Concepts of Scripture in Nahmanides 153power of potency, fi t to assume form and to proceed from potentiality into
reality. Th is was the primary matter created by God; the Greeks call it hyle
[matter] . . . and from this hyle He brought everything into existence and
clothed the forms and put them in a fi nished condition. 32Although we witnessed Nahmanides’s opposition to Maimonides in the
previous section, Nahmanides here resorts to philosophical explanation to
understand the verse against the more literal and peshat-oriented interpre-
tations of Rashi and Ibn Ezra. Yet rather than connect this discussion to
Greek-inspired philosophy, he makes the claim that this teaching derives
not from foreign sources but from the Sefer Yetsira, a text popular among
kabbalists and that tradition claimed was written by Abraham.33
Speaking more generally, Nahmanides is for the most part favorably
disposed to Rashi’s commentary. His relationship to Ibn Ezra, however, is
even more complicated (recall his “open rebuke and hidden love” for the
great Spanish commentator cited earlier). Nahmanides tends to agree with
Ibn Ezra on the level of his grammatical analyses; however, he frequently
faults him for his unwillingness to examine the deeper, spiritual claims of
the biblical narrative. Concerning the special blessing that God gives the
seventh, or Sabbath, day — “And God blessed the seventh day and He sanc-
tifi ed it” (Gen. 2:1) — Ibn Ezra claims, according to Nahmanides, “that on
the seventh day there is a renewal of procreative strength in the body and
in the soul, a great capacity in the functioning of the reasoning power.”
Nahmanides agrees, to an extent, but then goes on to mine the deeper sig-
nifi cance of the verse in question:
Th e truth is that the blessing on the Sabbath day is the fountain of bless-
ings and is the foundation of the world. And He sanctifi ed it, so that it [i.e.,
the Sabbath] draws its sanctity from the Sanctuary on high. If you under-
stand my comment, you will grasp what the Rabbis said in [the midrashic
collection] Bereshith Rabbah concerning the Sabbath: [“Why did He bless
the Sabbath? It is] because it has no partner,” and that which they further
related [that God said to the Sabbath]: “Th e congregation of Israel will be
your partner.” And then you will comprehend that on the Sabbath there is
an additional soul. 34Here, Nahmanides moves well beyond Ibn Ezra’s conception of the verse in
question to argue for the relationship, on both an existential and mystical
level, between Israel and the Sabbath.