B’reishit (Who’s Who?..Mankind)

Continuing with my thoughts on B’reishit….

And Elohim said: “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness.”

With Elohim being both male and female, it stands to reason that mankind would be too.  In chapter 1 verse 27, it says that Elohim created mankind  (ha adam) in (the divine) image, creating them male and female (and equal).  This version would lead one to believe that there is God and Goddess. But then in chapter 2…we have another version.

Many Goddess traditions, see the Goddess (Creator) as Mother and  even look on the earth as Mother Earth. Could the following  verse have anything to do with it?  Or could the verse have been born out of  those earliest traditions? Could our earliest ancestors have understood things from this perspective?

In verse 7 of  the second chapter, we read that … YHVH Elohim fashioned  the man (ha adam)  out of the of the dust of the soil, or earth (adamah) and  breathed into his nostrils, the neshmat  נשמת (breath  of  life)

The word “adamah” means earth, and not red as many have ascribed to it. But, the word “dam” means blood, and is associated with adamah.

Adamah (earth) mixed with water = adam (mankind).

“the first common ancestor of mankind was a black man from Africa. From him come all different races of people only possible if he was black, the colour white does not produce all races. Sir Isaac Newton proved through the spectrum theory that only the black colour produces all colours. ” quoted from the Hidden Truths Hebraic Scrolls Tanak  With Commentary,

Verse 21 of the 2nd chapter says that Elohim causes a sleep to come upon the adam and removes half of the being…one side. The word used here is מצלעתיו tṣalʿōtāyw and  every other place it is used it’s to designate a side..not a rib. There are 41 occurances:

Strong’s concordance

There are 41 occurrences in 32 verses of Strong’s number H6763 (צֵלָע – tsêlâʻ) in the hebrew concordance of the KJV :

Genesis 2 : 21	And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, [מִצַּלְעֹתָ֔יו – miṣṣalʿōtāyw] and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Genesis 2 : 22	And the rib, [הַצֵּלָ֛ע – haṣṣēlāʿ] which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Exodus 25 : 12	And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put in the four corners thereof; and two rings in the one side [צַלְעוֹ֙ – ṣalʿô] of it, and two rings in the other side [צַלְע֖וֹ – ṣalʿô] of it.
Exodus 25 : 14	And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides [צַלְעֹ֣ת – ṣalʿōt] of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
Exodus 26 : 20	And for the second side [וּלְצֶ֧לַע – ûlĕṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle on the north side twenty boards:
Exodus 26 : 26	And thou shalt make bars shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side [צֶֽלַע – ṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle,
Exodus 26 : 27	And five bars for the boards of the other side [צֶֽלַע – ṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side [צֶ֣לַע – ṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle, for the two sides westward.
Exodus 26 : 35	And thou shalt set the table without the vail, and the candlestick over against the table on the side [צֶ֥לַע – ṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle toward the south: and thou shalt put the table on the north side. [צֶ֥לַע – ṣelaʿ]
Exodus 27 : 7	And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be upon the two sides [צַלְעֹ֥ת – ṣalʿōt] of the altar, to bear it.
Exodus 30 : 4	And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners [צַלְעֹתָ֔יו – ṣalʿōtāyw] thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.
Exodus 36 : 25	And for the other side [וּלְצֶ֧לַע – ûlĕṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle, toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,
Exodus 36 : 31	And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side [צֶֽלַע – ṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle,
Exodus 36 : 32	And five bars for the boards of the other side [צֶֽלַע – ṣelaʿ] of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.
Exodus 37 : 3	And he cast for it four rings of gold, by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side [צַלְעוֹ֙ – ṣalʿô] of it, and two rings upon the other side [צַלְע֖וֹ – ṣalʿô] of it.
Exodus 37 : 5	And he put the staves into the rings by the sides [צַלְעֹ֣ת – ṣalʿōt] of the ark, to bear the ark.
Exodus 37 : 27	And he made two rings of gold for it under the crown thereof, by the two corners [צַלְעֹתָ֔יו – ṣalʿōtāyw] of it, upon the two sides thereof, to be places for the staves to bear it withal.
Exodus 38 : 7	And he put the staves into the rings on the sides [צַלְעֹ֣ת – ṣalʿōt] of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.
2 Samuel 16 : 13	And as David and his men went by the way, Shimei went along on the hill’s side [בְּצֵ֨לַע – bĕṣēlaʿ] over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones at him, and cast dust.
1 Kings 6 : 5	And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, the walls of the house round about, of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers [צְלָע֖וֹת – ṣĕlāʿôt] round about:
1 Kings 6 : 8	The door for the middle chamber [הַצֵּלָע֙ – haṣṣēlāʿ] in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle and out of the middle into the third.

1 Kings 6 : 15	And he built the walls of the house within with boards [בְּצַלְע֣וֹת – bĕṣalʿôt] of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: he covered on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks [בְּצַלְע֥וֹת – bĕṣalʿôt] of fir.
1 Kings 6 : 16	And he built twenty cubits on the sides of the house, both the floor and the walls with boards [בְּצַלְע֣וֹת – bĕṣalʿôt] of cedar: he even built for it within, for the oracle, for the most holy
1 Kings 6 : 34	And the two doors fir tree: the two leaves [צְלָעִ֜ים – ṣĕlāʿîm] of the one door folding, and the two leaves of the other door folding.
1 Kings 7 : 3	And covered with cedar above upon the beams, [הַצְּלָעוֹת֙ – haṣṣĕlāʿôt] that on forty five pillars, fifteen a row.
Job 18 : 12	His strength shall be hungerbitten, and destruction ready at his side. [לְצַלְעֽוֹ׃ – lĕṣalʿô]
Ezekiel 41 : 5	After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the breadth of side chamber, [הַצֵּלָע֩ – haṣṣēlāʿ] four cubits, round about the house on every side.
Ezekiel 41 : 6	And the side chambers [וְהַצְּלָעוֹת֩ – wĕhaṣṣĕlāʿôt] three, one [צֵלָ֨ע – ṣēlāʿ] over another, [צֵלָ֜ע – ṣēlāʿ] and thirty in order; and they entered into the wall which of the house for the side chambers [לַצְּלָע֛וֹת – laṣṣĕlāʿôt] round about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall of the house.
Ezekiel 41 : 7	And an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: [לַצְּלָע֗וֹת – laṣṣĕlāʿôt] for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house upward, and so increased the lowest to the highest by the midst.
Ezekiel 41 : 8	I saw also the height of the house round about: the foundations of the side chambers [הַצְּלָעוֹת֙ – haṣṣĕlāʿôt] a full reed of six great cubits.
Ezekiel 41 : 9	The thickness of the wall, which for the side chamber [לַצֵּלָ֛ע – laṣṣēlāʿ] without, five cubits: and which left the place of the side chambers [צְלָע֖וֹת – ṣĕlāʿôt] that within.
Ezekiel 41 : 11	And the doors of the side chambers [הַצֵּלָע֙ – haṣṣēlāʿ] toward left, one door toward the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of the place that was left five cubits round about.
Ezekiel 41 : 26	And narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and the side chambers [וְצַלְע֥וֹת – wĕṣalʿôt] of the house, and thick planks.

Since chapter two says that the 2 sides were separated, it stands to reason that mankind was originally androgynos. The mystics believe that is the reason that when we find our soul mate and fall in love, feel complete…The two sides are reunited and made whole again…It kind of makes you wonder if it’s possible that mankind was originally androgynos, was the Divine, as well?

Another thought on this parashah, is that I don’t think that we actually  know what that first man in the scriptures was actually named. The word adam was actually the term used for mankind in general, in other parts of the scriptures. This makes me think that originally it was also talking about mankind in general from the start and the editors did some slight altering, possibly.

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And then the man called his wife Chava. in B’reishit 3:20, which means The Mother Of All Living. (Interesting note: Asherah was also called, The Mother Of All Living).

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There are also rumors of other wives, as well. One notable wife that is mentioned often is Lilith. Lilith was supposedly the wife given to adam first, outside of the garden. Question is, if she  existed and was given to an “adam”, is it the same “adam” mentioned in chapter two? She became rebellious though and ran away by uttering Yahuah’s name. Was the male and female, in chapter one, referring to her and her mate?

In Genesis 2:23, the singular word אשׁה isha is used to define Adam’s mate.

In Genesis 2:24, the word באשׁתו b’ishto is used, which is plural.

Does this mean that Adam had multiple wives in the garden? Simon Altaf in his translation, Hidden Truths Hebraic Scrolls Tanak with Commentary, seems to think so.

It’s quite possible that there were other people created outside of the garden, before the being we call Adam. Some commentators believe that “adam” was created outside of Eden, too.