The First Creation Account ­is a Poem Based on Number Seven and the Sanctity of the Sabbath

Counterintuitive as it may seem, the first creation story is not primarily about the details of the creation of the universe. It is a poem about the order, design and purposefulness underlying God’s creative activities and His institution of the holy Sabbath. Like a film strip leading us along a path towards a magnificent vista, this entire chapter is directing us step by step towards a foundational aspect of the Torah, the institution of the Sabbath.

​

The Sabbath day is instituted on the seventh day of the creation of the universe. Therefore, the first chapter of Genesis can be considered a beautifully constructed poem built around number seven and the first seven days of creation.

 

Numbers had meaning in the ancient world. The number seven represented the perfection of the Divine. This is not a Jewish concept, and in ancient Mesopotamia the number seven would have been used in connection with pagan gods. Hence, the ziggurat in Babylon on which the biblical tower of Babylon story is likely based had seven stories. On the seventh story, closest to the heavens, was the temple of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon. The Armana letters found in an archive in Egypt were written on clay tablets between about 1360 to 1332 BCE and consist primarily of 382 diplomatic correspondences between the New Kingdom Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurua and neighboring kingdom leaders. Two of the letters mention the writer falling before the Egyptian Pharaoh seven times seven i.e., 49 times. This would be acknowledging the godliness of the Pharaoh.1 The Gilgamesh myth mentions the number seven many times. Some are indicative of a week, but others have religious implications in relation to pagan gods.

 

The first sentence of the first creation story, which is also the first sentence of the Torah, contains seven Hebrew words: 

 

Bereishis boro Elokim et hashomayim ve’et ho’oretz ­­­— In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

 

The second sentence of the Torah has 14 words, also a multiple of seven (2 x 7):

 

 Veho’oretz hayeso tohu vovohu vechoshech al pnei sehom veru’ach Elokim merachefes al pnei hamoyim —  And the earth was without form (tohu), and void (vohu); and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (ibid 1:2).

 

These two sentences indicate that everything in the universe was created by the One who is represented by the number seven — namely, God Himself. The remainder of the chapter is elaboration on this.

 

It is worth noting parenthetically that the opening sentence of the Bible has unusual wording, in that its first word, bereishit, is in the construct form, meaning “in the beginning of . . . ” However, the subject of the “of” is missing. The usual way of saying “in the beginning” in Hebrew is not bereishit but barishona, meaning first of all.

 

Many Jewish commentators consider this first sentence as being a general introduction to the creation story and having an implied subject — i.e., “In the beginning of [everything].“ 

 

Another way of looking at it is as a wake-up sentence: “In the beginning of, God created the heaven and the earth.” What do you mean “in the beginning of”? This makes no sense. In the beginning of what? “In the beginning [of everything]” of course!

 

Just as the Divine was conceptualized in the ancient world in terms of number seven, so the natural world was represented by the numbers six and 60. 

 

We have vestiges of this system today in our 12-month year (6 x 2) and 24-hour day (6 x 4). There is no scientific reason that the number of hours in a day should be a multiple of six. It is a made-up construct based on Mesopotamian convention. 

 

A sexagesimal system, i.e., a number system based on 60 (which happens to be 6 x 10), was also used in the ancient world. Vestiges of this system are our 60-minute hour, 360-degree circle (60 x 6), and 180-degree triangle (60 x 3). Again, this is an arbitrary system and there is no scientific reason that an hour has to have 60 minutes.

 

Within this number-six system that frames the creation account one finds an expression of the order of God’s creative activities and hence the order within the universe. God did not create the universe in a haphazard way. This order within the universe starts at the very beginning of creation and is emphasized by the Bible’s use of six days of creating. Hence, in Genesis I, God begins creating from “day one.” The notion of order is further emphasized by a poetic refrain found at the end of most days of creation — “And it was evening and it was morning the . . . day.”

 

The universe was, of course, created in billions of years and not in six days. Nor is it possible scientifically to subdivide these years into six phases of creation. Rather, this chapter describes in a poetic form the order and design pervading the natural world. It also directs us to the seventh day of creation using a numerical system whose meaning would have been familiar to everyone living in that historic period.

 

The institution of the Sabbath is embedded deeply within creation. It is as much a part of creation as say the forming of the waters and the dry land. Its institution began at the beginning of time and its recognition will extend into eternity. This also means that the Sabbath cannot be delayed or moved to another day of the week.

 

The final paragraph of this chapter describing the institution of the Sabbath has a wonderful lilt to it. It reads as follows:

 

(Sentence #1): Thus, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their hosts. 

 

(Sentence #2): And Elohim finished on the seventh day 

His work (melachto) which He had made (asa);

 

(Sentence #3): And He rested (vayishbot) on the seventh day 

from all His work (melachto) which He had made (asa). 

 

(Sentence #4): And Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it;

because in it He had rested (shovat) from all his work (melachto) which Elohim created and made (la’asot). (Genesis 2:1-3).

 

This lilt is best appreciated in the Hebrew, although it is also noticeable to a degree in English. There are a number of reasons for it. First, the middle of each of the three sentences labeled #2 to #4 contain the words “bayom hashevi’i” or “yom hashevi’i,” which mean “on the seventh day” or just “the seventh day.” This phrase therefore acts as a refrain for the passage. In addition, each of sentences #2 to #4 contains seven words in Hebrew.2 Finally, the end of sentence #4 is a summary of the end of sentences #2 and #3. All these features provide a structure and rhythm that make this paragraph stand out as a fitting ending to this chapter.

 

However, this paragraph is not only poetic, but has considerable depth. This section contains 35 Hebrew words (5 x 7). This is the same number as the number of times the word Elohim is mentioned in this chapter, thereby stressing that both are interrelated keywords.

 

Moreover, Elohim blessed the seventh day, as he did on day 5 and day 6, implying a physical dimension to this day, as well as sanctifying it.

 

As noted by Harbater, the Sabbath is never called this by name in Genesis, but is called only “the seventh day.” Nevertheless, the root of the noun Shabbat is used for the verb “rested” of God in sentence #4.2 This section also calls God’s creative work “melacha,” although this noun is used nowhere else in this chapter. All this will have significance as we follow the development of the Sabbath concept later in the Torah.

 

A day of the week commemorated by God alone would seem to have little meaning. Hence, God’s sanctifying the Sabbath at the time of Creation already implies that there will be a people in the future who will also sanctity this day. This means that the formation of an eternal Jewish people is subtly written into the very first chapter of Genesis.

 

This makes us think about the nature of Elohim. On the one hand, the name Elohim clearly signifies universal aspects, since the world was created for all humanity. The notion that there is a God who created the entire universe and Who needs to be acknowledged as such is a universal value. On the other hand, the Bible was written as a book for the Jewish people, and the universal aspect of Elohim as it appears in the Torah relates to the role of the Jewish people within the context of the nations of the world.

 

The next time the Sabbath is discussed in detail is in the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus.4

 

A1. Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it.

B1. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is Sabbath to YHWH, your God.

C. You shall not do any work ­­— you and your son and your daughter, your slave and your maidservant and your animal, and the stranger within your gates —

B2.  For in six days YHWH made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day.

A2. Therefore, YHWH blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it (Exodus 20:8-11).

 

This passage has a chiastic structure.5 A chiasmus has two parts, with the second part mirroring the first. Chiastic structures are not uncommon in the Torah and it is helpful to recognize them. Firstly, they explain an otherwise wordy passages. Secondly, the centerpiece of a chiasmus is often the main point being made within its sentences. In this instance, line C emphasizes the total cessation of work that there should be within a household on the Sabbath and hence a total reliance on God for sustenance. This passage is clearly related to our passage in Genesis, since B2 and A2 can be considered its summary.

 

A further dimension to the understanding of the nature of the Sabbath and its holiness is found some chapters after this in the Book of Exodus with discussion of the building of the Sanctuary. The Torah has extended the concept of the holiness of time to the concept of holiness of place, in this instance the Sanctuary. However, the construction of the Sanctuary should never override the sanctity of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is now considered a “sign” relating specifically to the sanctification of the Jewish people:

 

A1. Nevertheless, you must keep my Sabbaths (shabtotei)

B1. for it is a sign between Me and you for your generations

C1. that you may know that I am YHWH Who sanctifies you.

D1. You shall keep the Sabbath (hashabat), for it is holy to you;

E1. those who profane it shall be put to death, for whoever does (ha’oseh) work (melacha) on it, that person shall be cut off from among its people.

F.  Six days may work be done (ye’oseh melacha), but on the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest (shabat shabaton), holy to God;

E2. whoever does work (ha’oseh melacha) on the Sabbath day (b’yom hashabbat) shall be put to death.

D2. The Children of Israel shall observe the Sabbath (hashabbat)

C2. to make (la’asot) the Sabbath (hashabbat) an eternal covenant for their generations.

B2. It is a sign forever between Me and the Children of Israel

A2. for in six days YHWH made (asa) the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased (shavat) from work (melacha) and was refreshed (Exodus 31:13-17).

 

This passage is also in the form of a chiasmus, with its apex at F: The first half of the chiasmus is directed at the individual and is written in the second person singular, while the second half is directed to the Children of Israel as a whole. 3

 

Linguistically, this passage is also a sequel to the passage in Genesis. The Sabbath is no longer just “the seventh day”, but has been given a name — Shabbat. This passage also uses the same verb for doing work as in Genesis (oseh) and uses the same word for work (melacha).

 

Proponents of the Documentary Hypothesis convince themselves that all these passagesabout the Sabbath are from a P source, and this explains the commonality of language. However, it is suggested that a more satisfactory way of viewing these passages is to appreciate that the institution of the Sabbath is initially found in an Elohim passage for the reason explained above. However, when it comes to the application of the laws of the Shabbat, this is completely within the realm of YHWH. The Torah is a unified book and not a conglomerate of different sources put skillfully together by a Redactor. Hence, this chapter at the very beginning of Genesis is already anticipating these later passages and the formation of a Jewish people who will sanctify this seventh day.

 

 

References:

1. Armana letters in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarna_letters.

 

2. Seventh Paragraph. Introduction in A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. Part One. From Adam to Noah by U.Cassuto, p 15. The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1998.

 

3. Chapter 1. The First Story of Creation (P) in “In the Beginnings. Discovering the Two Worldviews Hidden within Genesis 1-11, p30, Gefen, Jerusalem.2023.

 

4. The Sabbath is also discussed briefly in relation to collecting the manna (Exodus 16:23).

 

5. “Shabbat of Sinai, Shabbat of the Mishkan” by Rav Yonatan Grossman in Torah Mietzion. New Readings in Tanach. Shemot. Eds: Ezra Bick and Yaakov Beasley. Maggid Books. Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd, p489, 2012.