Genesiss: Ibn Ezra

Ibn Ezra's Genesis[1]


1. In the beginning of God's creating, God used natural forces to set boundaries, forming the created ante-mundane matter[2] into the visible sky, the invisible spheres, and the dry land.[3]

2. The dry land was an empty waste[4] because it was covered by darkness and water, and the wind of God blew over the waters.

3. God said effortlessly,[5] "Let there be elemental fire" and there was elemental fire.[6]

4. God understood[7] that the elemental fire was good. God divided the light of the fire from the absence thereof

5. by naming the light "day" and the darkness "night." The diurnal[8] sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn,[9] day one.[10]


6. God said effortlessly, "Let the sky be extended, together with the air which results from elemental fire touching the horizon, and let them divide between the waters."[11]

7. Once God's wind had dried the land, God made the sky together with the air and they divide between the seas and the rain clouds.[12] When it was so,

8. God named the heaven together with the air[13] "sky." Although God had not completed God's work, the diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a second day.


9. For God had already commanded, "Let the waters come together into the sea that surrounds the earth and let the previously hidden dry land be seen."[14] Since this had already become so,

10. God had already named the dry land "earth" and the gathered waters God had named "seas," and God had understood that it was good. Thus God had already completed the work of the second day.[15]

11. On the third day, God said effortlessly, "Let the earth use its inherent power to produce plant life on the earth -- grasses which produce seed and fruit trees which produce fruit -- each according to its kind, bearing its seed in its fruit." When this was so,

12. the earth sprouted vegetation -- grasses that produce seed according to its kind and trees which produce fruit in which is its seed according to its kind. God understood that it was good.

13. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a third day.


14. God said effortlessly, "Let there be lights in the upper heavens which shall be visible in the sky[16] to divide between the day and the night. Let them also be used to tell time in minutes, hours, days, and years.[17]

15. Let them become lights in the sky in the heavens to give light upon the earth."[18] When this was so,

16. God made the two great lights -- the sun and the moon -- which are great by contrast with the stars. The moon, though smaller than the stars,[19] is closer and hence its light is greater and it too is, therefore, called "great." The sun rules during the day when it is seen and the moon rules during the night when it is seen. God also created the stars.

17. God made the heavenly lights to appear in the sky, though they are not really there but in the spheres above the sky, just as God makes the rainbow appear in the sky even though it is not really there.

18. "Day" begins at sunrise and "night" begins when three stars are visible. "Evening" begins at sunset and lasts for one and one-third hours and "morning" begins one and one-third hours before sunrise. Sunlight, thus, characterizes day and moonlight characterizes night. God understood that it was good.

19. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a fourth day.


20. God said effortlessly, "Let the waters use their inherent power to swarm forth multitudes of living beings[20] composed of elemental earth, water, air, and fire. Let birds fly directly from the water over the earth, across the sky which is below the heavens."

21. God created the great sea-fish; all living beings which slither, which the waters had swarmed forth, each according to its kind; and all winged-birds, according to their kinds.[21] God understood that it was good.

22. God blessed them and said, "Because I have blessed you, you will be fruitful and multiply. You will fill the water in the seas and the birds will multiply on the land."[22]

23. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, a fifth day.


24. God said effortlessly, "Let the earth use its inherent power to bring forth living beings composed of elemental earth, water, air, and fire -- including humanity -- according to their kinds: domesticated animals used for riding and food, small animals that go upon the earth, and animals that inhabit places desolate of human habitation." When it was so,

25. God made[23] the wild beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the domesticated animals according to their kinds, and all the small animals according to their kinds. God understood that it was good.

26. God effortlessly said in the presence of the angels: "The earth and the water have brought forth all that which is in their inherent power to create. Now, let us make humankind in our image after our likeness; that is, with a soul that is eternal, that is incorporeal, and that fills the body just as My Being is eternal, incorporeal, and fills the universe for I, the Creator, am Creator of all; indeed I am all.[24] Humanity will have dominion over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the sky, over the domesticated animals, over all the earth, and over every small animal that goes upon the earth."

27. God created humanity in God's image. In the image of the angels -- with an eternal, incorporeal soul that fills the body -- God created the human being. With a male and a female aspect, God created them.[25]

28. God blessed them and said, "Because I have blessed you, you will be fruitful and multiply.[26] You will fill the earth and conquer it. You will rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the small animals which walk on the earth."

29. God said, "Indeed, I give you all the grasses which reproduce by seed which are on the face of the whole earth, and all the trees which have fruits of the tree and which reproduce by seed -- they shall be food for you

30. and for all the beasts of the earth, for all the birds of the sky, and for all the small animals on the earth. For every living being, including humanity, all plant life shall be food." Thus, humankind and the animals did not consume flesh at this time; that was only permitted after the flood of Noah. When it was so,

31. God understood that all that God had created was very good. The diurnal sphere revolved once, day blended into evening and night blended into dawn, the sixth day from day one.


1. The heavens and the earth and all they contained, including the oceans, were finished.

2. On the seventh day, God did not pursue further the work which God had done on the sixth day, for God had finished the work of creation on the sixth day. God rested on the seventh day from the work which God had done during all the six days of creation.

3. God blessed the seventh day by causing the body to have renewed reproductive capability and by giving the soul renewed intellectual capacity on each seventh day. God proclaimed the seventh day holy by forbidding work on that day.[27] For, on the seventh day, God rested from all the work which God had created so that creation could reproduce itself.[28]
[1] Ibn Ezra's introduction to his commentary is omitted. back
[2] "Ante-mundane matter" is the primal stuff of which the universe is made. According to Plato, this ante-mundane matter is eternal; it was not created but was always there. Ibn Ezra does not express himself here on this issue. He only notes that this primal stuff was turned into the realities of creation by God. The process by which God turns prime matter into concrete creations is called "in-formation." On this, see the commentary of Ramban to v. 2. Both the concept of prime matter and that of in-formation were well-known and accepted in medieval philosophy. Here, Ibn Ezra teaches, God in-forms the ante-mundane matter (which may be eternal or created) and, in this way, creates all of the universe. back
[3] Ling. alt: In the beginning of God's creating, God through the use of angels, set the boundaries of the sky and the dry land. back
[4] Ling. alt.: uninhabited. back
[5] Ling. alt.: Without any physical labor, God said (or, commanded). back
[6] There are four "elements" in late antique and medieval thought: fire, air, earth, and water. They exist in pure form in a sphere or spheres above the earth, and they are invisible in their pure forms. When combined in various proportions and in-formed, they become earthly fire, air, earth, and water. As such, they form the basic structure of all earthly created things. According to Ibn Ezra, the "light" of v. 3 was really this elemental fire.
Ling. alt.: Let there be light which is elemental fire.
Alt.: Let there be light which is the substance from which all elements are formed. back
[7] Ling. alt.: perceived / discerned / was aware. back
[8] In late antique and medieval astrophysics, the geocentric view of the world prevailed. In that Ptolemaic universe, named for the astronomer in late antiquity who taught this system, the earth is in the center of the universe and it does not move. In this view, the heavenly bodies are not free-floating bodies in space but are bodies embedded in solid but invisible "spheres" (not to be confused with the sefirot which are part of the Godhead in Jewish mystical thinking; see the commentary of Ramban to v. 1). The outermost sphere, called "the diurnal sphere," revolves once in twenty-four hours. The other eight spheres contain the various heavenly bodies: the stars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and the Moon. There are, thus, a total of nine heavenly spheres in late antique and medieval astrophysics. All these spheres revolve around the earth and, although they are invisible, the bright bodies they contain are visible. Sometimes, however, medieval science listed a tenth sphere, the sphere of the elements, taken as a collective (actually, there are four spheres, one for each of the elements: fire, air, water, and earth). For a visual picture of this medieval universe, see D. Blumenthal, Understanding Jewish Mysticism, vol 2 (New York, Ktav: 1982) 5-9.
Ibn Ezra affirms nine heavenly spheres; Ramban affirms ten (see his commentary to v.2). back
[9] The days of creation thus begin and end at daybreak, not at evening. back
[10] Ling. alt: At the end of the day, there was an evening and then a morning, day one. back
[11] Ling. alt.: Let the sky be extended and the basic substance of light be differentiated into the elements, dividing between the waters.
Alt.: Let flame change into air, and be spread out and flattened, and give rise to the rain clouds which will be above it and the oceans, lakes, and rivers which will be below it. back
[12] Alt.: The mere statement of God created the expanse of air at the edge of the horizon from the elemental fire, separating the oceans on earth from the rain waters above. back
[13] Alt.: God named the expanse of air, as God had named the light and the darkness and would yet name the earth and the seas. back
[14] Gathering and revealing are not acts of creation. back
[15] The creation of the sky, the air, the elements, the dry land, and the seas is thus simultaneous and takes place on the second day even though the last phases of the work of the waters, sky, and land are reported on the third day. back
[16] The literal phrase "sky in the heavens" shows that the sky is not the same as the heavens, the latter being above the former. The heavenly lights are actually in spheres above the sky but are said to be in the "sky" because they appear to be visible there; hence, ling. alt.: Let the light of the sun, moon and stars shine through the expanse of air called sky to distinguish the day from the night. On the spheres, see above at v. 5. back
[17] Alt.: designate eclipses and hours. back
[18] Alt.: Let them be visible in the sky to give light upon the earth. back
[19] Ibn Ezra notes that it was well known among astronomers that the planet Jupiter and other stars were bigger than the moon. back
[20] Ling. alt.: creeping things, some of which will be birds which fly directly. back
[21] Ling. alt.: The mere statement of God created the great sea-giants and all living beings -- the living beings in the water to reproduce in large quantities after their kind and the living beings that fly in the air to reproduce in large quantities after their kind. back
[22] Ling. alt.: God said to them, "You will be blessed with fruitfulness and will multiply and will fill the seas, and the fowl will be blessed, will multiply, and will fill the earth." God's blessing thus includes, but is not limited to, fertility. back
[23] Ling. alt.: The mere statement of God created. back
[24] Ibn Ezra adds, "Nothing more can be said on this." This is probably an allusion to a panentheistic view of creation which seemed heretical enough to Ibn Ezra to have required an allusion rather than a direct statement. back
[25] Alt.: With both a body and a soul, God created them. back
[26] Ling. alt.: God said to them, "You shall be blessed with fruitfulness and will multiply." Ibn Ezra adds, "Even though there is no specific Torah-commandment to be fruitful and multiply, there is a rabbinic commandment to do so which is attached to this verse for ease of memory." With this, Ibn Ezra takes a negative stance on the halakhic issue of the Torah-derived authority of the commandment to reproduce. back
[27] Alt.: God blessed and sanctified those who observe the Sabbath (with Saadia). back
[28] Ling. alt.: had created, allowing the world to continue operating and recreating itself. back