Creation of the Animals

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Naming the Animals

TANAKH

The act of naming the animals underscores the unique relationship and authority given to humanity by God in the process of creation. In the book of Genesis, God brings all the wild beasts and birds to Adam to see what he would call them.

And God יהוה formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the Human to see what he would call them; and whatever the Human called each living creature, that would be its name.

Genesis 2:19

The Fate of the Leviathan

COMMENTARY

The Leviathan, a mythical sea creature, has a fascinating and unique fate that intertwines with Jewish mystical and eschatological traditions. Rabbeinu Bachya’s commentary on Genesis explores the extraordinary size and fate of the Leviathan, referencing the Babylonian Talmud in tractate Moed Katan and biblical sources.

According to an homiletical approach the meaning of the words התנינים הגדולים refers to Leviathan, both the male and the female of the species (compare Baba Batra 74). The reason the Torah mentions the word גדולים, ”large ones,” is that Leviathan was extraordinarily large. His carcass was found in the great ocean which spans the globe. The word הגדולים is similar in meaning to the same word applied to the “big luminaries,” which distinguished them from the smaller stars. These luminaries are several times the size of earth…

Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 1:21:2

The Beasts Preserved for the Righteous

TALMUD

Given the extraordinary size and potential danger of certain beasts created by God, divine intervention was necessary to prevent their procreation. The Babylonian Talmud in tractate Bava Batra discusses the creation of enormous beasts by God and the measures taken to prevent them from reproducting.

And He created even the beasts on the thousand hills (see Psalms 50:10) male and female. And they were so enormous that if they would have coupled and produced offspring, they would have destroyed the entire world. What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? He castrated the male and cooled the sexual desire of the female and preserved it for the righteous in the future. As it is stated about the beasts: “Lo now, his strength is in his loins” (Job 40:16); this is referring to the male…

Bava Batra 74b:7

The Order of Creation

COMMENTARY

The Torah's unique order of creation, placing birds before mammals, offers profound insights into the nature and significance of different creatures. Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar's 18th-century commentary, Or HaChaim, delves into the reasons behind this order, including the prolific multiplication of 'pure' birds and the Torah's specific commands regarding Noah's Ark.

מהעוף למינהו. From the birds according to their kind. It is peculiar that the birds are mentioned before the mammals in this list. If the list is in order of their respective importance, the mammals should have been mentioned first; if the list is in an ascending order the crawling creatures should have been mentioned first. Why does the Torah use this peculiar order? Perhaps the birds enjoy a certain distinction over the mammals because they multiply so profusely…

Or HaChaim on Genesis 6:20:1

The Blessing of Animal Procreation

COMMENTARY

The blessing for animals to be fruitful and multiply highlights the active role of reproduction, contrasting with the automatic propagation of vegetation. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s commentary on Genesis explores the necessity of a special blessing for animals, emphasizing the importance of procreation in Jewish thought.

God blessed them, saying: Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the water in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. Vegetation propagates automatically; it does not require action on its own part to multiply. By contrast, the reproductive processes of animals, whether flying, aquatic, or amphibious, involve the search for a mate. Consequently, they required a special blessing that would instill within them the active drive to be fruitful and multiply.

Steinsaltz on Genesis 1:22

Creation in Full Form

COMMENTARY

The Maharal asserts that all creations, including animals and humans, were created in their complete and mature forms, possessing their full height, intellect, and beauty from the very beginning. In his commentary on Pirkei Avot, a work of ancient rabbinic ethics and wisdom from the land of Israel, the Maharal of Prague explores the nature of creation and the inherent qualities of beings as described in Jewish thought.

Rather you should know that the choice explanation is that it wanted to say that all the creations were created with their complete height; not that you should say that at first they were small, and afterwards they became big, like a calf that becomes an ox (Bava Kamma 65b). Rather, it was created an ox from the beginning. And the explanation of “with their knowledge,” is that when the first man, Adam, was created, he was immediately created with his intellect; and not like a baby that does not have knowledge…

Derekh Chayyim 6:11:11

Divine Wisdom in All Creatures

JEWISH THOUGHT

The complexity and wonder of creation are equally present in tiny creatures as in large ones, reflecting the Divine wisdom and power of the Creator. Bachya ibn Pekudah, in his 11th-century work 'Duties of the Heart,' explores the manifestation of Divine wisdom in all creatures, emphasizing that even the smallest beings reveal the Creator's greatness.

And the Divine wisdom appears in the tiny creatures as well as the large ones, because the wisdom manifested in the formation of an elephant, despite its huge body, is no more wondrous than the wisdom manifested in the formation of a tiny ant. On the contrary, the smaller the creature the more wisdom and power it appears to reflect, and the more it testifies to the wondrous ability of the Creator.

Duties of the Heart, First Treatise on Unity 7:12

The Hierarchy of Creation

COMMENTARY

The hierarchical nature of creation suggests that all beings, from plants to animals, have a purpose and place in the world. Radak, a medieval Jewish commentator, offers insights into the hierarchy of creation in his commentary on Genesis, emphasizing the superiority of creatures with a life-force (nefesh chayah) over vegetation.

ולכל ..אשר בו נפש חיה, seeing that any creature possessing a life-force called nefesh chayah is superior to even the most advanced form of vegetation. It is a rule within this universe that inferior beings have been created to be made use of by more advanced types of beings.

Radak on Genesis 1:30:1

The Unique Role of Humans in Naming Animals

SECOND TEMPLE

God brought every animal to Adam specifically for the purpose of naming them, underscoring the unique role of humans in categorizing the animals. Philo of Alexandria, an ancient Jewish philosopher, offers an allegorical interpretation of Genesis 2:19, blending Jewish tradition with Hellenistic philosophy.

Why did God bring every animal to man, that he might give them their names? (Genesis 2:19).

The Midrash of Philo 2:19:4

Distinguishing Clean and Unclean Birds

MIDRASH

The Torah provides specific signs to distinguish clean birds from unclean ones, which is crucial for understanding ritual purity and sacrificial offerings. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, an eighth-century midrashic work, elaborates on the creation of birds on the fifth day, reflecting Jewish interest in the natural world and ritual purity.

THE CREATION AND WONDERS OF THE FIFTH DAY
ON the fifth day He caused the waters to bring forth abundantly all kinds of winged fowls, male and female, unclean and clean. By two signs are they declared to be clean, by the crop, and by the craw peeling off. Rabbi Eliezer said: (Another sign was) also by the projecting toe of the claw. Two kinds of birds have been chosen for the offering of a burnt sacrifice, namely, the turtle-dove and the young pigeon.

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 9:1

The Blessing of Life

LITURGY

The divine commandment to the animals to be fruitful and multiply underscores the importance of life and proliferation in the natural world. The Seder Ma'amadot, a liturgical text from the time of the Temple, includes this divine blessing and commandment, reflecting the sacredness of life in the waters and skies.

(20) Elohim said, Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, in the open canopy of the heaven. (21) And thus Elohim created the great whales, and every living creature that creeps, with which the waters teem, of its kind, and every winged bird of its kind; and Elohim saw that it was good. (22) Elohim blessed them saying, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth. (23) Elohim blessed them saying, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.

Seder Ma'amadot 5:3

Divine Order of Animals

TARGUM

The distinction between clean and unclean animals during creation offers a unique perspective on the divine order and purpose in the natural world. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, an Aramaic translation and interpretation of the Torah, provides a detailed account of the creation process, including the categorization of animals.

And the Lord said, Let the soil of the earth bring forth the living creature according to his kind; the kind that is clean and the kind that is unclean; cattle, and creeping thing, and the creature of the earth, according to his kind. And it was so.

Targum Jonathan on Genesis 1:24

Garden of Eden; Creation of the Animals, anonymous, Netherlandish, 16th century

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