Was the Torah Created Before the World?

How could the Torah have been created 974 generations before the creation of the world, if time itself was only created later, on the second day of Creation? Furthermore, our sages taught that God created worlds and destroyed them. Does this mean that God had to engage in trial and error in creating the world?

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The Midrashim you’ve encountered contain profound secrets. They are not intended to be read literally, but rather to teach us elevated concepts.

Torah Before Creation

The Midrash that says the Torah was created before the world is to teach us that the Torah and its commandments are the “manufacturer’s instructions” of creation, and not the other way around.

Some may mistakenly think that the Torah was given after the fact; that because people steal, God said, “Do not steal,” or because we have parents, God commanded, “Honor your father and mother.”

The truth, however, is the opposite. God first willed that there be a mitzvah to honor parents, and therefore He created a reality in which children are born to fathers and mothers. He willed that there be a challenge of property and ownership, and therefore He created the temptation to steal. The world was created according to the blueprint of the Torah.

The Torah is eternal, because it is the eternal will of God to bestow goodness upon His creations. The expression “974 generations” is itself a metaphor, containing deep symbolic meaning to indicate the Torah’s preexistence in God’s plan.

Worlds Created and Destroyed

The Midrash that says God created and destroyed worlds is also not to be taken literally, as though God needed to experiment. Rather, it teaches us that the world in which we live is the perfect world, suited to achieve the divine purpose.

When God declared of this world, “And behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31), it meant that this creation fully embodies the divine goal.

This Midrash answers the doubt some may have: “Couldn’t God have created a better world?” The sages taught that He already “brought into existence” all possible alternatives, and by doing so, showed us that our world is the one that fulfills His purpose best.

A Parable

Consider an artist shaping clay: he may fashion one pot, break it, then another, until he creates the perfect vessel. In the same way, the Midrash uses metaphor to describe God as if He created world after world, until He revealed this one, which is complete and fully suited to sustain life and accomplish His plan.

We can see this with our own eyes. When we look into the heavens, we see countless worlds — planets, stars, and galaxies, that cannot support life. Yet our world is uniquely fine-tuned with the precise conditions necessary for life. The Midrash’s message is that our universe is not random, but is the perfected creation.