Comentário sobre Gênesis 1:25

ויעש AND HE MADE — He formed them with their full volition and in their full stature (Chullin 60a).

“And G-d made the beasts of the earth according to their kind” – He gave to each species senses and capacities in accordance with what was necessary for that species.

And He made: [This is] the explanation (or elaboration) of "and it was so."

And God made, etc.: Making is often the finishing touches of a matter and [relates] to the inner form of that thing as I have explained above and in several places. And the explanation of the verse is, that beyond that at the time of God's proclamation, the lion came out - and within him were included several types of lions, according to their external form; God also made their inner forms according to their species, such that the nature of one type of lion is not exactly the same as the nature of another. And nonetheless, they are all species of lions, by way of one detail common to all of them, and based on this detail they are all called lions. And so [too] with the ox, and so forth. All of this is with regards to the creatures of the dry land, and it is not the case with the creatures of the sea - [with them,] it was not like this. And all types of chickens are perfectly similar in character and they are only different in their outer appearance and appear like two types of chickens. And the Creator, may He be blessed, knows the reasons of the [details of the] creation; why the creatures of the dry land were created differently than the creatures of the sea.

And God made: The explanation is the creation of the life-giving soul, in the way that we explained it with the swarms of the water. And Rashi explained it in a different manner, 'and these and those are the words of the living God.'

ויעש אלוקים, the reason why the Torah reports G’d as ויעש, completing something after having already written ויהי כן signaling that G’d’s directives had been carried out, is that G’d’s directive consisted of 3 parts in addition to the directive to create man, i.e. domestic mammals, free-roaming mammals and creeping creatures. G’d constructed each category in such a way that they would make their habitat on different parts of the earth. This has been emphasised by the words למינה, למחנה, למינהו, being inserted between the names of each category of creatures.
G’d did all this in order that one category of creature should not inflict harm, damage on its counterpart by interfering with the other’s lifestyle in its respective domain. This is also the reason why He did not bless them. How could G’d have blessed them with the formula: “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” seeing that He did not want that the harmful creatures amongst them would multiply in such a fashion? Some of these animals’ very grazing on the earth would be a form of causing irreparable harm on the surface of the earth. Our sages (Rashi on verse 22) claim that the reason G’d did not extend His blessing to these beasts was on account of the serpent which became a destructive force.

According to their desire. בצביונם means according to their will, i.e., if the animal had originally been asked: “Do you want to be created like this?” it would have agreed.

”Man is the fourth of these species, and that it why the Torah continues 2,7 ויהי האדם לנפש חיה that the human species became part of that group only after G-d having provided it with a Divine soul, נשמת חיים.

The creeping things of the ground: Since there is a difference between earth and ground; as earth is a [more general] category that includes both the dry places of inhabitation and the places of rivers and lakes; which is not the case of ground, which is only dry land - 'examine and find' [this to be true]. And in that there are also several creeping things of the waters, which were [already] grouped under the creation of the swarming things of the water, in the seas; for this reason the verse was precise [to indicate] that in this proclamation only the creeping things of the ground were created.

הבהמה, these are the animals which live in close proximity to man, are used by him on a daily basis. This includes, cattle, sheep, goats, horses donkeys and camels.

And their full size. I.e., they were full-sized from the beginning. Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written here, “And thus Elohim made...” after it is already written (v. 24), “And it was so”? [To teach that they were created as they desired, and fullsized. Similarly we may ask:] For the grass, why did it say, “The earth brought forth grass” (v. 12), after it already said, “And it was so”? To teach that the earth disobeyed, as Rashi explained there (רש"י פסוק יא ד"ה עץ). And for the luminaries, why did it say, “Elohim made” (v. 16), after it already said, “And it was so”? To teach that Hashem diminished one of them. (Re’m)

חיתו ארץ — The ו in the word חיתו is superfluous (added for stylish purposes).

חית הארץ, this includes “wild” beasts such as lions, tigers, bears, wolves, etc., beasts which are predators. G’d arranged for the nature of these beasts to be such that they do not choose urban areas as their natural habitat. If they would tend to make their habitat on earth indiscriminate instead of confining themselves to virgin regions, they would lay the earth waste, and would take over by multiplying themselves while devouring weaker species. (compare Exodus 23,29) you will find that anywhere in Scripture where mention is made of the destruction of man’s habitat, that the wild beasts took over the regions formerly inhabited by man. (Leviticus 26,22)

ורמש האדמה, this also refers to specific locations in certain deserts, as mentioned by Moses in Deut. 8,15, when he mentioned the presence of such lethal snakes, etc., in certain areas in the desert. Other creeping creatures are found on a regular basis also in the regions inhabited by man, and those do not pose a threat to man. The expression רמש, refers to a type of motion. Note how G’d in His wisdom arranged all this. The worms which appear to spontaneously develop from decaying vegetable or animal matter have not been mentioned at all in connection with G’d’s creative activities, even though they possess the ability to move.

וירא אלוקים כי טוב, even though among these newly created creatures there are those which function as predators, and otherwise harmful beings, they still are also useful in many respects as has been proven by a number of scientists who are able to use the stings of wasps, etc., to help extract poisonous venom from human tissue and neutralise it. G’d provided each of the species with limbs or organs suitable to their individual lifestyle. The lion and other predators are equipped with special teeth and claws in order to facilitate their attacks on more peaceful creatures who serve as their food. At the same time, gazelles, deer, etc., which are primary targets of these ferocious beasts have been given musculature to enable them to escape from the clutches of such predators by their superior speed. Each species has been equipped with means to help it to ensure its survival in a hostile environment. This is proved by the fact that these species have not become extinct over thousands of years. Although, basically the animal kingdom can be divided into the aggressors and the victims, G’d has provided nourishment for both types of species. Each type of animal enjoys the food G’d has provided for them in nature. At the same time, each will have to die in due course. The predators will meet death either at the hands of hunters or other stronger predators, or through natural disasters depriving them of their means of survival. Job 4,11 “the lion perishes for lack of prey,” already attests to this phenomenon, as does Amos 3,4 in which the prophet describes that when these beasts succeed in killing their prey they call out in triumph. The prophet Nachum (2,13), as well as many other verses in the Bible testify to the fact that even these ferocious beasts are frequently neutralised by natural disasters. Still, the fact is that none of these predators are genetically unable to subsist on a vegetarian diet, else, at the time when G’d created them and there were only herbs to feed on, they would have perished before being able to even reproduce themselves. If, at that time, the lion had already fed on sheep, one of G’d’s species would have been eliminated from earth, contrary to G’d’s design. He had not created them in order for them to become extinct. It is quite clear from verse 30 in our chapter that originally, G’d had assigned the herbs as food for all חיות, free-roaming animals.