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Navigating the Bible| Genesis |
| Subjects |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 |
| Exodus |
| Leviticus |
| Numbers |
| Deuteronomy |
Creation, the First Day |
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| 1:1 | In the beginning God created heaven and earth. |
| 1:2 | The earth was without form and empty, with darkness on the face of the depths, but God's spirit moved on the water's surface. |
| 1:3 | God said, 'There shall be light,' and light came into existence. |
| 1:4 | God saw that the light was good, and God divided between the light and the darkness. |
| 1:5 | God named the light 'Day,' and the darkness He named 'Night.' It was evening and it was morning, one day. |
The Second Day |
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| 1:6 | God said, 'There shall be a sky in the middle of the water, and it shall divide between water and water.' |
| 1:7 | God [thus] made the sky, and it separated the water below the sky from the water above the sky. It remained that way. |
| 1:8 | God named the sky 'Heaven.' It was evening and it was morning, a second day. |
The Third Day |
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| 1:9 | God said, 'The waters under the heaven shall be gathered to one place, and dry land shall be seen.' It happened. |
| 1:10 | God named the dry land 'Earth,' and the gatherings of water, He named 'Seas.' God saw that it was good. |
| 1:11 | God said, 'The earth shall send forth vegetation. Seedbearing plants and fruit trees that produce their own kinds of fruits with seeds shall be on the earth.' It happened. |
| 1:12 | The earth sent forth vegetation, plants bearing their own kinds of seeds, and trees producing fruits containing their own kinds of seeds. God saw that it was good. |
| 1:13 | It was evening and it was morning, a third day. |
The Fourth Day |
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| 1:14 | God said, 'There shall be lights in the heavenly sky to divide between day and night. They shall serve as omens [and define] festivals, days and years. |
| 1:15 | They shall be lights in the heavenly sky, to shine on the earth.' It happened. |
| 1:16 | God [thus] made the two large lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night. [He also made] the stars. |
| 1:17 | God placed them in the heavenly sky to shine on the earth, |
| 1:18 | to rule by day and by night, and to divide between the light and the darkness. God saw that it was good. |
| 1:19 | It was evening and it was morning, a fourth day. |
The Fifth Day |
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| 1:20 | God said, 'The water shall teem with swarms of living creatures. Flying creatures shall fly over the land, on the face of the heavenly sky.' |
| 1:21 | God [thus] created the great sea monsters, along with every particular species of living thing that crawls, with which the waters teem, and every particular species of winged flying creature. God saw that it was good. |
| 1:22 | God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and become many, and fill the waters of the seas. Let the flying creatures multiply on the land.' |
| 1:23 | It was evening and it was morning, a fifth day. |
The Sixth Day |
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| 1:24 | God said, 'The earth shall bring forth particular species of living creatures, particular species of livestock, land animals, and beasts of the earth.' It happened. |
| 1:25 | God [thus] made particular species of beasts of the earth, particular species of livestock, and particular species of animals that walk the land. God saw that it was good. |
| 1:26 | God said, 'Let us make man with our image and likeness. Let him dominate the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock animals, and all the earth - and every land animal that walks the earth.' |
| 1:27 | God [thus] created man with His image. In the image of God, He created him, male and female He created them. |
| 1:28 | God blessed them. God said to them, 'Be fertile and become many. Fill the land and conquer it. Dominate the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every beast that walks the land. |
| 1:29 | God said, 'Behold, I have given you every seedbearing plant on the face of the earth, and every tree that has seedbearing fruit. It shall be to you for food. |
| 1:30 | For every beast of the field, every bird of the sky, and everything that walks the land, that has in it a living soul, all plant vegetation shall be food.' It remained that way. |
| 1:31 | God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. It was evening and it was morning, the sixth day. |
Commentary:
| In the beginning... Others translate this, 'In the beginning of God's creation of heaven and earth, the earth was without form and empty...' (Rashi). Still others combine the first three verses: 'In the beginning of God's creation....when the earth was without form and empty....God said, 'Let there be light.' (Bereshith Rabbah). |
| sky (Saadia) Rakia in Hebrew, literally 'spread' or 'expanse.' Usually translated as 'firmament.' |
| It remained that way Usually translated, 'It was so.' Later, we translate this as, 'It happened.' |
| trees producing fruits... Or, 'specific species of trees that produce fruits with seeds.' See Genesis 1:21, 1:24. |
| heavenly sky Literally 'the firmament of the heaven.' |
| sea monsters Or 'whales,' or 'dragons.' Taninim in Hebrew; see Exodus 7:9. The Midrash states that it alludes to a pair of particularly great sea creatures, the Leviathan and its mate. See Isaiah 27:1, Psalms 74:14, 104:26, Job 3:8, 40:25. |
| land animals (Ramban, from Genesis 7:21). Others translate this as 'creeping things.' Remes in Hebrew. |
| with our image and likeness Man is thus a microcosm of all the forces of creation. A major part of the Kabbalah deals with explaining exactly how this is so (see Nefesh HaChaim 1:1). Moreover, of all creation, only man resembles God in having free will (Maimonides, Yad, Teshuvah 5:1). Others explain 'image' and 'likeness' here to refer to a sort of conceptual archetype, model, or blueprint that God had previously made for man (Rashi). This 'model' is seen as the primeval man' (Adam Kadmon). |
| Be fertile... Some say that this is a commandment (cf. Chinukh), while others maintain that it is a blessing (see Tosafoth, Yevamoth 65b, s.v. VeLo; Maharsha, Sanhedrin 59b, s.v. VeHarey). |
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