January, 2009

Chapter 2

Why Did God Rest On The Seventh Day? - God Answers Himself! 

In this chapter we need to explore the methods used to extract God’s revelations from the text and, we want to do this by looking at the text through ‘Jewish hermeneutic’.[1]  We have several reasons for doing so, not the least of which is it’s excellence in thoroughly analyzing the text being studied.

The four levels of scriptural exegesis
Traditionally, Jews employ four levels of exegesis in Bible study with each level deepening the students grasp regarding the text under consideration. The four levels of study are:
1. Pashat is the plain, simple meaning of the text; what you read is what you get’,  it understands scripture in its natural, normal sense using the customary meanings of the words being used.  The primary Jewish exegetical rule is that no passage may ever lose its Pashat (b.Shab. 63a; b.Yeb. 24a).
2. Remez is the ‘implied’ meaning of the text. Odd words inclusions or phrasings in the text are regarded as hinting at a deeper truth than that conveyed by its literal read.  An example of implied "Remez" meaning may be found in Ex. 21:26-26-27 where we are told of our liability regarding eyes and teeth. By the

"Remez" understanding it is inferred that this liability also applies to other body parts.
3. Drash meaning "search", this is the allegorical[2] or typological[3] application of the text.  The drash process involves exegesis of the pashat or straight read of the text in such a way so as to understand the straight read as a metaphor for some future event or for some spiritual reality occurring in the past present or future. Therefore, I cannot have a drash interpretation without a prior pashat foundation!
4. Sod meaning "hidden" is the hidden, secret or mystic meaning drawn out of a pashat text. Again, the assigning of meaning, in this case on the level of Sod, to the text being read, mandates there is, in fact, a text being read.

The fifth level of scriptural exegesis
As esoteric as this may sound, what I am proposing is that there is an even deeper level to be explored, a fifth level.  This level is the level of pure revelation.  It is a non - interactive level wherein God Himself is the ‘Revealer’ and the reader becomes nothing more than a passive observer of what God reveals.  I thought about referring to these revelations as God’s footnotes since they clarify

or comment on the text being read and they are obvious like a footnote at the bottom of a page.  What follows is an example of one of God’s footnoted revelations.  It’s found in Gen.2:2.

EXAMPLE

The Text reads

“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” Gen.2:2

Here is the text written in Hebrew

God’s footnote is contained in this text.  It explains the reason why God rested on the seventh day.  This is a good thing, God providing His reason, since believers, both Jews and Christians, have been stumbling over this text for millennia.  They ask, ‘How is it possible for God to need rest since He is all powerful’?  Isn’t it interesting that we human find it so needful to explain away the literal or ‘pashat read’ of the text because it is so objectionable to us that God needed to rest?  Typically humans tend to anthropomorphize[4]  God – to impute onto Him attributes belonging to man.  In this case I find it especially ironic that we, in an attempt to not anthropomorphize God that we in fact distort the text of the scripture.  We say God didn’t really need to rest, after all, He can, in our opinion,  never tire.  We try all manner of of explanation to do away the statement “ … He rested.”

Here is what a few scholars in the past have said in answer to this question:[5]

“… and what did the world lack after six days toil? Rest!” or
“God finished His labors on the seventh day by the creation of the day of rest, the Sabbath”
or even
the word ‘rested’ has been incorrectly translated.  Of the Hebrew word ‘Sabbath’, some Rabbis have said,

….Sabbath…,”would be better translated as, ‘to stop or cease’,  Furthermore, this odd term used in Gen. 2:2 is an anthropomorphism intended to help the reader understand

God’s cessation from the act of creation.  The very idea that He needed rest is, of course, absurd.  God never tires because He is All-powerful[6]”.   (of course this is only an opinion - jb)

Now read what God Himself offers as the reason why He rested.

Stunned? - Now, note the context! God's explanatory revelation is perfectly contained in text Gen.2:2, the exact same verse which speaks of His resting. Nothing is added to the text - nothing has been omitted from the text.

So, what reason does God offer as to why He rested on the seventh day?  He says, "… and I was weary". What could be more clear?

What could be more direct?  No interpretation is needed! Indeed, who would dare interpret after seeing this? 

Using the ancient rabbinic method we are left with a conundrum at each of the four traditional levels of exegesis. No matter how one exegetically approaches the statement, he violates the clear meaning of the ‘straight read’, namely ‘God rested’.  They rebel at the idea ‘He must be tired’ preferring instead the exegetical opinion, it’s impossible that He really tires!

However, looking at the text afresh, at the fifth level, the conundrum is solved. Does God tire?  Yes, He does tire and He becomes exhausted.  In some ineffable divine manner, He fatigues. 

Indeed, the  fact is, that in most places, including the Ten Commandments, wherever the term, ‘Sabbath’, is found in the scripture, it does in fact have something to do with resting due to ‘fatigue’ and can only be satisfactorily explained by the revelation above, God’s Own Revelation.

But there is more.  The Hebrew word operative in this revelation is “ la ha – להה”  and it means ‘to languish or faint’.  Used only twice in scripture, Gen 47:13 and Prov.26:18, ‘la ha’ conveys a strong sense of languishing or even passing out due to exhaustion resulting from a frenzy of activity. It is an intense verb which

clearly in this case expresses the idea that in some mysterious and unfathomable way God tires; He is utterly spent. 

Until now, solutions to this question only underscore the fact that ‘opinion’ is the only criteria by which ‘scholars’ analyze this or other problematic texts. They don’t offer answers, they offer opinions disguised as answers. They have not successfully explained why God rested from work on the seventh day.  They’ve tried to explain things, but they have mostly produced polemic. [7]

Obviously, the notion of God resting due to fatigue flies in the face of traditional theology, or rather, opinion, which opinion would prefer to translate Gen.2:2 to mean God desisted from the act of creating rather than to ascribe to Him a characteristic which we all share as humans. They find this threatening – they say this is an anthropomorphism. 

But, is there another way to look at this “Holy Fatigue”?  I think there is.  The scripture teaches us we were created ‘in His Image after His Likeness’.  “… in  His Image after His Likeness…”, interesting , here’s a new exegetical angle to things, perhaps I tire because He tires. Rather than appending to God characteristics of

humankind it is He Who appends to us characteristics of divinity, i.e., a reversal on the word, anthropomorphism.  In fact such a proposal ‘squares’ with what the scripture teaches; namely, we humans were created,  … “In His Image”.   The favorite expression of my Old Testament seminary professor from years ago, Fr. Tarazi, was, “The text, read the text”… perhaps we all should pay attention to his sage advice.

God became utterly spent in the act of creation.  The implications of this are staggering.  Here at the first moments of History God is sacrificially pouring Himself out on our behalf.  The evidences of His love revealed as being paid in His Self effacing act.  In this revelation we witness the philosophical paradox of the ‘problem of evil’[8] finally being solved and see in metaphor and shadow the sacrificial act of a Holy Messiah.

This new revelation is wonderful in that the act of creation is no longer seen as an effortless event.

Some may yet object saying this example is mere co-incidence and means nothing at all.  I’d like to put this argument to rest.  Firstfrom a quantitative perspective then from a probabilities

perspective.[9]  The fact is I have available hundreds of similar revelations and most of these are much more impressive than this simple example.  They cannot all be co-incidence.  Next, The odds suggest there are only eight random occurrences of the  term, וילהה  in the Old Testament. However, there are nine findings of the phrase, וילהה.  Contextually speaking, eight of these texts have zero bearing on the subject of fatigue and the unexpected ninth finding has a great deal of bearing on fatigue due to exhaustion.   The point is, the fact that this phrase shows up 8 times in the 1.2 million letters of the Old Testament is not surprising. Probabilities say this will happen.  What catches our attention is the other fact that one of  the findings of “ …and I was weary” shows up in a text which says:

“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” Gen.2:2

Our probabilities have just taken a quantum leap into infinity since there is no number large enough that could reflect the probability of this occurring unintentionally.  Mathematics has taken it out of the realm of just dumb coincidence and into the realm of scientific fact; and, along with this, mathematics has much to say regarding

God as the Author of the Bible.  We’ll develop this theme in a later chapter.

I’d like to finish this chapter by returning once more to the subject of  ‘theological opinion’.  Consider that one Jewish opinion teaches, ‘the Torah ( the first five books of the Bible) was dictated by God to Moses ‘letter by letter’… - letter by letter - not word by word. Because of this ‘tradition’, the Jews have an incredible respect for every letter, every jot and every tittle in the text.  This reverence for each letter in the scripture forms the underpinning for their almost flawless transmission of the scriptural text over these last several millennia.

 “ should you omit or add even one single letter to or from the Torah, you would thereby destroy all the universe.” (unknown)

 “There is not a single letter in the Torah on which but a thousand secrets hang.”  Menashe Ben Israel

“Every letter has a soul.”  Moses Cordovero

“Every letter is a whole universe.”  The Maggid of Mezhirich

The above is but a sampling of the opinions of respected Jewish scholars on this subject.  Thousands of other such opinions can be easily offered as well.

All of us today owe our profound gratitude to this people for their protection of God’s Book.