martillo@ihuxt.UUCP (Yehoyaqim Martillo) (06/05/84)
Rashi is Rabbi S:lomo ben Yiz:xaq (Solomon Isaac's son) of Troyes in
France. He lived from 1040-1105 according to Christian calculation. He
wrote the Biblical and Talmudic commentaries which are most popular among
Jews.
On Genesis 1.1 he writes the following -->
In the beginning he created (Be-re's:it bara') -- This passage requires
sophisticated explanation as our masters have interpreted it.
[Since even individual letters in the masoretic (inherited) text of the
Bible has importance for understanding the meaning, Rashi goes on to note
other occurrences of the word re's:it in the Bible. He uses these
other passages to illuminate this passage.]
[The Hebrew preposition be- does not simply mean "in" but may have
causative meaning as in Genesis 18.26 -- Will you destroy on account of
five (Hatas:xit baxamis:ah?).]
*God created the world* for the sake of the Law (Torah) because *the
Torah* is called in Proverbs 8.22 "the beginning of his path (re's:it
darko)."
*God created the world* for the sake of Israel because *Israel* is called
in Jeremiah 2.3 "the beginning of his crops (re's:it tebu'atah)."
But suppose you come to explain *the passage* according to its literal
meaning, you must explain it like this:
It was at inception of creation (be-re's:it bri'at) of heaven and
earth and the earth was unformed and empty and darkness etc. And
God said, "Let there be light."
Yet, the passage does not intend to teach the order of creating *the
world* to wit: *heaven and earth* came first. If this were the intention,
the passage would have to be written:
At first (be-ri's:onah) he created (bara') the heaven etc.
For re's:it does not occur in scripture without being joined (in the
contruct case) to the word which follows.
Examples --
Jeremiah 27.1 -- At the beginning of the reign (bere's:it
mamleket) of Yehoyaqim.
Genesis 10.10 -- the beginning of his kingdom (re's:it mamlakto).
Deuteronomy 18.4 -- the beginning of your grain (re's:it deganka).
[In his original explanation Rashi suggested that the following word was
purposely left out to suggest Proverbs 8.22 and Jeremiah 2.3 therefore]
you as a literalist might say
"In the beginning he created (bere's:it bara')" is like "It was at
the beginning of creating (bere's:it bro') the heaven and the
earth etc."
This interpretation would be similar to
Hosea 1.2 -- "At the beginning (initially -- texilat) spoke
(diber) the Lord with Hosea and the Lord said to Hosea" which is
understood as "It was at the beginning of the speaking (texilat
diburo) of the holy one and the Lord said to Hosea etc."
Or you might propose instead that the passage means heaven and earth were
created first and you might explain the passage *and the absence of the
noun (construent) following re's:it (construend) as having an understood
construent hakol (everything). The passage would be:*
At the beginning of everything (or as the first of all --
bere's:it hakol), he created (bara') these.
And there are passages which shorten their language and leave out one word
as in Job 3.10.
Because [it] did not shut up the doors of my womb.
But the passage did not explain who did the shutting. [There is not a
great deal of difference between construents and subjects in Biblical
Hebrew. Semitic languages do not have the same parts of speech as
Indo-European languages.]
And likewise Isaiah 8.4.
[He] will carry away the riches of Damascus.
But the passage did not explain who would carry.
And likewise Amos 6.12.
If [he] will plow with oxen...
But the passage did not explain:
If a man will plow with oxen...
And likewise Isaiah 46.10.
Telling from the beginning (mere's:it) the last (end -- 'axarit).
But the passage did not explain:
Telling from the beginning of a thing (mere's:it dabar) the end of
a thing ('axarit dabar).
Still (in spite of all these examples), you will be deeply astonished
because the waters came first as it is written:
And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters
and the passage has not yet disclosed when was the creation of the waters.
Thus you have learned that the waters preceded the earth (in creation) and
more proof [comes from the dubious etymology -- my own editorializing]
that heaven (s:amayim) was created from fire ('es:) and water (mayim).
Against your will you see that the passage does not teach the order of the
earlier and later events of creation at all.
--
Yehoyaqim Shemtob Martillo
(An Equal Opportunity Offender)