Genesis Rabbah 3

¹“God said: Let there be light, and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). “God said: Let there be light” – Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “Your opening words enlighten; they bring understanding [to the simple]” (Psalms 119:130). Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: The light was created first. This is analogous to a king who sought to build a palace, but that location was dark. What did he do? He kindled lamps and lanterns to ascertain how he would lay the foundation. So, too, the light was created first. Rabbi Neḥemya said: The world was created first. This is analogous to a king who built a palace and adorned it with lamps and lanterns. Up to this point, Rabbi Yudan expounded. Rabbi Pinḥas, Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon, and Rabbi Ḥanon came and began in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak: “Your opening words enlighten; they bring understanding to the simple” – the opening of Your mouth for us was light: “God said: Let there be light…” ²Rabbi Berekhya began in the name of Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made” (Psalms 33:6). Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: It was not with toil and not with exertion that the Holy One blessed be He created His world, but rather, “by the word of God,” and the heavens were already made. Here, too, “and there was [ vehaya ] light” is not written here, but rather, “ vayhi light” – it immediately came about. ³Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai began: “There is joy for a man in the pronouncement of his mouth, and how good is a word at its time” (Proverbs 15:23). “Joy for a man [ ish ]” – this is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “The Lord is a warrior [ ish milḥama ]; the Lord is His name” (Exodus 15:3). “In the pronouncement of his mouth” – “the Lord said: Let there be light.” “And how good is a word at its time” – “God saw the light, that it was good” (Genesis 1:4). ⁴Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak asked Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, saying to him: ‘Since I have about you that you are a master of aggada , [I ask you:] from what was the light created?’ He said to him: ‘It [the verse] teaches that the Holy One blessed be He wrapped himself in it like a garment, and the aura of its radiance shone from the end of the world to its end.’ He said it to him in a whisper. He said to him: ‘It is an explicit verse: “Wrapped in light as if with a garment” (Psalms 104:2), and you say it to me in a whisper? This is bewildering.’ He said to him: ‘Just as I heard it in a whisper, so I said it to you in a whisper.’ Rabbi Berekhya said: Had Rabbi Yitzḥak not expounded this in public, it would not have been possible to say it. Beforehand, what would they say? Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: It is from the site of the Temple that the light was created. That is what is written: “And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the direction of the east…[and the earth shone with His glory]” (Ezekiel 43:2). And his glory is nothing other than the Temple, just as it says: “Throne of glory, exalted from the first, the place of our Temple…” (Jeremiah 17:12). ⁵Rabbi Simon said: Light is mentioned five times here, corresponding to the five books of the Torah. “God said: Let there be light” – corresponding to the book of Genesis, in which the Holy One blessed be He engaged in creating His world. “And there was light” – corresponding to the book of Exodus in which Israel emerged from darkness to light. “God saw the light, that it was good” (Genesis 1:4) – corresponding to the book of Leviticus, which is full of multiple halakhot . “God distinguished between the light and the darkness” (Genesis 1:4) – corresponding to the book of Numbers, which distinguishes between those who departed from Egypt and those who entered the land. “God called the light, Day” (Genesis 1:5) – corresponding to the book of Deuteronomy, which is full of multiple halakhot . The students raised an objection to Rabbi Simon: ‘But is the book of Leviticus not full of halakhot [just like Deuteronomy]?’ He said to them: ‘In its regard, too, it said a second word.’ ⁶“God called the light, Day” – are “light” and “day” not the same thing? This is bewildering. It is taught: The light that was created during the six days of Creation cannot illuminate by day, because it would make the orb of the sun seem dim [by comparison], nor can it [illuminate] at night, as it was created to illuminate only during the day. Where is it, then? It was stored away, and is designated for the righteous for the future, as it is stated: “The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of the seven days” (Isaiah 30:26). This is bewildering: “Seven [days]”? Are they not three? Is it not so, that the lights were created only on the fourth day? It is, rather, like a person who says: This and that I am preparing for the seven days of the wedding feast. Rabbi Neḥemya said: These are the seven days of mourning for the righteous Methuselah, during which the Holy One blessed be He conferred extra light upon them. “God saw the light, that it was good, and God distinguished between the light and the darkness” (Genesis 1:4). “God saw the light, that it was good” – Rabbi Ze’eira son of Rabbi Abahu preached in Caesarea: From where is it derived that someone does not recite a blessing on the candle [at havdala on Saturday night] until he avails himself of its light? It is from here: “[God] saw…and [God] distinguished [ vayavdel ].” Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Simon said: He set it aside (“He distinguished”) can also mean He set aside. for Himself. The Rabbis say: He set it aside for the righteous in the World to Come. This is analogous to a king who had a fine portion of food and set it aside for his son. “God called the light, Day, and to the darkness He called Night. It was evening and it was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). Rabbi Berekhya said: This is what two eminent men of the world, Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, expounded: “[God] distinguished” – this refers to distinguishing in the literal sense. This is analogous to a king who had two commanders, one to be in charge by day and one to be in charge by night. They were arguing with one another. This one said: ‘I will be in charge by day,’ and that one said: ‘I will be in charge by day.’ The king summoned the first one and said to him: ‘So-and-so, the day will be your realm.’ Likewise for the second one, he said to him: ‘So-and-so, the night will be your realm.’ So, too, “God called the light, Day” – He said to it: ‘The day will be your realm.’ “And to the darkness He called Night” – He said to it: ‘The night will be your realm.’ Rabbi Yoḥanan said: That is what the Holy One blessed be He says to Job: “In all your days, have you commanded the morning and apprised darkness of its place?” (Job 38:12) – have you informed it of its place, where it is? This was a rhetorical question. Rabbi Tanḥuma said: I will say the source for this: “He forms light and creates darkness, He makes peace” (Isaiah 45:7) – after they were created, He made peace [between them]. “God called the light, Day” – Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One blessed be He never associates His name with the bad, but only with the good. “God called the light, Day and to the darkness God called night” is not written here, but rather, “to the darkness He called night.” ⁷Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: “It will be evening” is not written here, but rather, “it was evening” – from here we learn that there had been an order to time even beforehand. Rabbi Abahu said: This teaches that He continuously created worlds and destroyed them, until He created the current one, and said: ‘This one pleases Me, those did not please Me.’ Rabbi Pinḥas said: The source for Rabbi Abahu is: “God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31) – this pleases Me, those did not please Me. ⁸Rabbi Yanai said: Right from the beginning of the creation of the world, the Holy One blessed be He foresaw the actions of the righteous and the actions of the wicked. “The earth was emptiness” (Genesis 1:2) – these are the actions of the wicked. “God said: Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) – these are the actions of the righteous. “God distinguished between the light and the darkness” (Genesis 1:4) – between the actions of the righteous and the actions of the wicked. “God called the light, Day” (Genesis 1:5) – these are the actions of the righteous. “And to the darkness He called Night” (Genesis 1:5) – these are the actions of the wicked. “It was evening” (Genesis 1:5) – these are the actions of the wicked. “And it was morning” (Genesis 1:5) – these are the actions of the righteous. “[It was evening and it was morning,] one day” – the Holy One blessed be He gave to them [to Israel] one [unique] day. Which is that? It is Yom Kippur. Rabbi Tanḥum bar Yirmeya said: [It was the day] on which four items were created: Mountains, the heavens, the earth, and light. Rabbi Yudan said: [It was the day] on which the Holy One blessed be He was alone in His world, as there was no one else in His world other than Him. This is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, but it is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Ḥanina. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The angels [ malakhim ] were created on the second day. That is what is written: “He covers His upper chambers with water; He makes clouds His chariot; He proceeds on the wings of wind” (Psalms 104:3), and it is written: “He makes the winds His messengers [ malakhav ]” (Psalms 104:4). Rabbi Ḥanina said: The angels were created on the fifth day, as it is stated: “Let birds fly [ yeofef ] over the earth…” (Genesis 1:20) and it is written: “And with two it would fly [ yeofef ]” (Isaiah 6:2). Rabbi Lulyana bar Tavrai said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: Both according to the opinion of Rabbi Ḥanina and according to the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, everyone agrees that none were created on the first day, so people should not say: Mikhael was pulling at the south side of the heavens and Gabriel at its north side, while the Holy One blessed be straightened it out it in the middle. Rather, “I am the Lord, who made everything; who stretched out the heavens alone, who spread the earth by Myself [ me’iti ]” (Isaiah 44:24) – it [the last word] is written [as two]: ) me’iti, in the biblical text it is written ( ketiv ) as two words, mi iti . “who is with Me [ mi iti ]?” Who was partner with Me in creation of the world? ⁹Rabbi Shmuel bar Ami said: From the beginning of the creation of the world, the Holy One blessed be He desired to enter into a partnership with the creations below. Either way, it [the wording of the verse] is difficult. If it [the counting of the days] was for the purpose of a tally, it should have said: ‘One, two, three,’ or else ‘first, second, third’; is it proper to say: ‘One, second, third?’ This is bewildering. When did the Holy One blessed be He repay them? It was later, at the establishment of the Tabernacle, as it is stated: “The one who presented his offering on the first day” (Numbers 7:12) – [alluding to] the first [day] of the creation of the world. The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘It is as though I created the world on that day.’ It was taught: That day was conferred with ten crowns. It was the first day of the act of Creation; the first day for [years of] kings; the first day for the princes; the first day for the priesthood; the first day for the Divine Presence [on earth], as it is stated: “They shall craft a sanctuary for Me [and I will dwell in their midst]” (Exodus 25:8); the first day for blessing; the first day for sacrificial service; the first day for the prohibition of improvised altars; the first day for slaughtering [sacrifices] in the north; and the first day for descent of fire [from heaven], as it is stated: “Fire emerged from before the Lord…” (Leviticus 9:24).