  Thus its latent potential reached its mature state of being on the third day.

1:14 Fourth Day  “..God said, ‘Let there be luminaries..”  They had already been created on the first day but were not suspended in the firmament until the fourth day.  Indeed all the potentials of heaven and earth were created on the first day when it was so commanded.  Again, this is why you did not see the words ‘it was good” for days one and two for what was created on those days had not yet achieved its sole purpose.  

     ..”to separate between the day and the night’  Rashi explains that this division happened only after the original light was hidden for the future benefit of the righteous in the World to Come, because during the seven days of Creation, the original light and darkness functioned together, in a mixture, both by day and by night.

     Ramban, however, comments that the first creation of light functioned for three days and on the fourth day the two luminaries were formed – sun and moon.  Up until that time, there was light during the day and darkness at night.  Now He decreed that there be a luminary for each of them: the greater luminary to serve during the day, and the smaller one at night.  This, then, is meant by ‘to separate’.  (Radak) 

     The two luminaries were also a guide to determining festivals that will be laid out in Leviticus and for determining time – together the cycle of the sun and moon constitute one day.

1:15  “And it was so.”  – It remained so – established forever.  Their orbits and cycles will never deviate as evidenced by two-thousand year old astronomical charts from ancient Egypt and China which were discovered showing that none of the stars changed its basic orbit throughout all this time by even a hair’s-breadth. (Malbim)

1:16  “..and God made the two great luminaries..”  They were originally created of equal size, but the moon was diminished because it complained and said, ‘It is impossible for two kings to make use of the same crown.’  It thus demanded more power than the sun, and was punished by being made smaller. (Chullin 60b; Rashi)

     ‘Great’ does not refer to their size for the stars are larger than the moon as has been ascertained by astronomers.  The intent, rather, is ‘great’ in the visible intensity of their illumination, the moon’s light begin stronger than that of the other starts, except the sun, because it is closer to the earth. (Radak; Malbim)

    “..and the stars.”  Rav Acha said: Imagine a king who had two governors, one ruling in the city and the other in a province.  The king said: Since the former has humbled himself to pull in the city only, I hereby decree that whenever he goes out, the city council and the people shall go out with him, and whenever he enters, they shall enter with him.’  Thus did the Holy One, blessed be He say: ‘Since the moon humbled itself to rule by night, I hereby dare that when she comes forth, the stars shall come forth with her, and when she goes in, they shall go in with her’.  (Midrash)

1:17-18  The functions of the luminaries are described in these two verses as: to shine upon the earth; to rule during the day and the night; and to distinguish between the light and between the darkness.  Ramban notes that the functions of the two luminaries are now defined.  Their dominion is not equal, but consists of causing a distinction between the darkness and the light.  The greater will dominate by day and its light will be everywhere – even in places where the direct rays of the sun do not reach.  The smaller will dominate by night – although it will do no more than relieve the darkness.

     Meam Loez notes that the sun was created after earth to dispel any notion that the creation of earth was a natural result of the sun’s heat vaporizing the waters.  Similarly, lest anyone contend that plant life is a natural outgrowth of the earth aided by the sun, God created the earth and all its properties on the third day, and only afterwards, on the fourth day, did He create the sun, to demonstrate unequivocally that everything materialized from God’s direct will. 

1:20 Fifth Day  Hirsch brilliantly prefaces the events of the fifth day with the observation that the creations of the first three days are paralleled by those of the subsequent three days: The light of the first day was provided with bearers on the fourth day; the water and the atmosphere of the second day were filled life on the fifth day; and the dry land with its mantle of vegetation on the third day was provided with inhabitants on the sixth day.

     “..and fowl that fly over the earth..”  Ramona, who connects the creation of bird life to the sea, because the creation of the fifth day emanated from the waters; had bird life been created from earth, its creation would have been mentioned on the sixth day.  Ramban maintains that the birds were created from the waters.  However the subject was disputed by the Sages, in the Talmud, Chullin 27b, some agreeing with this view, while others citing Genesis 2:19, maintain that ‘bird life was created out of the alluvial mud’, which Ramban concludes, is at the bottom of the ocean.

     The birds were indeed created from a compound of two elements, earth and water.  For had they been created from only water they would be no more able than fish to exist out of it; and if from earth alone, which is a heavy element, they would not have been able to fly.  But, produced from a mixture of earth and softened by water, they were capable of functioning in all elements. (Alshich)

1:21  Arbarbanel notes that this is the first time since the first day the word ‘created’ is used.  It denotes that something fundamentally new came into being – in this case it stresses the unprecedented magnitude of the fishes’ size … “Created’ also applies to ‘the living souls’ – also unprecedented until that moment.

     “And God saw that it was good.”  ..that they attained their level of perfection and function.  They were perfect in essence and in the good as food which is derived from them.  (Abarbanel)

1:22  “God blesses them..”  Rashi notes that they needed a special blessing because so many are reduced, hunted down, and eaten.  The other animals, too, needed such a blessing, but they did not receive it so as not to include the serpent which was destined to be cursed.

1:24 Sixth Day  “Let the earth bring forth..”  ‘bring forth’ implies a concealed, dormant, presence being transformed into existence.  The potential for everything was created on the first day; it was subsequently only necessary to bring them forth.  (Rashi)

     “And it was so.”  The earth complied with God’s decree and it became eternally established.  (Radak, Rashbam)

1:25  “And God made..”  He endowed each species with whatever senses and faculties it required and endowed each with its own peculiar nature and instincts.

     Malbim observes that the term created is not used here because already on the fifth day, physical creatures were endowed with breath and soul, giving a higher form of life to the universe…But because this act of ‘completion’ was beyond the innate powers of the earth to accomplish, the act is attributed specifically to God.

     “And God saw it was good.”  Before proceeding to the ‘making’ of man, God puts the seal of His approval on the developments that have taken place, thus far, on the Sixth Day.  Only man has not yet attained ‘completion’ at this state. (Munk)

Now on to man….

1:26   Having completed all forms of creation, God then said: ‘Let us make man’.  Like a person who builds a palace and, after having furnished and decorated it, ushers in its owner so it is ready for his immediate dwelling. (Sanhedrin 38a)

     “Let us make man..”  This preliminary statement indicates that man was created with great deliberation and wisdom.  God did not associate man’s creation with the earth by decreeing ‘Let the earth bring forth’ as He did with other creatures, but instead attributed it to the deepest involvement of Divine Providence and wisdom. (Abarbanel)

     B’chor Shor notes that the verb ‘make’, implies – as it does in verses 7, 16, and 25 – ‘bringing to a state of final completion’.  The intent is ‘Let us bring to perfection the as yet uncreated man, whose image and form awesomely equip him to rule and govern…’

     The Talmud (Sanhedrin 38a) says man was created last so he should find all things ready for him.  If he is worthy, he is told: ‘All things were created in your behalf.’  At the same time his late appearance on earth conveys an admonition of humility: If man becomes too proud he is reminded: Even gnats preceded you in the order of creation.

     The Mishnah offers ethical reasons why only one man (one pair) was created: In order to prevent feuds….. so that one man should not be able to say to his fellow, ‘my ancestor was greater than yours!’  Finally, the creation of only one man exhibits the power of God, Who, by means of only one ‘mold’ produces so many various types.  Adam is the single ancestor of all mankind, and how different men are from one another!  (Sanhedrin 4:5)

     “Let us Make…”  So many different schools of thought on this one.

     Targum Yonasan writes ‘And God said to the Ministering Angels who had been created on the second day of the creation of the world, “Let us make man!’

     These are the angels who minister before Him continually, such as Michael, Gabriel, etc. They are the ones referred to by the Sages as ‘the heavenly household’ and it was with them, the Sages tell us, that He consulted before creating man.

    Ramban says: ‘Our discourse deals only with angels, which are identical with the intellect, for our Torah does not deny that He governs that which exists, through the intermediary vehicle of angels.  In some passages there is the plural form of God, “Let us make man in our image’; ‘Come let us go down’ (Genesis 11:7)  The Sages have interpreted this verse to mean: God does nothing without first consulting the Heavenly familia (religious community with one head).  The intention of these verses is not, as thought by the ignorant, to assert that God spoke, deliberated, or that he actually consulted with and sought the help of other beings.  How could the Creator seek help from those He created?  They show only that all parts of the Universe are produced through angels, for natural forces and ‘angels’ are identical. (Moreh 2:6)

     Ibn Ezra says ‘God spoke to the angels: Let us make man!  We ourselves will engage in his creation, not the water or earth!’

     Ramban is of the opinion that the plural denotes God and the earth: “concerning the ‘living soul’ God commanded: “let the earth bring forth.’  But in the case of man He said: ‘Let us make’ – I and the earth.  The earth to produce the animal body from its elements as it did the cattle and beasts, and the higher spirit would come from the ‘mouth’ of God. (2:9)

     Many see the plural form as pluralis majestatis.  Those who say that this verse points to a plurality of creators are ignorant…because they do not know that the Hebrew language gives a distinguished person license to say: ‘Let us do,’ ‘Let us make’ though he is but a solitary individual.  Thus Balak said (Numbers 22:6) ‘Perhaps I shall prevail that we may smite them’; Daniel said (Daniel 2:36) ‘This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation to the king’…..There are many other examples in Scripture. (Rav Saadiah Gaon)

     Man – A general term for mankind as a whole. In Genesis 5:2, the term man applies to both the male and the female: ‘He called them (adam) man on the day they were created.’  

     The origin of the word adam (man) is the subject of a wide range of views, one of which is from Radak.  Radak holds that it is related to ‘adamah’ (ground), used to create man.  When God created man from the upper and lower elements He called him Adam, as if to say, ‘Although his spirit is from the heavens, he is nevertheless adam, for his body was formed from the adamah.

     ‘..in Our image, after Our likeness.”  This is a verse that must constantly be uppermost in the minds of man for it is a basic principle in Judaism.  Man was created in God’s image, and it is his responsibility always to act in such a way that he reflects favorably upon God whose image he bears.  This is not the task of great men only, every human being is made in God’s image and, therefore, was created with the ability to live up to it. (Harav Nosson Zui Finkel)

     ‘Man alone among the living creatures is endowed – like the Creator capable of knowing and loving God and of holding spiritual communion with Him; and man alone can guide his actions in accordance with reason.  He is therefore said to have been made in the form and likeness of the Almighty. (Rambam)

     Man is a miniature world and his soul is likened to his Creator in five ways, as the Talmud (Berachhos 10a) comments: ‘Just as God fills the whole world so the soul fills the body; God sees but is not seen, so is the soul; God sustains the world, so does the soul sustain the body; God is pure, so is the soul; God abides in the innermost precincts, so does the soul; Let that which has these five qualities come and praise Him who has the five qualities.”  This is the meaning of ‘in our likeness.’ (Vilna Gaon)

     Man is bidden to subdue his impulses in the service of God, and is endowed with dominion over nature.  As Psalm 8:5-6 reads: “You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor.  You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands;…..”

1:27  “..In the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  Rashid notes an apparent contradiction between this verse and verse 2:21 which details the creation of woman from man’s side.  

     Rashi interprets that the Torah informs us here that both were created on the sixth day, while the details of their creation are expanded upon later on.  According to the Midrash, man was created originally wit two faces – half female, half male – and after divided them.

     The change from singular to plural in this verse is also noted.  Man is endowed with both individual (spiritual) stability and the stability of the species.  This would explain why the singular is used in the verse ‘in the image of God He created him’ and the plural use in ‘male and female He created them’.  The former refers to man’s (spiritual) stability as an individual which he enjoys over and above the other animals.  The latter refers to the stability of the species which is due to the union of male and female. (Ikkarim 1:11; Malbim)

     Although all living creatures were created in both sexes, this is noted specifically only in the case of human beings to stress that both sexes were created directly by God in equal likeness to Him. (Hirsch)

     The Midrash notes that the expression ‘and it was so’ is not used at the creation of the heavens; of the sea-giants; and of man.  The reason is that in each of these cases the term ‘created’ is used, therefore, ‘and it was so’ does not apply. 

     Similarly, the absence of ‘that it was good’ (i.e. that it reached the intended state) in the narrative of man is noted.  Rav Yosef Albo suggests it is absent because the standard intended for man is higher than for other beings.  He is bidden not to stagnate but to constantly strive for a higher standard – to reach that potential intended for him.  Man must therefore exercise his free will in the quest, or he has not achieved his level of perfection.  Thus, man was not given a final state.

1:28  “God blessed them….and said….be fruitful and multiply”  In the Sefer HaChinuch it is counted as the first Mitzvah – the first of the 613 Jewish commandments.  The root of this mitzvah is that in accordance with the Divine wish, the world is to be inhabited, as it is written (Isaiah 45:18) He did not create it a waste land; He formed it to be inhabited.  This is a great mitzvah upon which all the mitzvos of the world exist, because it was given to man and not to angels…..One who neglects this has rejected a Positive Commandment, incurring great punishment, because he thereby demonstrates that he does not wish to comply with the divine will to populate the world. 

     There are two parts to this blessing: that they be fruitful and reproduce; and that they govern the world.

1:29-30  Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and most commentators group these two verses together indicating that man and beast shared the same diet – all were to eat herbs.  Man was thus forbidden to kill animals for food, this becoming permitted only after the flood. (Sanhedrin 59b)

     Ramban, however, perceives a distinction in the verses.  According to him, verse 29 is addressed to man and his wife.  In it God gave them every form of herb-yielding seed and all fruit of the trees.  Verse 30, however, is directed to the beasts of the earth and the fowl of the heaven who were confined to all green herbage, specifically excluding the fruit of the tree or the seeds.  Thus, according to Ramban, man and animal did not share the same diet.

• Note: That Adam was not permitted to eat meat is derived in Sanhedrin 59b from our verses: ‘to you shall it be for food and to all the beasts of the earth’ (the herbs) but the beasts of the earth themselves have not been given to you.
• Whether this prohibition, before the Flood, extended also to animals that died by themselves, or to fish, and fowl is uncertain.  
• Interesting is the comment in Midrash Agaddah: ‘From this verse you learn that Adam was prohibited from eating meat, for God had not created His creatures in order to have them die and provide food for other species.  Had Adam not sinned, creatures would never have died.

     It was only after they sinned (6:12) and God decreed that they perish in the Flood, that He saved some of them to preserve the species, and He permitted the sons of Noah to slaughter and eat them.  However, there were restrictions: they could not eat a living animal, nor could they eat a limb cut off from a living animal or the blood because it is the basis of the soul (Leviticus 17:14) Similarly, they were commanded to ritually slaughter the animals before partaking of their flesh.

     “Behold I give to you’  The beginning of this verse does not include the words ‘for food’, Hirsch explains that the verse is to be understood:’See, I have given all vegetation, etc. to you.  Their further preservation and continuation for food depends upon your attention and care …. ‘They are to be your food’: it is therefore in your own interest that you give them wise and heedful care.

     The earth’s creatures were thus to be satisfied with the restrictions upon them, while God, for His part, will ‘open His hands and nourish the desire of every living thing’.  (Psalm 14:16) 

     The commentators note that this statement is not concluded with ‘that it was good’.  It became eternally established because these dietary rules – prohibiting meat – would be changed after the Flood.

1:31  “..and behold, it was very good.’  As the Vilna Gaon explains: Something can be ‘good’ by itself, but no longer ‘good’ when fitted to another thing.  The divine works of creation, however, are good in themselves and also together with others..

     ..behold, always introduces us to something new… that whereas each unit of creation was considered ‘good’ in isolation, now when creation was complete and all of its units were perceived as part of a whole, it was recognized as ‘very good’…

     “And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day.”  The commentators note the unusual use of the word – the before the word sixth:

     Chizkuni: It designates ‘the day that is distinguished among the other days of creation as the day on which His work was completed.

     Hirsch: We are clearly meant to regard this day as the culmination of the first five, the day in which the list of creations found a goal and were fulfilled.

And so, with the expression of ‘very good’, the Six Days of Creation – preparatory to the Seventh Day, Sabbath – come to a close.