Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Genesis 1:29/אור החיים על בראשית א׳:כ״ט
אוַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם וְגוֹ׳. שִׁעוּר הַכָּתוּב הוּא עַל זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ: לֶהֱיוֹת שֶׁכְּבָר אָמַר ״וּמִלְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁהָ וּרְדוּ״ וְגוֹ׳, בָּזֶה עָשָׂה אֶת הָאָדָם אָדוֹן וְשַׁלִּיט בְּכָל הַבְּרִיאָה, וְעַתָּה בָּא לוֹמַר תּוֹעֶלֶת הַנְּתִינָה שֶׁהוּא לְאָכְלָה, וּבָזֶה הִרְשָׁה אוֹתָם לֶאֱכוֹל מֵהַצְּמָחִים. וּמִמּוֹצָא דָבָר אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ כִּי מַה שֶׁנָּתַן לָהֶם דְּגַת הַיָּם וְעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהַבְּהֵמָה אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא לִמְשׁוֹל בָּהֶם, לֹא לֶאֱכוֹל מֵהֶם, כִּי פֵּרַט עַל אֶחָד מֵהַנִּמְשָׁלִים שֶׁהוּא לַאֲכִילָה וְלֹא כֻּלָּם.
1And God said to them, "behold I have given you, etc.": The structure of the verse is in the following way: Given that He already stated, "and fill the earth and conquer it and have dominion, etc,." by which He made man master and governor over all the creation, now He came to state the benefit of the giving, which is the eating; and with this He permitted them to eat from the plants. And from the derivation of the matter, you know that that which [God] gave them the fish of the sea and the birds of the skies and the animals is only to rule over them, not to eat them; since He specified one of the ruled [creatures] that it should be for eating, not all of them.
בוְאֶת כָּל הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ פְרִי עֵץ. כָּאן שָׁלַל עֵץ הַדַּעַת, כִּי אֵינוֹ בְּגֶדֶר זֶה עוֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְבַד, אֶלָּא שֶׁהוּא עַצְמוֹ פְּרִי. וְשִׁעוּר הַכָּתוּב הוּא עַל זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ: וְאֶת כָּל הָעֵץ – וְלֹא כָּל הָעֵץ בִּכְלָל, אֶלָּא אוֹתוֹ אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ פְרִי עֵץ, וְלֹא אוֹתוֹ שֶׁהוּא עַצְמוֹ פְּרִי, שֶׁהוּא עֵץ הַדַּעַת שֶׁנִּצְטַוָּה עָלָיו אַחַר כָּךְ בְּפֵרוּשׁ. אוֹ יֹאמַר דַּאֲפִלּוּ עֵץ הַדַּעַת בִּכְלָל, וַהֲגַם שֶׁמָּצִינוּ שֶׁנִּצְטַוָּה עָלָיו, כְּבָר אָמְרוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה (בראשית רבה פכ״א) שֶׁאִם הָיָה מַמְתִּין עַד עֶרֶב שַׁבָּת הָיָה מְקַדֵּשׁ עַל הַיַּיִן עַד כָּאן, וּמִתּוֹךְ דִּבְרֵיהֶם אַתָּה לָמֵד כִּי לֹא נֶאֱסַר אִסּוּר עוֹלָם.
2And all of the trees that have fruit of the tree: Here it negates [the inclusion] of the tree of knowledge, since it is not in this category of only making fruit, but [rather] it, itself, is fruit. And the structure of the verse is in the following way: "and all of the trees," but not all of the trees are included: [only] those "that have fruit of the tree," but not one that is fruit itself - which is the tree of knowledge, that he was commanded about afterwards explicitly. Or it is saying that even the tree of knowledge was included [in the permission to eat] and even though we find that he was commanded about [not eating] it, they, of blessed memory, have already stated (Bereishit Rabbah 21:7) that if [Adam] had waited until the eve of Shabbat, he would have sanctified with wine [of that fruit] - so far [their words]; and from their words, you learn that [this] prohibition was not [to be] forbidden forever.