Blessed are you YHVH, our Elohim, Sovereign of the universe, who has chosen us from among the peoples, and given us the Torah. Blessed are you YHVH, who gives us the Torah – Ameyn
אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם ‘’these are the generations of the heavens’’
Gen 2:4 These are the births of the heavens and the earth
when they were created, (be
hibaram) in the day that יהוה Elohim made earth and heavens.
Genesis Rabbah 12:1: “Wherever you find toledot,
it refers to what came forth from them.”
Just as Adam’s toledot are his children, the heavens and earth’s toledot
are what was produced from them: vegetation, creatures, humans, even angels (in
some midrashim).
There three very interesting and remarkable truths hidden
in this opening verse of our Torah portion: This is the first appearance in the
Torah of the name of ‘’YHVH’’; and secondly this is the first and only
appearance of a diminished ‘’hey’’ letter in the word בהבראם
‘’be hibaram’’ or ‘’ to create with them’’ Thirdly, in the more ancient
manuscripts ‘’toldot’’ is incorrectly spelled – missing one ‘’vav’’.
Genesis Rabbah 12:6: Notes the defective spelling
of toledot in Gen 2:4.
“In all the generations (toledot) of the world you
find it written defectively, except in ‘These are the generations of Perez’
(Ruth 4:18), where it is full. Why? Because from him [Perez] comes King
Messiah, who will make the generations complete.”
The idea: the missing vav symbolizes something
lacking in creation after the fall (wholeness, perfection, immortality).
Only in Ruth 4:18 is it spelled fully → hinting to
messianic restoration.
These diminished or enlarged letters in the
Torah scroll (sometimes enlarged, diminished, inverted, dotted, or
suspended) are collectively called “Otiyot Meshunot” (אותיות משונות), meaning “irregular
letters” or “special letters.” These special letters often hint at hidden
meanings and cosmic mysteries and often point to the hidden Messiah waiting
to be revealed.
The Hebrew word מָעוֹנוֹת
(ma’onot) is the plural of מָעוֹן
(ma’on), which means a dwelling, refuge or resting place. It is often
used in the poetic or spiritual sense of a heavenly abode for YHVH.
Biblical Meaning of אוֹת
‘’ot’’(singular) Sign / mark / symbol a Wonder
/ miracle a token of covenant (Gen 9:12 – rainbow as the ot of the
covenant). The appointments or ‘’moedim’’ are also called ‘’otot’’ Gen 1:14.
There
is a connection between this diminished ‘’hey’’ and an enlarged ‘’hey’’ also
only found once in the Torah scroll in Deut 32:6
הַ לְיְהוָה, תִּגְמְלוּ-זֹאת
עַם נָבָל, וְלֹא
חָכָם: הֲלוֹא-הוּא אָבִיךָ
קָּנֶךָ הוּא עָשְׂךָ וַיְכֹנְנֶךָ.
Deu
32:6 “Do you do this to יהוה, O foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, who bought
you, Who created you and established you?
Context
Deut
32:5 He took moral corruptness upon
himself – to take away the moral stains of his sons.
“God is not corrupt. The blemish belongs to His
children.” שִׁחֵת לוֹ לֹא, בָּנָיו
מוּמָם:
What is the possible connection between these two
‘’heys’’?
They represent the two covenants YHVH made with man. The
first covenant with the descendants of the first Adam (toldot) represented by
the small ‘’hey’’ and the ‘’Renewed’’ covenant represented by the enlarged
‘’hey’’ found in Deut 32:6. Which YHVH made with the second Adam and those who
are in Messiah are included in this renewed covenant. This concept is
beautifully explained by Paul in Rom 5:12-21.
Jer
31:31 “See, the days are coming,” declares יהוה, “when I shall make a renewed covenant with the house of
Yisra’ěl and with the house of Yehuḏah,a Footnote: a Heb_8:8-12, Heb_10:16-17.
Jer
31:32 not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day when I
strengthened their hand to bring them out of the land of Mitsrayim, My covenant
which they broke, though I was a husband to them,” declares יהוה.
Jer
31:33 “For this is the covenant I shall make with the house of Yisra’ěl
after those days, declares יהוה: I shall put My Torah in
their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim,
and they shall be My people.
Gen 2:5 Now no shrub (שׂיח) of the field was yet on the earth, and no
plant of the field had yet sprung up, for יהוה Elohim had not sent
rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, ( word is very rare שִׂיחַ
noun is a shrub and the verb means to talk or commune)
Gen 2:6 but a mist (אֵד)
went up from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.
‘’The “אֵד”
rising from the earth is not ordinary rain, but a divinely designed
watering system. This word’s uniqueness underscores Eden’s primordial, unfallen
state.’’
A kind of life-giving spirit rising from the earth
before human life is formed.’’ (“אֵד”)
Only one appearance in the Scriptures and disappears. Will it return one day?
(yes)
Gen 2:7 And יהוה Elohim formed the man out of dust from the
ground and breathed (neshâmâh)
into his nostril’s breath of lives. And the man became a living being. (neshâmâh = puff or divine breath
imparted to every newborn)
Pro
20:27 The spirit (neshâmâh) of a man is the lamp of יהוה, Searching all his inmost parts.
Gen 2:8 And יהוה Elohim planted a garden in Ěḏen, (pleasure and delight) to
the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
The garden was not just about food — it was a place where
YHVH walked and talked with Adam and Eve. (Gen 3:8). It would be a kind of
sanctuary just as the Tabernacle and Temple that were later built for YHVH’s
presence and communion with man.
Gen 2:9 And out of the ground יהוה Elohim made every
tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, with the tree of
life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.
These two trees represent the destiny of every human that
has lived or will live on planet earth.
From the garden to the grave YHVH has given each man and
woman the free will to choose life or to choose death.
Manmade religious doctrines will oppose this view. Religion
is designed to brainwash you to seek life from the Tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.
Even modern-day evangelicals love to quote scriptures
like Joh 15:16 “You
did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and
bear fruit’’ Forgetting that man’s choices are based on YHVH’s foreknowledge of
all things. In other words YHVH chooses those whom He knows will respond to His
calling and prompting – to seek life from the tree of life.
Isa
46:10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from of old that which
has not yet been done, saying, ‘My counsel does stand, and all My delight I
do,’
When
we choose the Tree of life we are choosing YHVH’s ways as He has revealed them
to us in the Torah and confirmed by all His Word. The Torah is called
a “Tree of Life” (Prov 3:18).
The Torah of YHVH is perfect Ps 19 James 1 – it provides
council, purpose and direction for every aspect of human life in this age and
in the coming age.
“Nothing is more contrary to the sinful nature of mankind
than the acceptance of a position of dependency. Willing dependence is a
profound testimony of a change in the natural bent of a sinner.” Tim Hegg.
The Tree of Life – Torah – is supremely the most powerful
expression of a life dependent upon its Maker.
Gen 2:10 And a river went out of Ěḏen to water the garden, and from there it divided
and became four heads.
Gen 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon, it is the one
surrounding the entire land of Ḥawilah,
where there is gold.
Gen 2:12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium is
there, and the shoham stone.
Gen 2:13 And the name of the second river is Giḥon, it is the one surrounding
the entire land of Kush.
Gen 2:14 And the name of the third river is Ḥiddeqel, it is the one which
goes toward the east of Ashshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
YHVH is going to create a renewed heaven and earth that
will compare to what He created in Eden – only much better.
Hag
2:8 The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ declares יהוה of hosts.
Hag
2:9 Let the esteem of this latter House be greater than the former,’ said
יהוה of hosts. ‘And in this place
I give peace,’ declares יהוה of hosts.”
Gen 2:15 And יהוה Elohim took the man and put him in the
garden of Ěḏen to work it
and to guard it.
Gen 2:16 And יהוה Elohim commanded the man, saying, “Eat of
every tree of the garden,
Gen 2:17 but do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall certainly
die.”
In the coming Messianic age and even beyond YHVH has
created a beautiful space for His covenant children – 1000 generations
multiplied by 70 years for a generation = 70 000 years.
Deu
7:9 “And you shall know that יהוה your Elohim, He is Elohim, the trustworthy Ěl guarding covenant
and loving-commitment for a thousand generations with those who love Him, and
those who guard His commands,
Psa
105:8 He has remembered His covenant forever, The Word He commanded, for
a thousand generations,
Gen 2:18 And יהוה Elohim said, “It is
not good for the man to be alone, I am going to make a helper for him, as his
counterpart.”
Gen 2:19 And from the ground יהוה Elohim formed every
beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought them to the man
to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called each living being,
that was its name.
Gen 2:20 So the man gave names to all livestock,
and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field. But for the
man there was not found a helper for him, as his counterpart.
Gen 2:21 So יהוה Elohim caused a deep
sleep to fall on the man, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, and closed
up the flesh in its place.
The Hebrew word that is traditionally translated as “rib”
is tsela‘. Ziony Zevit, Distinguished Professor of Biblical Literature and
Northwest Semitic Languages at American Jewish University in Bel-Air,
California, believes that this translation is wrong, as do many scholars. It
was first translated as “rib” in the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the
Hebrew Scriptures from the mid-third century B.C.E. However, a more careful
reading of the Hebrew word for “rib” in the Adam and Eve story suggests that
Eve was created from another, very different, part of Adam’s anatomy—. However,
a more careful reading of the Hebrew word for “rib” in the Adam and Eve story
suggests that Eve was created from another, very different, part of Adam’s
anatomy—his os baculum (penis bone).
‘’This idea was not new and had appeared in the ancient
midrashic literature of Genesis Rabbah 18:2( Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥman) approximately 1700 years
ago.
·
The perineal raphe is a line of tissue
running from the anus through the scrotum and along the underside of the penis.
·
In embryology, it marks where the urogenital
folds fused in development.
·
Some Jewish thinkers (especially medieval)
connected this scar-like line with the “surgery” performed on Adam when God
took the tselaʿ.
·
Thus, the raphe was seen as the “mark” left by
God’s removal of the bone/side.
‘’Genesis Rabbah’’ is one of the earliest
Midrashim on the Torah – dating from around the second century CE – ‘’
The Torah is like a divine marriage manual. The Song of
Songs reveals details of the intimacy between a man and his wife. Many of the
ancient and even modern sages considered this manual – “The Song of Songs” as
the most set apart book in all of YHVH’s Word.
The highly esteemed and conservative Christian
commentator, Adam Clarke, wrote:
‘There are many passages in it which should not be
explained. ... the references being too delicate; and Eastern phraseology on
such subjects is too vivid.... Let any sensible and pious medical man read over
this book, (Song of Songs) and, if at all acquainted with Asiatic phraseology,
say whether it would be proper, even in medical language, to explain all the
descriptions and allusions in this poem.” – end quote.
Gen 2:23 And the man said, “This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh. This one is called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of
man.”
Gen 2:24 For this cause a man shall leave his father and
mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife,
yet they were not ashamed.
In rabbinic thought, before eating from the Tree of
Knowledge, Adam and Chavah lived in a state of purity and harmony with each
other and with all YHVH ‘s creation. The fall distorted this harmony, but
redemption will restore this harmony, and sexual desire will be restored to its
pure purpose — not selfish lust, but holy union. Human intimacy is viewed as a
reflection of a divine mystery. Thus, sexuality is not just personal — it has cosmic
and mystical significance.
Eph 5:31 “For this cause a man shall leave his father and
mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Gen_2:24.
Eph 5:32 This secret is great, but I speak concerning
Messiah and the assembly.
Eph 5:33 However, you too, everyone, let each one love
his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she fears her husband.
The
Fall
Gen 3:1 And the naḥasha was more crafty than all the lives of the
field which יהוה
Elohim had made, and he said to the woman, “Is it true that Elohim has said,
‘Do not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Footnote: aOr Naḥash. Traditionally rendered
the “serpent”. See Explanatory Notes “Serpent” and “Naḥash”.
Gen 3:2 And the woman said to the naḥash, “We are to eat of the
fruit of the trees of the garden,
Gen 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the
midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest you
die.’ ”
Gen 3:4 And the naḥash
said to the woman, “You shall certainly not die.
Gen 3:5 “For Elohim knows that in the day you eat of it
your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like Elohim, knowing good and
evil.”
Gen 3:6 And the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,
and she took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave to her husband with her,
and he ate.
Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and
they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made
loin coverings for themselves.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the voice of יהוה Elohim walking about
in the garden in the cool of the day, and Aḏam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of יהוה Elohim among the
trees of the garden.
Gen 3:9 And יהוה Elohim called unto Aḏam and said to him, “Where are
you?”
Gen 3:10 And he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden,
and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”
Gen 3:11 And He said, “Who made you know that you were
naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not
eat?”
Gen 3:12 And the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be
with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
“vaochel”
“and I ate” “In an astounding interpretation, the sages note that the verb is
in the future tense, as if Adam was saying, “I ate and will eat again!” the implication
was that if Adam was faced with the same temptation he would succumb again and
again – Stones Chumash.
Gen 3:13 And יהוה Elohim said to the woman, “What is this
you have done?” And the woman said, “The naḥash
deceived me, and I ate.”
Gen 3:14 And יהוה Elohim said to the naḥash, “Because you have done
this, you are cursed more than all livestock and more than every beast of the
field. On your belly you are to go and eat dust all the days of your
life.
Gen 3:15 “And I put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your seed and her Seed.b He shall crush your head, and you shall crush
His heel.” Footnote: bFirst promise of the Messiah.
Gen 3:16 To the woman He said, “I greatly increase your
sorrow and your conception – bring forth children in pain. And your desire is
for your husband, and he does rule over you.”
Gen 3:17 And to the man He said, “Because you have
listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I
commanded you, saying, ‘Do not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground because of
you, in toil you are to eat of it all the days of your life,
Gen 3:18 and the ground shall bring forth thorns
and thistles for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Gen 3:19 “By the sweat of your face you are to eat bread
until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are,
and to dust you return.”
Gen 3:20 And the man called his wife’s name Ḥawwah, because she became the
mother of all living.
Gen 3:21 And
יהוה
Elohim made coats of skin for the man and his wife and dressed them.
Hos
2:14 “Therefore, see, I am alluring her, and shall lead her into the
wilderness, and shall speak to her heart,
Hos
2:15 and give to her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Aḵor as a door of expectation. And
there she shall respond as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she
came up from the land of Mitsrayim.
Hos
2:16 “And it shall be, in that day,” declares יהוה, “that you call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My
Ba‛al.’
Hos
2:17 “And I shall remove the names of the Ba‛als from her mouth, and they
shall no more be remembered by their name.
Hos
2:18 “And in that day I shall make a covenant for them with the beasts of
the field, and with the birds of the heavens, and with the creeping creatures
of the ground, when bow, and sword, and battle I break from the earth. And I
shall make them lie down in safety.
Hos
2:19 “And I shall take you as a bride unto Me forever, and take you as a
bride unto Me in righteousness, and in right-ruling, and loving-commitment and
compassion.
Hos
2:20 “And I shall take you as a bride unto Me in trustworthiness, and you
shall know יהוה.
Hos
2:21 “And it shall be in that day that I answer,” declares יהוה, “that I answer the heavens, and they
answer the earth,
Hos
2:22 and the earth answer the grain and the new wine and the oil, and
they answer Yizre‛ěl.
Hos
2:23 “And I shall sow her for Myself in the earth, and I shall have
compassion on her who had not obtained compassion. And I shall say to those who
were not My people, ‘You are My people,’ while they say, ‘My Elohim!’ ”
The
apostle Paul gives us a most brilliant midrash on this Torah portion:
Future
Glory
Rom
8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the esteem that is to be revealed in us.
Rom
8:19 For the intense longinga of the creation eagerly waits for the
revealing of the sons of Elohim. Footnote: aLit. anxiously looking with
outstretched head.
Rom
8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not from choice, but
because of Him who subjected it, in anticipation,
Rom
8:21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage to
corruption into the esteemed freedom of the children of Elohim.
Rom
8:22 For we know that all the creation groans together, and suffers the
pains of childbirth together until now.
Rom
8:23 And not only so, but even we ourselves who have the first-fruits of
the Spirit, we ourselves also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the
adoption, the redemption of our body.
Rom
8:24 For in this expectation we were saved, but expectation that is seen
is not expectation, for when anyone sees, does he expect it?
Rom
8:25 And if we expect what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with
endurance.
Rom
8:26 And in the same way the Spirit does help in our weaknesses. For we
do not know what we should pray, but the Spirit Himself pleads our case for us
with groanings unutterable.
Rom
8:27 And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because He makes intercession for the set-apart ones according to Elohim.
Rom
8:28 And we know that all matters work together for good to those
who love Elohim, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Rom
8:29 Because those whom He knew beforehand, He also ordained beforehand
to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, for Him to be the first-born among
many brothers.
Rom
8:30 And whom He ordained beforehand, these He also called, and whom He
called, these He also declared right. And whom He declared right, these He also
esteemed.
Conclusion
– Only by being born again or being born from above can you move from the small
‘’hey’’ to the big ‘’hey’’.
Joh
3:3 יהושע answered and said to him,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he is unable to
seea the reign of Elohim.” Footnote: aOr perceive.
Joh
3:4 Naḵdimon said to Him, “How is a man able to be born when he is old? Is he
able to enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”
Joh
3:5 יהושע answered, “Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he is unable to enter
into the reign of Elohim.
Joh
3:6 “That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has
been born of the Spirit is spirit.
Blessed are
you YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of
truth and have planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH
giver of the Torah. Ameyn.
Additional
Midrash on this Torah portion:
Ephesians 4:4–7 reflects themes deeply rooted in rabbinic
thought — unity of YHVH, unity of people, ritual immersion, divine presence,
and measured grace. Paul is speaking in a Jewish conceptual framework, while
applying it to the Messianic body.
Eph 4:4 one body and one Spirit, as you also were
called in one expectation of your calling,
Eph 4:5 one Master, one belief, one
immersion,
Eph 4:6 one Elohim and Father of all, who is above
all,a and through all, and in you all. Footnote: aSee Mrk_12:32, Mrk_12:34,
1Co_8:6, 1Ti_2:5, Mrk_12:29-34.
Eph 4:7 But to each one of us favour was given
according to the measure of the gift of Messiah. Rom 8:29 YHVH’s purpose
for every person on earth.
Rabbinic marriage imagery:
Eph
5:24 But as the assembly is subject to Messiah, so also let the wives be
to their own husbands in every respect. Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your
wives, as Messiah also did love the assembly and gave Himself for it, Eph
5:26 in order to set it apart and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the Word,f Footnote: f Rev_19:8-9. Eph 5:27 in order to
present it to Himself a splendid assembly, not having spot or wrinkle or any of
this sort, but that it might be set-apart and blameless. ‘blemish’’ σπίλος
(spilos) and Line 7
of Dev 32:5 שִׁחֵת לוֹ לֹא, בָּנָיו מוּמָם: morally
corrupt – masc מוּמָם
Song of Songs 4:7 – “כֻּלָּךְ יָפָה רַעְיָתִי וּמוּם אֵין בָּךְ” – “You are altogether
beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish מוּמָם
in you.”
The rabbis also used marriage imagery for Israel as
God’s bride, the Temple, and the Torah-observant community.
The NT context (Eph 5:25–27) compares Christ and the
ekklesia to husband and wife.
Rabbinic parallel: Israel is called the Bride
of YHVH at Sinai.
Exodus Rabbah 33:8 – YHVH gave Israel the Torah
like a ketubah (marriage contract).
Pesikta Rabbati 21 – Israel will be presented to
YHVH “as a bride adorned for her husband.”
The language of without blemish reflects Levitical
language: sacrifices must be “without spot or blemish” (Lev 22:19–20). Rabbis
applied this to Israel’s set apartness as YHVH’s offering in the world.
The
first resurrection not the rapture.
Rabbinic literature envisions a mingling of the resurrected
dead with those still alive when the redemption comes.
Talmud Sanhedrin 91b Rav states: “The righteous
whom the Holy One will resurrect will never return to dust.” This suggests some
alive when Messiah comes will not die, but be transformed into immortality.
Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer 34 -
When Messiah comes, the dead will rise, but the righteous still
alive will also rejoice with them. Emphasizes the “great banquet” with both
groups present.
(Zohar
II:108b) Talks about a generation that will not taste death but will be
“clothed in garments of light” alongside the resurrected ones. Both
groups united in God’s presence.
These are the verses that later interpreters (Christian
& Jewish) associated with Petra/Sela as a place of refuge or
judgment:
Isaiah 16:1 — “Send
the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the
mount of daughter Zion.”
Isaiah 42:11
— mentions the inhabitants of Sela shouting for joy.
The Midrash and Talmud generally don’t name Petra/Sela
as an eschatological refuge for Israel.
However, they do speak about a remnant escaping
in the time of tribulation:
Midrash Tehillim 118: In the “great day of judgment,”
Israel will be surrounded, but God will provide hidden places of escape.
Pesikta Rabbati 36: At the end of days, the nations
will besiege Jerusalem, and a remnant of Israel will be saved and sheltered
until Messiah’s deliverance.
Sela/Petra specifically isn’t highlighted, but the concept
of a divinely protected refuge for the righteous remnant is there.
Zohar (III:212b) speaks of the “faithful remnant”
fleeing into the “desert of the peoples” until the time of redemption.
1. Seven
Things Created before the World - Pesachim 54a; Nedarim 39b; Pirkei deRabbi
Eliezer
1.
Torah
2.
Repentance
(Teshuvah)
3.
Garden
of Eden
4.
Gehenna
(Hell)
5.
The
Throne of Glory
6.
The
Temple (Beit ha-Mikdash)
7.
The
Name of the Messiah
Pesachim 54a (variant list) also adds: The Righteous (Tzaddikim)
themselves.
Genesis
Rabbah 1:4:
The Spirit of the Messiah
was present before creation.
Midrash
Tanchuma, Nasso 16: Israel was in YHVH’s thought before the world.