창세기 9:25의 인용 해설

IN THE BEGINNING G-D CREATED. Rabbi Yitzchak said: The Torah, which is the book of laws, should have begun with the verse, This month shall be unto you the first of the months,¹Exodus 12:2. which is the first commandment given to Israel.²It is true the book of Genesis contains three commandments (1:28; 17:10; 32:33), but after the Revelation on Sinai these laws became incumbent upon Israel. Hence the verse this month, etc., is “the first commandment given to Israel” as a people. What then is the reason that it begins with the creation? Should the nations of the world say to Israel, “You are robbers because you took unto yourselves the lands of the seven nations of Canaan,” they [Israel] may reply to them, “The whole world belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He. He gave it to whom He pleased, and according to His Will, He took it [the land] from them and gave it to us.”
This is a homiletic exposition³Found in Tanchuma (Buber), Bereshith 11. See also Rashi (Berliner) p. 424. as quoted by Rabbi Shlomo [Rashi] in his commentaries.
One may object that it was indeed very necessary to begin the Torah with the chapter of In the beginning G-d created for this is the root of faith, and he who does not believe in this and thinks the world was eternal denies the essential principle of the [Judaic] religion and has no Torah at all.⁴A person who thinks the world is eternal cannot believe in miracles since, if G-d did not create the world, He cannot possibly change it. Ramban explains in many places (e.g., see further, 17:1; 46:15) that all Divine promises concerning the blessings or imprecations which will follow upon our observance or disregard of the Torah are miraculous in nature of “invisible miracles.” A person who believes that the world is eternal thus has “no Torah at all.” See further my English work, Ramban: His Life and Teachings, Chapter 13.
The answer is that the process of creation is a deep mystery not to be understood from the verses, and it cannot truly be known except through the tradition going back to Moses our teacher who received it from the mouth of the Almighty, and those who know it are obligated to conceal it.⁵Chagigah 11 b: “The process of Creation may not be expounded before two.” It is for this reason that Rabbi Yitzchak said that it was not necessary for the Torah to begin with the chapter of In the beginning G-d created and the narration of what was created on the first day, what was done on the second and other days, as well as a prolonged account of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin and punishment, and the story of the Garden of Eden and the expulsion of Adam from it, because all this cannot be understood completely from the verses. It is all the more unnecessary for the story of the generations of the flood and of the dispersion to be written in the Torah for there is no great need of these narratives, and, for people who believe in the Torah, it would suffice without these verses. They would believe in the general statement mentioned to them in the Ten Commandments: For in six days the Eternal made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day,⁶Exodus 20:11. and the knowledge of the process of creation would remain with individuals as a tradition from Moses who received the law on Sinai together with the Oral Torah.
Rabbi Yitzchak then gave a reason for it. The Torah began with the chapter of In the beginning G-d created and recounted the whole subject of creation until the making of man, how He [G-d] granted him dominion over the works of His hands, and that He put all things under his feet;⁷See Psalms 8:7. and how the Garden of Eden, which is the choicest of places created in this world, was made the place of his abode until his sin caused his expulsion therefrom; and how the people of the generation of the flood were completely expelled from the world on account of their sin, and the only righteous one among them — he [Noah] and his children — were saved; and how the sin of their descendants caused them to be scattered to various places and dispersed to different countries, and how subsequently they seized unto themselves places after their families, in their nations,⁸Genesis 10:5. as chance permitted. If so, it is proper that when a people continues to sin it should lose its place and another people should come to inherit its land, for such has been the rule of G-d in the world⁹The Hebrew word ba’aretz (world) may also refer here to “the land,” especially the Land of Israel. See Ramban further, 26:5. from the beginning. This is true all the more regarding that which is related in Scripture, namely that Canaan was cursed and sold as a servant forever.¹⁰Genesis 9:25. It would therefore not be proper that he inherit the choicest of places of the civilized world. Rather, the servants of G-d — the seed of His beloved one, Abraham¹¹See Isaiah 41:8. — should inherit it, even as it is written, And He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took the labor of the peoples in possession; that they might keep His statutes, and observe His laws.¹²Psalms 105:44-45. That is to say, He expelled those who rebelled against Him, and settled therein those who served Him so that they know by serving Him they will inherit it, whereas if they sin against Him, the land will vomit them out, just as it vomited out the nation before them.¹³See Leviticus 18:28.
Elucidating the explanation I have written are the words of the Sages in Bereshith Rabbah, wherein they say as follows:¹⁴1:3. “Rabbi Yehoshua, of the city of Siknin, in the name of Rabbi Levi opened [his discourse on this chapter of Creation with the verse]: He hath declared to His people the power of His works.¹⁵Psalms 111:6. Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, reveal to Israel what was created on the first day and what was created on the second day? It is on account of the seven nations who inhabited the land of Canaan, so that they should not taunt Israel and say to them: ‘Are you not a nation of robbers?’ Israel could then reply to them: ‘And you, is it not booty in your hands? Have not the Caphtorim that came forth from Caphtor destroyed them and dwelt in their stead?¹⁶Deuteronomy 2:23. The world and the fullness thereof belong to the Holy One, blessed be He. When He willed it, He gave it to you, and when He willed it, He took it from you and gave it to us.’ It is this which Scripture says, To give them the heritage of the nations.¹⁵Psalms 111:6. He hath declared to His people the power of His works in order to give them the heritage of the nations. Hence He told them the account of creation.”
There is yet another source for the subject I have mentioned: the mysteries in the process of creation. It is what our Rabbis of blessed memory have said:¹⁷This Midrash is quoted by Rambam in his Preface to Moreh Nebuchim. See Batei Midrashoth, ed. Wertheimer, I, p. 251. “He hath declared to His people the power of His works.¹⁵Psalms 111:6. To declare the power of the process of creation to a mortal being is impossible. Therefore, Scripture closed the matter: In the beginning G-d created.” Thus is elucidated what we have said on this subject.¹⁸That the details in the process of creation and the settlement of the earth were written for the purpose of justifying Israel’s possession of the land while the essential process of creation itself remains a mystery.

You have taken by force the lands of the Seven Nations. This implies that originally it belonged to the Seven Nations (who are descendants of Cham). But you might object: It is written in Parshas Lech Lecha (12:6): “And the Canaanites were then in the Land,” and Rashi there explains that the Canaanites were then conquering the Land of Israel from the descendants of Shem — as it was given to Shem when Noach divided the earth among his sons. If so, why is it robbery (when Bnei Yisrael [who are Shem’s descendants] reclaim their inheritance)? It seems the answer is: Although land cannot be acquired by theft and always remains the property of the previous owner, nonetheless, Bnei Yisrael are like robbers. For the Canaanites were considered like someone who unrightfully seizes a field and makes improvements on it — in which case when the true owners return they must pay the one who seizes the land for his expenses, assuming the improvements are of greater value than the expenses. But Bnei Yisrael took the Land of Israel with all the improvements [that were made by the Canaanites], and did not pay even for the expenses. Therefore the Torah began with “In the beginning...” to say that all the earth and its fullness belong to Hashem, Who may do with it as He wishes. For it says (Chavakuk 3:6): “He saw and allowed the nations,” which is interpreted to mean that [in specific cases,] Hashem allowed their property to [be taken by] Israel (Bava Kama 38a). An alternative answer: “You are robbers” because Shem had other sons as well, and they too have a portion in the Land. However, there is a difficulty [with the first answer, that the descendants of Cham should be paid their expenses. And] even if we say that R. Yitzchok held the [other] view [mentioned in the Gemara,] that the entire Land [originally] belonged [not to Shem but] to Cham, who gave it to his son Canaan, [still their claim is invalid]. For it is written (9:25), “Cursed is Canaan. He shall surely be a slave to his brethren.” Thus, [the offspring of] Cham is enslaved to Shem, and all of a slave’s acquired property belongs to his master. [So whatever Canaan says is his, automatically belongs to Bnei Yisrael who are the offspring of Shem. Why, then, are Bnei Yisrael “robbers”?] An answer is: It is written that Canaan is a slave “to his brethren,” which includes Yefes. Thus, Yefes also has a share in what Canaan acquired, [not just Shem]. (Re’m) Alternatively: [R. Yitzchok held that the Land originally belonged to Cham. And] a slave’s acquisitions belong to his master only when the slave acquires them from others, or seizes ownerless property — but not when the slave inherits them. And since it is by Torah law that a non-Jew inherits his father, Canaan rightfully inherited the Land from his father Cham. (Nachalas Yaakov) Another answer: When someone gives a gift to a slave and stipulates that the master should have no rights to it, the gift does not belong to the master. And here, Hashem apportioned specific territories to Canaan, and different territories to Shem, as the Torah recounts. Therefore, it is as if there is a stipulation that each one may not have any claim to the other one’s portion. (Divrei Dovid)

Introduction There are different rules for Hebrew slaves than there are for “Canaanite” slaves non-Jewish slaves. One of the major differences is that all of the biblical verses which discuss a slave’s going free after a certain period of time are considered by the rabbis as referring to Hebrew slaves. This includes Exodus 21:1-11; Leviticus 25:39-44, 47-55; Deuteronomy 15:12-18. Leviticus 25:44-46 refers to Canaanite slaves. Non-Jewish slaves are called “Canaanite” after Genesis 9:25, “Cursed be Canaan; the lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” The major difference between the two is that a Hebrew slave goes free automatically after a certain number of years of servitude, whereas a Canaanite slaves works in perpetuity. We should note that the practice of owning Hebrew slaves was probably non-existent, or at least almost non-existent, in the mishnaic/talmudic periods. However, Jews did own non-Jewish slaves. Slavery was a common feature of the Greco-Roman world. The halakhah in general mandates relatively liberal treatment of the slave, but it did not forbid slavery.

for the Lord has spoken—Now where did He speak? (Gen. 9:25) “A slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” So it is explained in Mechilta (Ex. 12:25).