37. Bereshit — Abarbanel on the Torah, Section 37

The Twofold Nature of Ruach: Wind and Intellect

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Explanation of the word merachefet (“hovering”)

This word merachefet was explained by Levi ben Gershon¹ as deriving from the idea of rest. He was led to this interpretation because he understood “the spirit of God” as referring to the element of air, following the approach of Maimonides. And since the air, in his view, was resting upon the surface of the waters without moving in its natural place, he was compelled to interpret merachefet as an expression of stillness².

But this is not correct.

Rather, the word is derived from the expression “ my bones shake”³ (Jeremiah 23:9), where it denotes agitation and irregular motion. Likewise, “hovering over its fledglings”(Deuteronomy 32:11) conveys movement and trembling, as explained by the grammarians. The context of the verse itself confirms this, for it states: “As an eagle awakens its nest, hovering over its fledglings, it spreads its wings, taking them and carrying them on its pinions” (Deuteronomy 32:11). All of these are actions of motion, not of rest.

The general meaning, therefore, is that merachefet signifies movement—or more precisely, the causing of movement, an awakening into motion. This is the sense of “As an eagle awakens its nest, hovering over its fledglings”: when the eagle comes upon them, it beats its wings in such a way that it rouses and awakens them from their sleep, so that it may take them and carry them upon its wings.

So too, when it is said that “the spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water” (Genesis 1:2), the meaning is that it was setting the waters in motion and stirring them. This is the type of action attributed to the separate intellects—that is, not motion itself, but the imparting of motion, for they are not corporeal beings.

This interpretation is supported by the words of our Sages in Bereishit Rabbah (and likewise in Talmud Bavli Chagigah 15a), where Shimon ben Zoma expounded: “It does not say ‘blowing,’ but rather ‘hovering’—like a bird that flutters its wings, touching and yet not touching.” As will be explained further.

The conclusion that emerges from all this is that, if we interpret “the spirit of God” as referring to the separate intellects, then the word merachefet indicates the awakening and the imparting of motion that it produces in the waters—which are here a metaphor for that which is acted upon.

Explanation of the word mayim (“water”)

The term mayim should be understood as being used both in a general sense and in a more specific one, under the broader designation of “earth.” For in the account of Creation, the word “water” is mentioned at times with reference to every kind of luminous substance—whether the higher ones, such as the celestial bodies, as in the verse “the water that was above the firmament”⁴ (Genesis 1:7), as will be explained in the section on the second day; or whether the lower luminous waters. Concerning the upper waters, the Psalmist likewise says: “and the water that is above the heavens”⁵ (Psalms 148:4).

In the words of our Sages as well, these are called the “upper waters.” For, due to the limitation of our understanding in grasping the nature of the celestial bodies, Scripture designates them by the names of physical substances familiar to us.

And just as it refers to the separate intellects by the terms “fire” and “spirit,” as I have already mentioned, so too it designates those exalted bodies by the name mayim (“waters”). This may be for several reasons: either because, in the order of existence, they stand below the separate intellects, just as water stands below air; or because they are set in motion by the separate intellects, just as water is moved by the surrounding air; or again, because of their luminous and refined nature, resembling water in relation to the earth.

And I would suggest that the upper bodies were called mayim (“waters”) on account of the word shamayim (“heavens”), with the letter shin—though it is a root letter in shamayim—having been omitted, just as in the verse “I will leave you over for good”⁶ (Jeremiah 15:11), whose root is she’er, yet the aleph falls away. Thus, mayim would be like shamayim, and the Torah concealed the shin in the name mayim in order to conceal the true nature of those upper waters⁷.

Nor should it seem surprising that Scripture calls “waters” that which is not elemental water⁸. For we find that the term mayim is applied to other things that are not literally water, as in: “From the waters of Judah they came forth” (Isaiah 48:1); “then the wicked waters would have passed over our soul” (Psalms 124:5); “drink water from your own cistern” (Proverbs 5:15); “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters” (Isaiah 55:1). And our Sages said: “There is no water but Torah.”

Since, according to the testimony of these verses and others, the term mayim can denote anything great and powerful in a general sense, what would prevent it from being used, from this perspective, for those noble and essential bodies?

(Parashat Bereshit — Genesis 1:1, The Twofold Nature of Ruach: Wind and Intellect in the Commentary of Don Isaac Abarbanel)

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