창세기 7:12의 인용 해설

Another meaning of these words views them as if G’d had said: יקוו לי המים, “let the waters congregate for Me.” The matter is best explained by means of a parable. (compare beginning of Bereshit Rabbah 5) A king once built a palace and he populated it with deaf and dumb people These people made a point of making signs by means of which they enquired after the king’s wellbeing, etc. and generally displayed appreciation of the king having provided them with a residence. The king reasoned that if these people were so appreciative of what he had done for them ,surely if he placed intelligent people in this palace they would be at least as appreciative. What happened however was that the intelligent people seized the palace for themselves instead of displaying any signs of gratitude. They claimed that the palace was theirs. Thereupon the king decreed to let the palace revert to what it had been before he had ordered it to be built. Applied to our situation in Genesis the moral of the story is that prior to the creation of man G’d was hailed by the inarticulate beings He had created. As soon as He peopled the earth with articulate and intelligent human beings they turned their back on Him so that he decreed to let the earth revert to the state it had been in prior to the creation of the universe. At the beginning of creation the waters praised and lauded G’d their Creator as we know from Psalms 93,4 מקולות מים רבים אדירים משברי ים, “more majestic than the breakers of the sea is the Lord.” According to the Midrash there the waters referred to G’d as אדיר. Already the generation of Enosh rebelled against G’d and not too long hereafter he generation of the deluge carried its rebellion against G’d to such lengths that G’d destroyed them. G’d decided to do away with that generations of living creatures whereas He allowed lowed the waters to remain undisturbed. This is the meaning of Genesis 7,12 ויהי גשם על כל הארץ.

AND HE BLOTTED OUT EVERY LIVING SUBSTANCE WHICH WAS UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. After having said, And all flesh perished,⁹⁷Verse 21. and having said, whatever was in the dry land, died,⁹⁸Verse 22. Scripture continues to say, And He blotted out, meaning that the bodies dissolved and became water, just as is in the verse, And he shall blot them out in the water of bitterness⁹⁹Numbers 5:23. — for the waters of the flood were hot, as our Rabbis have said.¹⁰⁰Sanhedrin 108b. But if so, the fish also would have died. Perhaps it was as the Rabbis have said in Bereshith Rabbah:¹⁰¹32:19. “Whatever was in the dry land died,⁹⁸Verse 22. but not the fish in the sea. And some authorities say that they too were destined to be destroyed, but they fled to the Mediterranean.”¹⁰²Literally, Okeanus (ocean), but usually meaning the Mediterranean Sea. (See Jastrow.) Either way the fish were saved.
Both of these opinions are plausible. For it is conceivable that the hot waters of the flood mingled with the seas, heating only their upper waters, while the fish descended to the depths of the ponds and lived there. Or, in accordance with the opinion of some authorities,¹⁰³Mentioned in the Midrash quoted above, that the fish too were destined to be destroyed, but they fled to the Mediterranean. it is possible that the fish in the waters of the countries near the Mediterranean¹⁰²Literally, Okeanus (ocean), but usually meaning the Mediterranean Sea. (See Jastrow.) fled there when they felt the heat of the water, and were thus saved. And even if all those outside the Mediterranean died, since the majority of fish are in the Mediterranean¹⁰²Literally, Okeanus (ocean), but usually meaning the Mediterranean Sea. (See Jastrow.) where the waters of the flood did not come down — as it is said, And the rain was upon the earth¹⁰⁴Verse 12. — the fish were thus saved. For none of the fish were brought into the ark to keep their seed alive, and at the time of the covenant it is said, I establish My covenant with you… and with every living creature that is with you, the fowl, and cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark,¹⁰⁵Genesis 9:9-10. but it does not mention the fish of the sea.

וידבר ה' אל משה בעצם היום הזה AND THE LORD SPAKE TO MOSES THAT SELF SAME DAY — In three places in Scripture the expression בעצם היום הזה is used. It states in the narrative of Noah (Genesis 7:12) בעצם היום הזה entered Noah … [into the ark]” — which means in the glare of full daylight. Because his contemporaries said: By this and by that we swear; (cf. Note 2 on Deuteronomy 1:1): If we notice him about to do so we will not let him enter the ark, and not only that, but we will take axes and hatchets and we will split the ark in pieces. Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “See, I will let him enter at midday and anyone who has power to prevent it, let him come and prevent it!” Of Egypt, too, it states, (Exodus All. 11) “The selfsame day the Lord did bring [the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt]”: because the Egyptians said: By this and by that! If we notice them about to do so, we will not let them leave, and not only that, but we will take swords and other weapons and will kill them. Thereupon said the Holy One, blessed be He, “See, I will bring them forth in the middle of the day, and anyone who has power to prevent it, let him come and prevent it!” Here, too, regarding Moses’ death, it states בעצם היום הזה, because the children of Israel said, By this and by that! If we notice him about to ascend the mountain, we will not let him do so, — the man who brought us out of Egypt, and divided the Red Sea for us, and brought the Manna down for us, and brought a flight of quails for us, and made the “well” rise, and gave us the Torah: we will not permit him to go!” Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Behold, I will bring him unto his resting place in the middle of the day, etc.” (Sifrei Devarim 337; cf. Rashi on Genesis 17:23).