◄ Ch. 1

וַיְכֻלּוּ/VaYekhulu

     This word is actually four words in one: two prefixes, a verb, and a suffix. The first prefix means “and” and the second prefix could mean one of two: “he” or “they”. The main verb means, “finish, accomplish, cease, consume, determine, end, fail, or spend”. The suffix means “they did,” in the plural form. So, if this is the case, it means that the second prefix is “they” because of the plurality of the suffix. Making the verse more accurate, it is translated as follows.

And they finished the heavens/skies/rakia and the land/earth, and all their hosts.

     This further proves that YHVH, our God, was not alone when He created the heavens and the earth. His whole host was with him, helping out, and by 'host,' I mean the messengers/angels, and spirits. WOW! Such a small verse, yet so full of information.

     This chapter begins by stating that the heavens and the earth were completed at the end of the sixth day, or the work ceased short of completion, as the word VaYekhulu also means to “cease”, and I will explain more as we move on, as to what I mean by this. This verse serves as a summary. Meaning that everything in the heavens and the earth was done, from vegetation to animals to microbes, Mankind, and everything needed for heaven and earth to be self-sustainable. Many people become confused in this chapter, concluding that two different writers wrote chapters one and two of BeReshit/Genesis and that the two are two separate accounts of the same story from two different points of view. In reality, this is not the case. The Torah (by YHVH, ELOHIM/POWERS/God, as revealed through Moses) takes a step back to provide more details regarding creation within the six days and adds the Seventh day to it in this chapter, but this day is special, as we will see.

      Radak (1160–1235) Commentary: In this chapter, the Torah elaborates on the narrative by focusing on the events that led to the emergence of Man. Since this narrative leads to the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge incident, it begins by describing the origin of plant life.

     When YHVH created us, it was not like when He created the animals of the earth. When He made them, He used His breath, yes, but He spoke the words, “Land, bring forth living life.” And it was so. His life-giving breath gave life to all of them, all at once. But when it came to ADAM, us, YHVH slowed down and told His messengers (angels),

BeReshit/Genesis 1:26

“We will make/fashion Adam/mankind in our image as similar as us/as similar as we are”.

     Then He formed a body from the earth. Why do I choose to write earth and not soil or dust? This is because he did not make a man made out of clay, like some artists. No, what this means is that YHVH got all the chemical substances found on Earth to make a lifeless man of flesh and bone. Just as we are created today, we are born from the womb, from a fertilized egg, to grow and mature into a baby until birth, who is made, mainly from four elements, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, which are the four most abundant elements in the human body, making up over 96% of our mass. Needless to say, these four elements exist here on earth. And as such, when we die, we decompose and return to being dirt, dust, or ashes. So, do not do as I did, at first, when I was a child, and imagine a human-sized clay man, but a fully developed adult body made of human flesh and bones.

“And He breathed in to his nose/nostrils breath/spirit of life.”

     How did YHVH make this lifeless man of flesh and bones have life? To make him take his first breath as a baby does right after birth. YHVH, Himself, breathed His life-giving breath into Adam’s nostrils. YHVH did not speak or utter any words as He did with all the animals. He got close to Adam’s face and breathed his own breath into him. This almost sounds like a kiss.
The word used for breath, the very thing that YHVH breathed into Adam, was,

נְשָׁמָה/Neshamah

     Which means breath, spirit, breath (of God), breath (of man), or spirit (of man). In this case, it means “Breath of El/God.” YHVH breathed into Adam His own Breath, His own Spirit, and this is why it also means breath (of man) or spirit (of man), because that is what it is inside of us now, YHVH’s spirit, inside man. And when it entered Adam,

“It was for the ADAM, a living life.”

     At that point, Adam, the lifeless body, took in his first breath and became a living person, which means that without YHVH’s spirit that lives inside us, we can not be considered living. Without it, we do not have life.

     There are three parts to a person: the thinking mind, the Spirit of God, and the body. These parts make you “you.” These three parts make us unique from all other creations (animals), as we are the only creation made this way. We have earthly bodies, but we have the spirit of YHVH that comes from beyond the heavens. Even though we are unique from other creatures, we are also different among ourselves. You are “you.” This “you” is the thinking part of you that makes decisions about everything you experience. As you go through life, you encounter new experiences and decide how to respond. These decisions to these new experiences are what make us unique among ourselves. These responses or decisions to the experiences have consequences. The action you take in response to these experiences could be good or bad. What sways you to decide for the bad or the good? I will say it's how you feel about the consequences of your life experiences. These feelings come from two places. The first place you feel from is the spirit. The spirit that was put inside you by YHVH. The NeShamah/Breath of YHVH within you is 100% good and can only choose good. It makes you feel guilty when you make an evil decision and happy when you make a good decision. The second part of you that makes you feel is the body. The body is both good and evil, and it can be swayed either way. To do good or bad. Everyone is different in this regard. You can end up with a body weak to sex or food or prone to anger quickly. These feelings, called body instincts, sway “you” to make good or bad decisions. That is why when you are little, your parents' teachings and, later, the Torah's teachings are essential. All these teachings teach your mind how to control the negative aspects of your body, cultivating good decision-making skills conducive to a good relationship with our Father and Creator, YHVH. 

     A relationship with YHVH, our God, is like any other relationship. YHVH, much like a parent, created you. As our creator/parent, He expects certain things of you to have a healthy relationship with Him and to get along with others. Both are important to Him because we are all created in His image. Therefore, we have to conduct ourselves in a godly manner, not like animals who act only on their basic instincts to satisfy their bodies, but like a person who was created in the image of Elohim/God.

     This brings me to why we were created: one is to have a relationship with our creator. That is why He tells us in the Torah how we should behave and what He likes and dislikes. The second reason for creating us is to make this earthly body and the rest of the earth a God-worthy place. YHVH created this world but abstained from finishing it on the seventh day because that would be our job. Our job is to make this earth a place that is perfect and Godly. This is also God’s end goal. To have an ideal world, with only people who love Him and share His goals. Is it not the goal of every marriage to have a meaningful relationship with your husband or wife? In which your kids grow up in a perfect world full of goodness? Can you say that you have achieved such a life with a partner who works with you, and that you both work with God to make where you live a better place?

פִּישׁוֹן/Pishon

This river’s name means "to spring about."

     Could this river be the main river? The one that sprang from Eden? I say this because of this river: it reads, “The name of the one.” Because where it says “one” also means “first”, which could mean that this river was the first, and could be one of the heads, or the main head, or the source.

חֲוִילָה/Khavilah

     The word Havilah means Circle, or Bringing Fort. The name Havilah probably derives from the root group חול (hul I & II) and can be interpreted in several ways. However, there is a challenge: when the letter vav is a consonant (as in the name Havilah), it is fundamentally different from when it is a vowel. There must be a compelling reason why a vowel changes to a consonant. Perhaps it is to highlight other words intentionally, or perhaps it relates to the verb חוה (hava). The final part of the name Havilah may then be seen as coming from the phrase להה (laha), meaning to languish or faint. This word appears only in Genesis 47:13. Following these clues, Havilah gains additional meaning as Languishing Village or Exhausted Revelation.

     The river Pishon used to run from Eden to Havilah. However, the land of Havilah is an ancient biblical location whose exact location is uncertain, though it is mentioned as a source of gold, bdellium, and onyx. We will read this in the next verse.

     The largest gold mines are generally large-scale operations, such as South Africa's South Deep gold mine and Indonesia's Grasberg mine. By contrast, the largest gold deposit ever found is in China's Wangu goldfield, which is a massive, but still undeveloped, underground reserve. Mines notable for their large reserves include the South Deep mine in South Africa, which holds the world's largest gold reserves, and the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, which has large gold, copper, and silver reserves. We should also take into account the bdellium and onyx found there.

     Bdellium comes from trees found in several regions, with historical and modern sources including sub-Saharan Africa, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Arabia, and the ancient areas of Media and Babylon. The primary sources are the Commiphora wightii tree in India and the Commiphora africana tree in Africa.

     Onyx is found worldwide, with significant deposits in countries such as Brazil, India, Mexico, and the United States. It can also be sourced from Australia, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, and Madagascar, among many other locations worldwide. 

• South America: Known for good specimens, with prominent mining areas in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.

• North America: Found in the United States (including states like Arizona, Colorado, and Utah) and Canada.

• Asia: Major sources include India, China, and Yemen.

• Other locations: Onyx is also found in parts of Europe, Africa, and Australia.

     Does any of this information tell us anything about where Eden was or from where the river ran? No, but I was hoping that it did. It makes me wonder if we were meant to know this information. I think we did. Otherwise, why would it be written in scripture? I mean, the resources mentioned are available worldwide. Is this what this means? Okay, let me think. The resources mentioned can be found on every continent. The word Khavilah means circle or bring fort. Bring fort means to fortify or to reach a state of fortification. If we convert the וִ from a consonant to a vowel, the word turns into חוה/Khavah. This turns the first part of the word into the verb חוה (khava), which means “to lay out in order to live collectively” and “describes investing one's personal sovereignty into a living collective”. It's mostly translated as to prostrate, which is to submit oneself wholly and bodily to a collective or to the leader of that collective. Okay, I think something is coming together.

Pishon = to spring about

Khavilah = circle and to bring to fortification, which = strength

     Khaval, a submeaning of the word if the וִ is changed from a consonant to a vowel, = living in harmony with everything around you.

In other words, the river Pishon sprang from Eden to run all around the world, where all the resources are found, to make everything grow strong, and so that the whole world may develop as a single unit, or as a single living organism. One that needs everything to come together to thrive under a single POWER, YHVH, or GOD.

[Is this what the verse means? I am not sure, but the pieces fit. If I find out something else, I will come back to update it.]

     Widespread, essential symbiotic relationships define the world's entire biosphere. The term is used in scientific and philosophical discussions to describe the profound interconnectedness of life on Earth and of mankind within it.

The Role of Adam/mankind

     Adam’s/mankind's relationship with the rest of the planet can be viewed through a symbiotic lens. Still, it's a complex interaction that involves aspects of mutualism (beneficial to both) and parasitism (one benefits at the other's expense). 

• Mutualism: We rely entirely on Earth's systems (air, water, soil) for our survival, and understanding our place within them requires a mutually beneficial relationship.

Vayikra/Leviticus 25:1-7

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to YHVH. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath of YHVH. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female servants and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: fall its yield shall be for food.”

     We depend on the land for food, and we need to take care of it. YHVH says the land needs rest, too. Therefore, YHVH tells us to let it rest, because we need the land for our survival. The land can be depleted of nutrients if overworked, and if that happens, it yields less and less high-quality products, until one year, it just does not.

• Parasitism/Unsustainability: Currently, human activities like resource extraction and climate change are often viewed as "parasitic" on a planetary level, where humanity benefits while the overall health of the planet is diminished.

     We need to keep track of global resources, such as deforestation, so we do not exhaust the resources the planet needs to survive. The planet dies, and so do we. Once again, we need the planet as it needs us. We should take care of the planet and everything that lives in it. We are responsible for its future.

BeReshit/Genesis

YHVH took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till (of land)/labour/to work/serve/work/do work/to serve (God)/to serve (with Levitical service)/to be worked/(Pual) to be worked/keep it.

     We are to work the land and keep it perfect, as it was at the time of Adam; but now it is not perfect, so we have to restore it to perfection. And the day will come when all men will do just that by their own choice. All nations united to make this world perfect.

Isaiah 52:15

So shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 2:4

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

     These are Isaiah's prophetic poems, tough to understand. Basically, what he is prophesying is that when the Messiah comes, he will go to the nations at that future time, and they will not be able to deny that he is the Messiah. And he will tell them that what they have done to the people and the earth is sin and that they are at fault. When he does, he will startle them with his speech, and they, the nations of the world, will bring their hands to their mouths, shutting their mouths in surprise. Why? Because they do not know YHVH or His Torah. So, like a miracle, what they have not learned about the Torah, our God’s Laws and rules, they will understand.
The other verse is the result of the Messiah’s speech to the nations. They will lay down their instruments of war, dismantle them, and they will instead concentrate on working to make the world the place that YHVH envisioned. Make it a Garden of Eden. What it was from the start, it will be again. God will not do it; we, mankind, will do it for Him, because it is our job, and now we are failing. But this was supposed to happen this way, and there is a reason for it, a reason I will explain as we progress. I do not want to get ahead of myself.

עָבַד/Avad

This word means “labor/do(work), to work, serve, to labor, do work, to work for another, serve another by labor, to serve as subjects, to serve (God), to serve (with Levitical service), to be worked, be tilled (of land), to make oneself a servant, to be worked, to compel to labor or work, cause to labor, cause to serve.”
Adam, and consequently, we all, because we are all Adam (we all come from Adam, the man), were put on this Earth by YHVH to labor it, to work it. The first command to mankind was to be fruitful and to multiply, and now the second command is this, and the word that follows.

שָׁמַר/Shamar

This word means “guard, to keep, observe, give heed, have charge of, keep watch and ward, protect, save life, to watch for, wait for, retain, treasure up (in memory), to keep (within bounds), restrain, to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow), preserve, protect, to be on one's guard, take heed, take care, beware, to keep oneself, refrain, abstain, pay heed, (Hithpael) to keep oneself from”.
We are not only supposed to work, but we also have to take care of the Earth and keep it within the balance that I mentioned before. We need to protect it and make it, or we should have kept it like it was at the beginning, growing healthy and thriving. Needless to say, we did not. However, this is happening the way it is because it is meant to be. And I am not saying this like a lot of people say when they do not understand. There is a reason for it. There is a reason YHVH created good and evil because not working and taking care of the Earth is an evil act: YHVH made good and evil exist on this Earth for a purpose, and that purpose benefits both us and YHVH, our Power, our God, our Creator, well, mostly us. Sorry, I tend to get ahead of myself, and this topic will come up later; we will get to it when Scripture teaches us. It will not be long from now.

What we need to know at this point is that mankind is responsible for this Earth that YHVH created; it is not His job, but ours. We need to work on it and keep it healthy and thriving. One thing that we are failing at, and that is a sin, not to make this Earth a better place, a healthy Earth. But we will rectify this in the future. I talked about this earlier. This will happen when the Massiah comes and speaks to the nations. But some other events and decisions have to fall into place before then. This is also something that needs to be taught later.

COMMENTARIES VERSE 23

אִישׁ - אִשָּׁה

Ish - Isha

Man - Woman

Isha/אִשָּׁה is the word for a singular woman. ADAM gave this name to the person HaShem created from him. He was naming her essence, not giving her a personal name. Just like he did with all the animals he named before the woman was created, this woman was of the same creation as ADAM because she was made from his own body.

ADAM sounds relieved as HaShem presents the woman to him. ADAM said (like all husbands marrying a wife should say), “This one time, she is bone from my bone and flesh from my flesh.” The search is over; this one creation is me, this is the one. No longer will I be alone. I will finally have support, and I will not have to do it by myself. And if I fail, she will put me on the right track. Also, remember that HaShem made ADAM realize this by making him name all the world's animals. So that he would see that of all the world's animals, no one had the same essence as him. In the end, ADAM got it. He realized he was alone. All the animals could find partners of their essence but him because there was none.

It makes me wonder if HaShem Elohim put us in this world full of good and evil so that we could also realize something that can only be grasped through this life.