Jewish Interpretations of Genesis

metis said:

And to go along with this, "yom" must refer to actual days as on the 7th day it says that God rested, thus is the introduction of Shabbat even though it wasn't mandated until Moshe's time.

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Hmm. Yes, I have to agree with that.

firedragon said:

But, the night time and daytime describes a 24 hour day and that's how genesis gives the days of creation. So the meaning of the word Yom, though it can depict an era of course, is described and clarified in the verse itself with day and night.

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What the modern term of Yom today, it is indeed, used as a 24 hours period.
There is clear explanation, that the word "Yom" is called to time of light, and "Layla" to time of darkness.
After that, we learn that "ערב" and "בקר" are describing a day.
So there are several meanings to the word "Yom".
Time of Day.
"Evening" to "Morning".
The word "Evening" have several meanings and same for "Morning".
So each of them should be examined. its a bit more complex, but I can elaborate more if you wish.

But it is clear that "Yom" represents more than what we call today "Yom".
In the Jewish belief, the modern day starts at the lack of light. based on the words "Evening and Morning" to emphasize that exact phrase.
(That's why the sabbath is kept from Friday).

Segev Moran said:

What the modern term of Yom today, it is indeed, used as a 24 hours period.
There is clear explanation, that the word "Yom" is called to time of light, and "Layla" to time of darkness.
After that, we learn that "ערב" and "בקר" are describing a day.
So there are several meanings to the word "Yom".
Time of Day.
"Evening" to "Morning".
The word "Evening" have several meanings and same for "Morning".
So each of them should be examined. its a bit more complex, but I can elaborate more if you wish.

But it is clear that "Yom" represents more than what we call today "Yom".
In the Jewish belief, the modern day starts at the lack of light. based on the words "Evening and Morning" to emphasize that exact phrase.
(That's why the sabbath is kept from Friday).

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Every one knows the meaning of yowm changes based on the context. So the context of the verses in question absolutely shows that its a day with day and night.

firedragon said:

Every one knows the meaning of yowm changes based on the context. So the context of the verses in question absolutely shows that its a day with day and night.

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Which verse?
Can you please elaborate?

Segev Moran said:

Which verse?
Can you please elaborate?

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Same verses where you are referring to with Yowm.

Left Coast said:

So I'm curious to learn from our Jewish members here how they interpret the first chapters of Genesis. How literally do you take them?

Were Adam and Eve literally the first two human beings, spontaneously created by God?

Was the universe and life on Earth created in 6 days?

Was there a literally global flood that covered the entire planet?

To be clear, I'm interested in hearing from people who practice Judaism, not Christians who happen to be Jews.

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I know that I am not supposed to be here anymore but every once and a while I view the site. I noticed that you asked for an answer to your questions from people who are a) Jewish and b) pratice Judaism. I notice that you are starting to get answers from people who either a) don't fall into either one of these categories or b) according to their own self-definition, don't fall into at least one of them. So, in order to help you sift through the fruit from the weeds so to speak I will suggest a different path.

1. How the first chapters of (בראשית) Beresheeth is to be properly understood falls into a few categories.
   • A fluent understanding of the Hebrew language is needed in order to parse through what is written, how it is written, and what it means.
   • You would need to go through about 20 different ancient Jewish commentators in Aramaic and Hebrew to have a grasp of the various "ancient" views of how the text was to be understood and "where they got their understandings from."
   • A scientific understanding of how the physical word/universe works using something similar to the scientific method. I.e. a number of ancient commentators considered that only advancements in scientific knowledge would the more details aspects of Beresheeth chapters 1 and 2 would be unerstand.

1. Using the above mentioned tools, a Torah based Jew will come to their own conclusion about the mechanics of what the first few chapters mean.
   • This is one of those areas that does not require all Torah based Jews to agree on the mechanics. We, Torah based Jews, are only required to agree on the point and the conclusion.
   • All Torah based Jews do agree on the point that is made by Beresheeth and the conclusion.
   • The point being that there is a Source of Creation that caused the universe to exist.
   • The Source of Creation commanded that the information in the entire be there for developmental purposes. I.e. meaning that the text, as written in Hebrew, is there for reasons that are about how a Jew is develop their thinking intellectually and philisophically. This can mean that some things have to be understood using the above tools to determine what they mean "historically."

Now in order to get all of the above in one sitting, when you don't have the access to the tools above, I will suggest the following. I wil provide you below a list of Torah based resources from proven Jewish sources that compile as many of the various ancient, reliable, and authorative sources on the matter. Please note that below are English translations and often the attempt to translate these ideas into English from ancient Hebrew through to Hebrew from about 1,000 years ago can be lacking. Also, most of the detailed information on this topic is found in Hebrew.

Creation: A Convergence of Torah and Science
by Prof. Nathan Aviezerprint

New Science, Same Torah by RABBI GIL STUDENT

The Coming Revolution Hardcover by Rabbi Zamir Cohen

Reconciling Torah and Science – An Introduction

The Theory of Evolution - A Jewish Perspective Avraham Steinberg, M.D.

firedragon said:

Same verses where you are referring to with Yowm.

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That is not true.
The verse clearly states several meaning to the word "Yom".
One of them being the "Light" part of day (as opposed to "Layla").
"Evening and Morning" is another, and the words "Evening and Morning" have more meaning than what you refer to as Evening or Morning in Hebrew.

Segev Moran said:

That is not true.
The verse clearly states several meaning to the word "Yom".
One of them being the "Light" part of day (as opposed to "Layla").
"Evening and Morning" is another, and the words "Evening and Morning" have more meaning than what you refer to as Evening or Morning in Hebrew.

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So what you are saying is that and there was morning, and there was evening, does not really mean evening and morning.

Excellent.

Ehav4Ever said:

I know that I am not supposed to be here anymore

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Still, nice to see you here.

firedragon said:

So what you are saying is that and there was morning, and there was evening, does not really mean evening and morning.

Excellent.

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Yes and No.
It means that and have other meanings as well.
Same as many other words people interpret based on modern language instead of the ancient ones.
I am not making this up of course.
My main source is the Hebrew-Academy for the Hebrew language in Israel.
The bible itself and many articles, lectures and conversations I have with people who expertise in the Hebrew language.
Same as in English (and any other language), besides the literal meaning, there are also contextual meanings. Like "Head of the tribe" which, obviously, doesn't mean the literal head of the tribe.
If you wish me to send you specific sources, I will gladly do that.

Segev Moran said:

Yes and No.
It means that and have other meanings as well.
Same as many other words people interpret based on modern language instead of the ancient ones.
I am not making this up of course.
My main source is the Hebrew-Academy for the Hebrew language in Israel.
The bible itself and many articles, lectures and conversations I have with people who expertise in the Hebrew language.
Same as in English (and any other language), besides the literal meaning, there are also contextual meanings. Like "Head of the tribe" which, obviously, doesn't mean the literal head of the tribe.
If you wish me to send you specific sources, I will gladly do that.

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I have no expertise in Hebrew whatsoever.

firedragon said:

I have no expertise in Hebrew whatsoever.

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I have some understanding.
I speak Hebrew in native, but not "biblical Hebrew".
I learn the Hebrew words as they are the origin of my native language.
The word "בראשית" for example, have several meanings. one of them, is "in the (time of the) beginning".

In Judaism, a new day [yom] starts at sundown at the end of the previous day.