Texts in Conversation

Genesis does not specify what day the angels were created. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer say they were created on the second day, connecting them with the creation of the firmament.
Share:

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 4:1

Rabbinic
THE CREATION ON THE SECOND DAY ON the second day the Holy One, blessed be He, created the firmament, the angels, fire for flesh and blood, and the fire of Gehinnom. Were not heaven and earth created on the first day, as it is said, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1)? Which firmament was created on the second day? Rabbi Eliezer said: || It was the firmament which is above the heads of the four Chajjôth (living creatures), (as it is said), "And over the head of the Chajjôth there was the likeness of a firmament, like the colour of the terrible crystal" (Ezek. 1:22).
Date: 630-1030 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates) Source

Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 1:26

Targum
25 God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, kinds that are clean and kinds that are not clean, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the earth according to their kinds, kinds that are clean and kinds that are not clean. And God saw that it was good. 26 And God said to the angels who minister before him, who were created on the second day of the creation of the world, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds that are in the air of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' 27 And God created Adam in his own likeness, in the image of God he created him, with two hundred and forty-eight members, with six hundred and sixty-five nerves, and he formed a skin over him, and filled it with flesh and blood; male and female in their appearance he created them.
Date: 300-1200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates) Source
Search:

Notes and References

#3390
"... Some ancient interpreters pointed specifically to the first day as the time of the angels' creation. Perhaps they did so because of the mention of the 'spirit of God' in Genesis 1:2, since 'spirit' was one term commonly understood to refer to angels ... Other sources saw the second day as the time of the angels' creation (because that was the day when the 'firmament' - deemed to be part of heaven, where the angels lived—was created) ..."
Kugel, James L. The Bible as it Was (pp. 60-61) Harvard University Press, 1998

* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.

Your Feedback:

Leave a Comment

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.

Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.

Go to Intertext