Did Shabbat Complete Creation? 5 Fascinating Torah Interpretations

The Torah is far more than a collection of laws and stories. It is a vast system of Divine wisdom, revealed through many layers of meaning to those who seek to understand it. A single verse, and sometimes even a single word, can contain entire worlds of insight, from its straightforward meaning to its deepest spiritual secrets.

Throughout the generations, the sages of Israel have revealed different dimensions of Torah wisdom, from peshat, the plain meaning, to the hidden teachings of Kabbalah. This extraordinary depth allows every generation to discover guidance, meaning, and spiritual inspiration within the same eternal words.

Parashat Bereishit contains the following verses describing the completion of Creation:

“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their host. And Hashem completed on the seventh day His work that He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. And Hashem blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He rested from all His work, which Hashem created to do” (Bereishit 2:1–4).

What does it mean that the heavens and earth “were completed”? What is included in “all their host”? And if Creation was completed in six days, what does the Torah mean when it says that Hashem completed His work on the seventh day?

Ramban, Rabbeinu Bachya, Alshich, Or HaChaim, and Yalkut Shimoni each reveal a different dimension of these verses.

Ramban and Rabbeinu Bachya: What Is the “Host” of Heaven and Earth?

Ramban

Ramban explains:

“‘And all their host’: ‘The host of the earth’ refers to the creatures mentioned: beasts, creeping things, fish, and all vegetation, as well as humanity; and ‘the host of the heavens’ refers to the two luminaries and the stars mentioned... Here there is also an allusion to the creation of the angels in the work of creation, and likewise the souls of human beings are the host of the heavens.”

Ramban explains the phrase “and all their host” by distinguishing between the host of the earth and the host of the heavens.

The “host of the earth” includes the living beings of the physical world: animals, creeping creatures, fish, vegetation, and humanity. The “host of the heavens” includes the sun, moon, and stars.

But Ramban reveals another dimension as well. The verse also alludes to the creation of angels during the six days of Creation. Even human souls are included within the “host of the heavens,” connecting humanity not only to the physical world, but also to the spiritual realm.

Rabbeinu Bachya ben Asher

Rabbeinu Bachya explains:

“The word ‘were completed’ is placed next to ‘the sixth day’ to allude, through its initial letters, to the unique Name, and to teach that although it was not mentioned throughout the entire work of creation, it is the One who does everything, the One who begins and completes.

“The phrase ‘and all their host’ was not mentioned in the first verse because there it mentions the particles that include the multitude of all hosts; but here, where the particle is not mentioned, it was necessary to say ‘and all their host.’ The word ‘their host’ includes the angels ... and also includes the souls ...

“And the reason it says ‘their host’ in the singular rather than ‘their hosts’ is to teach that heaven and earth are all unified forces, bound together with one another.”

Rabbeinu Bachya highlights several profound ideas within the wording of the verses.

First, the word “were completed” is connected to “the sixth day” in a way that alludes through its initial letters to Hashem’s unique Name. Although this Name was not explicitly mentioned throughout the account of Creation, the allusion teaches that Hashem is the One behind everything, the One who begins Creation and brings it to completion.

Like Ramban, Rabbeinu Bachya explains that “all their host” includes angels and souls, even though they are not explicitly mentioned in the Torah’s account of Creation.

He also focuses on the Torah’s use of the singular expression “their host” rather than “their hosts.” This wording teaches that heaven and earth are not disconnected realms. All of Creation is interconnected, its forces bound together as parts of one Divine creation.

Alshich: Shabbat Gave the World Its Soul

Alshich raises a fundamental question about these verses.

The first verse says that “the heavens and the earth were completed,” suggesting that Creation was already finished. Yet the next verse says, “And Hashem completed on the seventh day.” If everything had already been completed, what remained for Hashem to complete on the seventh day?

Alshich writes:

“This verse appears to conflict with the one that follows it, which says: ‘And Hashem completed on the seventh day.’ And why does this verse say ‘were completed,’ as though it happened on its own, and afterward attribute the matter to Hashem?

“If it is all one matter, the word ‘Hashem’ is unnecessary. Further, there is already a full verse stating that in six days He made, etc., and rested on the seventh day. So too, this verse says ‘and He rested,’ etc.; how then can it say, ‘And Hashem completed on the seventh day’?”

Alshich also considers the teaching of Bereishit Rabbah:

“‘And Hashem completed,’ etc. But has it not been said, ‘For in six days,’ etc.? Rather: ‘The heavens,’ etc., were completed, but the world lacked rest; Shabbat came, and rest came.”

At first glance, Alshich notes, this answer seems difficult. Rest is not itself an act of creation. How, then, could the arrival of Shabbat complete the world?

His answer reveals a remarkable understanding of the role of Shabbat in Creation.

“However, there is no doubt that any physical thing without a spiritual dimension in its essence will decay and not endure, as is the case with a person, who dies when the spirituality of the soul departs and causes the body to perish. Thus, everything He created, because it is physical, would not endure or remain at rest; rather, it would continue to decay day by day.”

The physical world, Alshich explains, could not sustain itself without a spiritual force giving it stability and permanence.

“This brings us to the point. It is well known that from the holiness of Shabbat, an outpouring of holiness flows into the world, even hastening an additional soul to a person. When Hashem created the earth, because it was material, like a body without a soul, it was destined to continue decaying and would not remain in existence.

“Who gave it a soul and an outpouring that would allow it to endure? Shabbat. On it, an outpouring was bestowed upon the world so that it could endure and rest rather than continue decaying.”

According to Alshich, the first six days produced the physical structure of Creation, but something essential was still missing.

The world needed a soul.

That spiritual dimension entered Creation through Shabbat. Its holiness gave the physical world the ability to endure, just as the soul gives life and continuity to the human body.

“This is what is meant by: The world lacked rest; Shabbat came and bestowed an outpouring of holiness on everything that was created. That outpouring became for the world what the soul is for the human body.”

This explains why the Torah can first say that heaven and earth “were completed” and then say that Hashem “completed” His work on the seventh day.

The physical work of Creation had already been completed. On Shabbat, Hashem added the spiritual dimension that allowed Creation to endure.

Alshich explains:

“This is the meaning of ‘the heavens were completed,’ etc., the entire world before Shabbat, while it was a material, unfinished form. But then ‘Hashem completed’: Hashem completed it, meaning, He added something that relates to Him.

“He did not ‘make’ something in the ordinary sense of making; rather, He brought completion to ‘His work that’ He had already ‘done’ during the previous days. This could only be something that is not an act of physical making: a spiritual outpouring that sustains it.”

Or HaChaim: All Creation Longs for Hashem

Or HaChaim offers another profound interpretation of the verse:

“‘The heavens were completed,’ etc. We do not know what this verse comes to teach us. It appears that it means to say, in keeping with what our Sages of blessed memory said (Bereishit Rabbah 68): Hashem is the place of the world. We also find that He fills the world, as it says (Isaiah 6): ‘The whole earth is filled with His glory.’ Thus, His blessed light is found around the world and within it.”

Or HaChaim explains that Hashem is the source of all existence and that His Divine light surrounds and permeates the world.

He continues:

“I have received from the elders of Torah that the reason Hashem made the world spherical is so that it would stand and endure through the equal balance of the power of its parts.

“You should know that there is no desire in the world more sweet, beloved, precious, cherished, longed for, or hoped for by created beings, especially by the spiritual element that recognizes and knows the quality of Divine light, than cleaving to His blessed light. Every living soul that comes to recognize even a little of the pleasantness of His blessed light yearns to behold the pleasantness of Hashem.”

Or HaChaim teaches that this yearning for Hashem extends throughout Creation. Every created thing possesses, according to its own nature and capacity, an ability to recognize its Creator.

“You should also know that in everything Hashem created in His world, He formed an ability for understanding and discernment according to its nature: speaking creatures, non speaking creatures, vegetation, and inanimate matter. Each has some power of understanding through which to recognize its Creator according to its capacity.”

The expression “were completed,” Or HaChaim explains, hints at the extraordinary intensity of Creation’s longing to return to its Divine source.

“The reason the verse expresses the matter with the word ‘were completed’ is to hint that this is such a great longing that the part is consumed for the whole. This is a level greater than desire and yearning, as David hinted when he said: ‘My soul longs, indeed it faints.’”

Paradoxically, it is this very yearning for Hashem that allows the world to endure.

“This is the secret of His being called ‘the Life of the worlds.’ Understand this. It is also the secret of ‘In the light of the king’s face is life.’”

Yalkut Shimoni: Becoming a Partner With Hashem in Creation

Yalkut Shimoni reveals yet another dimension of these verses, this time connected directly to our observance of Shabbat.

The Midrash teaches:

“Rav said, and some say Rabbi Yochanan: Even an individual praying on Friday evening must say ‘were completed,’ for Rav Hamnuna said: ‘One who prays on Friday evening and says “were completed,” Scripture considers it as if he became a partner with Hashem in the work of creation.’

“Do not read ‘were completed’ but ‘they completed.’ Everyone who prays on Friday evening and says ‘were completed,’ the two ministering angels who accompany a person place their hands on his head and say to him: ‘Your iniquity has departed, and your sin has been atoned for.’”

When a person prays on Friday night and recites the verses describing the completion of Creation, it is considered as though that person becomes a partner with Hashem in the work of Creation.

The expression “were completed” is therefore understood not only as describing what happened at the beginning of the world, but also as hinting at the role a Jew can play in recognizing and spiritually completing Creation.

Through Shabbat, a person does not merely remember Creation. He becomes part of its continuing spiritual purpose.

A single passage in Bereishit can therefore reveal multiple dimensions of Torah wisdom.

Ramban shows us the physical and spiritual hosts that fill heaven and earth. Rabbeinu Bachya reveals the unity connecting all of Creation. Alshich teaches that Shabbat gave the world its spiritual soul and ability to endure. Or HaChaim describes the profound longing of all Creation to cleave to its Divine source. And Yalkut Shimoni reveals how a Jew can become a partner with Hashem in Creation itself.

These different interpretations do not diminish one another. Together, they demonstrate the extraordinary depth of Torah wisdom. The same words can reveal new dimensions of meaning through peshat, Midrash, deeper spiritual interpretation, and Kabbalah.

Every interpretation opens another window into the Torah, allowing each generation to discover within its eternal words new guidance, spiritual meaning, and a deeper connection to Hashem.