17
votes
Accepted
Who is Adam guarding Eden from?
The Ibn Ezra says - in his initial explanation - to guard it from animals so they don't enter and sully the garden:
ולשמרה מכל החיות שלא יכנסו שם ויטנפוהו
The Seforno says - if I understand ...
- 42.7k
12
votes
Accepted
Was Avrohom really born in 1948?
For example, the posuk (5:32) says that Noach begot Sheim (Chom and Yefes) when he was 500 so I added 500 on to 1056 and got 1556.
But it doesn't say what order they were born in. Rashi later on (10:...
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10
votes
When exactly was Eve named?
Malbim explains that Adam had been calling her "woman" because of her role as his helpmeet. Since she failed in that role by ill-advising him to eat from the tree, he stopped calling her ...
- 73.9k
10
votes
Accepted
When was water created?
Pirkê D'Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 3) states that water was created on the first day:
שמונה דברים נבראו ביום ראשון, ואלו הן: .... ורוח ומים, שנאמר ורוח אלהים מרחפת על פני המים
Trans.:
Eight things were ...
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10
votes
Accepted
Where was Adam when Chava cheated with the snake?
Bereishis Rabbah 19:3:
וְהֵיכָן הָיָה אָדָם בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה, אַבָּא בַּר קוֹרְיָיה אָמַר נִתְעַסֵּק בְּדֶרֶךְ אֶרֶץ וְיָשַׁן לוֹ. רַבָּנָן אַמְרֵי נְטָלוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְהֶחֱזִירוֹ ...
- 7,711
10
votes
Accepted
"Amar Rabbi Yitzchak" - Who is Rabbi Yitzchak?
Lots of acharonim theorized about this, but it turns out that this is essentially a Midrash Tanchuma (Buber edition Parshat Bereishit #11):
אמר ר' יצחק לא היה צריך לכתוב את התורה אלא מהחדש הזה לכם ...
- 48.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Do any commentators say that Adam was not literally the first human being?
R Israel Lipschitz, the Tiferet Yisrael, author of a classic commentary on the Mishna, wrote in 1842 in his essay Ohr HaChayim, that there were other men before Adam
The Kabbalah teaches that in ...
- 45.6k
9
votes
When did G-d create darkness?
The Ohr hachaim on the beginning of bereshit quotes the Talmud Chagigah 12a. There it lists 10 things were created in the first day, and one of them is Choshech.
ואמר רב יהודה אמר רב עשרה דברים נבראו ...
- 43.7k
9
votes
Accepted
What does Judaism teach about Eve's addition to divine commandment that she not touch the fruit?
The biblical commentator Rashi references the talmud when he writes:
and you shall not touch it: She added to the command; therefore, she came to diminish it. That is what is stated (Prov. 30:6): “...
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9
votes
Shadal Gen.2,24.1
In short, he is suggesting that these words were written as an editorial comment by Moshe, as opposed to something that Adam said at the time. Here's a rough translation:
Therefore a man... "Al Ken"...
- 20.9k
9
votes
How was Eve "flesh of my flesh"?
It wasn't necessarily a rib. The Talmud (Berachos 61a) presents two opinions: one is that Eve was created as a fully-formed human, with she and Adam attached back-to-back, and then G-d separated them; ...
- 7,711
8
votes
Rivers in Genesis
In this article1, Dr. Juris Zarins places the garden at the north-western tip of the Persian gulf, currently submerged beneath its waters.
As seen in the above image, from as far back as 6000 b.c.e ...
- 8,202
8
votes
Why do fish die?
I couldn't find any commentators on the Midrash addressing this issue. So, instead, I will offer a deflection of the assumptions as my answer.
I will argue: Fish, along with plants and bugs, were ...
- 33.2k
8
votes
When exactly was Eve named?
Rashi says that the name occurred earlier and we're just being told this later:
And the man named: Scripture returns to its previous topic (2:20): “And the man named,” and it interrupted only to ...
- 56.4k
8
votes
How do we explain genaelogy differences between Genesis 4 and 5?
Rav Hirsch goes over the names and discusses the meaning of the names and the significance for the basic traits of the generation that name is used for. He points out (4:18-22 and 5:11-27). For ...
- 42.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Apple as Forbidden Fruit?
This article suggests a bunch of explanations for where the misconception came from. The suggestions are:
Latin confusion: the Latin translation of the word "evil" (in Tree of Knowledge of good and ...
- 19.6k
8
votes
Why was Adam Embarrassed
The OP asks, why did Adam hide in fear because of his nakedness even though he had already made clothing (the fig leaves) for themselves? Note that Rav Hirsch and Art Scroll translate this as aprons, ...
- 42.8k
8
votes
How could Kayin have married his sister, if it was prohibited?
Yerushalmi Yevamos 11:1 (quoted by Rashi to Vayikra 20:17):
"אמר רבי אבין, שלא תאמר קין נשא את אחותו, הבל נשא את אחותו, חסד הוא, חסד עשיתי עם הראשונים שייבנה העולם מהן, כי אמרתי עולם חסד יבנה&...
- 21.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Men's Earth vs. Women's Bone
The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 17:8) makes a similar point, but regarding being appeased, rather than when they’re still in conflict.
מִפְּנֵי מָה הָאִישׁ נוֹחַ לְהִתְפַּתּוֹת וְאֵין הָאִשָּׁה ...
- 34k
8
votes
Hashem's will is not "nihilo", so why is it "creatio ex nihilo"?
Creation "ex nihilo" is a [mis] translation of the Jewish idea of "ברא יש מאין" where אין here does not mean "nothing, it just means "לית ביה תפיסא" - we don't have ...
- 25.7k
8
votes
How can constant creation of new stars explained theologically?
They are not created, they are formed by means of the natural laws from preexisting matter. This has nothing to do with yesh mai-ayin (creation from nothing) which occurred at the very beginning.
...
- 42.8k
7
votes
Why did Chava give Adam the fruit to eat?
In a comment to the OP's question Fred cites the well-known Rashi (see above). The Bartenura on the Torah expands on this Rashi (text borrowed from Sefaria.org, produced here in full):
ותתן גם ...
- 1,348
7
votes
Source Midrash - why the first letter of the Tenach is a Bet
Yerushalmi Chagigah 2:1,
דבר אחר ולמה בבי"ת שהוא בלשון ברכה ולא באל"ף שהוא לשון ארירה אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא איני בורא את עולמי אלא בבי"ת שלא יהו כל באי העולם אומרין היאך העולם יכול לעמוד ונברא בלשון ...
- 1,723
7
votes
Accepted
What are the 10 utterances in Pirkei Avot 5:1
Chazal give a listing of the ten utterances is given in Bereishit Rabba 17:1, together with what to swap out.
ויאמר ה' אלהים לא טוב היות
תנינן:
בעשרה מאמרות נברא העולם, ואלו הן:
...
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7
votes
What does Judaism teach about Eve's addition to divine commandment that she not touch the fruit?
According to the explanation in Avot DeRav Natan 1:5, it was actually Adam, not Eve, that made this extra restriction as a "fence" סיג against Eve's violating G-d's commandment.
It's hard to ...
- 69.9k
7
votes
Accepted
On the interpretation of Genesis 1: 1
This was one of the hottest topics in medieval Jewish philosophy.
Saadia Gaon devoted the first treatise of Emunot V'Deiot to proving creatio ex nihilo and refuting the opposing arguments.
Here is ...
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7
votes
How did Rashi come to the conclusion that the heavens were created from fire and water?
Chagigah 12a:
מַאי שָׁמַיִם אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר חֲנִינָא שֶׁשָּׁם מַיִם בְּמַתְנִיתָא תָּנָא אֵשׁ וּמַיִם מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהֱבִיאָן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּטְרָפָן זֶה בָּזֶה וְעָשָׂה מֵהֶן ...
- 41.3k
6
votes
Why did Cain (Kayin) kill Abel (Hevel)?
The reason you mention is one on the list in Bereishis Rabba 22 And Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And it came to pass when they were in the field... " (Gen 4:8) What were they fighting about? ...
- 33.2k
6
votes
Who was Methuselah?
According to Sukkah 52b, one of the seven shepherds mentioned in Micah 5:4 is Methuselah who, along with Adam and Seth, is to the right of David.
According to Sanhedrin 108b (commenting on Genesis 7:...
- 17.6k
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