Tanakh Lessons, part 3.

Chapter 1 (Beresheet), verse 9 – 25.

With Gil Dekel.

 

We continue with book ‘Beresheet’; Genesis book, we did verse one to eight. And now we’re going to start with verse nine.

Verse nine goes like this: ‘vayama Elohim Ykvu Hamaym’.

So again: ‘Vayomer Elohim’ God said, but again, Vayomer is future tense of saying, it’s not Amar. Amar is past for said. Yomar is future tense. And Vayomer is also a future tense, because in Tanakh it is always about the present and the future.

So Vatomer Elohim, and God said, Yikvu Hamayim – let the water come together.  Yikvu Hamayim Mitahat HaShamayim, below the sky.

Let the water below the sky come together El Makom Ehad – to one place.

So God said: Let all the water gather into one place, and therefore the earth will be revealed.

So what this tells us is that the earth was full of water beforehand. Water in Judaism is the source of life, a source of living.

– Not blood?

Blood as well obviously.

So blood is the physical within the human being. Within blood is the soul, by the way, and water gives life.

This is why in verse two, it is said that the Spirit of God or the the essence of God was hovering over the water.

That’s in verse two. Now in verse nine, we say that God collected all the water and by doing so, he revealed the Earth. Vatire Hayabasha – the earth will be revealed.

Vayehi Ken – and so it has happened.

Vayikra Elohim, and God called: Layabashe Aretz – to the Land God called by the name of Eretz. Eretz in Hebrew means a land. In modern Hebrew, Eretz means country. We say Eretz Israel, Israel, the country of Israel.

Okay, so God called the land that was revealed, by the name of Eretz. Today we use the word Eretz for country.

Velemikve HaMayim – and to the water that was gathering, he called Yamim. Yamim is the plural of Yam – waters.

Today we use the word Yam to denote a sea. Here, in chapter 10, it says that God called water that was left Yamim – seas.

Vayar Elohim KiTov – Gods saw that it was good.

– But what would happen if God saw it was bad?

He would recreate it.

Vayomer Elohim Tidsha HaAretz- and God said let the land fluish with grass. Deshe Esev Mazria Zera – a grass that has seeds with it. Ets Pri – fruit tree – Ose Pri – that gives gives fruit.

Etz Pri Ose Pri LeMino. Lemino means to his type, to his species. Asher Zaro Bo – that it has the seed within it. So the tree had already the seed within it.

– God created tree made up of fruit.

Yes. Here it says Etz Pri – which is the fruit itself, the tree is the fruit. Ose Pri – gives the fruit. We will later see the differences in the second story, second story of creation.

And so it has become to be – VeTozi HaArets Deshe Esev Mazria Zera – and the land did give the grass that was given seeds and a tree Ose Pri, that has the seeds within it. And God saw that it was good. And now it says Vayehi Erev Vayehi Boker Yom Shelishi – and so there was evening and so there was morning, a third day, the third day.

Verse 14. Vayomer Elohim Yehi Meorot BaRakia HaShamayim… Lehavdil – to separate – Bein HaYom Ubein Halayla – between the day and the night.

– God already separated, when He made evening?

Let’s see, it says Vayehi Erev vayehi Boker – beforehand… but that’s not necessarily day and night. God had to create all these gradations and concepts. So, we may think that it was day and night. But it wasn’t; rather there was an evening and there was morning.

– I thought humans made evenings and mornings? Working in the day; then evening comes so you feel tired.

Well, here’s the story that tell us that God made the difference between day and night, not even and morning, Ben Laila Veben Hayom. Ben Hayom – between the day; Veben Halaila – between the night.

The point is that God has to define everything. So, everything is a potential and exists, but God had to separate it. And the separation is done by calling it names and creating it makes it accessible to human being.

– To define is to limit…

Yes, do define is to limit. And indeed, this world is limitation of God. And that’s why we want to bring the so-called Light of God to this wall. To bring into the limited world, the essence, and the godliness of God.

– You could like destroy the essence of night, for example, because to define it is to limit it. So, if you got rid of the definition…

It would go back into the spiritual essence of collective-unconscious.

– You could get rid of the night.

Yes, you could get rid of the night; there’s no sense to get rid of the night; you want to expand on the limitation, but God keeps limiting everything and that’s why we said it’s the creation is in gradations, from the spiritual to the physical. You can also look at it upside down and say that the physical is at the top and the spiritual is below because there’s no up and down really in reality; it is only perspective.

In human’s perspective there are gradations.

So, we say that God said: let there be, in Hebrew Meorot – it’s not light, it’s shiny objects. Meorot Berakia Hashamayim – in the skies to separate between the day and the night. Lehavdil Bein Hayom vebein Halaila. Now God tells us why: Vehayu LeOtot – and they should become signifyers; to give us signs. Velemoadim –  and to give us a sign of special holidays, special times, Veleyamin – and to days, they will create the days. VeShanim – and they will create the years.

– God created the years?

Yes; God created the days beforehand, but here it tells us that he puts the Meorot in the sky to separate between day and night, and to become the signs of the years and of days.

– That means that God’s plan for it to be days already in caveman times, so how come the cavemen didn’t have calendars?

They didn’t need a calendar. We don’t have they didn’t have calendars… the caveman may have calendars. We don’t know that. But they didn’t need calendars because they had the sky as a calendar. The sky was their calendar.

– But God created years?

He did not create years; He gave us the signs to symbolise the years and days.

– Okay, to symbolise time.

Yes. Vehayu Lemeorot Berakia Hashamayim – and therfore they became lights, as in: shining objects in the sky. Lehair Al HaAretz – to give light to the land. Vayehi Ken – and so it became to be. It’s always defined in gradations (the creation). There may have been a sun, but the sun was in a concept in potential. Now God separated the Sun to become a signifier for the day, together with the moon. It doesn’t say it as yet but I know it because it’s the next verse.

I say ‘celestial body’ but it doesn’t say here celestial body. It says Maor – that which gives light.

Verse 16. Vayaas Elohim – and God made the two big lights, two big spheres of lights. Vayas God Et Shnei Hameorot – and God created the two celestial bodies. Et HaMaor hagadol – the big light one to govern the day – Lemeshelet Hayom. Veet HaMaor Hakatan – and the small celestial body that gives light Lemeshelet Halayla – to govern the night, Veet HaKokavim.

God created the sun. So I presume it’s the sun, and then created the moon and the stars. And now it tells us on verse 17, that God put them in the sky. Beforehand they were not in the sky; we don’t know where they were.

– On the ground?

They could be… the moon is smaller, but the sun is bigger than the Earth.

Vayten Otam Elohim – and God put them in the sky, Berakia haShamayim, Lehair Al Haaretz – to put light on the land, on the earth.

Velimshol Bayom Ubalayla – and to govern the creation of day and night, Velehavdil Bein HaAor Uben Hahosheh – and to separate between the light and the darkness. So now we know that these two celestial bodies… it doesn’t tell us its celestial bodies. It says Maor – that which gives light. We know it is celestial bodies; we know it’s the moon and the sun,

– The moon doesn’t give light; it reflects it.

It says here that the moon will illuminate the land, and it does illuminate the land.

Velimshol BaYom – to control the day, to govern the day, Vebalaila – and govern the night, and also to separate between the light and the darkness – Velehavdil Bein HaOr VeHahosheh.  Vayar Elohim Ki Tov – God saw that it was all good. And there was an evening and there was morning. Day 4.

Now, verse 20. Vayomer Elohim YiShretzu HaMayim – and God said: let the water be spawn with Sheretz NeFesh – moving creatures that have life. So, basically God created the creatures in the water. And that is the first creation… the first place where life; when I say life, I mean animal life. We know that there were plants already and grass and seeds, which is also a living being; it’s not an animal, and the first animal are the sea creatures. And God said: let there be spawn with abundance of Sheretz Nefesh Haya – living creature that has a living NeFesh – Nefesh is the soul.

– Plants do not have soul, as the book does not mention plants have soul.

That’s right. So, a plant has a different animating-essence but not a soul. It is as good as a soul; it’s simply different form, because first the plants were created, the grass, and then the fish, the creatures of the sea.

Okay, verse 20. And then, VeOf YeoFef Al Haaretz-  and flying birds will fly over the land. Al Pney Rakia HaShamayim – all over the sky, on the face of the sky. Vaivra Elohim Et HaTaninim HaGdolim – and God created the big crocodile. Tanin – in Hebrew is crocodile. Taninim Gdolim – the big crocodiles. We don’t know what they were when it was created.

– Dinosaur size?

Yeah, but this was inside the water. Dinosaurs were not in the water. So, God created the big Taninim Veet Kol Nefesh Haya Haromeset – and all the living soul which lives inside the water.  Leminehem – to their types. Veet Kol Haof Canaf – and all the winged animals, so animals that can fly, or animals that have wings.

– Is this in the Garden of Eden?

It is before. We get into Garden of Eden story soon. God made the planet, and then fertilise it with all the animals and the plants, then God will make man and woman. So, God prepared the earth for man and a woman.

– So the earth does not belong to man and woman?

No, the Earth is for us to keep safe. We’re renting it. We’re paying rent to God when we’re living on this planet.

But we’re not there yet. So we’re still talking about the winged animals, animals that have wings. Vayar Elohim Ki Tov, Vayevareh Otam Elohim – and God blessed them, to God blessed the animals, the birds and the sea creatures before he blessed people. The first blessing was given to animals not to mankind.

Vayevareh Otam Elohim Leemor – and God bless them to say: Pru UrVu – multiply, Vemalo Et hamayim – fill up the water, fill up their waters. Bayamim – in all the seas, fill up with yourself, so multiply and fill up the waters.

– What was the blessing about?

Vehaof Yirav BaAretz – and the poultry, the winged animals, multiplied a lot in the land.

Vayehi Erev Vayehi Boker, Yom Hamishi – day five.

Verse 24. Vayomer Elohim Tozi HaAretz – and God said: let the land bring out bring forth Nefesh Haya – living soul. Lemina – all types of living souls. Behema – probably means: a cattle.

Veremes – in Hebrew: creeping things, or probably things that can crawl. Vehayat Aretz – and animals of the land.  Lemina – of all its types. Vayehi Ken.

Vayas Elohim Et Hayat Haaretz Lemina – God now created what He has said before. So the creation is probably not through words, at this moment. It is through Vayas – through making. Vayaas – means to make, to do.

Vayas Elohim Et Hayat Haaretz Lemina, Veet Habehema Lemina, Vet Kol Remes Haadama  Leminehu. So He created the living of the earth, the Behema, Veremes Haadama.

Now verse 26, Vayomer Elohim Naase Adam Betsilmenu, we shall make a man; not a man; we shall make Adam, a human, a human, Betsilmenu  Vebetmutenu. So Tsilmenu, Tzelem is the capacity to have human intelligence, which we draw from God. So that said: we shall make Adam with the capacity to think, as God has.

– So, God looks like a human?

 No

– So why does it say: made in God’s image?

That’s the translation in English. In Hebrew, it says: Betsalmenu Ubedmutenu. It means: Tsalmenu is to have the capacity to think, intelligence. Bedmutenu, in English, it says: likeness.

In English it is saying: in our image, but it is not in our image. It says: in our likeness; yes, it is likeness, so likness of God.

God creates human in His likeness, in Hebrew: Betsalmenu Ubedmutenu.

Tsalmenu means in our ceTselemr, which is the attribute, capacity to think. That’s Tselem of Elohim. And Dmutenu is likeness. Again, you could say that Dmut is the exact image, but it doesn’t refer to the image of God, because we know clearly that we do not know the image of God; you cannot look at the image of God. We do not portray God’s image.

So it means, the fact the faculty of God to create. Tsalmenu – the faculty to think, to have an intelligent.

Dmutenu – the faculty to create.

So God said: Let us create Adam Betsalmenu Ubedmutenu; and then it says, Vayerdu Bedagat HaYam, and they should come over the fish of the sea, Vebeof Hashamayim, and the poultry, and the birds of the sky. Vebabehema, and in living stock, animals, Vebehol Haarets, and all of the land. Vebehol HaRemes, and all of the creaturesof the the crawling, Haromes Al Haaretz, which lives on the land.

God said: we shall create a human being. And the world here is, vayerdu, i.e. this human being shall control. Yerdu means to rule, to go down.

– What God gives that to humans, and not the animals?

Humans are animals.

– Yes, but the other animals… Why to humans?

Because that’s our job. God gives everyone a job. The fish has the job to cultivate the sea, as in to live in the sea.

The stock, the job to cultivate the land; the birds to fly, and the human being is to govern all of that.

– We have not been doing our job.

No.

Now verse 27, Vayvra Elohim, God made, Et HaAdam, the human being. Betsalmo, Betselem Elohim Bara oto, in his Tselem, in his capacity, God made them.

First, it says: Elohim Baba Otto, God made him. Otto is the masculine form of ‘him’. Otto, by it is very clear: Zahar Unekeva, male and female, Bara Otam, God created them.

– Was it one person with both genders?

You could say that that this sentence, this verse 27, refers two creation.

First God created Otto, and then it continues: Zahar Unekeva Bara Otam, male and female, God created them. Bara is the past tense of created. So it’s literally: created, it’s not a future (will create).

Now here I will show you something important, there is a little dot, a little symbol, below the letter TAF, which means, this is very important. This is like a full stop or a comma. So if you read this with this full stop, with this comma, you will read it like so: Vaivra Elohim Et Haadam, Betsalmo Betzlemen Elohim Bara Otto (comma), Zahar Unekeva Bara Ottam. Full stop.

So it’s like two sentences. If you don’t read it, you don’t if you overlook this sign it reads it as one sentence. And the implication is whether God first created one single human Adam, which is referred to as Otto (male), or whether God created that single person as male and female. To begin with.

So first, God may have created one person Adam. And then he made the second creation, which is male and female?

– Adam, is just what?

A Human Being.

 – One gender?

We don’t know the gender, we only know that it says: Elohim Bara Oto, and Oto is masculine.

So if you if you think that Otto is masculine in the creation time, because I don’t know if God created masculinity beforehand.

Only the moment when God says: Zahar Unekeva Bara Otam (male and female created them), you could argue that only now there is male and female. And before that there was no male and female. So it may be that it was not male and female first, Adam, but in Hebrew…

– So you have genderless people?

Yes. But in Hebrew, we have genders in the language. So we have to refer to (as either male or female), and here it refers to ‘him’,male.

– That’s kind of like the basic one?

Yes. So it depends. If you don’t use the chevron below the text, you could say that the first creation is Zahar Unekeva, a male and female, if you if you don’t use the chevron below the text, that is one whole sentence, therefore it’s one creation.

If you look at that Chevron, that coma, you will say that it could be two different creations.

– One could come from the other?

Yes, one could come from the other. So we know that He created the human Adam, Betsalm o Betselem Elohim Bara Otto, created him. Otto is him. So it’s one creation. If you take on both the coma in the sentence, and then Zahar Unekeva bara Otam, male and female, He created them. So it could be a separate creation, right?

– They are like two, or they’re still one?

We don’t know that. But what we do know it’s either one creation, or one after the other, two creations.

– I mean, if it’s second creation, are they two different people, or are they still one person?

We don’t know that. If it’s a second creation, or even if it’s the first creation we don’t know if it is… we know it’s Zahar Unekeva Bara Otam.

So it’s either one being that God created and then separated the two, or that one being is that male and female. So if you ignore the chevron, the little sign, then we say it’s one sentence and therefore Bara Oto Zahar Unekeva Bara Otam – so it’s one creation of Adam, which is also male and female.

We don’t know about a separation as yet. We don’t know if it’s two creations. But what we could say is that now God separated Zahar  Unekeva, i.e. created gender now. And it goes on to say Vayevarech Otam Elohim, and God blessed them. So we know it’s an entity of two of Zahar and entity of female.

– You don’t know if it’s two different bodies or just one.

Yeah, it could be one body. Vayomer Lahem Elohim, and God told them Pru Urvu, multiply. Vemalu Et haaretz, and fill up the land, rule over it.

– So that’s quite like putting humans at the top.

No.

– But it is saying: to rule over.

So it’s not necessarily to rule over it, but it’s to take part in the creation process in the land Lichbosh, basically it means to occupy.

It says actually here: VekavShuA – to support. Yeah, it’s to rulein a way that you take part in making it happen. It’s not like a ruler standing on the top, it’s not governing  it. VekavShuA – means control it by working it.

Veredu Bedagat Hayam, again go down to the fish of the sea, Vebeof HaShamayim, and the poultry, the birds of the sky, Vebekol Haya Romeset, and all living creatures that walk and crawl on the land.

Vayomer Elohim, and Gods said, Hine Natati Lahem. So God said: here I gave you, Hine, here; Natati, I gave you, this is also is past present, Natati.

So ‘I gave you already’, Natati Lahem, I gave you Et Kol Esev, all the grass, it means herbs that bearing seeds. So, Esev can be translated as herbs. Esev Zorea Zera, herbs that give seeds on the earth Veet Kol HaEta, and all tree. Asher Bo Pri Ets, that has fruit of the tree.

Zera Zorea, and also that can multiply with seeds. Lahem Yihiye Leochla, for you it shall be for consumption, so you can eat it.

So God blessed that human being, which is either one creation or second creation, it’s either separate men and woman, or it’s one species that is both men and women. But God refers to them in a plural form now. So it’s definitely two entities. Even if it’s in one body. Hine Natati Lahem, here I gave you, you as in plural.

How do you say you plural, in French?

Vous is for male and female.

–  Vous.

In Hebrew there is a plural form for masculine and separate plural feminine. But I don’t know if that plural form existed in the time of the Bible. Maybe it exists now in the modern Hebrew. Here Lahem, is: to you, plural, masculine.

Lahen, with an N at the end will be the feminine form of plural. So here in the text it is the masculine form.

The masculine form is more used. So if you have a group of people, males and females, you will use the male, the masculine form plural; it is just a habit. But here there might have been a reason, we don’t know.

Anyway, the important thing is that God said Hine Natati Lahem: look Behold, I have given you. And that’s interesting, when God says Hine. Hine means pointing out here it is.

It was like saying: here it is.

– Why is this interesting?

Because God is actually pointing out. So it’s it reads like it’s the first conversation with an intelligent being. Not saying that the animals are not intelligent. But just saying that God blessed the animals, and blessed them to do something. And here God is talking to the human being. It’s the first sign of intelligent conversation, interaction. Yes, yeah, we should say interaction in the forms of speech, to be able to speak and to understand speech, you must have intelligence.

God may have spoken to the animals in the so called animal forms of intelligence. We don’t know, we do know for sure that human beings are not better than animals.

Well, that goes against science that say that humans evolved and our brain sizes evolved.

By the way, your two fists make the size of your brain. And, one fist is the size of your heart.

And the distance from tip of finger in one hand, to the other – it is your hight.

Yeah, it’s how tall you are.

So I’m not sure that human beings are the most evolved creatures; if you look at dogs, dogs understand better what most human beings do not understand.

– Hunting skills?

No, I’m talking about when a dog looks up at human beings, it just loves them. When a dog looks at you, it doesn’t see your physical shape, rather he sees the essence of love. And it’s something that dogs understand better than human beings. Human beings do not understand that concept. And from that respect, dogs are much more evolved in human beings.

Anyway, going back to Genesis.

God is actually speaking to them and say, Hine, look. So if you like symbolically pointing out to the earth.

– Humans were able to talk to God?

They definitely were able to conceive the message of God, it doesn’t say that they look at God. And it also doesn’t say,

– God’s pointing out, so we have to follow the pointing fingers.

We don’t know if it’s fingers or it’s maybe the essence of communication. And we’re not sure that humans were on the planet on earth. God is pointed to show them where it is going to be as if man and woman are, or Adam, is standing next to God symbolically somewhere, not necessarily inside the earth.

The first thing that God tells them: I’ve given you, all the herbs, all the fields which are on the face of Kol Arets, the face of the whole land, and the trees and they should be for you to eat. It doesn’t allow them to eat the animals. And God said:  and to all the animals of the land and all the flying birds in the sky and all those who crawl the earth, I have given Kol Yerek Esev, the green herbs, or the green grass, for them to eat.

God made it very clear: this is what you eat, this is what they eat, vegetarian all of us.

Vayar Elohim Et Kol Asher Asa, and God seen all that he has created at Kol Asher, all that He has made, created VeHina Tov Meod, and therefore it was very good.

Vayehi Erev vayehi Boker Yom HaShishi, there was evening and there was morning and now it says Yom HaShishi, the six day. Beforehand it says Yom Hamishi, Thursday or fifth day, Yom Revii, day four. Here it says Yom Hashishi. So we adding the Hei, the in Hebrew is Ha. Ha Shishi; Ha is also part of the name of God. So it’s a very sacred, Hei is very sacred. We sometimes write the name of God with the letter H and a little comma at the top. And that’s because human beings were created on the sixth day. Yes. And that made it very sacred to us.

– When it be the day of rest.

Yom HaShvii, next day is the day of rest. So at this point, God is telling us: conquer the land, and here is your food… So when God said on verse 28, Redu Bedagat HaYam, it doesn’t mean to eat the fish.

He meant to look after the fish.

Replenish the earth and subdued it. I’m not sure. It means managing the earth, manage it. Redu Bedagat Hayam. It’s to manage it.

The humans were supposed to be the estate facilitators, estates agents, we are the guardians of the earth. I think it didn’t work out in the past because there was a flood already.

– Atlantis?

Before, in the time of Noah.

Now we finish chapter one.

– I thought Noah was not of this world.

Noah was indeed in this world.

What I meant is the previous world, before the big flood. And that’s the end of the first chapter. We don’t talk about the seventh day in the first chapter. It is discussed in the next one, because it’s such a holy day. You need the introduction explanation what happens to that holiness.

Yom HaShishi is Friday, so that here was Friday.

 

© Natalie and Gil Dekel.
Uploaded 25 Dec 2022.