(כא) וַיַּ֩עַשׂ֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים לְאָדָ֧ם וּלְאִשְׁתּ֛וֹ כׇּתְנ֥וֹת ע֖וֹר וַיַּלְבִּשֵֽׁם׃ {פ}
(21) And the LORD God made garments of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
(ז) וַתִּפָּקַ֙חְנָה֙ עֵינֵ֣י שְׁנֵיהֶ֔ם וַיֵּ֣דְע֔וּ כִּ֥י עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם הֵ֑ם וַֽיִּתְפְּרוּ֙ עֲלֵ֣ה תְאֵנָ֔ה וַיַּעֲשׂ֥וּ לָהֶ֖ם חֲגֹרֹֽת׃
(7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.
(כא) וְעָבַד יְיָ אֱלהִים לְאָדָם וּלְאִינְתְּתֵיהּ לְבוּשִׁין דִיקָר מִן מְשַׁךְ חִיוְיָא דְאַשְׁלַח מִנֵיהּ עַל מְשַׁךְ בִּשְרֵיהוֹן חֲלַף שׁוֹפְרֵיהוֹן דְאִשְׁתַּלְחוּ וְאַלְבֵּישִׁינוּן
(21) And the Lord God made to Adam and to his wife vestures of honour from the skin of the serpent, which he had cast from him, upon the skin of their flesh, instead of that adornment which had been cast away; and He clothed them.
ואמר רבי חמא ברבי חנינא מאי דכתיב (דברים יג, ה) אחרי ה' אלהיכם תלכו
וכי אפשר לו לאדם להלך אחר שכינה והלא כבר נאמר (דברים ד, כד) כי ה' אלהיך אש אוכלה הוא
אלא להלך אחר מדותיו של הקב"ה
מה הוא מלביש ערומים דכתיב (בראשית ג, כא) ויעש ה' אלהים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם אף אתה הלבש ערומים
הקב"ה ביקר חולים דכתיב (בראשית יח, א) וירא אליו ה' באלוני ממרא אף אתה בקר חולים
הקב"ה ניחם אבלים דכתיב (בראשית כה, יא) ויהי אחרי מות אברהם ויברך אלהים את יצחק בנו אף אתה נחם אבלים
הקב"ה קבר מתים דכתיב (דברים לד, ו) ויקבר אותו בגיא אף אתה קבור מתים
כתנות עור רב ושמואל חד אמר דבר הבא מן העור וחד אמר דבר שהעור נהנה ממנו
דרש ר' שמלאי תורה תחלתה גמילות חסדים וסופה גמילות חסדים תחילתה גמילות חסדים דכתיב ויעש ה' אלהים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם וסופה גמילות חסדים דכתיב ויקבר אותו בגיא
And Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “After the Lord your God shall you walk, and Him shall you fear, and His commandments shall you keep, and unto His voice shall you hearken, and Him shall you serve, and unto Him shall you cleave” (Deuteronomy 13:5)? But is it actually possible for a person to follow the Divine Presence? But hasn’t it already been stated: “For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24), and one cannot approach fire. He explains: Rather, the meaning is that one should follow the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He. He provides several examples. Just as He clothes the naked, as it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21), so too, should you clothe the naked. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, visits the sick, as it is written with regard to God’s appearing to Abraham following his circumcision: “And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1), so too, should you visit the sick. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, consoles mourners, as it is written: “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” (Genesis 25:11), so too, should you console mourners. Just as the Holy One, Blessed be He, buried the dead, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6), so too, should you bury the dead. The Gemara discusses the verse: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). Rav and Shmuel disagree as to the meaning of the term “garments of skin.” One says that these garments were made of something that comes from the skin, and one says that these garments were something from which the skin benefits. Rabbi Samlai taught: With regard to the Torah, its beginning is an act of kindness and its end is an act of kindness. Its beginning is an act of kindness, as it is written: “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21). And its end is an act of kindness, as it is written: “And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab” (Deuteronomy 34:6).
(א) כתנות עור. יֵשׁ דִּבְרֵי אַגָּדָה אוֹמְרִים חֲלָקִים כְּצִּפֹּרֶן הָיוּ מְדֻבָּקִים עַל עוֹרָן
וְיֵ"אֹ דָּבָר הַבָּא מִן הָעוֹר, כְּגוֹן צֶמֶר הָאַרְנָבִים שֶׁהוּא רַךְ וְחָם וְעָשָׂה לָהֶם כֻּתֳּנוֹת מִמֶּנּוּ:
(1) כתנות עור GARMENTS FOR THE SKIN — There are Agadoth which say that they were smooth as fingernails, cleaving to their skin; whereas some say that they were made of material that comes from skin, as for example, the hair of hares which is soft and warm, and of this He made garments for them (Genesis Rabbah 20:12).
(א) ויעש כתנות עור בלתי השתדלות אדם כענין לעתיד כאמרם (פרק בתרא דכתוכות) עתידה ארץ ישראל שתוציא גלסקאות וכלי מילת:
(ב) וילבישם שלא יגרשם ערומים פן בלבשם אחר כך בהשתדלותם יחשבו שהוסיפו מעלה:
(1) ויעש ...כתנות עור, without any input by man, similar to a description of the Talmud of what the earth will produce without human input in idyllic times when ready made bread rolls will be produced by the earth (Shabbat 30) (2) וילבישם, in order that He would not have to expel them from Gan Eden while they were naked. Not only that, but if they would dress themselves in these coats after having been expelled, they might delude themselves that they had improved on G’d’s handiwork.
Rabbeinu Bachya on Genesis 3:21
(1) ויעש ה' אלוקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור. “The Lord G-d made leather coats for man and his wife.” According to the plain meaning of the text, G-d made superior kinds of garments for them, garments which would cover their entire bodies and which would make them look distinguished. This had become necessary as their inherent dignity had turned to shame (compare Psalms 4,3 עד מה כבודי לכלמה, “how long will my honour be shamed?”) as long as only their genitals were covered by the fig leaves.
Perhaps this leather was made from the animal called Tachash which the Jewish people used as a covering for the Tabernacle in the desert . According to Tanchuma on Parshat Terumah 6, the Tachash had been created only for that purpose at the time. Possibly, here too, the animal out of whose hide these coats of Adam and Chavah were made had been created only for that purpose. According to Shabbat 28, the Holy Ark and other vessels of the Tabernacle were wrapped in the skin of the Tachash when they were being transported. Afterwards, these covers were hidden, never to be found again. Apparently this skin was multi-coloured. This would help to make anyone dressed in it look very distinguished.
Onkelos translates עור תחש as ססגונא “a multi-coloured skin.” The opinion of our sages appears to be that these garments had pictures of all the birds of the world and that Adam bequeathed them to his son Cain. When Cain was killed, they passed over to Nimrod; this is the meaning of Genesis 10,9 והוא היה גבור ציד “he was a very prodigious hunter.” At the death of Nimrod, these garments became the property of Esau. When the Torah speaks of these valuable garments which Esau entrusted to his mother (Genesis 27,15), the word חמודות, “desirable,” means that Esau (also a hunter) had long desired to obtain these garments from Nimrod.
(2) Now to a homiletical approach. In Bereshit Rabbah 20,29 the copy of the Torah in the possession of Rabbi Meir, had the word “OR” כתנות עור spelled אור, “light.” The meaning of this comment is that G-d dressed Adam and Chavah in clothing consisting of different degrees of “light.” This “light” was a derivative of the אור העליון, “light in the celestial spheres,” similar to the rays of light which Moses’ forehead emitted when he came down from Mount Sinai (Exodus 34,29). In Gan Eden such light still prevailed. The quality of the clothing given to the person so clothed relates in some degree to the quality of He who provides such clothing, in this instance G-d Himself. It was G-d’s intention for this clothing to exist indefinitely and for the wearers to be similar in stature to the angels.
(3) וילבישם, “He clothed them.” It would have been more appropriate for the Torah to write כתנות עור ללבוש, ”coats of leather to serve as clothing.” This is the way Yaakov described it when he asked G-d for בגד ללבש, “clothes to wear” in Genesis 25,20. According to the plain meaning of the text the Torah simply wanted to relate the fact that they were being clothed to G-d Himself to show G-d’s loving concern and His pity for His creatures. Even though they had sinned, this did not mean that G-d no longer related to them with feelings of fondness. He, personally, engaged in the act of dressing them. We find that G-d related similarly to the Jewish people in the desert when He personally provided them with manna. G-d is on record with these words that he Himself made the manna rain down from heaven. We read in Exodus 16,4 “Here I will make manna rain down for you from the heaven.” This was in spite of the fact that the Israelites had committed a sin similar to that of Adam and Chavah He did not cease to relate to hem lovingly. He never stopped providing them with manna during all the forty years in spite of grievous sins committed at one time or another.
I believe that the appropriate translation of the word ויעש in the verse ויעש ה' אלוקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם, is: “He made something entirely new; He created a new concept.” The words אדם and אשתו are not to be understood literally but refer to the שכל and to the נפש respectively. It is quite possible to think of man and woman in terms of שכל, and נפש respectively, the former the innovative enterprising active force symbolising the male, whereas נפש is a more passive responsive spiritual force and therefore symbolises woman. The נפש accompanies the שכל just like a woman accompanies the male. My revered teacher Rabbi Shlomoh Aderet may his light continue to shine, has similarly explained the matter of Leviathan and its mate, i.e. that these terms are similes for the concepts of שכל and נפש.
The verse introduces a vision of a future life on earth after the resurrection. G-d goes on record that when that time arrives He will make a new creation for שכל and נפש. This will be known as כתנות עור, i.e. as “bodies,” The word וילבישם “He dressed them,” means that at that time G-d will provide a body for שכל ונפש who are the first part, the intangible part, in man’s resurrection. In our verse too, G-d envisages a future when שכל ונפש will be clothed with a body, as a result of which he will become a new kind of human being.
A further meaning of the words כתנות עור, “leather coats”, is the exchangeability of the letters ע and א. When we mentioned earlier that the text of Rabbi Meir’s Torah scroll had the word עור spelled with the letter א, the allusion contained in that statement was that אור , “light,” may be a fitting substitute for עור, “skin” as a garment. In the future G-d would clothe שכל ונפש, intelligence and the emotional part of man soul, in a variety of rays of light all derived from the celestial regions.
(1) ויעש ה' אלוקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור. “The Lord G-d made leather coats for man and his wife.” According to the plain meaning of the text, G-d made superior kinds of garments for them, garments which would cover their entire bodies and which would make them look distinguished. This had become necessary as their inherent dignity had turned to shame (compare Psalms 4,3 עד מה כבודי לכלמה, “how long will my honour be shamed?”) as long as only their genitals were covered by the fig leaves.
Perhaps this leather was made from the animal called Tachash which the Jewish people used as a covering for the Tabernacle in the desert . According to Tanchuma on Parshat Terumah 6, the Tachash had been created only for that purpose at the time. Possibly, here too, the animal out of whose hide these coats of Adam and Chavah were made had been created only for that purpose. According to Shabbat 28, the Holy Ark and other vessels of the Tabernacle were wrapped in the skin of the Tachash when they were being transported. Afterwards, these covers were hidden, never to be found again. Apparently this skin was multi-coloured. This would help to make anyone dressed in it look very distinguished.
Onkelos translates עור תחש as ססגונא “a multi-coloured skin.” The opinion of our sages appears to be that these garments had pictures of all the birds of the world and that Adam bequeathed them to his son Cain. When Cain was killed, they passed over to Nimrod; this is the meaning of Genesis 10,9 והוא היה גבור ציד “he was a very prodigious hunter.” At the death of Nimrod, these garments became the property of Esau. When the Torah speaks of these valuable garments which Esau entrusted to his mother (Genesis 27,15), the word חמודות, “desirable,” means that Esau (also a hunter) had long desired to obtain these garments from Nimrod.
(2) Now to a homiletical approach. In Bereshit Rabbah 20,29 the copy of the Torah in the possession of Rabbi Meir, had the word “OR” כתנות עור spelled אור, “light.” The meaning of this comment is that G-d dressed Adam and Chavah in clothing consisting of different degrees of “light.” This “light” was a derivative of the אור העליון, “light in the celestial spheres,” similar to the rays of light which Moses’ forehead emitted when he came down from Mount Sinai (Exodus 34,29). In Gan Eden such light still prevailed. The quality of the clothing given to the person so clothed relates in some degree to the quality of He who provides such clothing, in this instance G-d Himself. It was G-d’s intention for this clothing to exist indefinitely and for the wearers to be similar in stature to the angels.
(3) וילבישם, “He clothed them.” It would have been more appropriate for the Torah to write כתנות עור ללבוש, ”coats of leather to serve as clothing.” This is the way Yaakov described it when he asked G-d for בגד ללבש, “clothes to wear” in Genesis 25,20. According to the plain meaning of the text the Torah simply wanted to relate the fact that they were being clothed to G-d Himself to show G-d’s loving concern and His pity for His creatures. Even though they had sinned, this did not mean that G-d no longer related to them with feelings of fondness. He, personally, engaged in the act of dressing them. We find that G-d related similarly to the Jewish people in the desert when He personally provided them with manna. G-d is on record with these words that he Himself made the manna rain down from heaven. We read in Exodus 16,4 “Here I will make manna rain down for you from the heaven.” This was in spite of the fact that the Israelites had committed a sin similar to that of Adam and Chavah He did not cease to relate to hem lovingly. He never stopped providing them with manna during all the forty years in spite of grievous sins committed at one time or another.
I believe that the appropriate translation of the word ויעש in the verse ויעש ה' אלוקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם, is: “He made something entirely new; He created a new concept.” The words אדם and אשתו are not to be understood literally but refer to the שכל and to the נפש respectively. It is quite possible to think of man and woman in terms of שכל, and נפש respectively, the former the innovative enterprising active force symbolising the male, whereas נפש is a more passive responsive spiritual force and therefore symbolises woman. The נפש accompanies the שכל just like a woman accompanies the male. My revered teacher Rabbi Shlomoh Aderet may his light continue to shine, has similarly explained the matter of Leviathan and its mate, i.e. that these terms are similes for the concepts of שכל and נפש.
The verse introduces a vision of a future life on earth after the resurrection. G-d goes on record that when that time arrives He will make a new creation for שכל and נפש. This will be known as כתנות עור, i.e. as “bodies,” The word וילבישם “He dressed them,” means that at that time G-d will provide a body for שכל ונפש who are the first part, the intangible part, in man’s resurrection. In our verse too, G-d envisages a future when שכל ונפש will be clothed with a body, as a result of which he will become a new kind of human being.
A further meaning of the words כתנות עור, “leather coats”, is the exchangeability of the letters ע and א. When we mentioned earlier that the text of Rabbi Meir’s Torah scroll had the word עור spelled with the letter א, the allusion contained in that statement was that אור , “light,” may be a fitting substitute for עור, “skin” as a garment. In the future G-d would clothe שכל ונפש, intelligence and the emotional part of man soul, in a variety of rays of light all derived from the celestial regions.
(א) ויעש. ומאז הוצרכו למלבושים וה' נתן בינה בלבם לעשות כתנות עור, שכבר התנוצץ בו השכל המלאכתותי והתחיל לעסוק באומנות ומלאכות ...
וחכמי החקירה יאמרו כי מאז היה האדם מוכן שיקבל תורה אלהית כתובה על גוילין של עור ללמדו דרך איך ינצל מעטיו של נחש, שתחלה היתה התורה כתובה על לוח לבו והיה מלא רוח דעת ויראת ה', ועתה שנטה מן המסלה העולה בית אל יצטרך לתורה כתובה.
ובתורתו של ר' מאיר מצאו כתנות אור, כי פנימיות התורה הוא אור בהיר תשים כל מחשך לאור ומעקשים למישור:
...And He made. And then he needed to clothe them, and Hashem gave understanding into their hearts to make skins of leather, because already it sparked the industrious intellect and he began to engage into trades and crafts ...
And the wise discerners say that then man was ready to receive Hashem's Torah written on a scroll of leather, to teach the way how to be saved from the snake, because at the beginning the Torah was written on the surface of man's heart, and he was filled with spirit, intellect and awe of Hashem, and now that he turned from the path that went to the house of God, he needed the Torah written down.
Rav Hirsch on Genesis 3:21
...As man now receives clothing from Hashem, from the Hand of God, it gets a holy spiritual meaning, in the service of education of mankind, for winning it back to its original condition. It reminds one of man's calling being something higher than of an animal, a reminder that had become the more necessary as the mind itself had now become preoccupied with the requirements of the body.
This is why Rabbi Meir calls this a garment of light, because of the enlightening and sanctifying purpose of clothes, reminding us not to follow that serpent whisper of the argument of our sensuous speculation...
...As man now receives clothing from Hashem, from the Hand of God, it gets a holy spiritual meaning, in the service of education of mankind, for winning it back to its original condition. It reminds one of man's calling being something higher than of an animal, a reminder that had become the more necessary as the mind itself had now become preoccupied with the requirements of the body.
This is why Rabbi Meir calls this a garment of light, because of the enlightening and sanctifying purpose of clothes, reminding us not to follow that serpent whisper of the argument of our sensuous speculation...