3:14 B: The basis of the creation of God.
ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κτίσεως not in the sense in which God says of
Adam in Tanḥ. נח 7B: The first man was the beginning of my
creatures תְּחִלַּת
בְּרִיּוֹתַי,
or in which the light of the beginning of his (God’s) creation is called תְּחִילַּת בְּרִיָּיתוֹ in b. Pesaḥ. 53B. Instead, it is a
statement of the causal relationship in which Christ stands to the creation of
God: he is the basis, the principium
activum of creation. (Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A
Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, ed. Jacob N.
Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and Joseph Longarino; Bellingham, Wash.:
Lexham Press, 2021], 3:933)
“Tanḥuma: Vienna
1863” in the above refers to Midrash Tanchuma.
According to the Sefaria website:
Composed: Talmudic Babylon/Italy/Israel, c.500 – c.800 CE
Midrash Tanchuma is a midrash on the five books of the Torah,
structured as sermons on the opening verses of each paragraph in the Torah.
Named for the talmudic sage Rabbi Tanchuma, who features prominently in the
text, it is also referred to as “Tanchuma-Yelammedenu” because of the
prevalence of legal passages that start with the words “yelamedenu rabeinu”
(teach us, our Rabbi). The dating and composition history of the Tanchuma are
matters of scholarly debate.
The quotation the
authors reference, however, is not from נח (Noah) 7B, but instead, 1:3:
וּמָה רָאוּ נָשִׁים לְהִצְטַוּוֹת עַל
שָׁלֹשׁ מִצְוֹת הָאֵלּוּ? אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן תְּחִלַּת
בְּרִיּוֹתַי הָיָה וְנִצְטַוָּה עַל עֵץ הַדַּעַת. וּכְתִיב בְּחַוָּה,
וַתֵּרֶא הָאִשָּׁה וְגוֹ' וַתִּתֵּן גַּם לְאִישָׁהּ עִמָּהּ וַיֹּאכַל (בראשית
ג, ו), וְגָרְמָה לוֹ מִיתָה וְשָׁפְכָה
אֶת דָּמוֹ. וּכְתִיב בַּתּוֹרָה, שֹׁפֵךְ דַּם הָאָדָם בָּאָדָם דָּמוֹ
יִשָּׁפֵךְ (בראשית ט, ו). תִּשְׁפֹּךְ דָּמָהּ
וְתִשְׁמֹר נִדָּתָהּ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּתְכַּפֵּר לָהּ עַל דַּם הָאָדָם
שֶׁשָּׁפְכָה.
Why were women enjoined to perform these three duties? The Holy One,
blessed be He, said: Adam,
the first of My creatures, was commanded not to eat the fruit of the
tree of knowledge, yet concerning Eve, it is written: And when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food … she gave also unto her husband with her and
did eat (Gen. 3:6). In that way she brought about his death and, as it
were, shed his blood, and the law prescribes: Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by
man shall his blood be shed (Gen. 9:6). That is why woman’s blood is made
to flow. She is required to abstain from sexual relations during menstruation
to atone for the blood of Adam that she was responsible for shedding.
