GENESIS REVISITED

When God bestowed the Torah’s Sefer Bereshit (Book of Genesis) upon the Jewish people approximately 3,400 years ago, He knew that, due to the limited scientific comprehension of His people, the enigmatic information conveyed in its first eight verses (comprising the first two Days of Creation and memorialized at Genesis 1:1-8) could not be understood by them (or, for millennia thereafter, by their descendants) in its fullest sense, but only in its simplest sense.  To that end, God employed commonly-understood words with simple meanings to describe unique and complex cosmological phenomena (sometimes even employing the same vernacular label to describe several different cosmological phenomena) that were well beyond the comprehension of His immediate audience.  Describing the Creation of Existence in this way generally allowed God to eschew the employment of unique cosmological nomenclature that would have rendered the complex information conveyed thereby completely incomprehensible and, consequently, completely inaccessible, to His immediate audience, as well as -- until the Era of Modern Science -- to their better-educated descendants.  Unfortunately, as Science progressed, generations immersed therein began to view the Torah’s description of the Creation of Existence (especially in light of its employment of vernacular labels for cosmological phenomena) as mythological.  The below exegesis is an imperfect attempt to rectify this Sin.  The attempt is imperfect because much of the Science embedded in the Torah’s description of the Creation of Existence is yet to be discovered by Humankind;  and so such knowledge remains well beyond my reach.

First, the Hebrew text of the Torah is displayed.  Next, a traditional translation of the text is displayed.  Finally, a suggested alternative translation of the text is displayed.

 

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ

In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.

In the Beginning [of the Creation of Existence], God created the Expanse [of Outer Space] and the [conditions for the emergence of perceptible] Matter.

 

וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם

And the Earth was unformed and void; and Darkness was upon the face of the Deep; and the Spirit of God hovered upon the face of the Waters.

And the Matter was [in the form of] particles and antiparticles; and Darkness permeated the Immeasurable Plasma Vacuum; and the Spirit of God hovered beyond the confines of the Plasma.

 

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי אוֹר וַיְהִי-אוֹר

And God said, “Let there be Light”; and there was Light.

And God said, “Let Electromagnetic Energy emerge [from within the Darkness of the Immeasurable Plasma Vacuum]”; and Electromagnetic Energy emerged.

 

וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאוֹר כִּי-טוֹב וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁך

And God saw that the Light was Good; and God separated between the Light and the Darkness.

And God discerned that the Electromagnetic Energy was Beneficial [for His Purpose]; and God separated the Electromagnetic Energy from the Darkness [thereby enabling the Electromagnetic Energy to escape therefrom and fill the Universe].

 

וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר יוֹם אֶחָד

And God called to the Light: “Day”; and to the Darkness He called:  “Night”; and there was Evening, and there was Morning -- One Day.

And God called to the Visible Segment of the Electromagnetic Energy: “[You will be] Day”; and to the Darkness He called: “[You will be] Night”; and there was Evening, and there was Morning -- One Day [according to God’s Reckoning].

 

וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי רָקִיעַ בְּתוֹךְ הַמָּיִם וִיהִי מַבְדִּיל בֵּין מַיִם לָמָיִם

And God said, “Let there be a Firmament in the midst of the Waters, and let it separate between the Waters and the Waters.”

And God said, “Let there be [made ready the conditions necessary for the formation of] an Atmospheric Envelope [around the planet Earth] in the midst of the Waters, and let it separate between the Waters and the Waters.”

 

 וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָרָקִיעַ וַיַּבְדֵּל בֵּין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ וּבֵין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ וַיְהִי-כֵן

And God made the Firmament; and it separated between the Waters that were below the Firmament and the Waters that were above the Firmament; and it was so.

And God made [ready the conditions necessary for the formation of] the Atmospheric Envelope, which was to separate between the Terrestrial Waters and the Celestial Waters; and it was so.

 

וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָרָקִיעַ שָׁמָיִם וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר יוֹם שֵׁנִי

And God called to the Firmament: “Heavens”; and there was Evening, and there was Morning -- a Second Day.

And God called to the [future] Atmospheric Envelope: “[You will be] Sky”; and there was Evening, and there was Morning -- a Second Day [according to God’s Reckoning].

 

© Mark Rosenblit

 

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