The Blogs: Night and Day of Genesis 1-2 - an old arrangement? | Bethsheba Ashe

In the Talmud there is a discussion among Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Joshua, and Rabbi Akiva, regarding when the Adam was created. One said the first day, another the second day, and Rabbi Akiva said the Adam was created on the sixth day. These great Sages could only posit the creation of man on the first or second day if they were using a different arrangement of Genesis 1-2. The clue of this is in the text:

And there was an evening and a morning…

Genesis 1-2 can be difficult to understand due to how it is arranged. All the evenings/nights are described in Genesis 1-2:3. All the mornings/days are described by the rest of Genesis 2. This has led scholars into some very strange ideas about Genesis, such as the documentary hypothesis.

The alphabet of Genesis 1-2 divided by the days and nights of the days of the week.
Author: Bethsheba Ashe.
[This image may be used under the creative commons license.]

Using the Gematria keys to Genesis, I’ve rearranged 1-2 according to the night/day cycle of the days, and I think it makes a lot more sense like this. It answers many questions about the text. Here it my translation so you can see what I mean (obviously it is much better in Hebrew).

Beth ב In the Beginning created Elohim the Heavens and the Earth. And the Earth was formless and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep and the spirit Elohim hovered upon the face of the waters.

Kaph כ This is the account of the heavens and the earth in the day of their creation, in the day that YHVH Elohim earth and heavens. Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for YHVH Elohim had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

Aleph א And said Elohim “Let there be light” and there was light. And saw Elohim the light that [it was] good and divided Elohim between the light and between the darkness. And he called Elohim to light, day, and darkness called night.

Lamed ל And formed YHVH Elohim man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. And there was evening and there was morning, day one.

Gimel ג And said Elohim “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide between waters to waters.” And made Elohim the expanse and he divided between the waters that were under the expanse and between the waters that were above to the expanse, and it was so. And he called Elohim to the expanse heavens.

Mem מ And planted YHVH Elohim a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the Adam whom He had formed. And there was evening and there was morning, day two.

Shin ש And said Elohim “Let be gathered the waters under the heavens to place one, and let appear the dry,” and it was so. And called Elohim the dry, Earth, and to the collection the waters called seas, and saw Elohim that it was good.

Daleth ד And said Elohim, “Let sow grass the earth, grass, herb sprout, seed, tree, fruit sprout, fruit, to their number, that seed is in and upon the earth“, and it was so. And let birth the Earth grass, herb sprouts, seed, to their number, and tree sprout fruit that their seed in and to their number, and saw Elohim that it was good.

Nun נ And sprouted YHVH Elohim from the ground all trees that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And there was evening and there was morning, day three.

Tav ת And said Elohim “Let there be luminaries in the expanse the heavens, to divide between the day and between the night, and let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years.” “And let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens for the light upon the earth,” and it was so. And made Elohim two the luminaries the great, the luminary greater to rule the day, and the luminary lesser to rule the night and the stars.

Heh ה And set them [the stars] Elohim in the expanse of the heavens for the light upon the earth. And to rule in the day and in the night and for division between the light and between the darkness, and saw Elohim that it was good.

Samekh ס And a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pison that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. . And there was evening and there was morning, day four.

Vav ו And said Elohim, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” And created Elohim the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and saw Elohim that it was good. And blessed them Elohim saying “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.“

Ayin ע And took YHVH Elohim the Adam and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And commanded YHVH Elohim the Adam saying “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” And there was an evening and there was morning, day five.

Zayin ז And said Elohim “Let birth the earth living creatures for their number: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth for their number,” and it was so. And made Elohim the beast of the earth for their number and cattle for their number and everything that creepeth upon the earth for his number and saw Elohim that it was good.

Peh פ And said YHVH Elohim “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” And created YHVH Elohim from the ground all the beasts of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever the Adam called a living creature, that was its name. And called the Adam names to all the cattle and birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam, not found aid like him.

Cheth ח And said Elohim “Let Us make man in the reflection of his number, like our resemblance; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” And created Elohim the Adam in His own image, in the image of Elohim created them male and female created them. And blessed them Elohim, and said to them “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

Tsade צ And caused YHVH Elohim a deep sleep to fall upon the Adam, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. And built YHVH Elohim the rib that he’d taken from the Adam to AShH [woman], and came to the Adam [man].

Teth ט And said Elohim “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you. And to every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air and to everything that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life I have given every green herb for meat” and it was so. And saw Elohim everything that he had made and behold it was very good.

Qoph ק And said the Adam “This one the time closed from myself and flesh from my flesh for this one will be called AShH because from Man [ADM] was taken this one.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become flesh one. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Yod י Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. And all Elohim in the day the seventh his labour that made, and rested in the day seventh from all his labors that made. And he blessed Elohim the day the seventh and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all his labors that created Elohim had made.

Resh ר And there the two of them naked the man and his woman and not were they pale.

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