וְאַתָּה־ה֑וּא וּ֝שְׁנוֹתֶ֗יךָ לֹ֣א יִתָּֽמּוּ׃
주는 여상하시고 주의 년대는 무궁하리이다
Rabbeinu Bahya
You should also know that the period of time that Torah preceded creation of the universe until the directive of “let there be light,” has also been hinted at in the word ב-ראשית. The letter ב in that word alludes to the two thousand years Torah preceded our universe, a period called “beginning,” i.e. ראשית.
We find some proof of this in the Bereshit Rabbah 3,7 which points out that the Torah did not write יהי ערב, “let there be evening,” but only ויהי ערב, “it remained evening,” i.e. there had already been a system called time, [though time was not counted in terms we are familiar with. Ed.]
We must concede that the concept of time itself was a creative act and prior to that act “time” did not exist. Nonetheless we find time prior to the creation of the universe referred to specifically in several instances throughout the Bible. When the sages spoke about “two thousand years” which the Torah preceded the universe they did not refer to days or years in the manner we count days or years nowadays. The element of “time” in that context is not subject to investigation by the human intellect. Job 36,26 referred to this phenomenon when he wrote הן קל שגיא ולא נדע מספר שניו ולא חקר; “Here G’d is greater than we can know; the number of His years cannot be counted.” Another reference to this kind of time is found in Job 10,8 הן כ-ימי אנוש ימיך , “are Your days to be compared to human days?” or Psalms 102,28 ימי שנותיך לא יתמו, “the days of Your years are never ending.” During those “times,” it occurred to G’d to creative 1000 generations (of human history); however 974 of these generations were wiped out (compare Chagigah 13-14). This means that these 974 generations were “wiped out” from G’d’s original plan. They had not ever been created in the flesh. As a result of these 974 generations never having seen the light of day the Torah was given to the Jewish people after man existed for 26 generations. The reason G’d reconsidered His original plan was that He foresaw that the people in those generations would all be wicked. G’d advanced the giving of the Torah so that He would thereby advance the cycle that would otherwise have taken 1000 generations. This is the meaning of Psalms 105,8 “He is ever mindful of His covenant, the promise He gave for a thousand generations.” The words “for a thousand generations” mean: “at the end of one thousand generations.” These “lost “ generations are referred to by our sages in Chagigah 13 when they quoted Daniel 7,10 נהר דינור נגיד ונפיק מן קדמוהי אלף אלפין ישמשונה ורבו רבבן קדמוהי יקומון דינא יתיב וספרין פתיחו, “A river of fire streamed before Him; thousands upon thousands served Him; myriads upon myriads attended Him; the court sat and the books were opened.” The Talmud asks” “whence did the river originate?’ The answer given is that it was the result of the sweat of the beasts. To the question where this river Dinor ended, the answer given is “on the heads of the wicked in hades,” seeing that we have a verse in Job 22,1 אשר קמטו ולא עת נהר יוצק יסודם; “how they have shrivelled up before their time, and their foundation poured out like a river.” Rabbi Acha bar Yaakov interpreted the first half of this verse as describing G’d’s anger. Rabbi Shimon ben Chasidah understands this verse as a reference to the 974 generations which had originally been planned by G’d to come into existence prior to the universe as we know it. What did G’d do with them? He suspended them in that river. Some appear in each generation and they are the ones whose main purpose in life is to mock G’d. Thus far the discussion in Chagigah.
We find some proof of this in the Bereshit Rabbah 3,7 which points out that the Torah did not write יהי ערב, “let there be evening,” but only ויהי ערב, “it remained evening,” i.e. there had already been a system called time, [though time was not counted in terms we are familiar with. Ed.]
We must concede that the concept of time itself was a creative act and prior to that act “time” did not exist. Nonetheless we find time prior to the creation of the universe referred to specifically in several instances throughout the Bible. When the sages spoke about “two thousand years” which the Torah preceded the universe they did not refer to days or years in the manner we count days or years nowadays. The element of “time” in that context is not subject to investigation by the human intellect. Job 36,26 referred to this phenomenon when he wrote הן קל שגיא ולא נדע מספר שניו ולא חקר; “Here G’d is greater than we can know; the number of His years cannot be counted.” Another reference to this kind of time is found in Job 10,8 הן כ-ימי אנוש ימיך , “are Your days to be compared to human days?” or Psalms 102,28 ימי שנותיך לא יתמו, “the days of Your years are never ending.” During those “times,” it occurred to G’d to creative 1000 generations (of human history); however 974 of these generations were wiped out (compare Chagigah 13-14). This means that these 974 generations were “wiped out” from G’d’s original plan. They had not ever been created in the flesh. As a result of these 974 generations never having seen the light of day the Torah was given to the Jewish people after man existed for 26 generations. The reason G’d reconsidered His original plan was that He foresaw that the people in those generations would all be wicked. G’d advanced the giving of the Torah so that He would thereby advance the cycle that would otherwise have taken 1000 generations. This is the meaning of Psalms 105,8 “He is ever mindful of His covenant, the promise He gave for a thousand generations.” The words “for a thousand generations” mean: “at the end of one thousand generations.” These “lost “ generations are referred to by our sages in Chagigah 13 when they quoted Daniel 7,10 נהר דינור נגיד ונפיק מן קדמוהי אלף אלפין ישמשונה ורבו רבבן קדמוהי יקומון דינא יתיב וספרין פתיחו, “A river of fire streamed before Him; thousands upon thousands served Him; myriads upon myriads attended Him; the court sat and the books were opened.” The Talmud asks” “whence did the river originate?’ The answer given is that it was the result of the sweat of the beasts. To the question where this river Dinor ended, the answer given is “on the heads of the wicked in hades,” seeing that we have a verse in Job 22,1 אשר קמטו ולא עת נהר יוצק יסודם; “how they have shrivelled up before their time, and their foundation poured out like a river.” Rabbi Acha bar Yaakov interpreted the first half of this verse as describing G’d’s anger. Rabbi Shimon ben Chasidah understands this verse as a reference to the 974 generations which had originally been planned by G’d to come into existence prior to the universe as we know it. What did G’d do with them? He suspended them in that river. Some appear in each generation and they are the ones whose main purpose in life is to mock G’d. Thus far the discussion in Chagigah.
Rabbeinu Bahya
Going back to the verse in Song of Songs 3,7 about the 60 armed guards surrounding Solomon’s bed, the author tries to explain why the author of that Book commenced with G’d in the present rather than in the past, progressing to the future via the present. He explains that Solomon wanted to make the point that none of G’d’s “years” belong exclusively to the past. One cannot speak of, nor must one think of G’d as “in the past,” something which has ceased to exist at least partially. Such thoughts are reflected in Psalms 102,28 ואתה הוא ושנותיך לא יתמו, “but You are forever the same, and Your years will never end.” This is why we include this concept in our daily prayers when we say ה' מלך, ה' מלך, ה' ימלוך לעולם ועד, “the Lord is king, the Lord was king, and the Lord will remain king forever more.” [Note that the author of the liturgical poem also begins with the present when referring to G’d, not with the past. Ed.] You are also perfectly familiar with the fact that this is not the only verse in Psalms in which this chronologically peculiar sequence is applied to G’d. There are numerous such verses.
You may be tempted to retort that in Psalm 10,7 the psalmist refers to G’d as in the future asking G’d למה ה' תעמוד בחוץ, “why O Lord will You stand aloof, etc.,” whereas in verse 16 in that same psalm the author declares that ה' מלך that G’d is king, i.e. “He is never aloof.” Remember that you will not find that David had referred to the kingdom of heaven at all in the preceding nine Psalms. Whatever is said in this psalm then cannot be viewed as a reversal of a previous policy of the author. In fact, you will find something confirming what we said in psalm 20, which is the tenth after psalm 10 where G’d is first mentioned as king at all, that David appeals here for the first time to the Lord, the King, to grant victory, ה' הושיעה המלך יעננו ביום קראנו, “O Lord, grant victory! May the king answer us when we call.” The timing of this plea is significant as this “tenth” hymn is dedicated to the “tenth emanation" כתר, “crown,” the one symbolizing G’d as King. If we find on occasion that David relates to G’d’s kingship in the order “past-present-future,” he took his cue from Moses himself who made this sequence part of the song he composed after crossing the sea of reeds when he recorded ה' ימלוך לעולם ועד, “the Lord will rule forever more.” (Exodus 15,18).
You may be tempted to retort that in Psalm 10,7 the psalmist refers to G’d as in the future asking G’d למה ה' תעמוד בחוץ, “why O Lord will You stand aloof, etc.,” whereas in verse 16 in that same psalm the author declares that ה' מלך that G’d is king, i.e. “He is never aloof.” Remember that you will not find that David had referred to the kingdom of heaven at all in the preceding nine Psalms. Whatever is said in this psalm then cannot be viewed as a reversal of a previous policy of the author. In fact, you will find something confirming what we said in psalm 20, which is the tenth after psalm 10 where G’d is first mentioned as king at all, that David appeals here for the first time to the Lord, the King, to grant victory, ה' הושיעה המלך יעננו ביום קראנו, “O Lord, grant victory! May the king answer us when we call.” The timing of this plea is significant as this “tenth” hymn is dedicated to the “tenth emanation" כתר, “crown,” the one symbolizing G’d as King. If we find on occasion that David relates to G’d’s kingship in the order “past-present-future,” he took his cue from Moses himself who made this sequence part of the song he composed after crossing the sea of reeds when he recorded ה' ימלוך לעולם ועד, “the Lord will rule forever more.” (Exodus 15,18).