How were the first few pages of the creation story captured/revealed? That is, who first heard it or created it or was it revealed to, and in what detail was the first 7 days of creation laid out at first before it was written? Or was it written while it was revealed, etc.
1 Answer
Targum, Song of Songs 1:2:
אֲמַר שְׁלֹמֹה נְבִיָּא בְּרִיךְ שְׁמֵיהּ דַּיָי דִּיהַב לַן אוֹרַיְתָא עַל יְדוֹהִי דְּמֹשֶׁה סָפְרָא רַבָּא כְּתִיבָא עַל תְּרֵין לוּחֵי אַבְנַיָּא וְשִׁיתָּא סִדְרֵי מִשְׁנָה וְתַלְמוּדָא בְּגִּרְסָא וַהֲוָה מִתְמַלַּל עִמַּן אַפִּין בְּאַפִּין כִּגְבַר דְּנַשֵּׁיק לְחַבְרֵיהּ מִן סְגִיאוּת חִבְּתָא דְּחַבֵּיב לַן יַתִּיר מִשִּׁבְעִין עַמְמַיָּא:
Solomon the prophet said: “Blessed be the name of God who gave us the Torah by the hand of Moses the great scribe, inscribed on two tablets of stone, and [gave us] six orders of the Mishnah and the Gemara by oral tradition, and conversed with us face to face (as a man who kisses his companion) out of the great love with which He cherished us, more than the seventy nations (Sefaria Translation).
Talmud, Berachot 5a:
ואמר רבי לוי בר חמא, אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש, מאי דכתיב ״ואתנה לך את לחת האבן והתורה והמצוה אשר כתבתי להורתם״. ״לחת״ — אלו עשרת הדברות, ״תורה״ — זה מקרא, ״והמצוה״ — זו משנה, ״אשר כתבתי״ — אלו נביאים וכתובים, ״להורותם״ — זה תלמוד, מלמד שכולם נתנו למשה מסיני.
And Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama said that Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: God said to Moses, “Ascend to me on the mountain and be there, and I will give you the stone tablets and the Torah and the mitzva that I have written that you may teach them” (Exodus 24:12), meaning that God revealed to Moses not only the Written Torah, but all of Torah, as it would be transmitted through the generations. The “tablets” are the ten commandments that were written on the tablets of the Covenant, the “Torah” is the five books of Moses. The “mitzva” is the Mishna, which includes explanations for the mitzvot and how they are to be performed. “That I have written” refers to the Prophets and Writings, written with divine inspiration. “That you may teach them” refers to the Talmud, which explains the Mishna. These explanations are the foundation for the rulings of practical halakha. This verse teaches that all aspects of Torah were given to Moses from Sinai (Sefaria Translation).
-
1This doesn't explain the actual ideas in the creation story, is this as deep as it goes?– LanceJan 14, 2020 at 4:51
-
-
How could Solomon have had a Gemara that discusses his own writings? And, does this imply any or all of these should be regarded to any degree as flawless or infallible?– A LMar 29, 2020 at 19:49