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  "description": "In this post I will be citing from both rabbinic Jewish sources and biblical scholars in respect to the opening word of Genesis 1:1, namely, bereshith. I cite the verse along with the transliteration of the Hebrew so the readers can follow along with the argument:\n\n“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,”\n\nBereshith bara elohim et ha'shamayim wa'et ha'ares\n\nThe references I will provide demonstrate that the rabbis were perplexed by the opening phrase bereshith, since they argued",
  "path": "/by-the-beginning-god-created/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-16T00:00:41.000Z",
  "site": "https://answeringislam.blog",
  "tags": [
    "Prov. 8:22)",
    "Jer. 2:3)",
    "Deut. 18:4)",
    "Hos. 1:2)",
    "Job 3:10)",
    "Isa. 8:4)",
    "Amos 6:12)",
    "https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165/showrashi/true#v1",
    "Ramban on Genesis 1:1",
    "Bereshit Rabbah 1",
    "Targum Jerusalem, Genesis 1:1",
    "JEWISH SOURCES ON THE WORD AS A DIVINE PERSON",
    "THE VOICE OF YHVH APPEARS",
    "GOD’S SON IN TARGUM NEOFITI REVISITED",
    "TRINITY IN TARGUM NEOFITI",
    "Trinity in Neofiti Revisited",
    "THE WORD, MESSIAH & TARGUM OF ISAIAH"
  ],
  "textContent": "In this post I will be citing from both rabbinic Jewish sources and biblical scholars in respect to the opening word of Genesis 1:1, namely, _bereshith_. I cite the verse along with the transliteration of the Hebrew so the readers can follow along with the argument:\n\n“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,”\n\n _Bereshith bara elohim et ha'shamayim wa'et ha'ares_\n\nThe references I will provide demonstrate that the rabbis were perplexed by the opening phrase _bereshith_ , since they argued that this is not the normal word which would have been used if the context is speaking about the commencement of creation. Rather, the term that would have conveyed this notion is _barishonah_ , “at the beginning.” The rabbis sought to explain this anomaly of Gen. 1:1 by assuming that _bereshith_ doesn’t mean “in the beginning,” but something else such as “by/with the beginning.” This either meant that God created the heavens and earth in reference to the beginning (_reshith_), meaning for the sake of the beginning, or he used that which is called the beginning to create all things.\n\nThe rabbis then went to look for what that beginning or _reshith_ was, and found it in Proverbs 8:22, a text which speaks of Wisdom being the _reshith_ (beginning) of God’s creative works/activities. They further connected this Wisdom with the Torah itself, since it is the embodiment of God’s Wisdom. They argued from this that the creation was brought into being for the sake of the Torah.\n\nWith the foregoing in view, I now proceed to the citations themselves. All emphasis will be mine.\n\n**The Rabbinic Sources**\n\n**In the beginning of God’s creation of.** Heb. בְּרֵאשִית בָּרָא. This verse calls for a midrashic interpretation [because according to its simple interpretation, the vowelization of the word בָּרָא, should be different, as Rashi explains further]. It teaches us that the sequence of the Creation as written is impossible, as is written immediately below] as our Rabbis stated (_Letters of R. Akiva_ , letter “beth” ;  _Gen. Rabbah_ 1:6;  _Lev. Rabbah_ 36:4): **__[God created the world] for the sake of the Torah, which is called (__** Prov. 8:22)**__: “the beginning of His way__** ,” and for the sake of Israel, who are called (Jer. 2:3) “the first of His grain.” **__But if you wish to explain it according to its simple meaning, explain it thus: “At the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth, the earth was astonishing with emptiness, and darkness…and God said, ‘Let there be light.’” But Scripture did not come to teach the sequence of the Creation, to say that these came first, for if it came to teach this, it should have written: “At first (בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה) He created the heavens and the earth,” for there is no רֵאשִׁית in Scripture that is not connected to the following word, [i.e., in the construct state] like (ibid. 27:1): “In the beginning of (בְּרֵאשִית) the reign of Jehoiakim”; (below 10:10) “the beginning of (רֵאשִׁית) his reign”; (__** Deut. 18:4)**__“the first (רֵאשִׁית) of your corn.” Here too, you say בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אלֹהִים, like בְּרֵאשִׁית בְּרֹא, in the beginning of creating. And similar to this is, “At the beginning of the Lord’s speaking (דִּבֶּר) to Hosea,” (__** Hos. 1:2), i.e., at the beginning of the speaking (דִּבּוּרוֹ) of the Holy One, Blessed be He, to Hosea, “the Lord said to Hosea, etc.” Now if you say that it came to teach that these (i.e., heaven and earth) were created first, and that its meaning is: In the beginning of all, He created these-and that there are elliptical verses that omit one word, like (Job 3:10): “For [He] did not shut the doors of my [mother’s] womb,” and it does not explain who it was who shut [the womb]; and like (Isa. 8:4): “he will carry off the wealth of Damascus,” and it does not explain who will carry it off; and like (Amos 6:12): “or will one plow with cattle,” and it does not explain: “if a man will plow with cattle” ; and like (Isa. 46: 10): “telling the end from the beginning,” and it does not explain that [it means] telling the end of a matter from the beginning of a matter-if so, [**if you say that Scripture indicates the order of creation] be astounded at yourself, for the water preceded, as it is written** : “and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the water,” and Scripture did not yet disclose when the creation of water took place! From this you learn that the water preceded the earth. Moreover, the heavens were created from fire and water. Perforce, you must admit that Scripture did not teach us anything about the sequence of the earlier and the later [acts of creation]. (_The Complete Jewish Bible with Rashi Commentary_ : https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8165/showrashi/true#v1)\n\nRamban on Genesis 1:1\n\n**בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים** אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: לֹא הָיָה צָרִיךְ לְהַתְחִיל הַתּוֹרָה אֶלָּא מֵ\"הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם\" (שמות יב ב), שֶׁהִיא מִצְוָה רִאשׁוֹנָה שֶׁנִּצְטַוּוּ בָּהּ יִשְׂרָאֵל. וּמָה טַעַם פָּתַח בִּבְרֵאשִׁית? שֶׁאִם יֹאמְרוּ אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם: \"לִסְטִים אַתֶּם, שֶׁכְּבַשְׁתֶּם לָכֶם אַרְצוֹת שִׁבְעָה גּוֹיִם\", הֵם אוֹמְרִים לָהֶם: \"כָּל הָאָרֶץ שֶׁל הַקָּבָּ\"ה הִיא, וּנְתָנָהּ לַאֲשֶׁר יָשַׁר בְּעֵינָיו; וּבִרְצוֹנוֹ נְתָנָהּ לָהֶם, וּבִרְצוֹנוֹ נְטָלָהּ מֵהֶם וּנְתָנָהּ לָנוּ\". וְזוֹ אַגָּדָה בַּלָּשׁוֹן שֶׁכְּתָבָהּ רַבֵּינוּ שְׁלֹמֹה בְּפֵרוּשָׁיו. וְיֵשׁ לִשְׁאֹל בָּהּ, כִּי צֹרֶךְ גָּדוֹל הוּא לְהַתְחִיל הַתּוֹרָה בִּ\"בְרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים\", כִּי הוּא שֹׁרֶשׁ הָאֱמוּנָה; וְשֶׁאֵינוֹ מַאֲמִין בָּזֶה וְחוֹשֵׁב שֶׁהָעוֹלָם קַדְמוֹן, הוּא כּוֹפֵר בָּעִקָּר וְאֵין לוֹ תּוֹרָה כְּלָל. וְהַתְּשׁוּבָה, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁמַּעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית – סוֹד עָמֹק, אֵינוֹ מוּבָן מִן הַמִּקְרָאוֹת, וְלֹא יִוָּדַע עַל בֻּרְיוֹ אֶלָּא מִפִּי הַקַּבָּלָה עַד מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ מִפִּי הַגְּבוּרָה, וְיוֹדְעָיו חַיָּבִין לְהַסְתִּיר אוֹתוֹ. לְכָךְ אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק שֶׁאֵין לְהַתְחָלַת הַתּוֹרָה צֹרֶךְ בִּ\"בְרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא\", וְהַסִּפּוּר בְּמָה שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן וּמָה נַעֲשָׂה בְּיוֹם שֵׁנִי וּשְׁאָר הַיָּמִים, וְהָאֲרִיכוּת בִּיצִירַת אָדָם וְחַוָּה, וְחֶטְאָם וְעָנְשָׁם, וְסִפּוּר גַּן עֵדֶן וְגֵרוּשׁ אָדָם מִמֶּנּוּ, כִּי כָל זֶה לֹא יוּבַן בִּינָה שְׁלֵמָה מִן הַכְּתוּבִים. וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן סִפּוּר דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל וְהַפַּלָּגָה, שֶׁאֵין הַצֹּרֶךְ בָּהֶם גָּדוֹל. וְיַסְפִּיק לְאַנְשֵׁי הַתּוֹרָה בִּלְעֲדֵי הַכְּתוּבִים הָאֵלֶּה, וְיַאֲמִינוּ בִּכְלָל בַּנִּזְכָּר לָהֶם בַּעֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת (שמות כ י): \"כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים עָשָׂה ה' אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ אֶת הַיָּם וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּם וַיָּנַח בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי\", וְתִשָּׁאֵר הַיְּדִיעָה לַיְּחִידִים שֶׁבָּהֶם הֲלָכָה לְמֹשֶׁה מִסִּינַי, עִם הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה. וְנָתַן רַבִּי יִצְחָק טַעַם לָזֶה, כִּי הִתְחִילָה הַתּוֹרָה בִּ\"בְרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים\" וְסִפּוּר כָּל עִנְיַן הַיְּצִירָה עַד בְּרִיאַת אָדָם, וְשֶׁהִמְשִׁילוֹ בְּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו וְכֹל שַׁתָּ תַחַת רַגְלָיו, וְגַן עֵדֶן – שֶׁהוּא מִבְחַר הַמְּקוֹמוֹת הַנִּבְרָאִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה – נַעֲשָׂה מָכוֹן לְשִׁבְתּוֹ, עַד שֶׁגֵּרֵשׁ אוֹתוֹ חֶטְאוֹ מִשָּׁם. וְאַנְשֵׁי דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל, בְּחֶטְאָם גֹּרְשׁוּ מִן הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ, וְהַצַּדִּיק בָּהֶם לְבַדּוֹ נִמְלָט, הוּא וּבָנָיו. וְזַרְעָם, חֶטְאָם גָּרַם לָהֶם לַהֲפִיצָם בִּמְקוֹמוֹת וּלְזָרוֹתָם בַּאֲרָצוֹת, וְתָפְשׂוּ לָהֶם הַמְּקוֹמוֹת לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָם בְּגוֹיֵיהֶם כְּפִי שֶׁנִּזְדַּמֵּן לָהֶם. אִם כֵּן רָאוּי הוּא, כַּאֲשֶׁר יוֹסִיף הַגּוֹי לַחֲטוֹא, שֶׁיֹּאבַד מִמְּקוֹמוֹ וְיָבוֹא גּוֹי אַחֵר לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת אַרְצוֹ, כִּי כֵן הוּא מִשְׁפַּט הָאֱלֹהִים בָּאָרֶץ מֵעוֹלָם. וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן עִם הַמְסֻפָּר בַּכָּתוּב כִּי כְּנַעַן מְקֻלָּל וְנִמְכַּר לְעֶבֶד עוֹלָם, וְאֵינוֹ רָאוּי שֶׁיִּירַשׁ מִבְחַר מְקוֹמוֹת הַיִּשּׁוּב, אֲבָל יִירָשׁוּהָ עַבְדֵי ה' זֶרַע אוֹהֲבוֹ, כְּעִנְיָן שֶׁכָּתוּב (תהלים קה מד): \"וַיִּתֵּן לָהֶם אַרְצוֹת גּוֹיִם וַעֲמַל לְאֻמִּים יִירָשׁוּ בַּעֲבוּר יִשְׁמְרוּ חֻקָּיו וְתוֹרֹתָיו יִנְצֹרוּ\". כְּלוֹמַר, שֶׁגֵּרֵשׁ מִשָּׁם מוֹרְדָיו, וְהִשְׁכִּין בּוֹ עוֹבְדָיו, שֶׁיֵּדְעוּ כִּי בַּעֲבוֹדָתוֹ יִנְחָלוּהָ, וְאִם יֶחְטְאוּ לוֹ – תָּקִיא אוֹתָם הָאָרֶץ כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיהֶם. וַאֲשֶׁר יְבָאֵר הַפֵּרוּשׁ שֶׁכָּתַבְתִּי, לְשׁוֹנָם בִּבְרֵאשִׁית רַבָּה (פרשה א) שֶׁאֲמָרוּהָ שָׁם בַּלָּשׁוֹן הַזֶּה: רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דְּסִכְנִין בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי פָּתַח, \"כֹּחַ מַעֲשָׂיו הִגִּיד לְעַמּוֹ\" (תהלים קיא ו). מָה טַעַם גִּלָּה לָהֶם הקב\"ה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל מַה שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן וּמָה שֶׁנִּבְרָא בְּיוֹם שֵׁנִי? מִפְּנֵי ז' אֻמּוֹת, שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיוּ מוֹנִין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאוֹמְרִים לָהֶם: הֲלֹא אֻמָּה שֶׁל בְּזִיזוֹת אַתֶּם. וְיִשְׂרָאֵל מְשִׁיבִין לָהֶם: וְאַתֶּם הֲלֹא בְּזוּזָה הִיא בְּיֶדְכֶם, הֲלֹא \"כַּפְתֹּרִים הַיֹּצְאִים מִכַּפְתּוֹר הִשְׁמִידֻם וַיֵּשְׁבוּ תַחְתָּם\" (דברים ב כג). הָעוֹלָם וּמְלוֹאוֹ שֶׁל הקב\"ה הוּא, כְּשֶׁרָצָה – נְתָנוֹ לָכֶם; כְּשֶׁרָצָה – נְטָלוֹ מִכֶּם וּנְתָנוֹ לָנוּ. הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (תהלים קיא ו), \"לָתֵת לָהֶם נַחֲלַת גּוֹיִם\" – \"כֹּחַ מַעֲשָׂיו הִגִּיד לְעַמּוֹ\": בִּשְׁבִיל לָתֵת לָהֶם נַחֲלַת גּוֹיִם, הִגִּיד לָהֶם אֶת בְּרֵאשִׁית. וּכְבָר בָּא לָהֶם מִמָּקוֹם אַחֵר עוֹד הָעִנְיָן שֶׁהִזְכַּרְתִּי. בְּתַעֲלוּמוֹת מַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית, אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ\"ל: \"כֹּחַ מַעֲשָׂיו הִגִּיד לְעַמּוֹ\", לְהַגִּיד כֹּחַ מַעֲשֵׂה בְּרֵאשִׁית לְבָשָׂר וָדָם אִי אֶפְשָׁר; לְפִיכָךְ סָתַם לְךָ הַכָּתוּב בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים. אִם כֵּן נִתְבָּאֵר מָה שֶׁאָמַרְנוּ בָּזֶה.\n\nIN THE BEGINNING G-D CREATED. Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Torah, which is the book of laws, should have begun with the verse, _This month shall be unto you the first of the months_ ,_Exodus 12:2. which is the first commandment given to Israel. It is true the book of Genesis contains three commandments (1:28; 17:10; 32:33), but after the Revelation on Sinai these laws became incumbent upon Israel. Hence the verse this month, etc., is “the first commandment given to Israel” as a people._ What then is the reason that it begins with the creation? Should the nations of the world say to Israel, “You are robbers because you took unto yourselves the lands of the seven nations of Canaan,” they [Israel] may reply to them, “The whole world belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He. He gave it to whom He pleased, and according to His Will, He took it [the land] from them and gave it to us.”\n\nThis is a homiletic exposition _*Found in Tanchuma (Buber), Bereshith 11. See also Rashi (Berliner) p. 424._ as quoted by Rabbi Shlomo [Rashi] in his commentaries.\n\nOne may object that it was indeed very necessary to begin the Torah with the chapter of _In the beginning G-d created_ for this is the root of faith, and he who does not believe in this and thinks the world was eternal denies the essential principle of the [Judaic] religion and has no Torah at all._*A person who thinks the world is eternal cannot believe in miracles since, if G-d did not create the world, He cannot possibly change it. Ramban explains in many places (e.g., see further, 17:1; 46:15) that all Divine promises concerning the blessings or imprecations which will follow upon our observance or disregard of the Torah are miraculous in nature of “invisible miracles.” A person who believes that the world is eternal thus has “no Torah at all.” See further my English work, Ramban: His Life and Teachings, Chapter 13._\n\n**The answer is that the process of creation is a deep mystery not to be understood from the verses, and it cannot truly be known except through the tradition going back to Moses our teacher who received it from the mouth of the Almighty, and those who know it are obligated to conceal it**._**_Chagigah 11 b: “The process of Creation may not be expounded before two_**.” It is for this reason that Rabbi Yitzchak said that it was not necessary for the Torah to begin with the chapter of In the beginning G-d created and the narration of what was created on the first day, what was done on the second and other days, as well as a prolonged account of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin and punishment, and the story of the Garden of Eden and the expulsion of Adam from it, because all this cannot be understood completely from the verses. It is all the more unnecessary for the story of the generations of the flood and of the dispersion to be written in the Torah for there is no great need of these narratives, and, for people who believe in the Torah, it would suffice without these verses. They would believe in the general statement mentioned to them in the Ten Commandments: For in six days the Eternal made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day, Exodus 20:11._ and the knowledge of the process of creation would remain with individuals as a tradition from Moses who received the law on Sinai together with the Oral Torah.\n\nRabbi Yitzchak then gave a reason for it. The Torah began with the chapter of _In the beginning G-d created_ and recounted the whole subject of creation until the making of man, how He [G-d] granted him dominion over the works of His hands, and that He put all things under his feet;_See Psalms 8:7. and how the Garden of Eden, which is the choicest of places created in this world, was made the place of his abode until his sin caused his expulsion therefrom; and how the people of the generation of the flood were completely expelled from the world on account of their sin, and the only righteous one among them — he [Noah] and his children — were saved; and how the sin of their descendants caused them to be scattered to various places and dispersed to different countries, and how subsequently they seized unto themselves places after their families, in their nations, Genesis 10:5._ as chance permitted. If so, it is proper that when a people continues to sin it should lose its place and another people should come to inherit its land, for such has been the rule of G-d in the world _The Hebrew word ba’aretz (world) may also refer here to “the land,” especially the Land of Israel. See Ramban further, 26:5. from the beginning. This is true all the more regarding that which is related in Scripture, namely that Canaan was cursed and sold as a servant forever. It would therefore not be proper that he inherit the choicest of places of the civilized world. Rather, the servants of G-d — the seed of His beloved one, Abraham See Isaiah 41:8._ — should inherit it, even as it is written, _And He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took the labor of the peoples in possession; that they might keep His statutes, and observe His laws_._Psalms 105:44-45. That is to say, He expelled those who rebelled against Him, and settled therein those who served Him so that they know by serving Him they will inherit it, whereas if they sin against Him, the land will vomit them out, just as it vomited out the nation before them. See Leviticus 18:28._\n\nElucidating the explanation I have written are the words of the Sages in Bereshith Rabbah, wherein they say as follows:_1:3. “Rabbi Yehoshua, of the city of Siknin, in the name of Rabbi Levi opened [his discourse on this chapter of Creation with the verse]: He hath declared to His people the power of His works. Psalms 111:6._ Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, reveal to Israel what was created on the first day and what was created on the second day? It is on account of the seven nations who inhabited the land of Canaan, so that they should not taunt Israel and say to them: ‘Are you not a nation of robbers?’ Israel could then reply to them: ‘And you, is it not booty in your hands? _Have not the Caphtorim that came forth from Caphtor destroyed them and dwelt in their stead? Deuteronomy 2:23. The world and the fullness thereof belong to the Holy One, blessed be He. When He willed it, He gave it to you, and when He willed it, He took it from you and gave it to us.’ It is this which Scripture says, To give them the heritage of the nations. Psalms 111:6._  _He hath declared to His people the power of His works_ in order _to give them the heritage of the nations_. Hence He told them the account of creation.”\n\nThere is yet another source for the subject I have mentioned: the mysteries in the process of creation. It is what our Rabbis of blessed memory have said:_This Midrash is quoted by Rambam in his Preface to Moreh Nebuchim. See Batei Midrashoth, ed. Wertheimer, I, p. 251. “He hath declared to His people the power of His works. Psalms 111:6._ To declare the power of the process of creation to a mortal being is impossible. Therefore, Scripture closed the matter: _In the beginning G-d created.”_ Thus is elucidated what we have said on this subject._*That the details in the process of creation and the settlement of the earth were written for the purpose of justifying Israel’s possession of the land while the essential process of creation itself remains a mystery._\n\n**בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים** כָּתַב רַשִׁ\"י (רש\"י על בראשית א':א'): אֵין הַמִּקְרָא הַזֶּה אוֹמֵר אֶלָּא \"דָּרְשֵׁנִי\", כְּמוֹ שֶׁדְּרָשׁוּהוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ: בִּשְׁבִיל הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנִקְרֵאת רֵאשִׁית, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ח כח) \"ה' קָנָנִי רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ\", וּבִשְׁבִיל יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִקְרְאוּ רֵאשִׁית, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיהו ב ג) \"קֹדֶשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לַה' רֵאשִׁית תְּבוּאָתוֹ\". וְהַמִּדְרָשׁ הַזֶּה לְרַבּוֹתֵינוּ סָתוּם וְחָתוּם מְאֹד, כִּי דְּבָרִים רַבִּים מָצְאוּ שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ רֵאשִׁית, וּבְכֻלָּם לָהֶם מִדְרָשִׁים, וּקְטַנֵּי אֲמָנָה יְסַפְּרוּ לָהֶם לְרֻבָּם. אָמְרוּ (בראשית רבה פרשה א): בִּזְכוּת שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם: בִּזְכוּת חַלָּה, בִּזְכוּת מַעַשְׂרוֹת, וּבִזְכוּת בִּכּוּרִים. בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים – אֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָּא חַלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר טו כ): \"רֵאשִׁית עֲרִסֹתֵכֶם\". וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָּא מַעַשְׂרוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים יח ד): \"רֵאשִׁית דְּגָנְךָ\". וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָּא בִּכּוּרִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כג יט): \"רֵאשִׁית בִּכּוּרֵי אַדְמָתְךָ\". וְעוֹד אָמְרוּ (שם): בִּזְכוּת מֹשֶׁה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים לג כא): \"וַיַּרְא רֵאשִׁית לוֹ\". וְכַוָּנָתָם זוֹ, שֶׁמִּילַת בְּרֵאשִׁית תִּרְמֹז כִּי בְּעֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם. וְרָמַז לִסְפִירָה הַנִּקְרֵאת חָכְמָה שֶׁבָּהּ יְסוֹד כֹּל, כָּעִנְיָן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ג יט): \"ה' בְּחָכְמָה יָסַד אָרֶץ\", הִיא הַתְּרוּמָה. וְהִיא קֹדֶשׁ, אֵין לָהּ שִׁעוּר לְמִעוּט הִתְבּוֹנְנוּת הַנִּבְרָאִים בָּהּ. וְכַאֲשֶׁר יִמְנֶה אָדָם עֶשֶׂר מִדּוֹת וְיַפְרִישׁ אַחַת מֵעֶשֶׂר, רֶמֶז לְעֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת, יִתְבּוֹנְנוּ הַחֲכָמִים בָּעֲשִׂירִית וִידַבְּרוּ בָּהּ. וְהַחַלָּה – מִצְוָה יְחִידָה בָּעִסָּה – תִּרְמֹז לָזֶה. וְיִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ \"רֵאשִׁית\", הִיא כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל הַמְּשׁוּלָה בְּשִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים לְכַלָּה, שֶׁקְּרָאָהּ הַכָּתוּב \"בַּת\" וְ\"אָחוֹת\" וְ\"אֵם\", וּכְבָר בָּא לָהֶם זֶה בַּמִּדְרָשׁ (שיר השירים רבה פרשה ג): \"בָּעֲטָרָה שֶׁעִטְּרָה לּוֹ אִמּוֹ\" (שיר השירים ג יא), וּבִמְקוֹמוֹת רַבִּים. וְכֵן \"וַיַּרְא רֵאשִׁית לוֹ\" דְּמֹשֶׁה, יִסְבְּרוּ כִּי מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ נִסְתַּכֵּל בְּאַסְפַּקְלַרְיָא הַמְּאִירָה וַיַּרְא רֵאשִׁית לוֹ, וְלָכֵן זָכָה לַתּוֹרָה. הַכֹּל כַּוָּנָה אַחַת לָהֶם. וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהַאֲרִיךְ בְּפֵרוּשׁ זֶה הָעִנְיָן בְּמִכְתָּב, וְהָרֶמֶז רַב הַנֶּזֶק, כִּי יִסְבְּרוּ בּוֹ סְבָרוֹת אֵין בָּהֶם אֱמֶת. אֲבָל הִזְכַּרְתִּי זֶה לִבְלֹם פִּי קְטַנֵּי אֲמָנָה מְעוּטֵי חָכְמָה, הַמַּלְעִיגִים עַל דִּבְרֵי רַבּוֹתֵינוּ.\n\nIN THE BEGINNING G-D CREATED. Rashi wrote: “This verse calls aloud for elucidation,_The difficulties in the verse are: (a) The word bereshith (in the beginning) appears throughout the Bible in a construct form such as: In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 27:1).**_But here it cannot be in construct form since such a form can be used only in connection with a noun, and the word bara (He created) is a verb. (b) Again, it cannot be said that here bereshith is actually in a construct form and that a missing noun is implied_** , thus making the sense of the verse, “in the beginning of all, G—d created…,” for if so, the following difficulty presents itself: since Scripture, according to this interpretation, sets out to tell us the order in which things were created, why does it say in Verse 2 And the spirit of G-d hovered over the face of the waters when it has not yet told us when water was created? **_Hence Rashi turns to a Midrashic interpretation in which the word reshith is another name for the Torah and Israel. The word bereshith is thus not in a construct form but stands by itself, and the sense conveyed is: “FOR THE SAKE OF THAT WHICH IS RESHITH [Torah and Israel] G-d created.” as our Rabbis have explained it_** : Bereshith Rabbah 1:6; Tanchuma (Buber) Bereshith 3._ “For the sake of Torah which is called _reshith_ , as it is said, _The Eternal made me as ‘reshith’_ (the beginning) _of His way_ ,_Proverbs 8:22. and for the sake of Israel who is called reshith, as it is said, Israel is the Eternal’s hallowed portion, the ‘reshith’ (first-fruits) of His increase.” Jeremiah 2:3._\n\n**This Midrash of our Rabbis is very hidden and secret for there are many things the Rabbis found that are called _reshith_ and concerning which they give Midrashic interpretations**, and those wanting in faith count their multitude. For example, they [the Rabbis] have said: “For the merit acquired by [fulfilling the commandments associated with] three things has the world been created: for the merit of the Dough-offering, for the merit of Tithes and for the merit of the First-fruits. _In the beginning G-d created. Reshith_ surely signifies the Dough-offering, as it is said, _The first of your dough_._Numbers 15:20. Reshith surely signifies the Tithes, as it is said, The first of thy corn. Deuteronomy 18:4._  _Reshith_ surely signifies the First-fruits, as it is said, _The first-fruits of thy land_.” _*Exodus 23:19._\n\nThe Rabbis have further said:_Bereshith Rabbah 1:6. “For the merit acquired by Moses [the world has been created], as it is said, And he chose a first part for himself.” Deuteronomy 33:21. Reference here is to Moses who took the territory of Kings Sihon and Og as he knew that his grave was to be therein. (See Rashi, ibid.) It was thus for the sake of this meritorious person, of whom reshith was said, that the world was created._\n\nTheir intent in the above texts is as follows: the word _bereshith_ alludes to the creation of the world by Ten Emanations, **_and hints in particular to the emanation called Wisdom, in which is the foundation of everything, even as it says,_The Eternal hath founded the earth by wisdom__**. This is the Heave-offering [referred to in the Midrash mentioned above], and it is holy; it has no precise measure, thus indicating the little understanding created beings have of it. Now just as a man counts ten measures — this alludes to the Ten Emanations — and sets aside one measure of the ten as a Tithe, so do the wise men contemplate the tenth Emanation and speak about it. The Dough-offering, which is the single commandment pertaining to the dough, alludes to this. Now Israel, which is called _reshith_ as mentioned above, is “the congregation of Israel,” which is compared in the Song of Songs to a bride and whom Scripture in turn calls “daughter,” “sister” and “mother.” The Rabbis have already expressed this in a homiletic interpretation of the verse, _Upon the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him_ ,_Song of Songs 3:11. and in other places. Similarly, the verse concerning Moses, And he chose a first part for himself, Deuteronomy 33:21. Reference here is to Moses who took the territory of Kings Sihon and Og as he knew that his grave was to be therein. (See Rashi, ibid.) It was thus for the sake of this meritorious person, of whom reshith was said, that the world was created._ which they [the Rabbis in the above Midrash] interpret to mean that Moses our teacher contemplated [the Deity] through a lucid speculum,_*So clearly stated in Yebamoth 49b._ and he saw that which is called _reshith_ (the first) for himself, and therefore he merited the Torah. Thus all the above Midrashim have one meaning. Now it is impossible to discuss this explanation at length in writing, and even an allusion is dangerous since people might have thoughts concerning it which are untrue. But I have mentioned this [i.e., the above brief explanation] in order to close the mouths of those wanting in faith and of little wisdom, who scoff at the words of our Rabbis.\n\n**בְּרֵאשִׁית** כָּתַב רַשִׁ\"י (רש\"י על בראשית א':א'): וְאִם בָּאתָ לְפָרְשׁוֹ כִּפְשׁוּטוֹ כָּךְ פָּרְשֵׁהוּ: בְּרֵאשִׁית בְּרִיַּת שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ, וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ, וַיֹּאמֶר הקב\"ה יְהִי אוֹר. אִם כֵּן, הַכֹּל נִמְשַׁךְ לִבְרִיאַת הָאוֹר. וְרַבִּי אַבְרָהָם פֵּרֵשׁ כְּעִנְיָן זֶה בְּעַצְמוֹ, אֲבָל תִּקֵּן כִּי הַו\"ו בְּמִילַת \"וְהָאָרֶץ\" אֵינָהּ מְשַׁמֶּשֶׁת, וְרַבּוֹת כֵּן בַּמִּקְרָאוֹת. וְהַטַּעַם, כִּי בְּרֵאשִׁית בְּרִיאַת הָרָקִיעַ וְהַיַּבָּשָׁה לֹא הָיָה בָּאָרֶץ יִשּׁוּב, אֲבָל הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ מְכֻסָּה בְּמַיִם, וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי אוֹר. וּלְפִי דַּעְתּוֹ, לֹא נִבְרָא בְּיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן רַק הָאוֹר. וְהַקֻּשְׁיָא לְרַבֵּינוּ שְׁלֹמֹה בַּפֵּרוּשׁ הַזֶּה, כִּי אָמַר, שֶׁאִם בָּא לְהוֹרוֹת סֵדֶר הַבְּרִיאָה בְּאֵלּוּ לוֹמַר שֶׁהֵם קָדְמוּ – הָיָה לוֹ לִכְתֹּב \"בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה\", שֶׁאֵין \"רֵאשִׁית\" בַּמִּקְרָא שֶׁאֵינוֹ סָמוּךְ. וְהִנֵּה \"מַגִּיד מֵרֵאשִׁית אַחֲרִית\" (ישעיהו מו י). וְאִם יִסְמֹךְ אוֹתוֹ לְ\"דָּבָר\", גַּם זֶה תִּסְמֹךְ אוֹתוֹ. וְעוֹד, \"וַיַּרְא רֵאשִׁית לוֹ\" (דברים לג כא). וְטָעַן בָּזֶה עוֹד טְעָנוֹת. וְעַתָּה שְׁמַע פֵּרוּשׁ הַמִּקְרָא עַל פְּשׁוּטוֹ נָכוֹן וּבָרוּר. הקב\"ה בָּרָא כָּל הַנִּבְרָאִים מֵאֲפִיסָה מֻחְלֶטֶת. וְאֵין אֶצְלֵנוּ בִּלְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ בְּהוֹצָאַת הַיֵּשׁ מֵאַיִן אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן \"בָּרָא\"; וְאֵין כָּל הַנַּעֲשֶׂה – תַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ אוֹ לְמַעְלָה – הוֹוֶה מִן הָאַיִן הַתְחָלָה רִאשׁוֹנָה. אֲבָל הוֹצִיא מִן הָאֶפֶס הַגָּמוּר הַמֻּחְלָט יְסוֹד דַּק מְאֹד, אֵין בּוֹ מַמָּשׁ, אֲבָל הוּא כֹּחַ מַמְצִיא, מוּכָן לְקַבֵּל הַצּוּרָה וְלָצֵאת מִן הַכֹּחַ אֶל הַפֹּעַל. וְהוּא הַחֹמֶר הָרִאשׁוֹן, נִקְרָא לַיְּוָנִים \"הִיּוּלִי\". וְאַחַר הַהִיּוּלִי לֹא בָּרָא דָּבָר, אֲבָל יָצַר וְעָשָׂה, כִּי מִמֶּנּוּ הִמְצִיא הַכֹּל וְהִלְבִּישׁ הַצּוּרוֹת וְתִקֵּן אוֹתָן. וְדַע, כִּי הַשָּׁמַיִם וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּהֶם – חֹמֶר אֶחָד, וְהָאָרֶץ וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּהּ – חֹמֶר אֶחָד. והקב\"ה בָּרָא אֵלּוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם מֵאַיִן, וּשְׁנֵיהֶם לְבַדָּם נִבְרָאִים, וְהַכֹּל נַעֲשִׂים מֵהֶם. וְהַחֹמֶר הַזֶּה, שֶׁקָּרְאוּ הִיּוּלִי, נִקְרָא בִּלְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ \"תֹּהוּ\", וְהַמִּלָּה נִגְזְרָה מִלְּשׁוֹנָם (קידושין מ ב): \"בְּתוֹהֶא עַל הָרִאשׁוֹנוֹת\". מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאִם בָּא אָדָם לִגְזֹר בּוֹ שֵׁם, תּוֹהֶא וְנִמְלָךְ לְקוֹרְאוֹ בְּשֵׁם אַחֵר, כִּי לֹא לָבַשׁ צוּרָה שֶׁיִּתָּפֵשׂ בָּהּ הַשֵּׁם כְּלָל. וְהַצּוּרָה הַנִּלְבֶּשֶׁת לַחֹמֶר הַזֶּה נִקְרֵאת בִּלְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ \"בֹּהוּ\", וְהַמִּלָּה מֻרְכֶּבֶת, כְּלוֹמַר \"בּוֹ הוּא\", כְּמִלַּת \"לֹא תוּכַל עֲשֹׂהוּ\" (שמות יח יח), שֶׁמְּחֻסַּר הַו\"ו וְהָאָלֶ\"ף, עֲשׂוֹ הוּא. וְזֶהוּ שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב (ישעיהו לד יא): \"וְנָטָה עָלֶיהָ קַו תֹהוּ וְאַבְנֵי בֹהוּ\", כִּי הוּא הַקַּו אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ יְתַחֵם הָאֻמָּן מַחְשֶׁבֶת בִּנְיָנוֹ וּמָה שֶׁיְּקַוֶּה לַעֲשׂוֹת, נִגְזַר מִן \"קַוֵּה אֶל ה'\" (תהלים כז יד), וְהָאֲבָנִים הֵם צוּרוֹת בַּבִּנְיָן. וְכֵן כָּתוּב: \"מֵאֶפֶס וָתֹהוּ נֶחְשְׁבוּ לוֹ\" (ישעיהו מ יז), כִּי הַתֹּהוּ אַחַר הָאֶפֶס, וְאֵינֶנּוּ דָּבָר. וְכָךְ אָמְרוּ בְּסֵפֶר יְצִירָה: \"יָצַר מִתֹּהוּ מַמָּשׁ וְעָשָׂה אֵינוֹ יֶשְׁנוֹ\". וְעוֹד אָמְרוּ בְּמִדְרַשׁ רַבִּי נְחוּנְיָא בֶּן הַקָּנָה (ספר הבהיר): אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה, מַאי דִכְתִיב: \"וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ\"? מַאי מַשְׁמַע \"הָיְתָה\"? שֶׁכְּבָר הָיְתָה תֹּהוּ. וּמַאי \"בֹּהוּ\"? אֶלָּא תֹּהוּ הָיְתָה, וּמַאי \"תֹּהוּ\"? דָּבָר הַמַּתְהֶא בְּנֵי אָדָם, וְחָזְרָה לְבֹהוּ. וּמַאי \"בֹּהוּ\"? דָּבָר שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ מַמָּשׁ, דִּכְתִיב \"בּוֹ הוּא\".\n\nIN THE BEGINNING. Rashi wrote: “If you wish to explain it [the word _bereshith_] in accordance with its plain meaning, explain it thus: at the beginning of the creation of the heaven and earth, and the earth was formless and void and there was darkness, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, _Let there be light_.” If so, the whole text leads into the creation of light.\n\nRabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained it in an identical way. However, he established that the letter _vav_ in the word _veha’aretz_ (and the earth) **does not serve [as a connecting letter as it normally does and which would mean “and,” but it serves rather as the word “when**.”] There are many such examples in Scripture. The meaning then according to Rabbi Abraham would be: at the beginning of the creation of heaven and dry land, there was no habitable place on earth; rather, it was unformed and void and covered with water, and G-d said, _Let there be light_. According to Abraham ibn Ezra’s opinion, only light _*According to Rashi in Verse 6 (also 2:4), the sun, etc., was also created on the first day._ was created on the first day.\n\nThe difficulty which Rabbi Shlomo [Rashi] had which led him to the above interpretation is, as he said: **_For if Scripture intended to teach the order in which the acts of creation took place,_it should have written BARISHONAH [instead of bereshith]_ , since wherever the word _reshith_ occurs in Scripture it is in the construct state_**. But there is the verse, _Declaring the end ‘mereshith’ [from the beginning]_. And if one will connect it with the missing word _davar_ [thing — thus making the verse read: “Declaring the end of a thing from the beginning of a thing”—] here too it could be connected to a missing word._Thus reading: Bereshith kol, (In the beginning of everything [G—d created]). There is also the verse, And he chose ‘reshith’ (a first part) for himself. Deuteronomy 33:21. Reference here is to Moses who took the territory of Kings Sihon and Og as he knew that his grave was to be therein. (See Rashi, ibid.) It was thus for the sake of this meritorious person, of whom reshith was said, that the world was created._ [Here again the word _reshith_ is not used in the construct state.] And Rashi raised other objections.\n\nNow listen to the correct and clear explanation of the verse in its simplicity. **_The Holy One, blessed be He, created all things from absolute non-existence. Now we have no expression in the sacred language for bringing forth something from nothing other than the word _bara_ (created). Everything that exists under the sun or above was not made from non-existence at the outset_**. Instead He brought forth from total and absolute nothing a very thin substance devoid of corporeality but having a power of potency, fit to assume form and to proceed from potentiality into reality. This was the primary matter created by G-d; it is called by the Greeks _hyly_ (matter). After the _hyly_ , He did not create anything, but He formed and made things with it, and from this _hyly_ He brought everything into existence and clothed the forms and put them into a finished condition.\n\nKnow 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_** ;_*Such is also the theory of Rambam: “All things on earth have one common substance; the heavens and the things in them have one substance different from the first” (Moreh Nebuchim II, 26)._ they alone were created, and everything else was constructed from them.\n\nThis substance, which the Greeks called _hyly_ , is called in the sacred language _tohu_ , the word being derived from the expression of the Sages:_Kiddushin 40b. “betohei (when the wicked bethinks himself) of his doings in the past.” If a person wants to decide a name for it [this primordial matter], he may bethink himself, change his mind and call it by another name since it has taken on no form to which the name should be attached. The form which this substance finally takes on is called in the sacred language bohu, which is a composite word made up of the two words bo hu (in it there is [substance]). This may be compared to the verse, Thou art not able ‘asohu’ (to perform it), Exodus 18:18._ in which case the word _asohu_ is missing a _vav_ and an _aleph_ [and is a composite of the two words] _aso hu_. It is this which Scripture says, _And he shall stretch over it the line of ‘tohu’ (confusion) and the stones of ‘bohu.’ Isaiah 34:11. “The stones,” which are forms in the building (as explained later on by Ramban), thus constitute substance as expressed in the Hebrew bohu. [The tohu in Hebrew or hyly in Greek] is the line by which the craftsman delineates the plan of his structure and that which he hopes to make. This is derived from the expression, Kavei (Hope) unto G-d. The stones are forms in the building. Similarly it is written, They are accounted by Him as nought and ‘tohu,’ Isaiah 40:17._ as _tohu_ comes after nothingness and there is nothing yet in it.\n\nSo the Rabbis have also said in Sefer Yetzirah:_*2:6. Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) is one of the earliest Hebrew books of the Cabala tradition. (See introduction to Bereshith, Note 56.) Some of the profoundest mystic commentaries have been written on this book. See my Hebrew work, Kithvei Haramban, Vol. 2, pp. 451-461._ “He created substance from _tohu_ , and made that which was nothing something.”\n\nThey have furthermore said in the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakanah:_*Called also Sefer Habahir (Book of the Bright Light), 2. This book too is a classic in the mystic teachings of the Cabala. It was written in the style and manner of the Midrashim._ “Rabbi Berachyah said: ‘What is the meaning of the verse, _And the earth was ‘tohu’ (without form) ‘vavohu’_ (_and void_)? What is the meaning of the word “was?” It had already been _tohu_. And what is _tohu_? It is a thing which astonishes people. It was then turned into _bohu_. And what is _bohu_? It is a thing which has substance, as it is written, [_bohu_ is a composite of the two words] ‘ _bo hu_ ’ (in it there is substance).’”\n\nBereshit Rabbah 1\n\nChapter 1\n\nרַבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָה רַבָּה פָּתַח (משלי ח, ל): וָאֶהְיֶה אֶצְלוֹ אָמוֹן וָאֶהְיֶה שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים יוֹם יוֹם וגו', אָמוֹן פַּדְּגוֹג, אָמוֹן מְכֻסֶּה, אָמוֹן מֻצְנָע, וְאִית דַּאֲמַר אָמוֹן רַבָּתָא. אָמוֹן פַּדְּגוֹג, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (במדבר יא, יב): כַּאֲשֶׁר יִשָּׂא הָאֹמֵן אֶת הַיֹּנֵק. אָמוֹן מְכֻסֶּה, הֵיאַךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (איכה ד, ה): הָאֱמֻנִים עֲלֵי תוֹלָע וגו'. אָמוֹן מֻצְנָע, הֵיאַךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (אסתר ב, ז): וַיְהִי אֹמֵן אֶת הֲדַסָּה. אָמוֹן רַבָּתָא, כְּמָא דְתֵימָא (נחום ג, ח): הֲתֵיטְבִי מִנֹּא אָמוֹן, וּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן הַאַתְּ טָבָא מֵאֲלֶכְּסַנְדְּרִיָא רַבָּתָא דְּיָתְבָא בֵּין נַהֲרוֹתָא. דָּבָר אַחֵר אָמוֹן, אֻמָּן. הַתּוֹרָה אוֹמֶרֶת אֲנִי הָיִיתִי כְּלִי אֻמְנוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בְּנֹהַג שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם בּוֹנֶה פָּלָטִין, אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא מִדַּעַת אֻמָּן, וְהָאֻמָּן אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא דִּפְתְּרָאוֹת וּפִנְקְסָאוֹת יֵשׁ לוֹ, לָדַעַת הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה חֲדָרִים, הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה פִּשְׁפְּשִׁין. כָּךְ הָיָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַבִּיט בַּתּוֹרָה וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הָעוֹלָם, וְהַתּוֹרָה אָמְרָה בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים. וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה, הֵיאַךְ מָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר (משלי ח, כב): ה' קָנָנִי רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ.\n\nRabbi Hoshaya the Great began: “I _The speaker is Wisdom (the Torah) personified. was with Him as an amon, a delight day after day…” (Proverbs 8:30) – amon means a child’s caretaker, amon means covered, amon means hidden, and some say amon means greatness. Amon means a child’s caretaker, as it says: “As a caretaker [omen] carries a nursing child” (Numbers 11:12). Amon means covered, as it says: “Those covered [ha’emunim] in scarlet…” (Lamentations 4:5). Amon means hidden, as it says: “He was omen Hadassa” (Esther 2:7). Amon means great, as it says: “Are you better than No Amon [which sits in the rivers]?” (Nahum 3:8), which we translate in Targum as: Are you better than the great city of Alexandria, which is located among the rivers? Another matter, amon means artisan [uman]. The Torah is saying: ‘I was the tool of craft of the Holy One blessed be He.’ The way of the world is that when a flesh-and-blood king builds a palace he does not build it based on his own knowledge, but rather based on the knowledge of an artisan. And the artisan does not build it based on his own knowledge, but rather, he has [plans on] sheets and tablets by which to ascertain how he should build its rooms, how he should build its doors. So too, the Holy One blessed be He looked in the Torah and created the world.**_The Torah says: “Bereshit God created” (Genesis 1:1), and reshit is nothing other than the Torah, as it says: “The Lord made me at the beginning of [reshit] His way” (Proverbs 8:22)._** **_Be-reshit is interpreted as ‘by means of the Torah_**.’_...\n\nבְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, שִׁשָּׁה דְבָרִים קָדְמוּ לִבְרִיאַת הָעוֹלָם, יֵשׁ מֵהֶן שֶׁנִּבְרְאוּ, וְיֵשׁ מֵהֶן שֶׁעָלוּ בַּמַּחֲשָׁבָה לְהִבָּרְאוֹת. הַתּוֹרָה וְהַכִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד, נִבְרְאוּ. תּוֹרָה מִנַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ח, כב): ה' קָנָנִי רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ. כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד מִנַּיִן, דִּכְתִיב (תהלים צג, ב): נָכוֹן כִּסְאֲךָ מֵאָז וגו'. הָאָבוֹת וְיִשְׂרָאֵל וּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ וּשְׁמוֹ שֶׁל מָשִׁיחַ, עָלוּ בַּמַּחֲשָׁבָה לְהִבָּרְאוֹת, הָאָבוֹת מִנַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (הושע ט, י): כַּעֲנָבִים בַּמִּדְבָּר וגו'. יִשְׂרָאֵל מִנַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים עד, ב): זְכֹר עֲדָתְךָ קָנִיתָ קֶדֶם. בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ מִנַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה יז, יב): כִּסֵּא כָבוֹד מָרוֹם מֵרִאשׁוֹן וגו'. שְׁמוֹ שֶׁל מָשִׁיחַ מִנַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים עב, יז): יְהִי שְׁמוֹ לְעוֹלָם וגו'. רַבִּי אַהֲבָה בְּרַבִּי זְעִירָא אָמַר אַף הַתְּשׁוּבָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים צ, ב): בְּטֶרֶם הָרִים יֻלָּדוּ, וְאוֹתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה תָּשֵׁב אֱנוֹשׁ עַד דַּכָּא וגו', אֲבָל אֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ אֵיזֶה מֵהֶם קֹדֶם, אִם הַתּוֹרָה קָדְמָה לְכִסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד וְאִם כִּסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד קֹדֶם לַתּוֹרָה, אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא הַתּוֹרָה קָדְמָה לְכִסֵּא הַכָּבוֹד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ח, כב): ה' קָנָנִי רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ וגו', קוֹדֵם לְאוֹתוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בּוֹ (תהלים צג, ב): נָכוֹן כִּסְאֲךָ מֵאָז. רַבִּי הוּנָא וְרַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר רַבִּי יִצְחָק אָמְרוּ, מַחְשַׁבְתָּן שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל קָדְמָה לְכָל דָּבָר, מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁהָיָה נָשׂוּי לְמַטְרוֹנָה אַחַת, וְלֹא הָיָה לוֹ מִמֶּנָּה בֵּן, פַּעַם אַחַת נִמְצָא הַמֶּלֶךְ עוֹבֵר בַּשּׁוּק, אָמַר טְלוּ מִילָנִין וְקַלְמִין זוֹ לִבְנִי, וְהָיוּ הַכֹּל אוֹמְרִין, בֵּן אֵין לוֹ וְהוּא אוֹמֵר טְלוּ מִילָנִין וְקַלְמִין זוֹ לִבְנִי, חָזְרוּ וְאָמְרוּ הַמֶּלֶךְ אַסְטְרוֹלוֹגוּס גָּדוֹל הוּא, אִלּוּלֵי שֶׁצָּפָה הַמֶּלֶךְ שֶׁהוּא עָתִיד לְהַעֲמִיד מִמֶּנָּה בֵּן לֹא הָיָה אוֹמֵר טְלוּ מִילָנִין וְקַלְמִין לִבְנִי. כָּךְ אִלּוּלֵי שֶׁצָּפָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁאַחַר עֶשְׂרִים וְשִׁשָּׁה דּוֹרוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲתִידִין לְקַבֵּל אֶת הַתּוֹרָה, לֹא הָיָה כּוֹתֵב בַּתּוֹרָה צַו אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. אָמַר רַבִּי בַּנָאי, הָעוֹלָם וּמְלוֹאוֹ לֹא נִבְרָא אֶלָּא בִּזְכוּת הַתּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי ג, יט): ה' בְּחָכְמָה יָסַד אֶרֶץ וגו'. רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה אָמַר בִּזְכוּת משֶׁה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים לג, כא): וַיַּרְא רֵאשִׁית לוֹ. רַב הוּנָא בְּשֵׁם רַב מַתְנָה אָמַר, בִּזְכוּת שְׁלשָׁה דְּבָרִים נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, בִּזְכוּת חַלָּה, וּבִזְכוּת מַעַשְׂרוֹת, וּבִזְכוּת בִּכּוּרִים, וּמַה טַּעַם, בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָא חַלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר טו, כ): רֵאשִׁית עֲרִסֹתֵיכֶם, אֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָּא מַעַשְׂרוֹת, הֵיךְ דְּאַתְּ אָמַר (דברים יח, ד): רֵאשִׁית דְּגָנְךָ, וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָּא בִּכּוּרִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כג, יט): רֵאשִׁית בִּכּוּרֵי אַדְמָתְךָ וגו'.\n\n“In the beginning, God created” – six items preceded the creation of the world; some of them were [actually] created, and some of them God contemplated creating, [though He did not actually do so]. The Torah and the Throne of Glory were created. Torah, from where is it derived? As it is stated: “The Lord made me _*The speaker is Wisdom (the Torah) personified._ at the beginning of His way” (Proverbs 8:22). The Throne of Glory, from where is it derived? “Your throne stands firm from earliest time, [You are from eternity]” (Psalms 93:2). The patriarchs, Israel, the Temple, and the name of the messianic king – God contemplated creating them [before the world, but did not]. The patriarchs, from where is it derived? “Like grapes in the wilderness [I found Israel, like a first fruit on the fig tree, at its beginning [_bereshitah_] I saw your fathers]” (Hosea 9:10). Israel, from where is it derived? “Remember Your congregation, that You acquired from old times” (Psalms 74:2). The Temple, from where is it derived? “Throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, [is the place of our Temple]” (Jeremiah 17:12). The name of the messianic king, from where is it derived? “May his name endure forever. His name is praised before the sun” (Psalms 72:17). Rabbi Ahava ben Rabbi Ze’eira said: Repentance as well, as it is stated: “Before the birth of mountains” (Psalms 90:2), and at that same time, “You bring man down until he is crushed, [and then You say: Return, sons of man]” (Psalms 90:3). But I do not know which of them was first – did the Torah precede the Throne of Glory, or did the Throne of Glory precede the Torah? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: The Torah preceded the Throne of Glory, as it is stated: “The Lord made me at the beginning of His way, [before His undertakings of old times]” (Proverbs 8:22) – before that in whose regard it is written: “Your throne stands firm from earliest time” (Psalms 93:2).\n\nRabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitzḥak: The contemplation about [creating] Israel preceded all other things. This is analogous to a king who married a noblewoman, but did not have a son from her. Once the king was found passing in the marketplace. He said: ‘Take this ink and inkwell for my son.’ Everyone was saying: ‘He has no son and yet he says: Take this ink and inkwell for my son?’ Then they said: ‘The king is a great astrologer, had it not been that he is destined to beget a son from her, he would not have said: Take this ink and inkwell for my son.’ So, too, had it not been that the Holy One blessed be He foresaw that after twenty-six generations Israel was destined to receive the Torah, He would not have written in the Torah: “Command the children of Israel”; “speak to the children of Israel.”\n\nRabbi Banai said: The world and its contents were created only due to the merit of the Torah, as it is stated: “The Lord founded the earth with wisdom [_beḥochma_]” (Proverbs 3:19). Rabbi Berekhya said: It was due to the merit of Moses, as it is stated: “He saw the first [_reshit_] for himself, [as there the portion of the lawgiver is hidden]” (Deuteronomy 33:21)._*Moses, the lawgiver, is called Reshit, the first one._\n\nRav Huna said in the name of Rav Matana: The world was created for the sake of three things: For the sake of _ḥalla_ , for the sake of tithes, and for the sake of first fruits. What is the source? “In the beginning, [_bereshit_]_*Or, for the sake of reshit._ God created,” and _reshit_ is nothing other than _ḥalla_ , as it is stated: “The first of [_reshit_] your kneading basket” (Numbers 15:20). _Reshit_ is nothing other than tithes, as it says: “The first [_reshit_] of your grain” (Deuteronomy 18:4). And _reshit_ is nothing other than first fruits, as it is stated: “The choicest of [_reshit_] the first fruits of your land…” (Exodus 23:19).\n\nTargum Jerusalem, Genesis 1:1****\n\nבראשׁית בְּחוּכְמָא בְּרָא יְיָ:\n\n** _In wisdom (be-hukema)_** the Lord created.\n\nוְאַרְעָא הֲוַת תַּהֲיָא וּבַהֲיָא וְצָדוּ מִן בְּנֵי אֱנָשָׁא וְרֵיקַנְיָא מִכָּל בְּעִיר וְרוּחָא דְרַחֲמִין מִן קֳדָם יְיָ הֲוַת מְנַשְׁבָא עַל אַפֵּי מַיָא:\n\nAnd the earth was vacancy and desolation, and solitary of the sons of men, and void of every animal; **and _the Spirit of mercies from before the Lord_ breathed upon the face of the waters**.\n\n**The Scholars**\n\n**Peter Schäfer**\n\nThe Wisdom of Solomon, which is also noncanonical, was written in the first century BCE. It continues precisely this tradition of the identification of Wisdom with the Logos. At the beginning of the book, wisdom and (holy) spirit are used virtually synonymously:\n\n(1:4) Because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.\n\n(5) For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit, . . .\n\n(6) For wisdom is a kindly spirit,\n\nbut will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words.\n\nHere, Wisdom or the holy spirit are gifts from God to the righteous person. Solomon prays for her, and she is bestowed on him as the “spirit of wisdom” (Wisd. of Sol. 7:7). God is the “guide of wisdom” (7:15), and Wisdom is the “fashioner (_technitis_) of all things” (7:21–22). He created all things by his word and humankind by his wisdom (9:1–2). Wisdom and spirit are identical, so one can speak almost paradoxically of wisdom that it is spirit and at the same time _possesses_ a spirit: “There is in her [Wisdom] a spirit (_esti gar en autē pneuma_) that is intelligent and holy, unique and yet manifold, subtle, mobile, clear” (7:22).\n\nWith respect to the essence of wisdom, Wisdom of Solomon maintains the tradition of the personified Wisdom that is presented in Proverbs and Jesus Sirach, on the one hand, and reinforces the philosophical, less personal interpretation of wisdom, on the other. She sits on the throne at God’s side (9:4) and was present when he created the world (9:9). At the same time, however, she is\n\n(7:25) a breath7 of the power of God, and a pure emanation (_aporroia eilikrinēs_) of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.\n\n(26) For she is a reflection (_apaugasma_) of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God (_tēs tou theou energeias_), and an image (_eikōn_) of his goodness.\n\nWisdom flows from God. In a platonic sense, she is the archetype of his perfection and at the same time his emanation, which imparts God’s glory and active workings into the earthly world: “In every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets” (7:27).\n\nNow we have come full circle. Wisdom is (in biblical terms) with God and is enthroned with him, yet at the same time she is identical to him as the platonic archetype, emanating as God’s working into the souls of humankind. This drive of Wisdom to be immanent in the earthly world of human beings is—with varied accents—common to all three books of wisdom. In the biblical Book of Proverbs, it is still expressed with reserve, as directly after Wisdom plays before God the text continues somewhat cryptically, “I was playing in his inhabited world, finding delight in humankind” (Prov. 8:31). In Wisdom of Solomon, the drive toward immanence is philosophical, and in Jesus Sirach, it assumes a totally new form. The author of Jesus Sirach lets there be no doubt where the personified wisdom ultimately belongs:\n\n(24:8) Then the Creator of all things gave me a command, and my Creator chose the place for my tent.\n\nHe said, “Make your dwelling in Jacob, and in Israel receive your inheritance.”\n\nWisdom, God’s little daughter from the biblical Book of Proverbs, thus takes her final residence among the people of Israel, in the holy tent in Zion, as is afterward stated (v. 10), in Jerusalem, God’s beloved city (v. 11). Expressed in a different, bolder manner, the incarnated Wisdom is sent by God to the people on earth in order to live among them. But what exactly does it mean that Wisdom lives among the people? The terminology used (holy tent, Zion, and Jerusalem) of course indicates Wisdom’s presence in the Temple, but Jesus Sirach does not leave it at this rather traditional idea. The text suddenly takes an unexpected turn:\n\n(24:23) All this (_tauta panta_) is the book of the covenant (_biblos diathēkēs_) of the Most High God, the law (_nomos_) that Moses commanded us as an inheritance for the congregations of Jacob.\n\n“All this” refers to everything that had previously been said about wisdom; all this is now interpreted as the Book of the Covenant between God and his people Israel—that is, as the Torah (Greek nomos). Wisdom, God’s personified messenger on earth, is now embodied in a book, the book of the Torah. This reinterpretation of biblical wisdom paved the way that classical rabbinic Judaism would take: from personified Wisdom to the book of the Torah, which needs to be interpreted. Hence, the so-called Fragment Targum, one of the oldest Palestinian _targumim_ on the Torah,* translates the verse Genesis 1:1 _be_ -_reshit bara Elohim_ not as “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” but instead as “through/by means of wisdom (_be_ -_hokhmah_)8 God created and perfected the heaven and the earth.”9 “Wisdom” here of course means “Torah,” as explicitly explained in the midrash Genesis Rabbah:10\n\nThe Torah declares: _be_ -_reshit_ God created [the heaven and the earth] (Gen. 1:1), and _reshit_ refers to the Torah, as it is said: “The Lord created me (_qanani_) as the beginning (_reshit_) of his way.” (Prov. 8:22)\n\n**Here, the _reshit_ from Genesis 1:1 is interpreted through Proverbs 8:22**. There, Wisdom says of herself that she is the beginning (_reshit_) of his way—that is, his act of creation; **accordingly, the _reshit_ in Genesis 1:1 must refer to wisdom: _be_ -_reshit_ means, as in the targum, “through/by means of wisdom**.” At the same time we know from Jesus Sirach 24:23 that this wisdom is identical to the Torah, so the verse Genesis 1:1 **according to this rabbinic interpretation means “through/by means of _the Torah_ God created the heavens and the earth**.” Thus in contrast to the canonical and noncanonical wisdom tradition, the Torah is not only the first created work of creation **but also God’s tool of creation**. As a parable in the midrash further expounds, God looked in the Torah while creating the world—that is, he used it as a blueprint as it were for his creation. In contrast to this, New Testament Christianity continues the line of the personified (male) Logos, referring it to Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).\n\nThis Christological interpretation can be found, of all places, in the oldest complete Palestinian targum on the Pentateuch that we know of: the so-called Codex Neofiti. In the Aramaic translation of the Codex Neofiti, Genesis 1:1 reads, _Mileqadmin behokhmah bera de-YYY’ shakhlel yat shemayya_  _we-yat ar’a_ ,11 which can only be translated literally as, “**In the beginning, by means of wisdom, the son of God perfected the heaven and the earth**.” This version combines the two variants of the Fragment Targum (_mileqadmin_ , “in/at the beginning,” and _be-hokhmah_ , “through/by means of wisdom”), and by inserting the particle “de” before _YYY’_ , transforms the verb _bera_ (created) into the noun _bera_ (son): “the son of God/God’s son.” Since the verb _bera_ was no longer there and _shakhlel_ (perfected) remained as the only verb, the copula _we_ (and) before _shakhlel_ (also in the Fragment Targum) no longer made sense and was deleted by a redactor, as can easily be seen on a photocopy of the manuscript.12 In other words, whoever deleted the copula _we-_ before _shakhlel_ wanted to give a clear meaning to the sentence, which had become incomprehensible due to the particle _de-_ before _YYY’_ —**namely, it was the son of God, the Logos of the New Testament, who through the wisdom of God perfected creation**.\n\nUnfortunately, we do not know how this Christological interpretation of the first verse of Genesis should be dated. The Codex Neofiti is the only extant manuscript of this targum, and the colophon dates the manuscript to 1504. The targum itself was dated to the first century CE by its discoverer, Alejandro Díez Macho,13 but this early dating has not found general acceptance. Today it is assumed to have been written in the fourth century.14 But what was the original version of Genesis 1:1? The _we-_ before _shakhlel_ was definitely in the original manuscript text, but it is also true that the particle _de-_ before _YYY’_ , which makes it impossible to read _bera_ as a verb and confuses the syntax of the sentence, was in the original manuscript text as well. The most probable and theologically least unsettling explanation of the extant version of Genesis 1:1 is that the clearly Christological interpretation was the work of an early modern Christian redactor.15 On the other hand, it cannot be entirely ruled out that the reading _bera de-YYY’_ (son of God) was intended in the original targum text, and that the manuscript scribe continued in the early sixteenth century with _we-shakhlel_ (and perfected), because this was familiar to him from other versions of the targum (as documented in the Fragment Targum). In this case, here we would have an interpretation of the first verse of Genesis that is utterly unique in rabbinic tradition,16 which against the background of the early Jewish evidence discussed here, however, does not seem as singular as it might appear at first glance. (_Two Gods in Heaven: Jewish Concepts of God in Antiquity_ , translated by Allison Brown [Princeton University Press, 2020], Part I: Second Temple Judaism, 2. Personified Wisdom, pp. 27-32)\n\n**James L. Kugel**\n\n _The Bible begins with an account of God’s creation of the world in six days: on the first day, light was created and separated from darkness; on the following days the sky and the earth were made, then plant life, heavenly lights, fish and reptiles, the animals and, lastly, humankind. Once the work was completed, God rested on the seventh day—the first Sabbath in the world._\n\nTHE BIBLE opens with the words “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” But did this mean the very beginning? **Many interpreters believed that it did not**. They arrived at the conclusion that God’s work must have begun even before He created heaven and earth. One reason for this belief was the Bible’s discussion of the creation in a few places other than Genesis; in one of these, a passage from the book of Proverbs, Wisdom (here personified as a female figure) says the following:\n\nThe Lord made me the **beginning** of his work, the first of his acts of old.\n\nAges ago I was formed, before the establishment of the earth . . . When He made the heavens, I was already there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep.\n\n—Prov. 8:22–27\n\nThese words clearly state that God had created wisdom even before the heavens and the earth were made. (The idea that “wisdom”—that is, the great plan underlying all of reality—**was of divine origin was in any case widespread in the ancient world**.)1 There was thus every reason to believe that the creation of wisdom had come at the very beginning of things; this fact was plainly stated in the book of Proverbs.\n\n_Wisdom Came First_\n\nAnd so, when ancient interpreters spoke about God’s creation of the world**, many mentioned specifically that wisdom existed even before the creation itself** :\n\nOne of our ancestors, Solomon [the reputed author of the biblical book of Proverbs], said more clearly and better that wisdom existed before heaven and earth, which agrees with what has been said [by Greek philosophers].\n\n—Aristobulus, Fragment 5 (cited in Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelica_ 13.12.11\n\n[Wisdom says:] From eternity, in the beginning, He created me. —Sir. 24:9\n\nWisdom is older than the creation . . . of the whole universe.\n\n—Philo, _On the Virtues_ 62\n\nTwo thousand years before the world was created, [God] created the Torah [that is, divine wisdom].\n\n— _Targum Neophyti_ Gen. 3:24\n\nBut if Scripture said that wisdom was created before all things, was this not because wisdom actually was to play some role in the creation of the rest of the world? **Such an idea made good sense, and it was also suggested elsewhere in Scripture** :\n\nBut the Lord God is true . . . who made the earth with His power, established the world with His **wisdom** , and by His understanding stretched out the heavens.\n\n—Jer. 10:10, 12\n\nOh Lord, how great are your works, with wisdom You have made them all.\n\n—Ps. 104:24\n\nThe Lord by wisdom founded the earth, establishing the heavens with understanding.\n\n—Prov. 3:19\n\nMany ancient interpreters therefore felt justified in asserting that wisdom was “present at the creation” **or even had some part in creating the rest of the world** :\n\nWith you [O God] is wisdom, who knows your works and was **present** when you made the world, and who understands what is pleasing in your sight, and what is right according to your commandments.\n\n— _Wisd_. 9:9\n\nAnd who is to be considered the daughter of God but Wisdom, who is the firstborn mother of all things.\n\n—Philo, _Questions in Genesis_ 4:97\n\nBlessed is He who created the earth with his power, who established the world with His wisdom.\n\n—(11QPsa ) _Hymn to the Creator_\n\nGod looked into the Torah [that is, the corpus of divine wisdom] and created the world.\n\n— _Genesis Rabba_ 1:1\n\nFor reasons to be seen presently, wisdom was associated in particular with the creation of humanity on the sixth day:\n\nHaving given order **_by your Wisdom_** , You created, saying, “Let us make man according our image and likeness.”\n\n—Hellenistic Synagogal Prayer, _Apostolic Constitutions_ 7.34.6\n\nAnd on the sixth day **I commanded my wisdom to create man**.\n\n— _2 Enoch_ 30:8 __\n\n_The “Beginning” Did It_\n\nBut if wisdom was the first thing that God had created, and if God had in fact used it to create the rest of the world, then biblical interpreters had to wonder: why did the book of Genesis leave out this crucial detail? Why didn’t the first verse in the Bible read: “In the beginning God created _wisdom_ , and afterwards, the heavens and the earth”?\n\n**In looking for an answer, interpreters noticed a striking coincidence**. In Prov. 8:22, wisdom says, “The Lord made me the _beginning_ of his work,” while the Genesis account opens, “In the _beginning_ God created the heavens and the earth.” **Perhaps this was not just a coincidence. Perhaps the word “beginning” in the Genesis verse was in fact a subtle hint, an allusion, to wisdom._For, if wisdom is called the beginning of God’s work in Proverbs, then (one might argue) the word “beginning” itself might be used elsewhere in the Bible as a kind of nickname for wisdom, a shorthand reference to the very first thing that God created_**. If so, then the first verse of Genesis could now be understood as meaning not “At the _start_ God created the heavens and the earth” **but “In [or “with”]_wisdom_ God created the heavens and the earth**.”\n\nThis is precisely how that verse was translated in two ancient translations of the Bible:\n\nWith wisdom did God create and perfect the heavens and the earth.\n\n— _Fragment Targum_ Gen. 1:1\n\nIn the beginning with wisdom did God create . . .2\n\n— _Targum Neophyti_ Gen. 1:1\n\nSimilarly:\n\nBy using different names for it, Moses indicates that the exalted, heavenly wisdom has many names: he calls it “**beginning** ,” “**image** ,” and “appearance of God.”\n\n—Philo, _Allegorical Interpretations_ 1:43\n\nAnd so, interpreters came to the conclusion that not only was wisdom the first thing God created, **_but the phrase “In the beginning” in Gen. 1:1 was intended to imply that it was by means of, or with the help of, wisdom that God had created the world_**.\n\nNow of course a modern reader might well object to this kind of interpretation. Was not the fact that the word “beginning” was used in both Gen. 1:1 and Prov. 8:22 really just a coincidence? And doesn’t “In the beginning” in Gen. 1:1 mean just that, _at the start of_ the creation of the world?\n\nThere is no single answer to this type of question, which comes up again and again with ancient biblical interpretation. It often happens that interpreters pass up what seems to us to be the more likely sense of a text in favor of some rather improbable meaning. Sometimes they do so because they want to read the text in that fashion—there is some doctrine or idea of their own (or some idea that they have inherited from elsewhere, from ancient Near Eastern tradition or Greek philosophy or some other source) for which they would like to find support in the Bible. Sometimes they depart from the straightforward meaning **because they feel they _have to_ : the text as is appears to them illogical or seems to contradict something found elsewhere in the Bible**. And sometimes, they take an apparent pleasure in willful, even playful, distortion—as if the interpreter were saying: “Look, read the text my way and you will see that this or that surprising conclusion can be derived from it.”\n\n**But behind any of these sorts of interpretations is the fundamental conviction that the Bible’s precise wording is both utterly intentional—that is, nothing in the Bible is said by chance or said in vain—and infinitely significant. 3 This meant that almost every aspect of the biblical text ought to be looked into, and that almost any sort of interpretive subtlety was justified in explaining it. The slightest unusual feature in its manner of expression even a coincidence like the appearance of the word “beginning” in both Gen. 1:1 and Prov. 8:22—could not be dismissed as mere accident**. Thus, ancient interpreters had a large task before them, but they also had enormous freedom as interpreters. For, once it was understood that Scripture required deep investigation in order for its full sense to be revealed, the groundwork was laid for interpretations that sometimes departed drastically from what the text seemed to be saying. In this way, it became possible to conclude that by the word “beginning” in Gen. 1:1 the Bible had really meant “wisdom.” (_Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era_ , 2. The Creation of the World (GENESIS 1:1–2:3), Harvard University Press, 1999)\n\n**Jesus Christ: The Beginning Who Created**\n\nAccording to the New Testament, Jesus is the _reshith_(Gr. _arche_) or Beginning of the creation, since he is the One whom the Father appointed to bring the entire creation into being, and who actively sustains all creation by his powerful word:\n\n“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: This is what the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, **_the Beginning of the creation of God_** , says:” Revelation 3:14\n\n“Who rescued us from the authority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. **For in Him all things were created** , both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created **through Him and for Him**. And **He is before all things** , And **in Him** all things hold together.\n\n“And He is the head of the body, the church; **_Who is the beginning_** , the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For **in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell** , And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:13-20\n\n“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. **All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him** nothing came into being that has come into being. **In Him was life** , and the life was the Light of men... There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. He was in the world, **and the world was made through Him** , and the world did not know Him... **And the Word became flesh** , and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Read full chapter John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14\n\n“God, having spoken long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days spoke to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, **through whom also He made the worlds** , who is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, **and upholds all things by the word of His power** ; who, having accomplished cleansing for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high... But **of the Son He says** , ‘**Your throne, O God, is forever and ever** , And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.’... And, ‘**You, Lord [the Son],** in the beginning **founded the earth** , And the heavens are the works **of Your hands** ; They will perish, **but You remain** ; And they all will wear out like a garment, And like a mantle **You will roll them up** ; Like a garment they will also be changed. **But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end**.’” Hebrews 1:1-3, 8, 10-12\n\nUnless indicated otherwise, scriptural references taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).\n\n**Further Reading**\n\nJEWISH SOURCES ON THE WORD AS A DIVINE PERSON\n\nTHE VOICE OF YHVH APPEARS\n\nGOD’S SON IN TARGUM NEOFITI REVISITED\n\nTRINITY IN TARGUM NEOFITI\n\nTrinity in Neofiti Revisited\n\nTHE WORD, MESSIAH & TARGUM OF ISAIAH",
  "title": "By the Beginning God Created",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-16T20:10:13.071Z"
}