Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
1:6 VA YOMER ELOHIM YEHI RAKIY'A BETOCH HA MAYIM VA YEHI MAVDIL BEIN MAYIM LA MAYIM
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי רָקִיעַ בְּתוֹךְ הַמָּיִם וִיהִי מַבְדִּיל בֵּין מַיִם לָמָיִם
KJ (King James translation): And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
BN (BibleNet translation): And Elohim said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the watery elements, and let it divide the watery elements [in the heavenly sphere] from the watery elements [in the earthly sphere]."
RAKIY'A BETOCH HA MAYIM (רקיע בתוך המים): The concept among the Beney Yisra-El appears to have been a kind of hemispherical dish spread out above the Earth, like a pellucid sapphire (Exodus 24:10), to which the stars were attached, and on the other side of which there was an immense ocean (Genesis 7:11, Psalm 104:3, Psalm 148:4). The idea of a firmament, as appears in the Authorized Version, is reminiscent of Ptolemy's primum mobile, except that Ptolemy didn't come up with that concept until the 2nd century CE. This must therefore be seen as a still more primitive image, yet nonetheless an attempt to explain what we would now call "the Earth's atmosphere".
Robert Graves speaks of the Lower and Upper Waters, and the notion of the waters being parted may in fact be an oblique hint at human birth after the breaking of the waters in the mother's womb. If so, and this breaking of the waters to make the firmament reflects natural birth, then it also connects the myth to the normal myths of the mother-goddess giving birth to creation; in these myths the world is entwined by the cosmic serpent (Tiamat, Tahamat, Tehom), who is cut in half like an umbilical cord to enable the parts to separate. Clearly this is the same serpent who visited the mother-goddess Chavah (Eve) in the garden of Eden.
MAYIM: Both halves of the firmament are treated as being liquid - the "waters" above and the "waters" beneath the firmament. Are we in the realms then of the placenta, waiting for the waters to break? It would not be an inappropriate image for this fertility myth. Note that the watery spheres which we call the heavens are in Yehudit Shamayim (שָׁמָיִם) - see verse 8 - which is verbally connected.
1:7 VA YA'AS ELOHIM ET HA RAKIY'A VA YAVDEL BEIN HA MAYIM ASHER MI TACHAT LA RAKIY'A U VEIN HA MAYIM ASHER ME'AL LA RAKIY'A VA YEHI CHEN
1:7 VA YA'AS ELOHIM ET HA RAKIY'A VA YAVDEL BEIN HA MAYIM ASHER MI TACHAT LA RAKIY'A U VEIN HA MAYIM ASHER ME'AL LA RAKIY'A VA YEHI CHEN
וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָרָקִיעַ וַיַּבְדֵּל בֵּין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ וּבֵין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ וַיְהִי כֵן
KJ: And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
BN: Then Elohim made the firmament, and divided the watery elements which were under the firmament from the watery elements which were above the firmament; and it was so.
A distinction is clearly made between BARA (creation out of nothingness) and YA'AS (fabrication out of existing materials), suggesting that the RAKIY'A was not a material substance as such but a hypothetical point (see verse 1).
The concept is repeated in a slightly varied manner, almost like an incantation. If one sees the whole thing sexually, with the Upper Waters as Male and the Lower Waters female, then we have a parallel of Egyptian and Babylonian creation myths, where the ultimately supreme patriarchal deity has to overcome the previously supreme matriarchal deity in order to assume power: and this because the Creation is an act of fertility, and fertility resides in the female - the rain as sperm, the Earth as womb. Thus Egyptian Shu literally lifts the sky goddess Nut out of the embrace of the Earth-god Geb and the red sky of sunrise is the blood of giving birth to Ra; while Marduk, in slicing Tiamat in two in the Babylonian version, is really parting her from Apsu, god of the Upper Waters.
1:8 VA YIKRA ELOHIM LA RAKIY'A SHAMAYIM VA YEHI EREV VA YEHI VOKER YOM SHENI
וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָרָקִיעַ שָׁמָיִם וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם שֵׁנִי
KJ: And God called the firmament Heavens. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
BN: And Elohim called the firmament "the heavens". And there was evening, and it was morning, day two.
VA YIKRA ELOHIM LA RAKIY'A "SHAMAYIM" (ויקרא אלהים לרקיע שמים): The phrasing almost asks for SHAMAYIM to be placed in inverted commas. Clearly the two words are henceforth interchangeable - the firmament is itself the sky, the name of the firmament is "Sky". This is odd, since the SHAMAYIM already existed in verse 1, while Elohim is here credited with creating them as the RAKIY'A only on the second day. The translation of Shamayim as "Heaven" is fatuous.
VA YEHI... SHENI (והיה ערב והיה בקר יום שני): Both the second day and the day of Shin, or Sin, the Mesopotamian moon-god. Shin is the root of Shenayim = 2; thus this is Yom Sheni, the second day, and the Day of the Moon-God. The second day of the week is still called Monday (moon-day), though Christians have mixed up the numbering by beginning the week one day later. The other planets are remembered today as Sun-day... click here for the remainder.
On each occasion Elohim decides what to create, then does so: creative idea leading to action. At the end of each day he steps back and admires what he has achieved: reflection, which by odd curiosity is how the moon, which rules the heavens when the sun is sleeping, manages to convey any sort of light at all, not having any of its own; or is that a different sort of reflection?
pey break; the second strophe ends here.
1:9 VA YOMER ELOHIM YIKAVU HA MAYIM MI TACHAT HA SHAMAYIM EL MAKOM ECHAD VE TERA'EH HA YABASHAH VA YEHI CHEN
VA YEHI... SHENI (והיה ערב והיה בקר יום שני): Both the second day and the day of Shin, or Sin, the Mesopotamian moon-god. Shin is the root of Shenayim = 2; thus this is Yom Sheni, the second day, and the Day of the Moon-God. The second day of the week is still called Monday (moon-day), though Christians have mixed up the numbering by beginning the week one day later. The other planets are remembered today as Sun-day... click here for the remainder.
On each occasion Elohim decides what to create, then does so: creative idea leading to action. At the end of each day he steps back and admires what he has achieved: reflection, which by odd curiosity is how the moon, which rules the heavens when the sun is sleeping, manages to convey any sort of light at all, not having any of its own; or is that a different sort of reflection?
YOM SHENI: Day two, or "a second day".
1:9 VA YOMER ELOHIM YIKAVU HA MAYIM MI TACHAT HA SHAMAYIM EL MAKOM ECHAD VE TERA'EH HA YABASHAH VA YEHI CHEN
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶל מָקוֹם אֶחָד וְתֵרָאֶה הַיַּבָּשָׁה וַיְהִי כֵן
KJ: And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
BN: And Elohim said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear." And so it was.
YIKAVU... HA SHAMAYIM (יקוו המים מתחת השמים): YIKAVU is the Niphal or passive form, from the root KAV (קו) = "a line, rope, cord, measuring rod". NAKAV (נקו) therefore = "to be gathered together".
HA YABASHAH (היבשה): YAVASH (יבש) = "to be dry" - again compare the story of Tahamat who was similarly divided.
VA TERA'EH HA YABASHA: is the notion of land masses emerging through the oceans as the oceans begin to find their levels compatible with scientific theory? As with E=MC, as with cell division, yet again we can see that the ancients understood rather more than we generally give them credit for, albeit they only had the language of allegory and metaphor to express and explain it.
1:10 VA YIKRA ELOHIM LA YABASHAH ERETS U LE MIKVEH HA MAYIM KARA YAMIM VAYAR ELOHIM KI TOV
KJ: And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
BN: And Elohim namled the dry land "Earth", and the gathering together of the watery elements he named "Seas"; and Elohim saw that it was good.
HA YABASHAH (היבשה): YAVASH (יבש) = "to be dry" - again compare the story of Tahamat who was similarly divided.
VA TERA'EH HA YABASHA: is the notion of land masses emerging through the oceans as the oceans begin to find their levels compatible with scientific theory? As with E=MC, as with cell division, yet again we can see that the ancients understood rather more than we generally give them credit for, albeit they only had the language of allegory and metaphor to express and explain it.
1:10 VA YIKRA ELOHIM LA YABASHAH ERETS U LE MIKVEH HA MAYIM KARA YAMIM VAYAR ELOHIM KI TOV
וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לַיַּבָּשָׁה אֶרֶץ וּלְמִקְוֵה הַמַּיִם קָרָא יַמִּים וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי טוֹב
KJ: And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
BN: And Elohim namled the dry land "Earth", and the gathering together of the watery elements he named "Seas"; and Elohim saw that it was good.
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| The Jewish mikveh in Bristol (12th century), just outside the city wall |
MIKVEH HA MAYIM: This is indeed the same word that is used for a ritual bath in Judaism, though in fact the "bath" part of that term is mis-leading; bathing-place would be better, and a stream of natural water is the intention, whether in Nature, or gathered inside a building through a pipe. Click here for a fuller explanation. The illustration shows the building that houses Jacob's Well in Bristol, the oldest known mikveh in Europe, and one that I had the privilege of being among the re-discoverers.
Why, grammatically, is this not "mikvat ha-mayim"?
1:11 VA YOMER ELOHIM TADSH'E HA ARETS DESH'E ESEV MAZRIY'A ZERA ETS PERI OSEH PERI LE MIYNO ASHER ZAR'O VO AL HA ARETS VA YEHI CHEN
Why, grammatically, is this not "mikvat ha-mayim"?
1:11 VA YOMER ELOHIM TADSH'E HA ARETS DESH'E ESEV MAZRIY'A ZERA ETS PERI OSEH PERI LE MIYNO ASHER ZAR'O VO AL HA ARETS VA YEHI CHEN
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע עֵץ פְּרִי עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְמִינוֹ אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ בוֹ עַל הָאָרֶץ וַיְהִי כֵן
KJ: And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
BN (provisional): And Elohim said, "Let the Earth bring forth grasses upon the earth, herbs containing their own seeds within themselves, and fruit trees yielding fruit after their own kind, carrying their own seeds within themselves." And it was so.
This is a fuller development of the traditional translation; but, as we shall see...
TADSH'E... DESH'E ESEV (תדשא הארץ דשא עשב): Not simply grass. DASH'A (דשא) = "to sprout, to be green", giving a sense of young shoots. CHATSOR (חצור) is grass ready for mowing, but ESEV is used here, being a herb already in seed. Note that Tadsh'e (תדשא) is in the feminine form.
The very first species created on Earth are grasses and ferns. This too concords with scientific theory.
MAZRIY'A ZERA (מזריע זרע): The Hiphil (causative form) + noun = "to scatter, disperse, expand"; "to sow", "to scatter seed", "to plant", "to conceive", "to bear seed". Thus Creation is at Springtime, probably in the month of Nisan, on whose full moon (15th) Pesach (Passover) commences. In the earliest times the New Year began with the spring, around Purim time, which is also the Persian New Year, but was moved to Autumn when the Babylonian calendar was adopted during the exile (click here for a fuller explanation).
ETS... ZAR'O VO (עץ פרי עשה פרי למינו אשר זרעו-בו): "Fruit tree bearing its own seed"; i.e. self-reproductive, self-pollinating. Again connected to fertility. Aain, scientifically accurate.
The first thing created on Earth is the means of self-regeneration; the Creator creates creatures intrinsically capable of sustaining creation without needing an external creator. In Hinduism Vishnu is the sustainer god; the religion of the Beney Yisra-El incorporates this role alongside the Creator, and also the role of Siva, the Destroyer, because Elohim also takes life. This too is part of the Unity; this too also confirms again that Elohim is a verb, not a noun.
A final reading of the verse in English is needed. I leave it to my reader as a closure-activity to do it for yourself. It will need to include a clear sense that what is being created now will continue to self-reproduce for ever, allowing the Brahma god to rest from Creation and the Shiva-Vishnu gods to take over, sustaining and destroying in their turns.
1:12 VA TOTS'E HA ARETS DESH'E ESEV MAZRIY'A ZERA LE MIYN'EHU VE ETS OSEH PERI ASHER ZAR'O VO LE MIYN'EHU VA YAR ELOHIM KI TOV
MAZRIY'A ZERA (מזריע זרע): The Hiphil (causative form) + noun = "to scatter, disperse, expand"; "to sow", "to scatter seed", "to plant", "to conceive", "to bear seed". Thus Creation is at Springtime, probably in the month of Nisan, on whose full moon (15th) Pesach (Passover) commences. In the earliest times the New Year began with the spring, around Purim time, which is also the Persian New Year, but was moved to Autumn when the Babylonian calendar was adopted during the exile (click here for a fuller explanation).
ETS... ZAR'O VO (עץ פרי עשה פרי למינו אשר זרעו-בו): "Fruit tree bearing its own seed"; i.e. self-reproductive, self-pollinating. Again connected to fertility. Aain, scientifically accurate.
The first thing created on Earth is the means of self-regeneration; the Creator creates creatures intrinsically capable of sustaining creation without needing an external creator. In Hinduism Vishnu is the sustainer god; the religion of the Beney Yisra-El incorporates this role alongside the Creator, and also the role of Siva, the Destroyer, because Elohim also takes life. This too is part of the Unity; this too also confirms again that Elohim is a verb, not a noun.
A final reading of the verse in English is needed. I leave it to my reader as a closure-activity to do it for yourself. It will need to include a clear sense that what is being created now will continue to self-reproduce for ever, allowing the Brahma god to rest from Creation and the Shiva-Vishnu gods to take over, sustaining and destroying in their turns.
1:12 VA TOTS'E HA ARETS DESH'E ESEV MAZRIY'A ZERA LE MIYN'EHU VE ETS OSEH PERI ASHER ZAR'O VO LE MIYN'EHU VA YAR ELOHIM KI TOV
וַתּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע לְמִינֵהוּ וְעֵץ עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ בוֹ לְמִינֵהוּ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים כִּי טוֹב
KJ: And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
BN: And the Earth brought forth grasses, herbs containing their own seeds within themselves, and fruit trees yielding fruit after their own kind, carrying their own seeds within themselves; and Elohim saw that it was good.
VA TOTS'E... LE MIYN'EHU (ותוצא הארץ דשא עשב מזריע זרע למינהו): Command, then action. On this occasion it is LE MIYN'EHU (למינהו) instead of LEMIYNO (למינו), and the order of words also slightly different, but the meaning is the same.
Note the self-satisfaction of divine Creation, though it will increase even more on the final day when "good" becomes "very good".
1:13 VA YEHI EREV VA YEHI VOKER YOM SHELISHI
וַיְהִי עֶרֶב וַיְהִי בֹקֶר יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי
KJ: And the evening and the morning were the third day.
BN: So it was evening, and then morning, day three.
An interesting sideline to this. To the Moslem Arabs, YOM SHELISHI (יום שלישי), which is Tuesday, is the day on which al-Lah created absolute darkness, in the form of the god Tohu, who is probably another variation of Tehom. Normally the name "Tuesday" is said to come from the old English "Tiwes Daeg"; a name whose roots are not ascertainable. In Nordic "Tuesday" is connected to Zivis, which may be the root of Tiwes; to the Greeks and Romans it belonged to Mars, whence Mardi in French; the Persians and Sabians knew it as Nergal's day. Is it possible that "Tuesday" is in fact Tohu's day and that the root of Tiwes is Tohu?) In Yehudit, the names of the days can also be given by numeric letters, YOM ALEPH, BEIT, GIMMEL etc.
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