From Sermon to Commentary: Expounding the Bible in Talmudic Babylonia

3. Two Faces

b. Berakhot 61a [and b.‘Eruvin 18a]: R’ Jeremiah ben Eleazar1 says: the Holy One created two faces [Nypcwpwd, dipro/swpoj] in the first man; as it says “Thou hast beset me [yntrc] behind and before” (Psalm 139:5). “And the rib [(lch], which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman” (Genesis 2:22). Rav and Samuel— One says: a face [pars· uf ]. And the other says: a tail. It is well for the one who says “a face”—this is what is written: “Thou hast fashioned me [yntrc]2 behind and before.” However, for the one who says “a tail,” what is “Thou hast beset me [yntrc] behind and before”? This dispute between Rav and Samuel is attached directly to the verse in Genesis , and appears to be concerned with the correct understanding of s· ela‘, which denotes the item or limb from Adam’s anatomy out of which God created the first woman. In Palestinian midrashic literature, we encounter several variations on these interpretations. All of them are constructed as petih·tot whose “external” verse is Psalm 139:5. The following version is from Genesis Rabbah 8:1:3 “And God said, Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26). Rabbi Johanan opened: “Thou hast fashioned me [yntrc] behind and before”… Said R’ Jeremiah ben Leazar:4 At the time when the Holy One created the first man, he created him as an androgynos, as it states: “Male and female created he them” (Genesis 5:2). Said R’ Samuel bar Nah· man:5 At the time when the Holy One created the first man, he created him dio pars· ufa [duo pro/swpoj], and he split him in two and made him backs on one side and backs on one side. They challenge him: Is it not written (Genesis 2:21) “and he took one of his ribs [wytw(lcm]”?! He says to them: From his side,6 even as you say (Exodus 26:20) “And for the second side [(lclw] of the tabernacle.” 21 3 : Two Faces And Samuel says: He took one rib from between two ribs. It does not say “in its place,” but rather “and closed up the flesh in their place” (Genesis 2:21)7… Says R’ Samuel bar Tanh· um:8 Also his praise occurs only at the end. Thus it states (Psalm 148:1–11) “Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heaven … he hath made a decree which shall not pass.… Praise the Lord from the earth … Kings of the earth.” Says R’Simlai:9 Even as his10 praising occurs only after that of the cattle, the beasts, and the flying fowl, so too his creation occurs only after the beasts, and the flying fowl. Initially it says “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” (Genesis 1:20). And after all of them: “Let us make man in our image.” Leviticus Rabbah 14:1 (p. 295–99) and its derivative sources11 contain expositions that are largely identical, until Rabbi Simlai’s concluding comments: Says R’Simlai: Even as his fashioning occurs only after that of the cattle, the beasts, and the fowl, so too his “law” occurs only after the cattle, the beasts, and the fowl. This is what it says “This is the law of the beasts, [and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth]” (Leviticus 11:42).And after all of them: “If a woman have conceived seed.” It is hard to decide which of these versions is the primary one, and it is conceivable that the original editor (or perhaps Rabbi Simlai himself ) adapted the comment for use in both contexts. At any rate, some circumstantial considerations favour concluding that the Leviticus Rabbah version is earlier.12 Although the Palestinian texts incorporate the interpretations into petih· tot, there are no prima facie grounds for assuming that they were generated by the petih· ta process—that is, by expounding the creation story from the perspective of Psalm 139:5. As many scholars have observed, the idea that the first man and woman were joined together in a single androgynous creature is legitimately suggested by the biblical text itself.13 Moreover, it is found in Aristophanes’ famous discourse in Plato’s Symposium.14...