These ten utterances are the acts of divine fiat, the “Let there be” pronouncements that birth the cosmos, each a ray of the sephirothic light cascading from Kether’s crown to Malkuth’s kingdom.
- Genesis 1:3 - The First Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי אוֹר וַיְהִי-אוֹר
- English: And Elohim said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
- Sephirah: Kether (Crown) - The primal light, the point of divine will, the origin of all emanation.
- Genesis 1:6 - The Second Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי רָקִיעַ בְּתוֹךְ הַמָּיִם
- English: And Elohim said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters.”
- Sephirah: Chokhmah (Wisdom) - The expanse of divine thought, separating above from below, the seed of duality.
- Genesis 1:9 - The Third Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם
- English: And Elohim said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.”
- Sephirah: Binah (Understanding) - The womb of form, structuring the waters and birthing the earth.
- Genesis 1:11 - The Fourth Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא
- English: And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees.”
- Sephirah: Chesed (Mercy) - The outpouring of abundance, the generosity of life unfolding.
- Genesis 1:14 - The Fifth Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם
- English: And Elohim said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate day from night.”
- Sephirah: Gevurah (Severity) - The discernment of time, the ordering of cycles, the boundary of light and dark.
- Genesis 1:20 - The Sixth Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יִשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם שֶׁרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
- English: And Elohim said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth.”
- Sephirah: Tiferet (Beauty) - The harmony of life, the balance of water and sky, the heart of creation’s song.
- Genesis 1:24 - The Seventh Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים תּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
- English: And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds.”
- Sephirah: Netzach (Eternity) - The enduring vitality, the multiplicity of forms rooted in the eternal.
- Genesis 1:26 - The Eighth Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ
- English: And Elohim said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
- Sephirah: Hod (Splendor) - The intellect and glory of the divine reflected in humanity, the vessel of reason.
- Genesis 1:28 - The Ninth Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים לָהֶם פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ
- English: And Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”
- Sephirah: Yesod (Foundation) - The generative force, the foundation of life’s continuity, the bridge to manifestation.
- Genesis 1:29 - The Tenth Utterance
- Hebrew: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֵת כָּל-עֵשֶׂב
- English: And Elohim said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed… for food.”
- Sephirah: Malkuth (Kingdom) - The completion, the material realm sustained, the kingdom delivered to man.