Талмуд к Берешит 2:4

⁸⁶Gen. rabba 12(9). Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Johanan: With two letters two worlds were created, this world and the Future World. [One by He and one by Yud.] What is the reason? For in Yah, the Eternal is the Rock of Worlds⁸⁷Is. 26:4.. However, we did not know which one was created by He and which one by Yud. But from what is written, these are the outcomes of Heaven and Earth in their being created⁸⁸Gen. 2:4., He created them by He. This implies that this world was created by He, and the Future World was created by Yud. ⁸⁹Babli Menaḥot 29b. Since He is (missing) [open] below, it is a hint for all creatures that they will descend to the pit. Since He has a point on top, from the moment they descend they ascend. Since He is open from all sides, so He opens a door to all who repent. Since Yud is curved, so all creatures should be bent. All faces turned yellow⁹⁰Jer. 30:6.. When David saw this, he started to acclaim by two letters, praise Yah, praise, the servants of the Eternal, praise the Name of the Eternal⁹¹Ps. 113:1..

⁹⁷Gen. rabba 1(21), Lev. rabba 36(1), Midrash Samuel 5[1]. The Midrashim seem to be the original source since they apply R. Eleazar ben R. Simeon’s final statement to other pairs of notions. The House of Shammai are saying, heaven was created first and afterwards earth. But the House of Hillel are saying, earth was created first and afterwards heaven. These are bringing proof for their assertion, and those are bringing proof for their assertion. What is the reason of the House of Shammai? In the Beginning God created heaven and earth⁹⁸Gen. 1:1.. {A parable} of a king who made a chair. After he had made it he made its footstool⁹⁹Greek ‘υποπόδιον.: the Heavens are My throne and the Earth My footstool¹⁰⁰Is. 66:1.. What is the reason of the House of Hillel? On the day of the Eternal’s, God’s, making of earth and heaven¹⁰¹Gen. 2:4. {A parable} of a king who made a palace. After he built the foundations he built the upper structure: also My left hand founded the Earth and My right hand tended the Heavens¹⁰²Is. 48:13.. Rebbi Jehudah bar Pazi said, also the following supports the House of Hillel: in earlier times You founded the Earth, and the Heavens are the work of Your hands¹⁰³Ps. 102:26.. Rebbi Ḥanina said, from the place from where the House of Shammai prove their assertion, from there the House of Hillel remove them. What is the reason of the House of Shammai? In the Beginning God created heaven and earth. From there the House of Hillel remove them: and the earth was¹⁰⁴Gen. 1:2., it already was. Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of the Sages: As for creation, the heaven preceded. As for perfecting, the earth preceded. As for creation, the heaven preceded, in the Beginning God created. As for perfecting, the earth preceded, on the day of the Eternal’s, God’s, making of earth and heaven. According to the House of Shammai, the heaven after the First waited three days, First, Second, Third, to have offspring. On the Fourth, there shall be lights¹⁰⁵Gen. 1:14.. According to the House of Shammai, the sea after the Second waited three days, Second, Third, Fourth, to have offspring. On the Fifth, the waters shall teem¹⁰⁶Gen. 1:20.. According to the House of Shammai, the earth after the Third waited three days, Third, Fourth, Fifth, to have offspring. On the Sixth, the earth shall produce¹⁰⁷Gen. 1:24.. According to the House of Hillel, the earth after the First waited two days, First and Second, to have offspring. On the Third, the earth shall be covered with grass. According to the House of Hillel, the sea after the Third waited two days, Third and Fourth, to have offspring. On the Fifth, the waters shall teem. Rebbi Simeon ben Yohai said, I am wondering how the fathers of the world could disagree about the creation of the world. Heaven and earth were only created like a pan¹⁰⁸Greek λοπάς. and its cover. What is the reason? Also My left hand founded the Earth and My right hand tended the Heavens¹⁰⁹The argument is from the end of the verse, not quoted: I am calling to them, they shall stand together.. Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Simeon said, following this, my father’s opinion, sometimes heaven precedes earth, sometimes earth precedes heaven, which teaches that they are equivalent one to another.

Rebbi Yoḥanan and Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish⁸⁹The brother-in-law and, according to Babylonian tradition, student of R. Yoḥanan. They both elaborate on the verse from Job treated by R. Yoḥanan’s teacher R. Ḥanina.. Rebbi Yoḥanan said: Usually when someone stretches the ropes of a tent, in time the ropes will loosen. But here (Is. 40:22) “He stretched them like a tent to sit in,” and it said (Job 37:18): “they are strong.” Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said: “Usually if someone casts a vessel, in time it will rust. But here “like a cast mirror,” all the time they look like newly cast. Rebbi Azariah⁹⁰One of the teachers of the fifth generation of Galilean Amoraïm. In Bereshit rabba 12, R. Azariah explicitly objects to the opinion that everything that has generations will wilt and die, including sky and earth. His statement here seems to say that the generations of the sky are the astronomical periods and that nevertheless everything is as on the day when sky and earth were created. comments on the remark of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish (Gen. 2:1–3) “The sky and the earth and all their hosts were completed. God finished on the Seventh Day … and God blessed the Seventh Day.” What is written after that? (Gen. 2:4) “These are the generations of the skies.” What has one to do with the other? Only that a day comes and goes, a week comes and goes, a month comes and goes, a year comes and goes⁹¹The use of masculine forms for both masculine and feminine is not uncommon in the Yerushalmi.. And it is written (Gen. 2:4) “These are the generations of the skies and the earth when they were created, on the day that the Eternal, God, created earth and heaven.”

Rabbi Nehemiah would say: Where do we learn that one person is considered as important as the entire work of Creation? Because it says (Genesis 5:1), “This is the book of the generations of humanity,” and prior to that it said (Genesis 2:4), “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.” Just as previously there was creating and making, so too here there is creating and making. [This] teaches that the Holy Blessed One showed [Adam] all the generations that would come from him, as if they rose up (and played) before him. And some say that he was shown only his righteous descendants, as it says (Isaiah 4:1), “All who were inscribed for life in Jerusalem.”
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Karha would say: See, it says (Psalms 139:16), “Your eyes see my unformed substance, they were [all recorded] in your book.” This teaches that the Holy Blessed One showed [Adam] the first person every generation and its preachers, community servants, leaders, prophets, warriors, sinners, and saints, and said to him, “In this generation this one will be a king. In that generation this one will be a scholar.”
Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yosei HaGalili would say: Nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created, the Torah was written and placed on the bosom of the Holy Blessed One, and it sang a song with the angels who serve God, as it says (Proverbs 8:30), “I was raised with Him, a source of delight to Him every day…rejoicing before Him on the face of His earth.” They gave a parable: To what can this be compared? [It can be compared] to someone who took a piece of wood and wanted to carve lots of figures into it. But there was not enough room on the wood, and so he was sad. But then he began drawing pictures on the ground, and kept walking and drew many, many pictures. So, too, the Holy Blessed One – may His great name be blessed forever and ever – in His wisdom and insight, created the whole world, with the heavens and the earth, above and below. And He fashioned within the human being everything that He created in His world. He created forests in the world, and He created forests on human beings – that is, their hair. He created evil beasts in the world, and He created evil beasts in human beings – that is, (the intestines) of a person. (He created thorns in the world, and He created thorns on human beings – that is, their ears.) He created scent in the world, and He created scent in human beings – that is, in their noses. He created a sun in the world, and He created a sun in human beings – that is, a person’s light. Putrid waters in the world and putrid waters in human beings – that is the water that drips from their noses. Salty waters in the world and salty waters in human beings – that is, the tears in their eyes. Rivers in the world and rivers in human beings – that is, their tears. Walls in the world, and walls in human beings – that is, a person’s lips. Doors in the world, and doors in human beings – that is, a person’s teeth. (Skies in the world, and skies in human beings – that is, a person’s tongue.) Sweet waters in the world, and sweet waters in human beings – that is, a person’s spit. Chiseled stones in the world and chiseled stones in human beings – that is, a person’s jaws. Towers in the world, and towers in human beings – that is, a person’s neck. Sail-yards in the world, and sail-yards on human beings – that is, a person’s arms. Spikes in the world, and spikes on human beings – that is, a person’s fingers. A king in the world, and a king in the human being – that is, his head. (Clusters in the world, and clusters in human beings – that is, in their blood.) Advisers in the world, and advisers in human beings – that is, their kidneys. Millstones in the world, and millstones in human beings – that is, their stomachs. Grinding mills in the world, and grinding mills in human beings – that is, their spleens. Garbage heaps in the world, and garbage heaps in human beings – that is, a person’s bowels. Pits in the world, and pits in human beings – that is, a person’s navel. Running waters in the world, and running waters in human beings – that is, a person’s (urine. Life in the world, and life in human beings – that is, a person’s) blood. Trees in the world, and trees in human beings – that is, a person’s bones. Hills in the world, and hills on human beings – that is, a person’s buttocks. Mortars and pestles in the world, and mortars and pestles in human beings – that is, their knees and knee-sockets. Horses in the world, and horses in human beings – that is, a person’s thighs. (An angel of death in the world, and an angel of death in human beings – that is, a person’s heels.) Mountains and valleys in the world, and mountains and valleys in human beings – when they stand, they are like a mountain, and when they fall, they are like a valley. Now you have seen that everything the Holy Blessed One created in His world, He created also in human beings.