Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 1:9/אבן עזרא על בראשית א׳:ט׳
אויאמר, כפי דעתי שזו הפרשה דבקה עם אשר עליה כי הרקיע לא נעשה עד אשר יבשה הארץ והעֵד "ביום עשות ד' אלהים ארץ ושמים" (בראשית ב ד), והנה ביום אחד נעשו, והראות דבר נסתר והקוות מפוזר איננה בריאה, וכן טעמו וכבר אמר אלהים יקוו המים ויש כמוהו בתורה למאות, והנה בפ' בראשית אתן לך עדים שנים, האחד "וישם שם את האדם אשר יצר" (בראשית ב ה) ואחרי כן "ויצמח ד' אלהים" (שם שם ט) וקודם האדם הצמיחם, והעד השני, שצוה אדם שלא יאכל מעץ הדעת, ואחריו כתיב "וייצר ד' אלהים מן האדמה" (שם שם יט) רק פירושו וכבר יצר, ועל זה הפירוש יהיה "וירא אלהים כי טוב", דבק עם בריאת יום שני ותדשא הארץ תחלת יום שלישי
1AND GOD SAID. I believe that this chapter is connected to the one preceding it96 because the firmament did not come into being until the land dried.97 Proof of this is Scripture’s statement, In the day that the Lord God made earth (dry land) and heaven (the firmament) (Gen. 2:4). Thus they were made on the same day. The revelation of something which had previously been hidden (the land) or the gathering of something which was scattered (the water) into one place is not a creation.98, rather than the Lord God created earth and heaven. I.E. had previously commented that only one thing was created on each day. He therefore explains that the making of the firmament and dry land on one day does not constitute the creation of two things on the same day, for the drying of the land was not a creation. The meaning of our verse is: now God had said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered.99 is to be understood as a pluperfect. Verses 8 and 9 are to be read as one verse and understood as follows: And God called the firmament heaven…for God had said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place (Cohen). There are hundreds of similar instances in the Torah. I will offer two examples from the portion of Bereshit. One is: And the Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed (Gen. 2:8). After stating this, Scripture goes on to say, And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight (v. 9). However, God caused vegetation and trees to sprout before the creation of man.100 The second example is when God commanded man not to eat from the tree of knowledge (Gen. 2:16). However, immediately after this it is written, And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man, etc. (Gen. 2:19).101 in Gen. 2:19 is had formed, i.e., before creating man God had formed the beasts of the field and every fowl of the air. The meaning of formed thus is had formed. According to this interpretation it follows that And God saw that it was good (Gen. 1:10) is connected to the act of creation which took place on the second day.102. The account of the creation which took place on the third day thus begins with And God said: Let the earth put forth grass (Gen. 1:11).
בופי' יקוו יתחברו, וכן ונקוו אליה (ירמיה ג יז),
2[LET…BE GATHERED.] The meaning of yikkavu is let them come together. Ve-nikvu in At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all nations shall be gathered (ve-nikvu) unto it (Jer. 3:17) is similar.