In the Mizraḳ Kesef I explained the changes that occur (regarding the names of God) in the Account of Creation, where sometimes He is called God, sometimes the Lord God, and sometimes the Lord.¹ is not extant. The question of the divine names in the story of Creation was raised in the nonextant Kesef Sigim, as is clear from Maṣref La-Kesef (MK II 15). In the Menorat Kesef (AS II 88–91) Kaspi discusses this subject with reference to the opening chapters of Genesis, and considers his discussion there as complementary to that in Mizraḳ Kesef. From that discussion it appears that ’Elokim was used by Moses in the first chapter of Genesis because it was a term universally recognized as referring to the maker of the universe. Of course the pagans thought the reference to be to the world of Heavenly Spheres, and Moses knew that he could not alter that perception immediately. For this reason the following references were to “tetragrammaton ’Elokim,” i.e., the uppermost world of Separate Intelligences. Finally, the tetragrammaton alone occurs, intending the Lord Himself. In this way Moses hoped to bring the world to the recognition of the one true God. I will now complete this with respect to changes occurring in the Torah after the order of Creation, beginning with “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and wholehearted; Noah walked with God.”² Notice that, similar to Job,³ III:22 had noted that Job 1:1 describes Job as “wholehearted and upright, feared God and shunned evil” without any reference to Job’s wisdom. it says that Noah was righteous, not that he was wise, for the intent is to refer to the whole narrative including Noah and his generations as far as Abraham. And even though the Lord spoke with him so that he was a prophet (and therefore must have been wise), it is as Maimonides explained—that “prophecy” and “prophet” are equivocal.⁴ II:35, in reference to Moses’ prophecy as compared to that of other prophets. Thus of Noah it is said, “Noah walked with God,” not “… with the Lord” using the ineffable name. This is like “and Enoch walked with God,”⁵ which is written of Enoch. The use of the hitpa‘el is known from the study of logic as an action still in progress and incomplete.⁶ (MK II 302), where the hitpa‘el is described as referring to “an action still in the middle.” There Kaspi refers to the Physics of Aristotle as his source. In the Physics, bk. 3, 201a, Aristotle defines motion as “the fulfillment of what exists potentially, insofar as it exists potentially.” Thus Noah was potentially close to God. It is thus with every usage of the hitpa‘el stem in Hebrew. Reliable evidence for this is “there you shall sell yourselves … for bondmen and bondwomen …,”⁷ which must be in the progressive aspect with the transactions uncompleted. Proof of this is provided by “and no man shall buy you.”⁸ Noah’s greatest perception was his recognition of the heavenly influences, similar to his contemporaries, who also did not realize that there was an existent beyond the Heavenly Spheres.⁹ For this reason he attributed most matters, and certainly the flood with the action of the wind that caused the waters to subside, as well as the other details of the story, to the causative action of the Heavenly Spheres, | which are what is intended in the name of “God” (’Elokim).¹⁰ is a generic name for the two upper worlds, which are the Separate Intelligences and the Heavenly Spheres, respectively. “The Lord,” as explained earlier, is part of the former. Notice especially that at the outset “God” is mentioned,”¹¹ then there is a change to the name “Lord” when it is written, “And the Lord said unto Noah: come thou and all thy house into the ark.”¹² This was (written) to inform us, the recipients of the Torah, that the Lord was the first cause (of those events), and that when we cling to Him we are protected from any evils caused by the constellations or the signs of heaven.¹³ (Berlin, 1928), vol. II, p. 136. This doctrine of heavenly influences was developed most notably in Ibn Ezra’s theory of providence, as found in his commentary to Exod. 3:15. See D. Rosin, “Die Religionsphilosophie Abraham Ibn Ezras,” MGWJ, vol. XLII, p. 160. Similarly it says, “Thus did Noah according to all that the Lord commanded him.” It was, however, very important that regarding Noah’s sacrifice to God the Torah not mention the name “God” (to whom Noah sacrificed), but only “Lord,” which is the ineffable and unique name, for the error of contemporary nations was that they sacrificed to the heavenly host. In the Torah Moses intended above all to remove that belief from us, and to have us believe in the world of the Separate Intelligences that exist in addition to the Heavenly Spheres. Moses did the same regarding (his description of) of the sacrifices of Cain and Abel.¹⁴ As for the “dispersed generation,”¹⁵.)” who believed exclusively in the Heavenly Spheres, it is clearly fitting to refer to Him who intervened with them as “the Lord” in His glory.¹⁶

footnotes: ¹ 1. Mizraḳ Kesef ² 2. Gen. 6:9. ³ 3. The Guide ⁴ 4. Guide ⁵ 5. Gen. 5:22. ⁶ 6. This point is discussed somewhat more by Kaspi in Maṣref La-Kesef ⁷ 7. Deut. 28:68, “Ve-hitmakartem …” ⁸ 8. At the end of the same verse. ⁹ 9. Elsewhere Kaspi says that this knowledge of the uppermost world of Separate Intelligences was first revealed by Abraham. ¹⁰ 10. Accordingly, ’Elokim ¹¹ 11. In v. 1. ¹² 12. Gen. 7:1. ¹³ 13. These latter terms are translated in accordance with the sense of J. Klatzkin, ’Oṣar Ha-Munaḥim Ha-Philosophim ¹⁴ 14. Gen. 4:3–4. ¹⁵ 15. Gen. 10:35, “for in his days was the earth divided (niflegah ha-’areṣ ¹⁶ 16. Gen. 11:5.