“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
The Name of God used in this very first passage of the Torah does not use the personal Name of God (the tetragamatron – ה-ו-ה-י).1
Rashi explains that Creation really began with God contemplating the Creation with the attribute of strict judgment but He realized that the world could not last if He only used the attribute of strict judgment.2
Instead, God gave precedence to the attribute of mercy but joined it with the attribute of strict judgment. This is the meaning behind “These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Eternal One God made earth and heaven” (Genesis 2:4).2
In this passage we see the Personal Name (יהוה) associated with mercy followed by – and joined to – the Divine Name (אֱלֹהִים) which is associated with strict judgment.2
“Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the breath of God hovered over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2).
The Hebrew for the word “unformed” (תֹהוּ) means formlessness, confusion, unreality, or emptiness and the Hebrew for the word “void” (בֹהוּ) means emptiness, void, or waste.3 According to Targum Yonatan, the earth was “vacant and desolate” and according to Targum Onkelos the earth was “waste and empty”.4
According to the Rambam “the substance of the heavens is different from that of the earth: that there are two different substances: the one is described as belonging to God, being the light of His garment, on account of its superiority; and the other, the earthly substance, which is distant from His splendour and light, as being the snow under the throne of His glory.”5
Accordingly, we can know that “the heavens and all that is in them consist of one substance, and the earth and everything that is in it consist of one substance. The Holy One, blessed be He, created these two substances from nothing; they alone were created, and everything else was constructed from them.”6
In the Tanakh, darkness (חֹשֶׁךְ) is generally used to symbolize evil, death, oblivion, or misfortune. In this passage, darkness seems to not be just simply the absence of light but is in itself a distinct entity.7
The surface of the deep does not refer to the land underneath the water. This passage refers to the surface of the deep waters that covered the earth.2
“…and the breath of God hovered over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). The Hebrew word for breath (sometimes translated as spirit) is (רוּחַ) which means wind, breath, mind, or spirit.3
Alternatively, Targum Yonatan translates this passage as “…and the Spirit of mercies from before the Lord breathed upon the face of the waters.” Targum Onkelos similarly translates this passage as “…and a wind from before the Lord blew upon the face of the waters.”4
According to the Talmud and Midrash, breath or wind does not hover and this suggests that it was the Throne of Glory that hovered by means of the breath of God. “And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters — like a dove which hovers over her young without touching [them]” (Chagigah 15a).8
“The creation of the throne of glory is mentioned by our Sages, though in a strange way: for they say that it has been created before the creation of the Universe. Scripture, however, does not mention the creation of the throne, except in the words of David, “The Lord [has] established his throne in the heavens” (Ps. ciii. 19), which words admit of figurative interpretation; but the eternity of the throne is distinctly described, “[You], O Lord, [dwell forever, your] throne [forever] and ever” (Lam. v. 19).”5
“And God said: ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Using the word “said” (יֹּאמֶר) there is an indication of will or thought. Therefore, the Rabbis taught that the thought which concerned what was to be created on a particular day was thought during the day and the creation was done at sunset.6
Why did the Rabbis teach this about the word “yomer” (יֹּאמֶר)? This teaching was to express the idea that Creation was thought out and there is a reason for everything that was created. Creation was not out of a mere will of God but was purposefully done.6
“And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night …” (Genesis 1:4-5). According to Rashi, God saw that the light was good and He therefore separated it from the darkness.2
Light, according to Rashi, was set aside for the righteous to use in the future for the wicked did not deserve to use it. God saw that it was improper that light and darkness function together “in a jumble.”
Therefore, God assigned light to the “sphere of activity during the day” and assigned darkness to the “sphere of activity during the night.”2
“The Merciful One summoned the light and appointed it for duty by day, and He summoned the darkness and appointed it for duty by night” (Pesachim 2a).9
“…And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). The Hebrew word for evening (עֶרֶב) connotes the idea of mingling “because shapes of things appear confused in it.” The Hebrew word for morning (בֹקֶר) also means “examines” because it is only then “a man can distinguish between various forms.”6
This passage could have easily said “And there was evening and there was morning the first day” which would have placed it within the same liturgical sphere of the subsequent days. “[T]he ‘first’ precedes a ‘second’ in number or degree but both exist, whereas ‘one’ does not connote the existence of a second.”6
Why was the passage written “And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5)? As Rashi explains, it is because “the Holy One, Blessed be He, was solitary in His world, for the angels were not created until the second day.”2
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1Joseph Telushkin. Biblical Literacy. (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1997).
2Yisrael Herczeg. The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary – Genesis. (New York: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 2000).
3Blue Letter Bible. Book of Beginnings – Genesis 1 – (NKJV – New King James Version). (Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2011). Web. 8 Sep 2011. [http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Gen&c=1&v=1&t=NKJV#conc/2]
4J. W. Ethridge. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee (1862). [http://targum.info/targumic-texts/pentateuchal-targumim/]
5M. Friedlander (translator). The Guide for the Perplexed. (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1904). [http://sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/index.htm]
6Charles Chavel. Ramban Commentary on the Torah – Genesis. (New York: Shilo Publishing House, Inc., 1971).
7David Lieber. Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary. (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2001).
8I. Epstein. Soncino Babylonian Talmud. (London: Soncino Press, 1949). [http://halakhah.com/pdf/moed/Chagigah.pdf]
9I. Epstein. Soncino Babylonian Talmud. (London: Soncino Press, 1949). [http://halakhah.com/pdf/moed/Pesachim.pdf]