Obscurity being a privation of light, nothing was performable; but then it is said, “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," that is, wisdom, or the first mind, according to the royal psalmist,8 "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth;" he there compares this first effect and first mind, to the breath of the mouth of the First Cause, as emanating directly from it. The Hebrew, Leon, in his "Philography" properly observes, that the heavens were being augmented and vivified, alluding to the waters above the natural heavens; these three things being already created in virtue of the First Cause, faculty was given them to propagate, and therefore the First Mind commenced with the noblest creatures; secondly, with the celestial empire; and lastly, with first matter; which is proved by God's saying on the first day, "Let there be light, and there was light," that is, the First Mind ordained that its virtue should explain itself in every other light, that being the first in order; and it is this light R. Solomon bar Nachman says, in "Rabot," God had veiled. It is remarkable that in this production of light, it is mentioned five times, which seemingly indicates that four proceeded from the first; that is, in the world of emanation, where the cabalistic theologists place the '50 (lights, or divine numerations); in the world of the creation, mind separate from matter, as also souls which were created on the first day, and are termed lights as R. Joseph Albo 10 observes on the verse in Proverbs, "The light of the righteous rejoiceth;"'11 in the world of formation angels, who assist the movement of the orbs; and lastly, in the world of generation and corruption, a light that illumined the earth produced from the resplendent understanding, causing the revolution which distinguished night from day: so that, on the first day these lights, whose origin is referable to the first mind, were created; for which reason it is stated on this day, "It was evening, and it was morning, one day;" not saying first day, as, from the superiority of the noble creatures, created thereon, over the rest of the creation, it is not put on a level with the other days, but is sole and unique; this being produced, the second place belongs to the celestial empire, as on the second day it is said, "And God said, Let there be an expansion (or firmament) in the midst of the waters, and let it divide waters from waters;" that is, the Divine Majesty ordained that the celestial empire should extend itself to all the other heavens, in such a manner, that the elemental waters below should be separate from those above, First matter had the last place, for by the light of the ideal world darkness was taken away; he then formed matter, and produced therein, elements, mists, and plants. The First Mind again revolving on the fourth day (which being the middle one of the seven) as the fittest, produced the Sun, or fountain of light and corporeal beauty, or the shadow of the brightness and intellectual light communicated to that noble luminary from the light by whose movement the three former days were illumined, which then became united and incorporated with the Sun, from being the most active, and affording light to the other planets. It was put in the first place, having the Moon, Mercury, and Venus below, and Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn above it. Then descending gradually to the heavenly empire, on the fifth day birds which are assigned to the heavens were created, as Job says, "covered with birds of the heavens," 12 for the whole space from the waters to the lunar sphere is termed the aerial, as R. Isaac Israeli 13 considers, and from motion, and the influence of the celestial constellations, fishes were produced. The sixth day, and last place, were for the earth, from which animals were produced and the body of man formed. Conformably to this

8 Psalm 33:6.

9 Dialogue 3.

10 Yearim, c. ii. v. 29. 13 Yesod Olam, b.ii. c. 70.

Prov. 13:9. 12 Job 28:21.

interpretation which I give to Genesis, the verses conciliate, and the doubt is solved; since from the light created on the first day the solar one was subsequently formed; although it is not my intention to treat further on these subjects than what relates to the seeming contradiction of the verses. I cannot omit observing on the foregoing, that although we establish three coevals, Thomas Aquinas,14 following Albertus Magnus, 15 Alexander De Ales 16 and many others, considers there were four, namely, angels, the celestial empire, time, and matter; but our opinion appears to be the most probable, by placing in each of the three worlds, one thing antecedent to the other.

Let no one be surprised that we place the First Mind, or Divine Intelligence, as separate and distinct from Almighty God; for notwithstanding Aristotle is of opinion, that this first understanding is no other than the essence of the First Cause, Plato considers the contrary; for he holds that the divine understanding and wisdom is not actually Almighty God, but dependent on and emanating from Him, the same as light from the sun, so that Almighty God (whom he sometimes terms Summum Bonum) he says, is above the first understanding ; that He is not a being, but above all beings; that He is not beauty, but the origin and beginning of the first and real beauty; neither is He wisdom, but the fountain from whence the first wisdom emanates.

This opinion, the learned Hebrew, Leon,17 considers the best, and that it truly is Mosaical theology; and corroborates it by many passages of the holy scripture, and saying Plato had a better knowledge of this ancient science than Aristotle who followed him, because the former having been a disciple of our elders, he learned from better masters, more than Aristotle did from him. In this instance, therefore, it seems best to adopt this doctrine. 18

This is a manifest contradiction; for if plants were created on the third day, and man on the sixth, how can the latter text say, that before plants grew and vegetated in the earth, God created man?

RECONCILIATION.

R. Amé propounds this contradiction in the Guemara of Holin (chap. iii.), and reconciled it in the following words: On the third day the plants grew to a level with the surface of the earth, but on the sixth, rain being granted on the prayer of Adam, they broke through, and decorated it with their beauties. In my opinion, this rabbi meant, that on the third day, the earth of itself had the productive power to cause plants to spring up, but which did not come into action till the sixth.

14 Question 46, art. 3.

15 Thirmeo.

16 Question 4.

17 Dialogue 3. 18 Many of our sages, and ancient Christian writers, suppose Plato to have received instruction from Jeremiah; which is probable, as Plato was born some years before the Babylonian captivity, and Jeremiah was taken there previous to going to Egypt; and by our chronologists, his secretary, Baruch, died there many years after the destruction of the temple; so that if not by Jeremiah, he might have been instructed by Baruch, his secretary.-TRANSLATOR.

Rashi is of this opinion, and confirms it by the verse, "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew : for the Lord God had not caused it to rain, and man existed not to till the ground;" meaning that plants did not appear on the earth, because there was no rain to fertilise them, nor man yet created to cultivate it: and the scripture continuing thus, " And a mist went up from the earth, and moistened the whole face of the ground,” relates to the creation of man, as R. Isaac Arama1 also observes, mention is there made, how man was created out of the four elements; the mist or vapour raised by the heat of the sun being a mixture of water, air, and fire, which afterwards descending in rain, and moistening the earth, these four elements together formed a mass of clay from which the body of man was made, as the next verse says, " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground;" the earth alone is mentioned, from predominating in the composition, and thus is explained why man is alluded to when plants are spoken of.

R. Levi ben Gershon is of the like opinion, that plants did not appear on the third day, adding, that the creation of man being treated on, in this place, signifies, that in the same manner as plants when created did not immediately attain perfection, but possessed it in time, so man does not immediately acquire happiness, and the end for which he is formed, but by time and the cultivation of good works.

To me the text seems to confirm the foregoing opinion, "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb before it grew :" before, ergo, they were provisionally there.

Don Isaac Abarbanel's opinion is different; he says, that every created plant was in perfection on the third day; as,

Maimonides in his Guide,2 and Nachmanides in his Commentary, also hold, but that they did not continue to grow, neither did they produce their species until the sixth day, when natural germination commenced, and all things began to act conformably to their nature, procreating their kinds; and this the former understands the text to prove, when it says in other words, every plant of the field was not yet in the ground, and every herb of the field had not yet grown; meaning, by natural germination, owing to want of rain, and there being no man to cultivate the earth.

The first opinion appears the most probable, and conciliates the verses well, since on the third day plants were originally created and provisionally placed in the earth, but after the creation of man on the sixth, they commenced their functions. The latter also conciliates them by its inference, that they were formed in perfection on the third day, but remained passive until the sixth ; at which period natural generation commenced, the creation of man preceding it.

QUESTION 4.

Gen. 1:16. And God made the two great

lights.

Gen.1:16. the small light to rule the night.

An apparent contradiction is perceived in the same verse; for in the beginning the Sun and the Moon are equally termed great lights: how then is the latter subsequently termed small?

RECONCILIATION.

R. Simon ben Pazi 1 (in the Guemara of Holin) to reconcile this text, makes a long allegory, in form of a dialogue, between the Moon and its Creator, saying, The Moon inquired, How it was possible for two kings to wear the the same crown? The answer was, Go and decrease. Thus much of the colloquy is sufficient for our purpose, and is founded on the opinion of—

R. Joshua ben Levi,2 that all the works of the beginning were created in perfection; therefore the moon could not have been created while in conjunction with the sun which the verse confirms, in saying, "The great light to rule the day, and the small light to rule the night," shewing, that both were put into action at the same time; and therefore while the sun illumined one half of the globe it would be night, and dark in the other which must have been lighted by the moon; for both being created at the same instant, they must simultaneously have commenced their charges: this could only take place by the moon being created while in opposition to the sun when it is at the full.

Following the opinion of R. Eliezer, that the world was created in the month of Tisri, the sun was in the autumnal equinox in Libra, and the moon in the opposite sign of Aries: this being admitted, the explanation of the allegory is clear, the Moon seeing its own light as clear and luminous as that of the sun, inquired, "how it was possible for two kings to wear one crown? as it appeared that one was superfluous from the two producing only the same effect as one,"to which the answer was, that was not the case, as by the celestial motions its own would soon decrease; for, as it received its light from the sun, the nearer it approached to him the less benefit it would derive from his rays of light, so that each would thus use the same crown, one attending to the administration of the day, and the other of the night. Under this metaphor, or feigned colloquy, the verse conciliates itself; for the moon is firstly called great, from being created luminous while in opposition with the sun; then it is termed small, because it receives its light from the sun, and by revolving towards him decreases.

R. Bechayai says, that the scripture herein teaches four things, the knowledge of which is necessary.

First. That the stars are fixed, and the heavens move. In opposition to some who maintain the contrary, he collects that primarily there were heavens and their movement, and subsequently the stars were fixed in them, from the text, saying, "And God set them in the expansion of the heavens " (ver. 17). Second. That the body of stars fill the entire expansion or profundity of the heavens, he understanding this from the words, "In the expansion of the

heavens."

Third. That the substance of the heavens is so diaphanous and transparent, that it does not impede the sun and other planets from diffusing their rays below, as it is said, To give light upon the earth."

Fourth. That the moon receives its light from the sun; and that at times it is full, at others waning, is signified by saying Let there be lights;" in that the word np is deficient in its grammatical construction; for being in the plural, according to the proper rule of grammar, it should have a 1, making 18; upon which,

R. Joel ben Soeb, in his learned work "Olath Sabat," very rightly argues, that although they are termed two lights, in reality they are but one, since the moon receives hers from the sun.

The learned Aben Ezra, who is followed by Don Isaac Abarbanel, in his Commentary, and R. Eliezer Askenasi, in his "Maase a Shem," 3 say that

the moon is called great in respect of its light, which is greatest from her being in the first orb or circuit; and as all the planets, excepting Mercury and Venus, are larger, she is termed small; and it must not be inferred from both being called "great," that the moon is equal to the sun; for the Sacred History also says of the sons of Jesse," And the three great sons of Jesse went, ,"4 this is not signifying that the three were all great or of the same age, but they were so termed in respect to the smaller, or younger sons, in which manner any one may be denominated great; so that the moon is called "great" from its light being superior to that of the other planets, although not equal to that emanating from the sun.

R. Levi ben Gershon says, she is called great from her appearance, and small from being actually so, both in size and effect, the moon's rays being of less virtue and efficacy than the sun's. It may also be said, that although from its great light it is termed "great," it is called "small" from its duty and administration being over the night. Thus the prince of a city, although equally meritorious, would be designated as small or little in comparison with one who governs an empire, while both may be entitled " great as regards their excellence; for the sun and moon are the preservers of the life of the lower world of plants, animals, and man, the former by affording natural heat, and the latter radical humidity, by means of which the whole exist and are sustained. The moon is afterwards termed small, from its being a compound of solar light and the tenebrosities of the earth, which is proved by the dark spots visible in it when at the full.

QUESTION 5.

Gen. 1:20, Let the waters bring forth the reptile that hath life, and birds flying upon the earth.

Gen. 2:19. And the Lord God formed from the ground every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens.

A. Duke, among other doubts (as related in the Guemara of Holin '), propounded this to R. Gamliel, and mooted the above contradiction.

If birds, as stated in the first passage, were created from the waters, how does the other say that they were formed from the ground?

RECONCILIATION.

R. Gamliel answered this most learnedly, confirming both verses, by saying that the birds were created from the slime of the sea, a compound of the two elements, earth and water, which, as R. Moses Alschech rightly observes, may certainly be credited, for had they been created from water only, they could no more have existed out of it than fish, and if from earth alone, which is a ponderous and heavy element, they would not have been able to fly; but produced from a mixture of earth, softened by water, they are capable of both.

Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and R. Bechayai all agree that they partake of, and were created from, both these elements.

He (R. Gamliel) gave to his disciple (as stated in the same place) another, and, in my opinion, a better solution, which was: that birds were created from the ground conformable to the latter verse, which must also be inferred from the first text, which says, "Let the waters bring forth every reptile that hath life, and birds flying upon the earth," ergo, from the earth they were created, for the text does not say birds that fly, but 1, and birds