Genesis: Rashbam

Rashbam's Genesis


1. To remind the Jewish people of the reason for the observance of the Shabbat as described in the Ten Commandments, Moses told the story of creation: At the time when the upper heavens and the earth had already been created, a long or a short time before the acts related in Genesis,[1]

2. the earth as we know it was completely empty, for water covered it up to the upper heavens. Darkness that was not night was over the depths, and there was no light in the heavens. A wind blew across the waters.

3. God said, "Let there be light" to correct the lack of light, and there was light.

4. God looked at the light and saw that it was beautiful. God divided the light into a unit of twelve hours and the darkness into a unit of twelve hours.

5. God named the newly-formed unit of twelve hours of light "day" and the newly-formed unit of twelve hours of darkness "night," and they have been so called ever since, day always preceding night. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The first of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the second day began.[2]


6. God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters which reach from the surface of the earth up to the upper heavens to divide the waters in half."

7. God made the expanse and divided the waters below the expanse from the waters above the expanse; and it has been so ever since.

8. God named the expanse "heaven" and it has been so called ever since. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The second of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the third day began.


9. God said, "Let the wind which is destined to split the Reed Sea cause the waters which are below the heaven to gather together to one place. And let the earth, which had been created together with the heavens on, or before, the first day yet before the light but had been hidden under the water, appear"; and it has been so ever since.

10. God named the dry land "earth" and the gathered waters God named "seas," and they have been so called ever since. God looked at the dry land and the seas[3] and saw that they were beautiful.

11. God said, "Let the earth grow plant life, each type of plant[4] reproducing with its own seed, and fruit trees which make their own fruits and which contain seeds of their own kind from which to grow other trees"; and it has been so ever since.

12. The earth brought forth plant life, plants with seed according to their kinds,[5] and trees which have fruit which contain their seeds according to their kinds. God looked at the plant life and saw that it was beautiful.

13. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The third of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the fourth day began.


14. God said, "Let there be bodies of light[6] in the expanse which is below the upper heavens[7] to signal the actual division of day from night, which is sunset and the appearance of the stars, and night from day, which is sunrise. Let them also be used to indicate miraculous signs,[8] to calculate the holidays and the calendar,[9] to mark the beginning and end of day and night,[10] and to delineate the four seasons of the year.

15. Let them also be bodies of light in the expanse which is below the upper heavens to be a source of light for the earth"; and it has been so ever since.

16. God made the two large bodies of light, the larger to rule the day and the smaller to rule the night together with the stars.

17. God put them in the heaven which is below the upper heavens to give light to the earth,

18. to rule during the day and the night, and to signal the beginning of day with the rising of the sun and the beginning of night with the setting of the sun and the appearance of the stars. God looked at the heavenly bodies and saw that they were beautiful.

19. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The fourth of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the fifth day began.


20. God said, "Let the waters swarm with crawling living beings and let the birds, whose origin is in the water but whose growth takes place on land, fly above the earth, across the expanse which is below the upper heavens."

21. God created the great water animals mentioned in the prophets and Job -- Leviathan, the Straight Snake, and the Crooked Snake[11] -- and all the creeping animals which the water had swarmed, each according to its kind, as well as the birds, each according to its kind. God looked at the water animals and the birds and saw that they were beautiful.

22. God blessed them, as God blessed all animals, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the water in the seas and let the birds multiply on the land."

23. Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The fifth of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the sixth day began.


24. God said, "Let the earth bring forth living beings according to their kinds -- domestic animals, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind"; and it has been so ever since.

25. God made the wild animals of the land according to their kinds, the domesticated animals according to their kinds, and the creeping things of the land according to their kinds. God looked at the land animals and saw that they were beautiful.

26. God addressed the angels whose creation, together with that of hell and the heavenly chariot,[12] was not described, for Moses wanted to speak only of matters of this world at the giving of the Ten Commandments. God said, "Let us make humanity in our angelic image, like us in wisdom. The humans shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the heaven, the domestic animals, and all the earth, as well as the creeping things which creep over the earth."

27. God created humanity in the angelic image; in the image of the angels, God created humanity; God included the woman in the man and separated them later.[13]

28. God blessed them and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heaven, and over all creeping animals of the earth."

29. God said, "I give you all seed-bearing plants which are on the earth, and all trees that have seed-bearing fruits shall be food for you

30. and for all the wild animals of the earth, and for all the birds of the heaven, and for all the creeping things which are alive -- all green plants as food"; and it was so, until the flood of Noah.

31. God looked at each of God's works and actions to see if there was something that needed correction but God saw that they were all beautiful and proper.[14] Daylight turned to evening as its light faded; then, morning broke as the morning star signaled the end of night. The sixth of the six days of creation referred to in the Ten Commandments was, thus, completed and the seventh day began.


1. The heavens and the earth, and all that was created with them, were finished.

2. On the seventh day, God finished the work God had done. God rested on the seventh day from all the work which God had done.

3. The Shabbat was blessed with all goodness because God had provided for the needs and sustenance of all God's creatures.[15] God sanctified the seventh day because, on it, God rested from all the work which God had created and done.[16]
[1] Rashbam may be alluding to the possibility of the world being eternal; even so, however, it is created. In either case the earth, the upper heavens, and the waters existed, i.e., were created, before the light. back
[2] Rashbam is, thus, of the opinion that the day begins and ends in the morning. back
[3] This phrase is added based on Rashbam's understanding of v. 4 -- that God looked at all that God had created on each day and found it beautiful. Similarly below. back
[4] Ling. alt.: Let the earth bring forth vegetation, each grass reproducing. back
[5] Ling. alt.: The earth brought forth vegetation, grasses with seed. back
[6] Ling. alt.: sources of light. back
[7] Hebrew, reqi`a ha-shamayim. Rashbam probably means the realm of the spheres which is above the sky yet below the upper heavens. By the latter, Rashbam probably means the outermost (diurnal) sphere or the realm of the angels; either would be correct. On the spheres, see the commentary of Ibn Ezra to v. 5. back
[8] This seems to be the import of the passages cited by Rashbam: 2 Kings 20:9; Joel 3:3; and Jer. 10:2. back
[9] Rashbam notes that this is based on the 29 1/2 day cycle of the moon. back
[10] Rashbam notes that the twenty-four hour day is calculated from one appearance of the stars to another. back
[11] On Leviathan, see Is. 27:1; Ps. 74:14, 104:26; Job 3:8, 40:25; and the rabbinic understanding in Rashi. On the snakes, see Is. 14:29, 27:1. back
[12] Hebrew, ha-merkava, refers to the rabbinic understanding of Ezekiel, chapter one. back
[13] Rashbam notes that the rabbis understood it as a standard practice for the Torah to make a general statement followed by a more explicit one. back
[14] The original of Rashbam's Genesis commentary has been lost here. The text used is supplied by Rosin from other places in Rashbam's commentaries or from sources which quote Rashbam. back
[15] Supplied by Rosin from the sources. back
[16] The last phrase is Blumenthal's guess of the Rashbam's interpretation. back