חגיגה 12:1 — Soncino English Talmud

But now that this is inferred from [the expression] ‘ From one end of heaven unto the other’, wherefore do I need [the expression], ‘Since the day that God created man upon the earth’? — To intimate that which R. Eleazar taught. For R. Eleazar said: The first man [extended] from the earth to the firmament, as it is said: Since the day that God created man upon the earth; but as soon as he sinned, the Holy One, blessed be He, placed His hand upon him and diminished him, for it is said: Thou hast fashioned me after and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Rab Judah said that Rab said: The first man [extended] from one end of the world to the other, for it is said: ‘Since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from one end of heaven to the other’; as soon as he sinned, the Holy One, blessed be He, placed His hand upon him and diminished him, for it is said: ‘And laid Thine hand upon me’. If so, the verses contradict one another! — They both [have] the same dimensions. Rab Judah further said that Rab said: Ten things were created the first day, and they are as follows: heaven and earth, Tohu [chaos], Bohu [desolation], light and darkness, wind and water, the measure of day and the measure of night. Heaven and earth, for it is written: In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Tohu and Bohu, for it is written: And the earth was Tohu and Bohu. Light and darkness: darkness, for it is written: And darkness was upon the face of the deep; light, for it is written: And God said, Let there be light. Wind and water, for it is written: And the wind of God hovered over the face of the waters. The measure of day and the measure of night, for it is written: And there was evening and there was morning, one day. It is taught: Tohu is a green line that encompasses the whole world, out of which darkness proceeds, for it is said: He made darkness His hiding-place round about Him. Bohu, this means the slimy stones that are sunk in the deep, out of which the waters proceed, for it is said: And he shall stretch over it the line of confusion [Tohu] and the plummet of emptiness [Bohu]. But was the light created on the first day? For, behold, it is written: And God set them in the firmament of the heaven, and it is [further] written: And there was evening and there was morning a fourth day — This is [to be explained] according to R. Eleazar. For R. Eleazar said: The light which the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, one could see thereby from one end of the world to the other; but as soon as the Holy One, blessed be He, beheld the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Dispersion, and saw that their actions were corrupt, He arose and hid it from them, for it is said: But from the wicked their light is withholden. And for whom did he reserve it? For the righteous in the time to come, for it is said: And God saw the light, that it was good; and ‘good’ means only the righteous, for it is said: Say ye of the righteous that he is good. As soon as He saw the light that He had reserved for the righteous, He rejoiced, for it is said: He rejoiceth at the light of the righteous. Now Tannaim [differ on the point]: The light which the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day one could see and look thereby from one end of the world to the other; this is the view of R. Jacob. But the Sages say: It is identical with the luminaries; for they were created on the first day, but they were not hung up [in the firmament] till the fourth day. R. Zulra b. Tobiah said that Rab said: by ten things was the world created: By wisdom and by understanding, and by reason, and by strength, and by rebuke, and by might, by righteousness and by judgment, by lovingkindness and by compassion. By wisdom and understanding, for it is written: The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; and by understanding established the heavens. By reason, for it is written: By His reason the depths were broken up. By strength and might, for it is written: Who by His strength setteth fast the mountains, Who is girded about with might. By rebuke, for it is written: The pillars of heaven were trembling, but they became astonished at His, rebuke. By righteousness and judgment, for it is written: Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of Thy throne. By lovingkindness and compassion, for it is written: Remember, O Lord, Thy compassions and Thy mercies; for they have been from of old. Rab Judah further said: At the time that the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, it went on expanding like two clues of warp, until the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked it and brought it to a standstill, for it is said: ‘The pillars of heaven were trembling, but they became astonished at His rebuke’. And that, too, is what Resh Lakish said: What is the meaning of the verse, I am God Almighty? [It means], I am He that said to the world: Enough! Resh Lakish said: When the Holy One, blessed be He, created the sea, it went on expanding, until the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked it and caused it to dry up, for it is said: He rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers. Our Rabbis taught: Beth Shammai say: Heaven was created first and afterwards the earth was created, for it is said: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Beth Hillel say: Earth was created first and afterwards heaven, for it is said: In the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. Beth Hillel said to Beth Shammai: According to your view, a man builds the upper storey [first] and afterwards builds the house! For it is said: It is he that buildeth His upper chambers in the heaven, and hath founded His vault upon the earth. Said Beth Shammai to Beth Hillel: According to your view, a man makes the footstool [first], and afterwards he makes the throne! For it is said: Thus saith the Lord, The Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. But the Sages say: Both were created at the same time. For it is said: Yea, Mine hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spread out the heavens: When I call unto them they stand up together. And the others? What is the meaning of ‘together’? — [It means] that they cannot be loosened from one another. However, the verses contradict one another! — Resh Lakish answered: When they were created, He created heaven [first], and afterwards He created the earth; but when He stretched them forth He stretched forth the earth [first], and afterwards He stretched forth heaven. What does ‘heaven’ [Shamayim] mean? R. Jose b. Hanina said: It means, ‘There is water’. In a Baraitha it is taught: [It means], ‘fire and water ;’ this teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, brought them and mixed them one with the other and made from them the firmament. R. Ishmael questioned R. Akiba when they were going on a journey together, saying to him: Thou who hast waited twenty-two years upon Nahum of Gimzo, who used to explain the [particle] Eth throughout the Torah, [tell me] what exposition did he give of [Eth] the heaven and [Eth] the earth? Said [R. Akiba] to him: If it had said, ‘heaven and earth’, I could have said that Heaven and Earth were names of the Holy One, blessed be He. But now that it says: ‘[Eth] the heaven and [Eth] the earth’, heaven [means] the actual heaven, and earth [means] the actual earth.^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ^ᵇᵖ^ᵇᵠ^ᵇʳ^ᵇˢ^ᵇᵗ^ᵇᵘ^ᵇᵛ^ᵇʷ

^ᵃnote:I.e., that inquiry may not go beyond the first day of creation.
^ᵇnote:I.e., since one may not inquire beyond the extent of heaven, it follows that one may not inquire beyond the time of its existence, i.e., concerning what happened prior to the creation.
^ᶜnote:I.e., in height: this is the usual explanation. But Goldschmidt suggests that the meaning might also be: his vision extended from earth to heaven. Cf. R. Eleazar's statement infra p. 63 and n. 2 a. l.
^ᵈnote:The verse continues, (lit.,) ‘and unto the end of heaven’.
^ᵉnote:Lit., ‘became of bad odour’.
^ᶠnote:The Yalkut Shim'oni (S. 827, Deut. IV, 32) adds ‘and brought him down to one hundred cubits’. This is probably derived from the word vfpf ‘Thine hand’ in the verse that follows, the numerical value of ;f (‘hand’) being a hundred. Cf. also B.B. 75a (and Rashbam a.l.) and Sanh. 100a (and Rashi a.l.).
^ᵍnote:Heb., hb,rm lit., (as E.V.) ‘Thou hast hemmed me in’. Here, however, it is taken to mean the same as hb,rmh ‘fashioned, created’.
^ʰnote:I.e., there were, so to speak, two creations of man: the first when he extended to heaven, the second when his stature was reduced.
^ⁱnote:Ps. CXXXIX, 5.
^ʲnote:V. p. 62, n. 10.
^ᵏnote:I.e., lying down, he stretched from east to west, which is calculated to be a journey of five hundred years; v, Tosaf.
^ˡnote:I.e., the parts of Deut. IV, 32 quoted by R. Eleazar and Rab Judah respectively.
^ᵐnote:The distance from east to west is the same as from the earth to heaven, v. infra 13a. But in Tam. 31b-32a (the Scholars of the South, i.e., of Alexandria) are reported to have said, in reply to a question put to them by Alexander the Great, that the distance from east to west is greater than that from earth to heaven.
^ⁿnote:The older schools refer to a lesser number of elements viz., eight, six, four, three, or even two. Cf. Gen. Rab. X, 1; Pirke R. Eliezer III; Ex. Rab. XIII; Jellinek, B.H. ii, 23-29, Intro. Xlii; also infra, where Tahu and Bohu are the two primal elements whence the other two, darkness and water, emanate. V. further, Slavonic Book of Enoch (24-30).
^ᵒnote:A.V. ‘without form, and void’; R. V., ‘waste and void’; American Jewish Version, ‘unformed and void’ (Gen. I, 2).
^ᵖnote:I.e., night and day comprising together twenty-four hours. (Rashi, Jast.). Goldschmidt trans. ‘the nature of day etc.’; cf. Ber. 11b.
^ᵠnote:Gen. I, 1,
^ʳnote:Ibid., v. 2.
^ˢnote:Ibid:, v. 3.
^ᵗnote:E.V. ‘spirit’.
^ᵘnote:Ibid., v. 2.
^ᵛnote:Ibid.,v. 5.
^ʷnote:Ps. XVIII, 12.
^ˣnote:Heb., ,unkupn, which Jastrow renders, ‘smooth (chaotic) stones’. Levy: ‘stones sunken in the primal mire, chaos’; cf. also Targ. to Job XXVIII, 3; Zeb. 54a, Bez. 24a.
^ʸnote:Isa. XXXIV, 11.
^ᶻnote:Gen. I, 17.
^ᵃᵃnote:Ibid., v. 19.
^ᵃᵇnote:I.e., the generation which built the Tower of Babel, and in consequence God confounded their language and scattered them over the earth. V. Gen. XI, 9.
^ᵃᶜnote:Job. XXXVIII, 15.
^ᵃᵈnote:I.e., the Messianic era; cf. Aboth II, 16.
^ᵃᵉnote:Gen. I, 4.
^ᵃᶠnote:Isa. III, 10. E.V. ‘that it shall be well with him.
^ᵃᵍnote:Prov. XIII, 9. E.V. ‘the light of the righteous rejoiceth.’
^ᵃʰnote:I.e., the light created on the first day.
^ᵃⁱnote:V. Gen. I, 14f (E.V. ‘lights’).
^ᵃʲnote:Cf. Gen. Rab. I, 14, and Rashi to Gen. I, 14.
^ᵃᵏnote:I.e., potencies or agencies. A lesser number is mentioned by the older school (cf. p. 63, n. 5). Cf. Ab. V, 1; also the ‘Ten Sefirot’ in J. E. vol. XI, p. 154f.
^ᵃˡnote:I.e., the ability to understand what one learns.
^ᵃᵐnote:I.e., deductive power.
^ᵃⁿnote:I.e., deliberative contemplation.
^ᵃᵒnote:I.e., physical strength.
^ᵃᵖnote:I.e.,the application of restraint or limitation.
^ᵃᵠnote:I.e., moral power.
^ᵃʳnote:I.e., the enforcement of justice.
^ᵃˢnote:I.e., the feeling which prompts the action of lovingkindness.
^ᵃᵗnote:Prov. III, 19.
^ᵃᵘnote:E.V. ‘knowledge’.
^ᵃᵛnote:Ibid. v. 20.
^ᵃʷnote:Ps. LXV, 7.
^ᵃˣnote:Job XXVI, 11. I.e., at first the pillars of heaven were weak and shaky, till God rebuked them, when, like a person taken aback by astonishment, they stiffened and hardened (V. Rashi on verse). E.V. renders tremble and are astonished etc.’
^ᵃʸnote:Ps. LXXXIX, 15.
^ᵃᶻnote:Ibid, XXV, 6.
^ᵇᵃnote:A clue of thread, of rope, etc. (Jast.).
^ᵇᵇnote:Gen. XVII, 1; XXXV, 11.
^ᵇᶜnote:hsa ‘Almighty’, is explained as a compound of a ‘who (said)’,hs ‘Enough’.
^ᵇᵈnote:Nah. I, 4.
^ᵇᵉnote:Gen. I, 1.
^ᵇᶠnote:Ibid. II, 4.
^ᵇᵍnote:Thus heaven was the upper storey.
^ᵇʰnote:Amos IX, 6.
^ᵇⁱnote:The size of the footstool cannot be determined till the throne has been made.
^ᵇʲnote:Isa, LXVI, 1.
^ᵇᵏnote:C. Taylor in ‘Sayings of the Jewish Fathers’, p. 107. n. 40, points out that ‘the three views’ (of the Schools of Shammai and Hillel, and of the Sages) may be taken as texts for three philosophies, viz., idealism, evolutionism and dualism (quoted by Streane).
^ᵇˡnote:Ibid. XLVIII, 13. From the word ‘together’ the inference is drawn that heaven and earth are coeval.
^ᵇᵐnote:I.e., what reply have the Schools of Shammai and Hillel to the argument of the Sages?
^ᵇⁿnote:Thus ‘together’ refers to their physical structure and not to their time of origin.
^ᵇᵒnote:I.e., ohna is explained as a compound of oa (‘there’) and ohn (‘water’).
^ᵇᵖnote:I.e., ohna is explained as a compound of at (‘fire’) and ohn (‘water’), the t of at being omitted.
^ᵇᵠnote:Lit., ‘mixed by beating’.
^ᵇʳnote:I.e., hast been his disciple. Cf. Ber. 47b: ‘Even if one has studied the Bible, and the Mishnah, but has failed to wait upon scholars, he is considered an ‘Am ha-arez (ignoramus); The ministration (of the disciples to the doctors) of the Law is greater than the direct teaching thereof’.
^ᵇˢnote:In Judea (v. G. A. Smith's ‘The historical Geography of the Holy Land’, p. 202, n. 1). Heb. uz od, always in two words, and explained (Ta'an. 21a, J. Shek. V, 15) as a sobriquet given to the scholar on account of his motto vcuyk uz od (‘This, too, will be for the best’), with which he explained his trust in the goodness of Providence even in the most trying circumstances (v. Ta'an 21a). He interpreted the whole Torah according to the rule of yughnu hucr (‘amplification and limitation’, v. Shebu. 26a).
^ᵇᵗnote:Heb. ,t, which is either (a) the sign of the defined object as in Gen. I, 1, or (b) the preposition meaning with. Nahum of Gimzo explained every instance of the accusative particle as indicating the inclusion in the object of something besides that which is explicitly mentioned. For the sole exception (Deut. X, 20), v. Pes. 22b, where ‘Nehemiah the Imsoni’ is an error for ‘Nahum the Gimsoni’ or man of Gimzo (v. Graetz in MGWJ., 1870, p. 527). The interpretation of ,t given here is grammatical rather than Midrashic or homiletical. For the hucr explanation of ,t in this verse, which includes the sun and moon etc., v. Gen. Rab. I, 14.
^ᵇᵘnote:Gen. I, 1.
^ᵇᵛnote:This is the reading of Bah and Maharsha: cur. edd. omit the words, ‘and the earth’.
^ᵇʷnote:And the subject of trc (‘He created’).