ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 18:18

IN THE BEGINNING. Rashi wrote: “If you wish to explain it [the word bereshith] in accordance with its plain meaning, explain it thus: at the beginning of the creation of the heaven and earth, and the earth was formless and void and there was darkness, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, Let there be light.” If so, the whole text leads into the creation of light.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained it in an identical way. However, he established that the letter vav in the word veha’aretz (and the earth) does not şerve [as a connecting letter as it normally does and which would mean “and,” but it serves rather as the word “when.”] There are many such examples in Scripture. The meaning then according to Rabbi Abraham would be: at the beginning of the creation of heaven and dry land, there was no habitable place on earth; rather, it was unformed and void and covered with water, and G-d said, Let there be light. According to Abraham ibn Ezra’s opinion, only light³²According to Rashi in Verse 6 (also 2:4), the sun, etc., was also created on the first day. was created on the first day.
The difficulty which Rabbi Shlomo [Rashi] had which led him to the above interpretation is, as he said: For if Scripture intended to teach the order in which the acts of creation took place, it should have written barishonah [instead of bereshith], since wherever the word reshith occurs in Scripture it is in the construct state. But there is the verse, Declaring the end ‘mereshith’ [from the beginning].³³Isaiah 46:10. Here the word reshith is not in the construct state. And if one will connect it with the missing word davar [thing — thus making the verse read: “Declaring the end of a thing from the beginning of a thing”—] here too it could be connected to a missing word.³⁴Thus reading: Bereshith kol, (In the beginning of everything [G—d created]). There is also the verse, And he chose ‘reshith’ (a first part) for himself.²⁷Deuteronomy 33:21. Reference here is to Moses who took the territory of Kings Sihon and Og as he knew that his grave was to be therein. (See Rashi, ibid.) It was thus for the sake of this meritorious person, of whom reshith was said, that the world was created. [Here again the word reshith is not used in the construct state.] And Rashi raised other objections.
Now listen to the correct and clear explanation of the verse in its simplicity. The Holy One, blessed be He, created all things from absolute non-existence. Now we have no expression in the sacred language for bringing forth something from nothing other than the word bara (created). Everything that exists under the sun or above was not made from non-existence at the outset. Instead He brought forth from total and absolute nothing a very thin substance devoid of corporeality but having a power of potency, fit to assume form and to proceed from potentiality into reality. This was the primary matter created by G-d; it is called by the Greeks hyly (matter). After the hyly, He did not create anything, but He formed and made things with it, and from this hyly He brought everything into existence and clothed the forms and put them into a finished condition.
Know that the heavens and all that is in them consist of one substance, and the earth and everything that is in it consist of one substance. The Holy One, blessed be He, created these two substances from nothing;³⁵Such is also the theory of Rambam: “All things on earth have one common substance; the heavens and the things in them have one substance different from the first” (Moreh Nebuchim II, 26). they alone were created, and everything else was constructed from them.
This substance, which the Greeks called hyly, is called in the sacred language tohu, the word being derived from the expression of the Sages:³⁶Kiddushin 40b. “betohei (when the wicked bethinks himself) of his doings in the past.” If a person wants to decide a name for it [this primordial matter], he may bethink himself, change his mind and call it by another name since it has taken on no form to which the name should be attached. The form which this substance finally takes on is called in the sacred language bohu, which is a composite word made up of the two words bo hu (in it there is [substance]). This may be compared to the verse, Thou art not able ‘asohu’ (to perform it),³⁷Exodus 18:18. in which case the word asohu is missing a vav and an aleph [and is a composite of the two words] aso hu. It is this which Scripture says, And he shall stretch over it the line of ‘tohu’ (confusion) and the stones of ‘bohu.’³⁸Isaiah 34:11. “The stones,” which are forms in the building (as explained later on by Ramban), thus constitute substance as expressed in the Hebrew bohu. [The tohu in Hebrew or hyly in Greek] is the line by which the craftsman delineates the plan of his structure and that which he hopes to make. This is derived from the expression, Kavei (Hope) unto G-d.³⁹Psalms 27:14. The stones are forms in the building. Similarly it is written, They are accounted by Him as nought and ‘tohu,’⁴⁰Isaiah 40:17. as tohu comes after nothingness and there is nothing yet in it.
So the Rabbis have also said in Sefer Yetzirah:⁴¹2:6. Sefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) is one of the earliest Hebrew books of the Cabala tradition. (See introduction to Bereshith, Note 56.) Some of the profoundest mystic commentaries have been written on this book. See my Hebrew work, Kithvei Haramban, Vol. 2, pp. 451-461. “He created substance from tohu, and made that which was nothing something.”
They have furthermore said in the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakanah:⁴²Called also Sefer Habahir (Book of the Bright Light), 2. This book too is a classic in the mystic teachings of the Cabala. It was written in the style and manner of the Midrashim. “Rabbi Berachyah said: ‘What is the meaning of the verse, And the earth was ‘tohu’ (without form) ‘vavohu’ (and void)? What is the meaning of the word “was?” It had already been tohu. And what is tohu? It is a thing which astonishes people. It was then turned into bohu. And what is bohu? It is a thing which has substance, as it is written, [bohu is a composite of the two words] ‘bo hu’ (in it there is substance).’”

נבלה Fadeth away.⁵Literally, according to I. E., is confounded. Niphal of בלל, to confound; comp. ונבקה, and it will be emptied⁶A V., Shall fall. (19:3); ונסבה and it will be surrounded⁷A. V., There was a winding about. (Ez. 41:7); the second נבלה might, however, be the Kal of נבל, to fade; comp. נבול תבול, thou wilt surely wear away⁸The two roots נבל and בלל are similar in form and meaning; the former to fade away, the latter to confound, Niphal to be confounded or to be destroyed. נָבְלָה is therefore either the third person feminine Kal of נבל or the same person Niphal of בלל; the regular form would be נָבַלָּה, but the Dagesh is sometimes omitted, as in the instances quoted by the author. נָבַקָּה═נָבְקָה נָסַבָּה═נָסְבָה. (Ex. 18:18).

AM NAVAL’ (A FOOLISH PEOPLE), AND NOT WISE. “A foolish people — that has forgotten [all] the good that He has done for them. And not wise to understand the result [of their actions], that it is in His power to do them good or evil.” This is Rashi’s language. Now, Onkelos rendered [am naval]: “a people that has received the Torah, [and who are not wise],” deriving it from [the expression] navol tibol²¹Exodus 18:18. These are Jethro’s words to Moses that he will become weary in attending alone to all the people’s problems. which he translated milah thilei (“thou wilt surely become weary”). Thus the verse here states: “it is a people weary of the observance of the Torah and they are not wise [enough to realize] that it is for their eternal good.” Similarly Onkelos rendered b’goi naval²²Further, Verse 21. — “with a foolish people,” apathetic in becoming wise or people of faith. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted: “Naval (foolish) in deeds, and not wise in heart.”
In my opinion he who performs an unrequired act [of goodness or kindness] is called nadiv (generous), while he who repays his benefactor with evil is called naval (a vile person). And so it is stated, ‘L’naval’ (the vile person) will no longer be called ‘nadiv’ (generous),²³Isaiah 32:5. In other words, flattery will be extinct in Israel. for one is the opposite of the other. Therefore it was said of Nabal the Carmelite, for as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and ‘n’valah’ (vileness) is with him.²⁴I Samuel 25:25. For David did him a great favor — he guarded all his belongings — and he [Nabal] did not want to pay him any recompense; instead, he shouted at his [David’s] messengers²⁵Ibid., Verse 14. and disgraced them. And this is the sense of the verse concerning [G-d’s words to] the friends of Job: [And my servant Job shall pray for you; for him alone will I receive favorably,] so as not to do unto you ‘n’valah’ (an unseemly act) [because you have not spoken of Me properly, as My servant Job hath;]²⁶Job 42:8. The gist of Ramban’s thought is as follows: Since Job’s friends defended G-d’s providence, it would appear, in the eyes of the unlearned, as an unseemly act if they were to be punished, although they were to be blamed for having spoken certain things which were not right nor true. since they had defended the deed of the glorious and fearful Name,²⁷Above, 28:58. saying it was done justly, and if He were to punish them now, it would appear as n’valah (an unseemly act).²⁶Job 42:8. The gist of Ramban’s thought is as follows: Since Job’s friends defended G-d’s providence, it would appear, in the eyes of the unlearned, as an unseemly act if they were to be punished, although they were to be blamed for having spoken certain things which were not right nor true.
It is possible that the term naval is used [for a vile person] because he is an inferior type of a human being, just as the expression as an oak whose leaf ‘noveleth’²⁸Isaiah 1:30. which means “falls” [because it withered. Thus, the word noveleth (withers), spelled with a beth, is related to nofeleth (falls) spelled with a fei. Similarly, a person who is nofel, “falls” short of acceptable standards of conduct, is referred to as naval.] A dead animal is called n’veilah because “it falls” upon the earth and dies, just as it is said, to see the ‘mapeleth’ (carcass) of the lion.²⁹Judges 14:8. If so, Scripture states here: “Do you thus requite G-d for all the good He has done for you? It is an am naval that repays evil for good, and unwise not to know that they have wrought this evil unto themselves,”³⁰Isaiah 3:9. and not to G-d. It is similar to what is stated, If thou hast sinned, what doest thou against Him? And if thy transgressions be multiplied, what doest thou unto Him? If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him? or what receiveth He of thy hand?³¹Job 35:6-7. For G-d is thy Father,³²Verse 6 before us. Who brought you forth and raised you; and He is ‘konecha,’³²Verse 6 before us. Who made you a kinyan (a possession), for He brought you forth from nothingness and you became a being, and every tangible reality can be acquired as a possession. [Therefore, the word koneh is used interchangeably to mean “make” or “create” and “acquire” as shown in the following examples.] It is similar to what is said, The Eternal ‘kanani’ (made) me as the beginning of His way;³³Proverbs 8:22. likewise, ‘Koneih’ (Maker) of heaven and earth,³⁴Genesis 14:19. as I have explained.³⁵Ibid., (Vol. I, pp. 190-191). And He created you, made thee, and established thee,³²Verse 6 before us. similar to the expression, and One fashioned us in the womb.³⁶Job 31:15.

כבד — This word should be translated in the Targum by יקיר (his heart is hard — an adjective) and not by אתיקר (his heart has become Hard — a verb, as is given in some editions of Onkelos) because it is an adjective, just as (Exodus 18:18) “the thing is too heavy (כָּבֵד) for thee”.