From "The Complete Tanach"



Bereishit – Genesis – Chapter 1

 

The original verses from the source above

My notes: those emphasizing some controversy – in red, otherwise – in black.

1. In the beginning of God's creation of the heavens and the earth.   

This is an incomplete phrase. In this new translation Chabad decided to not hide this old problem with the first verse. This incompleteness suggests that something was lost.

Here is how I guess Genesis really began.
 

1.     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God".  

2.     The same was in the beginning with God.

3.     All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4.     In him was life; And the life was the light of men. 

5.     And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not in the beginning of God's creation of the heavens and the earth.

2. Now the earth was astonishingly empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water.

3. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

4. And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated between the light and between the darkness.

5. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night, and it was evening and it was morning, one day.

Here and further, if "Day" means the 24-hour period of axial rotation of the Earth, Sun and Earth were not yet created at that moment.

Otherwise, if "Day" here is a metaphor for "God's day" lasting eons, the mentioning of morning and evening still presumes Sun, axial rotation of the Earth, causing twilight periods of the day (evening and  morning).

Either way here is a controversy. The age of Earth alone exceeds 4 billion years (obtained by various independent methods), now becoming a hard fact. The age of the Universe is estimated over 14 billion years.

6. And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, and let it be a separation between water and water."

Earlier, in traditional translations they used an embarrassing term "firmament" (rakia). In this new translation Chabad suddenly discovered a new meaning of rakia, replacing "firmament" with "expanse", which is closer to the physical reality.

7. And God made the expanse and it separated between the water that was below the expanse and the water that was above the expanse, and it was so.

8. And God called the expanse Heaven, and it was evening, and it was morning, a second day.

9. And God said, "Let the water that is beneath the heavens gather into one place, and let the dry land appear," and it was so.

10. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas, and God saw that it was good.

11. And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, seed yielding herbs and fruit trees producing fruit according to its kind in which its seed is found, on the earth," and it was so.

12. And the earth gave forth vegetation, seed yielding herbs according to its kind, and trees producing fruit, in which its seed is found, according to its kind, and God saw that it was good.

13. And it was evening, and it was morning, a third day.

Here and further Chabad uses the term "expanse" instead of "firmament". Fixing this one controversy, they however didn't fix the controversies concerning luminaries ruling the day (verse 14).

14. And God said, "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to separate between the day and between the night, and they shall be for signs and for appointed seasons and for days and years.

The luminaries in the sky may be used as signs of day or night only at the middle latitudes and only for a resting observer in a particular time zone.

Inside the polar circles a day or night may last up to half a year with all the luminaries in the sky.

For moving observers (even if moving as slow as sail ships of Magellan around the world), an extra day is gained or lost depending on whether the ship goes East or West. For fast moving observers (in air planes or in satellites) the luminaries, light or dark are totally unrelated to their count of days.

15. And they shall be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth." And it was so.

16. And God made the two great luminaries: the great luminary to rule the day and the lesser luminary to rule the night, and the stars.

Luminaries generally do not rule the day and night – see 14. Moreover, luminaries ruling days are presumed moving within "rakia" ("firmament" in other translations) thus moving as though around the Earth presumed resting. This wrong geo-centric world view is later confirmed in the book of Joshua 10:13 when God presumably stopped Sun, and Isaiah 40:22.(*)

17. And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth.

18. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate between the light and between the darkness, and God saw that it was good.

Luminaries generally do not rule the day and night – see 14.

19. And it was evening, and it was morning, a fourth day.

The Sun was created in a forth day, while the vegetation depending on photosynthesis and sunlight was created in a third day!

20. And God said, "Let the waters swarm a swarming of living creatures, and let fowl fly over the earth, across the expanse of the heavens."

21. And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that crawls, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged fowl, according to its kind, and God saw that it was good.

22. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply upon the earth."

23. And it was evening, and it was morning, a fifth day.

24. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind, cattle and creeping things and the beasts of the earth according to their kind," and it was so.

25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the ground according to their kind, and God saw that it was good.        

26. And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and they shall rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heaven and over the animals and over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth."

27. And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

God created him (a singular) – yet then "male and female He created them" – plural: a controversy within one phrase.

28. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth. "

Looks as though God created both male and female already at this stage, but it contradicts to Chapter 2:7, when another female was created from the rib of this man.

Commentators speculate that the first woman created at the stage described here (named Lilith, according to some myths), later disappeared or fled. Then the second woman in the Chapter 2:7 referred as Eve was the wife of Adam which gave birth to several children – the ancestors  of the entire humanity.

This episode here therefore is both controversial and unclear.

29. And God said, "Behold, I have given you every seed bearing herb, which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; it will be yours for food.

30. And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living spirit, every green herb to eat," and it was so.

31. And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good, and it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day.


Joshua 10:12. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, "Sun, stand still upon Gibeon, and Moon in the valley of Ajalon." 13. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is this not written in the book of Jashar? (which is the Torah)? So the sun stood still in the midst of the heaven, and it did not hasten to go down exactly a whole day.

Isaiah 40:22. It is He Who sits above the circle of the earth, and whose inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heaven like a curtain, and He spread them out like a tent to dwell.

Chapter 2

 

1. Now the heavens and the earth were completed and all their host.

2. And God completed on the seventh day His work that He did, and He abstained on the seventh day from all His work that He did.   

3. And God blessed the seventh day and He hallowed it, for thereon He abstained from all His work that God created to do.

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

5. Now no tree of the field was yet on the earth, neither did any herb of the field yet grow, because the Lord God had not brought rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the soil.

6. And a mist ascended from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.

7. And the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul.

Chapter 1: 27, 28 suggests that God created both man and woman simultaneously.

8. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden from the east, and He placed there the man whom He had formed.

Now – one man only: no woman.

9. And the Lord God caused to sprout from the ground every tree pleasant to see and good to eat, and the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.

10. And a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it separated and became four heads.

11. The name of one is Pishon; that is the one that encompasses all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.

12. And the gold of that land is good; there is the crystal and the onyx stone.

13. And the name of the second river is Gihon; that is the one that encompasses all the land of Cush.

14. And the name of the third river is Tigris; that is the one that flows to the east of Assyria, and the fourth river that is the Euphrates.

15. Now the Lord God took the man, and He placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it.

16. And the Lord God commanded man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.

17. But of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it, for on the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die."

18. And the Lord God said, "It is not good that man is alone; I shall make him a helpmate opposite him."

God notices loneliness of the man – despite that in Chapter 1:27 He already created "them" (a man and a woman). Here is no explanations what had happened with the firstly created woman. This verse here states that God is going to create a woman for this man as though the verses 1: 27, 28 telling about creation of the first woman didn't exist!

19. And the Lord God formed from the earth every beast of the field and every fowl of the heavens, and He brought [it] to man to see what he would call it, and whatever the man called each living thing, that was its name.

20. And man named all the cattle and the fowl of the heavens and all the beasts of the field, but for man, he did not find a helpmate opposite him.

21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon man, and he slept, and He took one of his sides, and He closed the flesh in its place.

22. And the Lord God built the side that He had taken from man into a woman, and He brought her to man.

23. And man said, "This time, it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called ishah (woman) because this one was taken from ish (man)."

This contradicts to Chapter 1: 27, 28 stating that God created man and woman simultaneously.

24. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

No concept of birth, parents, and relationships with them has been yet introduced, however the statement already instructs a man to leave his parents in order to live separately with his wife: a far reaching commandment given so prematurely.

25. Now they were both naked, the man and his wife, but they were not ashamed.

 

Chapter 3

 

1. Now the serpent was cunning, more than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had made, and it said to the woman, "Did God indeed say, 'You shall not eat of any of the trees of the garden?'"

2. And the woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat.        

3. But of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, "You shall not eat of it, and you shall not touch it, lest you die.'"

4. And the serpent said to the woman, "You will surely not die.      

5. For God knows that on the day that you eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like angels, knowing good and evil."       

6. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise; so she took of its fruit, and she ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

7. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves and made themselves girdles.       

8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God going in the garden to the direction of the sun, and the man and his wife hid from before the Lord God in the midst of the trees of the garden.       

9. And the Lord God called to man, and He said to him, "Where are you?"        

10. And he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked; so I hid."        

11. And He said, "Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"        

12. And the man said, "The woman whom You gave [to be] with me she gave me of the tree; so I ate."

13. And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent enticed me, and I ate."       

14. And the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed be you more than all the cattle and more than all the beasts of the field; you shall walk on your belly, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.        

15. And I shall place hatred between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed. He will crush your head, and you will bite his heel."

16. To the woman He said, "I shall surely increase your sorrow and your pregnancy; in pain you shall bear children. And to your husband will be your desire, and he will rule over you."      

17. And to man He said, "Because you listened to your wife, and you ate from the tree from which I commanded you saying, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed be the ground for your sake; with toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life.        

18. And it will cause thorns and thistles to grow for you, and you shall eat the herbs of the field.        

19. With the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for you were taken therefrom, for dust you are, and to dust you will return."        

20. And the man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all life.       

21. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife shirts of skin, and He dressed them.

22. Now the Lord God said, "Behold man has become like one of us, having the ability of knowing good and evil, and now, lest he stretch forth his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever."     
 
23. And the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to till the soil, whence he had been taken.      

24. And He drove the man out, and He stationed from the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and the blade of the revolving sword, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

 

Chapter 4

 

1. Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, and she said, "I have acquired a man with the Lord."        

2. And she continued to bear his brother Abel, and Abel was a shepherd of flocks, and Cain was a tiller of the soil.

3. Now it came to pass at the end of days, that Cain brought of the fruit of the soil an offering to the Lord.

Here it is the first appearance of the concept "offering to the Lord." No explanations why the Lord even needs any offering of any stuff from humans, as He had created all stuff. No explanations who instructed Cain and Abel to offer something to the Lord. Looks like this idea leaked from the times prior to Torah when offerings to pagan gods were common.

4. And Abel he too brought of the firstborn of his flocks and of their fattest, and the Lord turned to Abel and to his offering.

5. But to Cain and to his offering He did not turn, and it annoyed Cain exceedingly, and his countenance fell.

6. And the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen?

7. Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you? If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is lying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it."

8. And Cain spoke to 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.

9. And the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

10. And He said, "What have you done? Hark! Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the earth.

11. And now, you are cursed even more than the ground, which opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand.

12. When you till the soil, it will not continue to give its strength to you; you shall be a wanderer and an exile in the land."

13. And Cain said to the Lord, "Is my iniquity too great to bear?

14. Behold You have driven me today off the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from before You, and I will be a wanderer and an exile in the land, and it will be that whoever finds me will kill me."

15. And the Lord said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be wrought upon him sevenfold," and the Lord placed a mark on Cain that no one who find him slay him.

At this point supposedly no other human beings yet existed elsewhere, yet Cain fears some others.

16. And Cain went forth from before the Lord, and he dwelt in the land of the wanderers, to the east of Eden.

Who created those wanderers and when? At that moment supposedly only Adam, Eve, and Cain lived.

17. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch, and he was building a city, and he called the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

At that moment supposedly only Adam, Eve, and Cain lived. Where from did Cain's wife emerge? The same inconsistency is present with the wives in the next verses.

18. And Irad was born to Enoch, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehijael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lemech.

19. And Lemech took himself two wives; one was named Adah, and the other was named Zillah.

20. Now Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle.

21. And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who grasp a lyre and a flute.

22. And Zillah she too bore Tubal-cain, who sharpened all tools that cut copper and iron, and Tubal-cain's sister was Na'amah.

23. Now Lemech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, hearken to my voice; wives of Lemech, incline your ears to my words, for I have slain a man by wounding (him) and a child by bruising (him).

24. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then for Lemech it shall be seventy seven fold."

25. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and she named him Seth, for God has given me other seed, instead of Abel, for Cain slew him.

Logically this verse had to appear before verse 17, i.e. when only  Adam, Eve, and Cain existed.

26. And to Seth also to him a son was born, and he named him Enosh; then it became common to call by the name of the Lord.

 

Chapter 5

 

1. This is the narrative of the generations of man; on the day that God created man, in the likeness of God He created him.

2. Male and female He created them, and He blessed them, and He named them man (Adam) on the day they were created.

3. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and he begot in his likeness after his image, and he named him 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 of Adam that he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

6. And Seth lived one hundred and five years, and he begot Enosh.

7. And Seth lived after he had begotten Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and he begot sons and daughters.

8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

9. And Enosh lived ninety years, and he begot Kenan.

10. And Enosh lived after he had begotten Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and he begot sons and daughters.

11. And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

12. And Kenan lived seventy years, and he begot Mahalalel.

13. And Kenan lived after he had begotten Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and he begot sons and daughters.

14. And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

15. And Mahalalel lived sixty five years, and he begot Jared.

16. And Mahalalel lived after he had begotten Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and he begot sons and daughters.

17. And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety five years, and he died.

18. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty two years, and he begot Enoch.

19. And Jared lived after he had begotten Enoch eight hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.

20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty two years, and he died.

21. And Enoch lived sixty five years, and he begot Methuselah.

22. And Enoch walked with God after he had begotten Methuselah, three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.

23. And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years.

24. And Enoch walked with God, and he was no longer, for God had taken him.

25. And Methuselah lived a hundred and eighty seven years, and he begot Lamech.

26. And Methuselah lived after he had begotten Lamech, seven hundred and eighty two years, and he begot sons and daughters.

27. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty nine years, and he died.

28. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty two years, and he begot a son.

29. And he named him Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands from the ground, which the Lord has cursed."

30. And Lamech lived after he had begotten Noah, five hundred and ninety five years, and he begot sons and daughters.

31. And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy seven years, and he died.

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

   

Chapter 6

 

1. And it came to pass when man commenced to multiply upon the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them.

2. That the sons of the nobles saw the daughters of man when they were beautifying themselves, and they took for themselves wives from whomever they chose.

3. And the Lord said, "Let My spirit not quarrel forever concerning man, because he is also flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."

The life span of humans is shortened to not exceed 120 years. This contradicts to life stories of Noah and his descendants which reported to live several hundred years in Chapters 10, 11.

4. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of the nobles would come to the daughters of man, and they would bear for them; they are the mighty men, who were of old, the men of renown.

When from did Nephilim come? Who created them?

5. And the Lord saw that the evil of man was great in the earth, and every imagination of his heart was only evil all the time.

6. And the Lord regretted that He had made man upon the earth, and He became grieved in His heart.

7. And the Lord said, "I will blot out man, whom I created, from upon the face of the earth, from man to cattle to creeping thing, to the fowl of the heavens, for I regret that I made them."

8. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9. These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a righteous man he was perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God.

10. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11. Now the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth became full of robbery.

12. And God saw the earth, and behold it had become corrupted, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.

13. And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth has become full of robbery because of them, and behold I am destroying them from the earth.

14. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and you shall caulk it both inside and outside with pitch.

15. And this [is the size] you shall make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its breadth, and thirty cubits its height.

16. You shall make a skylight for the ark, and to a cubit you shall finish it to the top, and the entrance of the ark you shall place in its side; you shall make it with bottom [compartments], second story [compartments], and third story [compartments].

17. And I, behold I am bringing the flood, water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of life, from beneath the heavens; all that is upon the earth will perish.

18. And I will set up My covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you and your sons, and your wife and your sons' wives with you.

19. And of all living things of all flesh, two of each you shall bring into the ark to preserve alive with you; they shall be male and female.

20. Of the fowl after its kind and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing upon the ground after its kind; two of each shall come to you to preserve alive.

21. And you, take for yourself of every food that is eaten and gather it in to you, and it shall be for you and for them to eat."

22. And Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

   

Chapter 7

 

1. And the Lord said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, for it is you that I have seen as a righteous man before Me in this generation.

2. Of all the clean animals you shall take for yourself seven pairs, a male and its mate, and of the animals that are not clean, two, a male and its mate.

3. Also, of the fowl of the heavens, seven pairs, male and female, to keep seed alive on the face of the earth.

4. For in another seven days, I will make it rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out all beings that I have made, off the face of the earth."

5. And Noah did, according to all that the Lord had commanded him.

6. And Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood came about, water upon the earth.

7. And Noah went in and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him into the ark because of the flood waters.

8. Of the clean beasts and of the beasts that are not clean, and of the fowl, and all that creeps upon the earth.

9. Two by two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

10. And it came to pass after the seven days, that the flood waters were upon the earth.

11. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day, all the springs of the great deep were split, and the windows of the heavens opened up.

12. And the rain was upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

13. On this very day, Noah came, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, and Noah's wife and his sons' three wives with them, into the ark.

14. They, and every beast after its kind, and every domestic animal after its kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every fowl after its kind, every bird of every wing.

15. And they came to Noah to the ark, two by two of all flesh in which there is the spirit of life.

What does it mean "On this very day"? The rain was upon the earth already during forty days and forty nights.

16. And those who came male and female of all flesh came, as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in.

17. Now the Flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and they lifted the ark, and it rose off the earth.

18. And the waters became powerful, and they increased very much upon the earth, and the ark moved upon the waters.

19. And the waters became exceedingly powerful upon the earth, and all the lofty mountains that were under the heavens were covered up.

Even considering only lofty mountains known in ancient time such as Mount Ararat, it's over 5 km. The volume of water needed to raise the level of the world ocean for 5 km by raining cannot be kept as water vapor in the dense atmosphere about only 10 km thin.  Nor can it be evaporated back into the atmosphere to end the deluge.  Nor is there any space in the depth of Earth for such extra volume of water.  

20. Fifteen cubits above did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered up.

21. And all flesh perished that moved upon the earth, among the fowl, and among the cattle, and among the beasts, and among all creeping creatures that creep upon the earth and all mankind.

22. Everything that had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, of all that were on the dry land, died.

What did happen to the living things in the water?

23. And it [the Flood] blotted out all beings that were upon the face of the earth, from man to animal to creeping thing and to the fowl of the heavens, and they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark survived.

24. And the water prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

   

Chapter 8

 

1. And God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and God caused a spirit to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

2. And the springs of the deep were closed, and the windows of the heavens, and the rain from the heavens was withheld.

3. And the waters receded off the earth more and more, and the water diminished at the end of a hundred and fifty days.

4. And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

5. And the waters constantly diminished until the tenth month; in the tenth [month], on the first of the month, the mountain peaks appeared.

6. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made.

7. And he sent forth the raven, and it went out, back and forth until the waters dried up off the earth.

8. And he sent forth the dove from with him, to see whether the waters had abated from upon the surface of the earth.

9. But the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot; so it returned to him to the ark because there was water upon the entire surface of the earth; so he stretched forth his hand and took it, and he brought it to him to the ark.

10. And he waited again another seven days, and he again sent forth the dove from the ark.

11. And the dove returned to him at eventide, and behold it had plucked an olive leaf in its mouth; so Noah knew that the water had abated from upon the earth.

12. And he again waited another seven days, and he sent forth the dove, and it no longer continued to return to him.

13. And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first [month], on the first of the month, that the waters dried up from upon the earth, and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and he saw, and behold, the surface of the ground had dried up.

14. And in the second month, on the twenty seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15. And God spoke to Noah saying:

16. "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.

17. Every living thing that is with you of all flesh, of fowl, and of animals and of all the creeping things that creep on the earth, bring out with you, and they shall swarm upon the earth, and they shall be fruitful and multiply upon the earth."

18. So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.

19. Every beast, every creeping thing, and all fowl, everything that moves upon the earth, according to their families they went forth from the ark.

20. And Noah built an altar to the Lord, and he took of all the clean animals and of all the clean fowl and brought up burnt offerings on the altar.

Just like in the case of Cain and Abel, here again an idea of offering to God by burning animals emerges without any earlier hint from God, presumably as thankfulness from Noah, having no better idea how to thank God.

21. And the Lord smelled the pleasant aroma, and the Lord said to Himself, "I will no longer curse the earth because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, and I will no longer smite all living things as I have done.

Of that offering of Noah, God is "impressed" only with the aroma, realizing of an immutable evil nature in human soul.

22. So long as the earth exists, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

   

Chapters 9-50


9:16. And the rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will see it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature among all flesh, which is on the earth."

It's particularly arrogant that contemporary sodomites chose the rainbow as their standard.

9:22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside.

... saw his father’s nakedness: Some say that he castrated him, and some say that he sodomized him. — Rushi's commentary [from Sanh. 70a]

Looks like the expression "saw his father's nakedness" is ancient euphemism for something much more awful. Similarly the expression that some "man knew women" stands for having sex with her.

9:24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what his small son had done to him.

10:5. From these, the islands of the nations separated in their lands, each one to his language, according to their families, in their nations.

10:20. These are the sons of Ham according to their families, and their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.

10:32.These are the families of the sons of Noah according to their generations, in their nations, and from these, the nations were separated on the earth after the Flood.

Different nations and different languages!  This contradicts to the Tower of Babel account, in Genesis 11:1.

11:1. Now the entire earth was of one language and uniform words.

Contradiction to 10:5, 20, 32.

12:17. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh [with] great plagues as well as his household, on account of Sarai, Abram's wife.

12:18. And Pharaoh summoned Abram, and he said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

How did the Pharaoh realize that it was the Lord who plagued him because of Sarai? Did the Pharaohs then recognize the Lord in the meaning of Torah? 

16:2. And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing; please come to my handmaid; perhaps I will be built up from her." And Abram hearkened to Sarai's voice.

16:7. And an angel of the Lord found her by a water fountain in the desert, by the fountain on the road to Shur.

16:8. And he said, "Hagar, Sarai's servant, where are you coming from, and where are you going to?" And she said, "From before Sarai my mistress, I am fleeing."

16:9. And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your mistress, and allow yourself to be afflicted under her hands."

16:10. And the angel of the Lord said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, and it will not be counted for abundance."

16:11. And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your affliction.

16:12. And he will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone's hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell."

God saves Hagar, and predicts that her son Ishmael will start a very numerous tribe of savages.

17:18. And Abraham said to God, "If only Ishmael will live before You!"

17:20. And regarding Ishmael, I have heard you; behold I have blessed him, and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him exceedingly; he will beget twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.

It looks as Abraham is still concerned about the future of Ishmael, and then God assures Abraham that Ishmael will be "fruitful" and so on...

21:10. And Sarah said to Abraham, "Drive out this handmaid and her son, for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac."

21:11. But the matter greatly displeased Abraham, concerning his son.

21:12. And God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased concerning the lad and concerning your handmaid; whatever Sarah tells you, hearken to her voice, for in Isaac will be called your seed.

21:13. But also the son of the handmaid I will make into a nation, because he is your seed."

Again, Abraham is concerned about Ishmael (the founder of the tribe of savages), and again God assures Abraham that Ishmael will be fine.

21:15. And the water was depleted from the leather pouch, and she cast the child under one of the bushes.

21:16. And she went and sat down from afar, at about the distance of two bowshots, for she said, "Let me not see the child's death." And she sat from afar, and she raised her voice and wept.

21:17. And God heard the lad's voice, and an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What is troubling you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the lad's voice in the place where he is.

21:18. Rise, pick up the lad and grasp your hand upon him, for I shall make him into a great nation."

21:19. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the pouch with water and gave the lad to drink.

21:20. And God was with the lad, and he grew, and he dwelt in the desert, and he became an archer.

In second time God intervenes to save Hagar and Ishmael – the founder of the tribe of savages and future executioners of Jews (and Christians). What for did God care to preserve Ishmael and to make possible emergence of islam?

22:2. And He said, "Please take your son, your only one, whom you love, yea, Isaac, and go away to the land of Moriah and bring him up there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains, of which I will tell you."

This episode is the most controversial in Torah.

?         Why all of a sudden did God demand the human offering while it had never happened before since the creation?

?         Why did God demand Abraham to commit a sin of murder (the sin explained in the Commandments to Noah)?

?         Why did not Abraham argue with God (as he already did on behalf of Sodom and Gomorra? Why did Abraham without any arguments was ready to commit a gross sin, to kill an innocent, moreover, to slaughter his dearest son for a reason as bizarre as an offering to God which presumably does not need anything – as He had created everything anyway.

The entire purpose of this provoking test perhaps was to check Abraham's common sense and decency. To pass this test meant that Abraham was expected to argue and challenge the request of God, and finally to refuse to fulfill it, taking the sin of disobedience on himself rather than killing an innocent. The fact that Abraham silently went on with it means that Abraham failed this test displaying his fanaticism rather than fatherly love, justice, and rational thinking.

Even though God intervened last moment and spared Isaac, Isaac lived the rest of his life with understanding that his father was about to slaughter him, just as Sarah lived the rest of her life with understanding that Abraham was about to slaughter their son, and Abraham lived separately from Sarah since then.  

22:8. And Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And they both went together.

"God will provide for Himself the lamb": why does God need offerings at all, and why does God need offering which He provides to himself? Here indeed Abraham evades the real explanation of what he is going to do to his son.

25:1. And Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah.

25:2. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Ishbak, and Shuah.

This follows the death of Sarah. 40 years before it Abraham already noted that he was too old to sire children.

25:31. And Jacob said, "Sell me as of this day your birthright."

At this point selling of the birthright seems a done deal, though later and the death bed of Isaac the issue emerges again.

26:34. And Esau was forty years old, and he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

26:35. And they were a vexation of the spirit to Isaac and to Rebecca.

27:1. It came to pass when Isaac was old, and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Esau his elder son, and he said to him, "My son," and he said to him, "Here I am."

27:5. But Rebecca overheard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt game, to bring [it].

27:6. And Rebecca said to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold I have heard your father speaking to Esau your brother, saying,....

27:12. Perhaps my father will touch me, and I will appear to him as a deceiver, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."

27:44. And you shall dwell with him for a few days until your brother's wrath has subsided.

27:45. Until your brother's rage subsides from you, and he forgets what you did to him, and I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of both of you on one day?"

It's notable that Rebecca and Jacob conspired to deceit Isaac – a near blind man! – by substituting the twins: Esau with Jacob.

When Isaac finally realizes the deceit, he neither curse Jacob, not even reprimand him.

Though Isaac was a God's servant and supposedly walked with God, God did not reprimand Isaac for any injustices, nor did God reprimand Rebecca and her offspring for wrongs committed by them.

32:25. And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.

32:26. When he saw that he could not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip became dislocated as he wrestled with him.

32:27. And he (the angel) said, "Let me go, for dawn is breaking," but he (Jacob) said, "I will not let you go unless you have blessed me."

32:28. So he said to him, "What is your name?" and he said, "Jacob."

32:29. And he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have commanding power with [an angel of] God and with men, and you have prevailed."

32:30. And Jacob asked and said, "Now tell me your name," and he said, "Why is it that you ask for my name?" And he blessed him there.

"Man" wrestled? Or an angel wrestled? Or who?

How did that mysterious being appear? What was the reason for the conflict and wrestling lasting so long? How can it be that an angel cannot (or does not want to) overpower a man?

34:8. And Hamor spoke with them, saying, "My son Shechem his soul has a liking for your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.

34:13. Thereupon, Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with cunning, and they spoke, because [after all] he had defiled their sister Dinah.

34:25. Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that Jacob's two sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, and they came upon the city with confidence, and they slew every male.

34:31. And they said, "Shall he make our sister like a harlot?"

This is a story of insidiousness, baseness, and perfidy towards the others (though not perfect human beings). Moreover, Simeon and Levi murdered the man (among many others) whom their sister Dinah loved, and then hypocritically pretended as though they avenged her so that she was not considered as a harlot. Though it was only Simeon and Levi which had committed that massive execution of all males, the rest of the brothers participated in plunder of that city all together.

Again, we see no reprehensions from God for this entire evil story.

35:29. And Isaac expired and died and was gathered in to his peoples, old and sated with days, and his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.

There is no order of earlier and later events (chronological order) in the narrative of Torah.

37:9. And he again dreamed another dream, and he related it to his brothers, and he said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream, and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were prostrating themselves to me."

37:10. And he told [it] to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will we come I, your mother, and your brothers to prostrate ourselves to you to the ground?"


37:27. Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh." And his brothers hearkened.

The mother (Rachel) had died long before.

Again, the brothers show utmost baseness and misery of their character, wishing first to murder Joseph, then selling him into slavery (for prolonged suffering).

And again, we see no reprehensions from God for this entire evil action. It looks as though God took for granted the evil nature of the humanity – even after the Deluge cleansing. As He promised to never again repeat such cleansing any more, it looks like He just had no choice but to go on with this very flawed humanity as it was (and still is).