Torah

By Max Margolis and JPS

Torah presents the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, also known as Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses. The Torah starts from the beginning of God's creating the world, through the beginnings of the people of Israel, their descent into Egypt, and the giving of the Torah at biblical Mount Sinai. It ends with the death of Moses, just before the people of Israel cross to the promised land of Canaan. Interspersed in the narrative are the specific teachings given explicitly or implicitly embedded in the narrative. In Hebrew, the five books of the Torah are identified by the incipits in each book; and the common English names for the books are derived from the Greek Septuagint and reflect the essential theme of each book: Bəreshit —Genesis, meaning "Creation" Shəmot —Exodus, meaning "Exit" Vayikra —Leviticus, meaning "Relating to the Levites" Bəmidbar —Numbers Dəvarim —Deuteronomy, meaning "Second-Law"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sharp Ink
• Release date: Sep 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9788028312510

Book preview

TORAH – INTRODUCTION

Table of Contents

Name applied to the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The contents of the Torah as a whole are discussed, from the point of view of modern Biblical criticism, under Pentateuch, where a table gives the various sources; while its importance as a center of crystallization for the Hebrew canon is treated under Bible Canon. The present article, therefore, is limited to the history of the Pentateuch in post-Biblical Judaism.

The Torah receives its title from its contents, the name itself connoting doctrine. The Hellenistic Jews, however, translated it by νόμος = law (e.g., LXX., prologue to Ecclus. [Sirach], Philo, Josephus, and the New Testament), whence came the term law-book; this gave rise to the erroneous impression that the Jewish religion is purely nomistic, so that it is still frequently designated as the religion of law. In reality, however, the Torah contains teachings as well as laws, even the latter being given in ethical form and contained in historical narratives of an ethical character.

Name.

In the books of the Bible the following names of the Pentateuch occur: in II Chron. xvii. 9, Neh. ix. 3, and, with the added epithet , II Chron. xxxiv. 14; while alone, without , is found in II Kings x. 31, I Chron. xxii. 11, and II Chron. xii. 1, xxxi. 3, 4, and xxxv. 26. Sometimes , or a word of similar meaning, is added, as , Josh. xxiv. 26, Neh. viii. 18 (without , ib. x. 29). Another designation is , Josh. viii. 31, xxiii. 6; II Kings xiv. 6; Neh. viii. 1; or , I Kings ii. 3; II Kings xxiii. 25; Mal. iii. 22 (A. V. iv. 4), with the addition of ; Ezra iii. 2 (with the addition of ), vii. 6; , II Chron. xxv. 4 (preceded by ), xxxv. 12. The oldest name doubtless is (Deut. i. 5; xxxi. 9, 11, 24; xxxii. 46; Neh. viii. 2), sometimes shortened to (Deut. i. 5; xxxi. 9, 11, 24; xxxii. 46; Neh. viii. 2), or to (Neh. viii. 5), or to (Deut. xxxiii. 4). The last two names occur with great frequency in Jewish tradition, where the Torah becomes a living creature. The expression the five books, which is the origin of the term Pentateuch, occurs only in Jewish tradition, which has also been the source for Genesis, etc., as the names of the books of the Pentateuch (see Blau, Zur Einleitung in die Heilige Schrift, pp. 40-43).

Quinary Division of the Torah.

According to all critics, regardless of the schools to which they belong, the Torah forms a single work, which is represented, even at the present day, by the synagogal Scroll of the Law; nor does history know of any other Torah scroll. The fivefold division of the Pentateuch was due to purely external causes, and not to a diversity of content; for in volume the Torah forms more than a fourth of all the books of the Bible, and contains, in round numbers, 300,000 letters of the 1,100,000 in the entire Bible. A work of such compass far exceeded the normal size of an individual scroll among the Jews; and the Torah accordingly became a Pentateuch, thus being analogous to the Homeric poems, which originally formed a single epic, but which were later split into twenty-four parts each.

Division into Sections.

Like them, moreover, the Pentateuch was divided according to the sense and with an admirable knowledge of the subject (Blau, Althebräisches Buchwesen, pp. 47-49), while subdivisions were also made into the so-called open and closed parashiyyot, whose exact interrelation is not yet clear. There are in all 669 sections, 290 open and 379 closed. Another class of parashiyyot divides the weekly lessons, now called sidrot, into seven parts. The Torah also falls, on the basis of the lessons for the Sabbath, into 54 sidrot according to the annual cycle, and into 155 according to the triennial cycle. The former division, which is now used almost universally, is the Babylonian; and the latter, which has recently been introduced into some Reform congregations, is the Palestinian. The latter class of sidrot, however, has no external marks of division in the scrolls of the synagogue; while the divisions in the former, like the parashiyyot, are indicated by blank spaces of varying length (see Sidra). This probably implies a greater antiquity for the sections which are thus designated, although the divisions into 5,845 verses, which seem to be still older, have no outward marks. The system of chapters was introduced into the editions of the Hebrew Bible, and hence into the Torah, from the Vulgate. This mode of division is not known to the Masorah, though it was incorporated in the final Masoretic notes, for individual books of the Pentateuch. It is given in modern editions of the Hebrew Bible simply on the basis of the stereotyped editions of the English Bible Society, which followed earlier examples.

Jewish Tradition and the Torah.

The external form of the Torah is discussed in such articles as Manuscripts, Scroll of the Law, and Mantle of the Law; but so numerous are the assertions of tradition concerning its contents and its value that the repetition of even a very small part of them would far exceed the limits of this article. Every page of the Talmud and Midrash is filled with citations from the Pentateuch and with the most fulsome praise of it, united with super-human love and divine respect therefor. In the five volumes of Bacher's work on the Haggadah, the Torah and its study form a special rubric in theaccount of each sofer, or scholar of the Law. In all probability there never was another people, except possibly the Brahmans, that surrounded its holy writings with such respect, transmitted them through the centuries with such self-sacrifice, and preserved them with so little change for more than 2,000 years. The very letters of the Torah were believed to have come from God Himself (B. B. 15a), and were counted carefully, the word soferim denoting, according to the Talmud (Ḳid. 30a), the counters of the letters. A special class of scholars devoted all their lives to the careful preservation of the text (Masorah), the only analogy in the literature of the world being found in India, where the Vedas were accurately preserved by similar means.

Preexistence of the Torah.

The Torah is older than the world, for it existed either 947 generations (Zeb. 116a, and parallels) or 2,000 years (Gen. R. viii., and parallels; Weber, Jüdische Theologie, p. 15) before the Creation. The original Pentateuch, therefore, like everything celestial, consisted of fire, being written in black letters of flame upon a white ground of fire (Yer. Sheḳ. 49a, and parallels; Blau, Althebräisches Buchwesen, p. 156). God held counsel with it at the creation of the world, since it was wisdom itself (Tan., Bereshit, passim), and it was God's first revelation, in which He Himself took part. It was given in completeness for all time and for all mankind, so that no further revelation can be expected. It was given in the languages of all peoples; for the voice of the divine revelation was seventyfold (Weber, l.c. pp. 16-20; Blau, Zur Einleitung in die Heilige Schrift, pp. 84-100). It shines forever, and was transcribed by the scribes of the seventy peoples (Bacher, Ag. Tan. ii. 203, 416), while everything found in the Prophets and the Hagiographa was already contained in the Torah (Ta'an. 9a), so that, if the Israelites had not sinned, only the five books of Moses would have been given them (Ned. 22b). As a matter of fact, the Prophets and the Hagiographa will be abrogated; but the Torah will remain forever (Yer. Meg. 70d). Every letter of it is a living creature. When Solomon took many wives, Deuteronomy threw himself before God and complained that Solomon wished to remove from the Pentateuch the yod of the word (Deut. xvii. 17), with which the prohibition of polygamy was spoken; and God replied: Solomon and a thousand like him shall perish, but not one letter of the Torah shall be destroyed (Lev. R. xix.; Yer. Sanh. 20c; Cant. R. 5, 11; comp. Bacher, l.c. ii. 123, note 5). The single letters were hypostatized, and were active even at the creation of the world (Bacher, l.c. i. 347), an idea which is probably derived from Gnostic speculation. The whole world is said to be only 1/3200 of the Torah ('Er. 21a).

Israel received this treasure only through suffering (Ber. 5a, and parallels), for the book and the sword came together from heaven, and Israel was obliged to choose between them (Sifre, Deut. 40, end; Bacher, l.c. ii. 402, note 5); and whosoever denies the heavenly origin of the Torah will lose the future life (Sanh. x. 1). This high esteem finds its expression in the rule that a copy of the Pentateuch is unlimited in value, and in the ordinance that the inhabitants of a city might oblige one another to procure scrolls of the Law (Tosef., B. M. iii. 24, xi. 23). The pious bequeathed a copy of the Torah to the synagogue (ib. B. Ḳ. ii. 3); and it was the duty of each one to make one for himself, while the honor paid the Bible greatly influenced the distribution of copies and led to the foundation of libraries (Blau, Althebräisches Buchwesen, pp. 84-97).

Study of the Torah.

The highest ideal of young and old and of small and great was the study of the Law, thus forming a basis for that indomitable eagerness of the Jewish people for education and that unquenchable thirst for knowledge which still characterize them. As the child must satisfy its hunger day by day, so must the grown man busy himself with the Torah each hour (Yer. Ber. ch. ix.). The mishnah (Pe'ah i.) incorporated in the daily prayer declares that the study of the Law transcends all things, being greater than the rescue of human life, than the building of the Temple, and than the honor of father and mother (Meg. 16b). It is of more value than the offering of daily sacrifice ('Er. 63b); a single day devoted to the Torah outweighs 1,000 sacrifices (Shab. 30a; comp. Men. 100a); while the fable of the Fish and the Fox, in which the latter seeks to entice the former to dry land, declares Israel can live only in the Law as fish can live only in the ocean. Whoever separates himself from the Torah dies forthwith ('Ab. Zarah 3b); for fire consumes him, and he falls into hell (B. B. 79a); while God weeps over one who might have occupied himself with it but neglected to do so (Ḥag. 5b). The study must be unselfish: One should study the Torah with self-denial, even at the sacrifice of one's life; and in the very hour before death one should devote himself to this duty (Soṭah 21b; Ber. 63b; Shab. 83b). Whoever uses the crown of the Torah shall be destroyed (Ned. 62a). All, even the lepers and the unclean, were required to study the Law (Ber. 22a), while it was the duty of every one to read the entire weekly lesson twice (Ber. 8a); and the oldest benediction was the one spoken over the Torah (ib. 11b). Prophylactic power also is ascribed to it: it gives protection against suffering (ib. 5a), against sickness ('Er. 54b), and against oppression in the Messianic time (Sanh. 98b); so that it may be said that the Torah protects all the world (Sanh. 99b; comp. Ber. 31a). The following sayings may be cited as particularly instructive in this respect: A Gentile who studies the Torah is as great as the high priest (B. Ḳ. 38a). The practise of all the laws of the Pentateuch is worth less than the study of the scriptures of it (Yer. Pe'ah i.), a conclusive refutation of the current view of the Nomism of the Jewish faith. After these citations it becomes readily intelligible that, according to the Talmudic view, God Himself sits and studies the Torah ('Ab. Zarah 3b).

Criticism of the Torah Among Jews.

The spirit of criticism naturally developed from this devotion to the Pentateuch, in spite of faith and reverence. The very existence of the doctrine that the Law was of heavenly origin, and that whosoeverdenied this dogma had no share in the life to come (Sanh. x.), shows that there was a school which assumed a critical attitude toward the Torah. There is much evidence in proof of this; but here only the history of criticism within the orthodox synagogue will be discussed. It was a moot point whether the Law was given all at once or in smaller rolls at different times (Giṭ. 60a); and the further question was discussed, whether Moses or Joshua wrote the last eight verses of the Pentateuch (B. B. 14b-15a). It was definitely affirmed, on the other hand (ib.), that Moses composed the sections concerning Balaam (Num. xxii.-xxiv.), thus closing all discussions on that score. Many tacit doubts are scattered through the Talmud and Midrash, in addition to those which Einstein has collected. In the post-Talmudic period, in like manner, there was no lack of critics, some of them recognized as such again only in recent times, although Abraham ibn Ezra, who was joined by Spinoza, has long been recognized as belonging to this class.

Composition.

The composition of the Torah should be discussed on the basis of the old Semitic concepts, which planned a work of literature practically rather than systematically. Repetitions, therefore, should not be eliminated, since things which are good and noble may and should be brought to remembrance many times. From the point of view of effective emphasis, moreover, a change of context may develop a new and independent application of a given doctrine, especially if it be repeated in other words. Thus tradition (The Thirty-two Rules of Eliezer b. Jose ha-Gelili) took the repeated doctrine as its rule of interpretation, and left large numbers of repetitions (parallel passages) in its collections of oral teachings. The framework of the Pentateuch is historical narrative bound together by the thread of chronology. There is no rigid adherence to the latter principle, however; and the Talmud itself accordingly postulates the rule: There is no earlier and no later in the Torah (Pes. 6b et passim). From a Masoretic point of view, the Mosaic code contains the history of a period of about 2,300 years. As has already been noted in regard to the names of the individual books, the Talmud and the Masorah divided the Torah into smaller units according to its contents, so that Genesis includes the story of Creation and of the Patriarchs, Exodus the account of the departure from Egypt, the revelation, and so on.

Style.

The style of the Pentateuch, in keeping with its content, differs widely from the diction of the Prophets and the Psalms. It is less lofty, although it is not lacking in dramatic force, and it is concrete rather than abstract. Most of the laws are formulated in the second person as a direct address, the Decalogue being the best example. In certain cases, however, the nature of the subject requires the third person; but the Torah reverts as quickly as possible to the second as being the more effective form of address (comp., for example, Deut. xix. 11-21). In the Pentateuch, temporal depiction is the usual method. The process of creation, rather than the universe as a whole, is described; and the account brings the world visibly into being in six main parts. In the creation of man, of plants, and of paradise God is seen at work, and the same process of coming into being may be traced in the ark of Noah and similar descriptions. A remarkable example of word-painting is the account of the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the high-priesthood (Lev. viii.). Here the reader watches while Moses washes the candidates, dresses them, etc. (Magyar-Zsidó Szemle, ix. 565 et seq.). Naïve simplicity is a characteristic trait of Pentateuchal style, which understands also the art of silence. Thus, as in all great products of world-literature, feminine beauty is not described in detail; for Sarah, Rachel, and other heroines are merely said to be beautiful, while the completion of the picture is left to the imagination of the reader.

Laws of the Torah.

The contents of the Torah fall into two main parts: historical and legal. The latter commences with Ex. xii.; so that the Tannaim maintained that the Law actually began there, proceeding on the correct principle that the word Torah could be applied only to teachings which regulated the life of man, either leading him to perform certain acts (commands = ) or restraining him from them (prohibitions = ). The Talmud enumerates a total of 613 rules, 248 being commands and 365 prohibitions (see Jew. Encyc. iv. 181, s.v. Commandments, The 613). In the post-Talmudic period many works were written on these 613 miẓwot, some even by Maimonides. The legal parts of the Pentateuch include all the relations of human life, although these are discussed with greater detail in the Talmud (see Talmudic Laws). The Torah recognizes no subdivisions of the commandments; for all alike are the ordinances of God, and a distinction may be drawn only according to modern ideas, as when Driver (in Hastings, Dict. Bible, iii. 66) proposes a triple division, into juridical, ceremonial, and moral torot.

Penal Law.

Montefiore was correct when, in laying emphasis on the ethical aspect of the Biblical concept of God, he declared that even the law of the Bible was permeated with morality, propounding his view in the following words (Hibbert Lectures, p. 64): Most original and characteristic was the moral influence of Jahveh in the domain of law. Jahveh, to the Israelite, was emphatically the God of the right. . . . From the earliest times onward, Jahveh's sanctuary was the depository of law, and the priest was His spokesman. The most prominent characteristic of the Pentateuchal law, as compared with the laws of ancient peoples and of medieval Europe, is mildness, a feature which is still further developed in the Talmud. The Torah is justly regarded as the source of humane law. Although such phrases occur as that soul shall be cut off from his people or so shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee, it would be incorrect to take them literally, or to deduce from them certain theories of penal law, as Förster has recently done. On the contrary, these expressions prove that the Mosaiclaw was not a legal code in the strict sense of the term, but an ethical work. Although the Talmudists made it a penal code, instinctively reading that character into it, the penal law of the Torah is something theoretical which was never put into practise. This view is supported by the fact that a commandment is stated sometimes without the threat of any penalty whatever for its violation, and sometimes with the assignment even of death as a punishment for its transgression. In like manner, tradition frequently substitutes such a phrase as he forfeited his life for transgression worthy of death.

Civil Law.

On the other hand, the civil law of the Torah, which is more developed and bears a practical character, probably accords more closely with ancient Jewish legal procedure. It reflects the conditions of an agricultural state, since most of the laws relate to farming and cognate matters. There was no Hebrew word for store, although just measure was mentioned. It must be borne in mind, however, that to satisfy the more advanced conditions of later times, the Talmudists both supplemented the Mosaic law and by means of analogy and similar expedients interpolated into the Torah much which it did not contain originally.

From the earliest times the Synagogue has proclaimed the divine origin of the Pentateuch, and has held that Moses wrote it down from dictation, while the religions based on Judaism have until very recently held the same view. Biblical criticism, however, denies the Mosaic authorship and ascribes only a portion of varying extent to so ancient an origin. A history of criticism in regard to this point is given by Winer (B. R. ii. 419 et seq.) and by Driver (in Hastings, Dict. Bible, iii. 66), while Montefiore expresses himself as follows (l.c.):

The Torah—or teaching—of the priests, half judicial, half pædagogic, was a deep moral influence; and there was no element in the religion which was at once more genuinely Hebrew and more closely identified with the national God. There is good reason to believe that this priestly Torah is the one religious institution which can be correctly attributed to Moses. . . . Though Moses was not the author of the written law, he was unquestionably the founder of that oral teaching, or Torah, which preceded and became the basis of the codes of the Pentateuch.

The legal parts of the Torah are found in Ex. xx.-xxiii., xxv.-xxxi., xxxiv.-xxxv.; Lev. i.-viii., xi.-xxv., xxvii.; Num. v.-x., xviii., xix., xxvii.-xxx., these laws being repeated in Deut. iv. et seq.

בראשית

GENESIS (Bereshit)

Table of Contents

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ² Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. ³ And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶And God said: 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.' ⁷And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹And God said: 'Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so. ¹⁰And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good. ¹¹And God said: 'Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.' And it was so. ¹²And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴And God said: 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so. ¹⁶And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars. ¹⁷And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰And God said: 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.' ²¹And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that creepeth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after its kind, and every winged fowl after its kind; and God saw that it was good. ²²And God blessed them, saying: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.' ²³And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴And God said: 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after its kind.' And it was so. ²⁵And God made the beast of the earth after its kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. ²⁶And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.' ²⁷And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. ²⁸And God blessed them; and God said unto them: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that creepeth upon the earth.' ²⁹And God said: 'Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed—to you it shall be for food; ³⁰and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is a living soul, [I have given] every green herb for food.' And it was so. ³¹And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. ³ And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made.

⁴These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.

⁵No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground; ⁶but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. ⁷Then the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ⁸And the Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. ⁹And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant 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. ¹⁰And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. ¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹²and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and the onyx stone. ¹³And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is ¹Tigris; that is it which goeth toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. ¹⁵And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'

¹⁸And the Lord God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.' ¹⁹And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man would call every living creature, that was to be the name thereof. ²⁰And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help meet for him. ²¹And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the place with flesh instead thereof. ²²And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. ²³And the man said: 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ²Woman, because she was taken out of ³Man.' ²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. ²⁵And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

3Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman: 'Yea, hath God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' ² And the woman said unto the serpent: 'Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' ⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die; ⁵ for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.' ⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. ⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles. ⁸ And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. ⁹ And the Lord God called unto the man, and said unto him: 'Where art thou?' ¹⁰ And he said: 'I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.' ¹¹ And He said: 'Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?' ¹² And the man said: 'The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.' ¹³ And the Lord God said unto the woman: 'What is this thou hast done?' And the woman said: 'The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.' ¹⁴ And the Lord God said unto the serpent: 'Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; they shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise their heel.'

¹⁶Unto the woman He said: 'I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.'

¹⁷And unto Adam He said: 'Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. ¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. ¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' ²⁰And the man called his wife's name ⁴Eve; because she was the mother of all living. ²¹And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.

²²And the Lord God said: 'Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.' ²³Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. ²⁴So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life.

4And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain, and said: 'I have ⁵gotten a man with the help of the Lord.' ²And again she bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. ⁴And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering; ⁵but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. ⁶And the Lord said unto Cain: 'Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee is its desire, but thou mayest rule over it.' ⁸And Cain spoke unto Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

⁹And the Lord said unto Cain: 'Where is Abel thy brother?' And he said: 'I know not; am I my brother's keeper?' ¹⁰And He said: 'What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground. ¹¹And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. ¹²When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.' ¹³And Cain said unto the Lord: 'My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me.' ¹⁵And the Lord said unto him: 'Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And the Lord set a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.

¹⁶And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of ⁶Nod, on the east of Eden. ¹⁷And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch; and he builded a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch. ¹⁸And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot ⁷Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lamech. ¹⁹And Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ²⁰And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle. ²¹And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe. ²²And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. ²³And Lamech said unto his wives:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me; ²⁴If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name ⁸Seth: 'for God ⁹hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.' ²⁶And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

5This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; ² male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. ³ And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth. ⁴ And the days of Adam after he begot Seth were eight hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters. ⁵ And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.

⁶And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. ⁷And Seth lived after he begot Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. ⁸And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

⁹And Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Kenan. ¹⁰And Enosh lived after he begot Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters. ¹¹And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹²And Kenan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. ¹³And Kenan lived after he begot Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begot sons and daughters. ¹⁴And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵And Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begot Jared. ¹⁶And Mahalalel lived after he begot Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. ¹⁷And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five years; and he died.

¹⁸And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begot Enoch. ¹⁹And Jared lived after he begot Enoch eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. ²⁰And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years; and he died.

²¹And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begot Methuselah. ²²And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. ²³And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years. ²⁴And Enoch walked with God, and he was not; for God took him.

²⁵And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begot Lamech. ²⁶And Methuselah lived after he begot Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begot sons and daughters. ²⁷And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years; and he died.

²⁸And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two years, and begot a son. ²⁹And he called his name Noah, saying: 'This same shall ¹⁰comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh from the ground which the Lord hath cursed.' ³⁰And Lamech lived after he begot Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begot sons and daughters. ³¹And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years; and he died.

³²And Noah was five hundred years old; and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, ² that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives, whomsoever they chose. ³ And the Lord said: 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.' ⁴ The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

⁵And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. ⁷And the Lord said: 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.' ⁸But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

נח

⁹These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and whole-hearted; Noah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

¹³And God said unto Noah: 'The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴Make thee an ark of gopher wood; with rooms shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. ¹⁵And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. ¹⁶A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. ¹⁷And I, behold, I do bring the flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; every thing that is in the earth shall perish. ¹⁸But I will establish My covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. ¹⁹And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. ²⁰Of the fowl after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. ²¹And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.' ²²Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

7And the Lord said unto Noah: 'Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation. ² Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, each with his mate; and of the beasts that are not clean two [and two], each with his mate; ³ of the fowl also of the air, seven and seven, male and female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. ⁴ For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I blot out from off the face of the earth.' ⁵ And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.

⁶And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. ⁷And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. ⁸Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the ground, ⁹there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah. ¹⁰And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. ¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. ¹²And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; ¹⁴they, and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every fowl after its kind, every bird of every sort. ¹⁵And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life. ¹⁶And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. ¹⁷And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. ¹⁸And the waters prevailed, and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. ¹⁹And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. ²⁰Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. ²¹And all flesh perished that moved upon the earth, both fowl, and cattle, and beast, and every swarming thing that swarmeth upon the earth, and every man; ²²all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, whatsoever was in the dry land, died. ²³And He blotted out every living substance which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping thing, and fowl of the heaven; and they were blotted out from the earth; and Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark. ²⁴And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

8And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; ² the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. ³ And the waters returned from off the earth continually; and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased. ⁴ And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. ⁵ And the