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As noted at the beginning of this chapter, the Mishnah is a precarious inclusion in a study that draws its historical boundary at 200 CE. While its final redaction is attributed to Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi (c.135-c.220) and is often approximated at c. 200 CE,318 _{it seems clear that redactional work continued after Rabbi and is reflected in the} final form of the text.319 _{At the same time, most of those to whom the teachings of the Mishnah are attributed lived} before 200 CE. For example, Simon ben Zoma, to whom the interpretation in m.Hul 5.5 (below) is attributed, lived during the first decades of the second century CE.320 _{If any credence is placed in the attributation of the} interpretation in m.Hul 5.5 to ben Zoma, then this portion of the Mishnah pre-dates 200 CE by decades. Rather than wade into these difficulties, I offer the two texts below on the margins of the historical boundaries of this study in order to highlight their intertextuality with MT Gen 1.1-5 and the tapestry as a whole.

312 _{1QM xvi.12}

313 _{Carmignac, La Règle de la Guerre, notes the similarity with Gen 1.2 and makes the comment that the author of} 1QM may have been inspired by Gen 1.2, 1 Samuel 12.21 [two occurrences of wht], or Jer 4.23. (237)

314 _{Also 4QMeditation on Creation A (4Q303) 1, 5. A similar text that may have}

wht and whb of MT Gen 1.2 in mind is the pairing of wht and sp) in 4QWords of the Luminariesa _{(4Q504) 1 iii recto 3.}

315 _{See Appendix A.}

316 _{Carmignac, “Les Citations,” notes the connection with MT Gen 1.2, but suggests that it could equally be} dependent on 1 Sam 12.21 and Jer 4.23. (380) MT Jer 4.23 seems well within the realm of possibility. MT 1 Sam 12.21 is less likely as it only has wht, though it is used within a warning to stay away from useless things (wht). It is also of note that this is the only implicit citation of MT Gen 1.1-5 (no explicit citations) that Carmignac identifies in the War Scroll. (384)

317 _While

rw) does appear in line 6, it alone does not increase any intertextual connection to MT Gen 1.1-5 because of the frequency of its use and the overall lack of a creation context in the passage.

318 _{E.g. J. Neusner, The Mishnah: Introduction and Reader, (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1992) 5.} 319 _{G. Stemberger, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, (trans. M. Bockmuehl; 2nd ed.; Edinburgh: T&T Clark,} 1996), relying on the textual work of J. N. Epstein, Introduction to the Text of the Mishna (Jerusalem, 1948) [Hebrew], says that the Mishnah ‘in its present shape cannot possibly come from Rabbi himself’ as his interpretations are contrasted with others, in particular those who lived later than he are quoted in the final form of the text. (133-134)

320 _{J. Neusner, ed., Dictionary of Ancient Rabbis: Selections from The Jewish Encylopedia, Peabody, MA:} Hendrickson, 2003) 95.

Mishnah Hullin 5.5

.)mwz }b }w(m# #rd wz t) .hlylh rx) \lwh {wyh .wnb t)w wtw)b rwm)h dx) {wy .[bk )rqyw] wnb t)w wtw)b rm)nw .dx) {wy .[) ty#)rb] ty#)rb h#(mb rm)n .hlylh rx) \lwh {wyh ty#)rb h#(mb rwm)h dx) {wy hm .dx) {wy ;hlylh rx) \lwh {wyh .wnb t)w wtw)b rwm)h dx) {wy v) Day One which is spoken in it and its son,321 _{(means) the day together with the night} that went out. Simeon ben Zoma interprets this: It was said in the Works of Creation, Day One. And it is said in it and its sons, Day One. What of Day One (as) it is spoken of in the Works of Creation – (it means that) the day comes together with night. So, Day One which is spoken in it and its son (means) the day comes together with the night.

In the midst of this discussion of sacrifice in m. Hullin, there is this interpretation of the occurrence of dx) {wy in MT Lev 22.28, a text in which it is forbidden to slaughter both an animal and its young on the same day (dx) {wy). Simeon ben Zoma looks to MT Gen 1.5 to explain that dx) {wy means that a day includes the day along with the night. The connection with MT Gen 1.1-5 is quite clear, both in intertextual markers (dx) {wy, {wy/hlyl, ty#)rb) and in the citation within the text of the Mishnah. That is, while there is an intertextual connection, in the case of this text there is a deliberate reliance on the text of MT Gen 1.5. ty#)rb is used as a technical term for the story of creation in MT Genesis 1 by way of the phrase (ty#)rb h#(m), which is also found elsewhere in the Mishnah.322

There is little innovative interpretation of MT Gen 1.5 in this text. What is present, however, is an excellent example of the power of intertextuality in early rabbinic thought. The difficulty with dx) {wy in MT Lev 22.28 is understood, according to Simeon ben Zoma,323 _{by looking for the occurrence of the same phrase elsewhere.} In this case, ben Zoma looks to the story of creation for the definition of Day One.

Mishnah Berakoth 9.2

.twxwrh l(w .{ym(rh l(w .{yqrbh l(w .tw(wzh l(w .}yqyzh l( .{ymyh l(w .tw(bgh l(w .{yrhh l( .{lw( )lm wxwk# \wrb rmw) .ty#)rb h#(m h#w) \wrb rmw) .twrbdmh l(w .twrhnh l(w .lwdgh {yh t) h#(# \wrb rmw) lwdgh {yh t) h)wrh rmw) hdwhy ybr

.{yqrpl wtw) h)wr# }mzb .by+mhw bw+h \wrb rmw) twbw+h twrw#bh l(w {ym#gh l( ;tm)h }yd \wrb ,rmw) tw(r tw(wm# l(w

321

wnb t)w wtw) refers to MT Lev 22.28, in which the slaughter of a cow or ewe and its young on the same day is forbidden.

322 _{m.Ber 9.2, m.Meg 3.6, m.Hag 2.1}

323 _{Though not based on the firmest critical grounds, Simeon ben Zoma, a Tanna from the first decades of the second} century CE who was never called ‘rabbi’, was concerned in large part with the exegesis of the First Creation Story and was reportedly known for his innovative / heretical exegesis. Joshua ben Hananiah said of him, ‘Ben Zoma is outside,’ meaning outside proper interpretation. Cf. Neusner, ed., Ancient Rabbis, 96

Upon shooting stars, earthquakes, lightning, thunder, and wind he will say, ‘Blessed is he whose power fills the world.’ Upon the mountains, hills, seas, rivers, and deserts he will say, ‘Blessed is the one who fortifies the works of creation.’ Rabbi Judah324 says - The one who sees the great sea says, ‘Blessed is the one who made the great sea,’ (for) he sees it according to divisions with reference to intervals of time.325 Upon rain and good tidings he will say, ‘Blessed is the good and the good doer.’ And upon the doers of evil he will say, ‘Blessed is the judge of truth.’

This text is one example of a trend in the Mishnah to use ty#)rb as a technical term for ‘the creation.’ Other such uses come in m.Ta’anit 4.2-3326 _{and m.Megillah 3.6.}327 _{Yet another (probably the most interesting) use} of ty#)rb as a technical term for the whole creation story comes in m.Hagigah 2.1, which warns of reading the forbidden degrees of Lev. 18.6ff before (fewer than) three persons, the story of creation before two, and the Merkabah vision before one.328 _{To these examples from the Mishnah one might add Sir 15.14 MS A.}329