Genesis 1:27

And God created man in His image: In the mold that was made for him - since everything was created with a proclamation, but he was created manually, as it is written, (Psalms 139:5) "and you placed your palm upon me." He was made with an imprint like a coin that is made with an impression that is called coin (coin) in [Old French]. And so it states (Job 38:14), "The seal changes like clay."

In the image of God, did He create him: It explains to you that this image which was prepared for him is the image of the facsimile of his Creator.

Male and female, He created them: And later it states (Genesis 2:21), "And He took one of his ribs, etc." There is a midrash aggadah [that explains] that He created him with two faces at the first creation and afterwards divided him. And the simple explanation is [that] here it is telling you that both of them were created on the sixth day and it does not explain how their creation [happened], and it explains [it] to you in a different place.

And the Lord created man in His Likeness: In the image of the Lord He created him, with two hundred and forty and eight members, with three hundred and sixty and five nerves, and overlaid them with skin, and filled it with flesh and blood. Male and female in their bodies He created them.

בצלמו, in the image of man. בצלם אלוקים, in the image of angels. Do not be surprised if the creation of the angels has not been referred to in detail in the whole report of creation. Moses did not set himself the task of describing either the details of the heavens or hell, and their creation. Neither did he indulge in describing what is known as מעשה מרכבה, the structure of G’d’s entourage, some of which has been transmitted to us by the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah, respectively. All that is included in the report of creation that Moses recorded here is the visible universe, that which is subject to perception by our senses, as we explained on verse 1.

זכר ונקבה ברא אותם, as the Torah will proceed to explain in detail in chapter 2,21 “He took one of Adam’s sides and fashioned Chavah from it.” We are simply faced here with the report of a generalisation first, followed by greater detail This is also what is described as one of the 32 methods by which Torah can be explained in the treatise of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yossi hagalili, who explained this verse in this fashion.

בצלם אלוקים, when the word אלוקים appears as a description, i.e. in the nature of an adjective, it refers to creatures who are spiritual in their essence, not just that they possess spiritual potential. Such beings are devoid of such physical matter, are totally disembodied. This is what makes them basically infinite. This is the reason why such an adjective, attribute, is applied to G’d as well as to His angels. The term is also used in connection with judges, i.e. describing the predominating intellectual function they must perform if their decisions are to reflect true justice. Whereas it is an undisputed fact that the human intellect operates without direct dependence on any part of the body, that it does not age along with the remainder of the body it inhabits, but, on the contrary, sometimes improves while the body ages and becomes barely able to sustain the soul which inhabits it, and while it is also a fact that exercise of the intellect does not result in fatigue, etc, it is still not called אלוקים, something divine, but only צלם אלוקים, “something which mirrors something divine.” Until this intellect has acquired חכמה, i.e. a reverence for G’d and love for Him, its Creator, it is completely imperfect. It follows that it is man’s task to perfect his G’d given intelligence by acquiring the knowledge and insights which can be provided only by the study of Torah and by the practice of the laws of the Torah. If man, i.e. religiously atheistic intellectuals, do not use their intellect in the manner G’d meant for them to use it, it actually becomes a negative asset, a hindrance, so that in the end it turns out to be completely vain, as pointed out in Psalms 49,21 אדם ביקר ולא יבין נמשל כבהמות ידמו, “if man does not understand the divine gift his intellect represents he is comparable to the beasts which perish.” This entire lesson is condensed in the two words בצלם אלוקים.

ויברא אלוקים את האדם בצלמו, the expression ברא, i.e. a totally new creation, refers only to man’s soul, as indicated by the word בצלמו, in G’d’s image, something that had not yet been created. The Torah wanted to draw a line of distinction between the construction of man’s body and that of his soul. When describing the construction of man’s body, (chapter 2 verse 7), the wording is וייצר אלוקים את האדם עפר מן האדמה, “G’d fashioned man from dust of the earth, etc;” the expression יצר is not one that can be applied to something abstract such as the soul. However, the word עשה, מעשה, is applicable both to bodies and to abstract beings such as souls.
As far as the verse (Zecharayh 12,1) ויוצר רוח אדם בקרבו, “He fashioned man’s spirit inside of him,” is concerned, the prophet referred to an instrument used by the body, something like the heart of the brain. These organs are instruments supporting the power of the spirit. The reason why, at this point the Torah (Moses) did not mention the making of man’s body, is because it is mentioned in the paragraph beginning with the words אלה תולדות השמים והארץ. (Genesis 2,4) In that paragraph some other details are mentioned which have been omitted at this point in order to refer to them in that passage in chapter 2. The whole story mentioned there also belongs to the report of what had transpired during these 6 days of creation.

בצלם אלוקים, a reference to an angel. Basically, whether we speak of “the image of G’d,” or of “an angel,” the common denominator is that we speak of disembodied spiritual beings. G’d is distinguished by the fact that none of the other disembodied intelligent beings (angels) amounts to anything at all, seeing none of them can understand their Creator’s essence. This is an axiom, seeing that G’d is the ultimate cause of their existence. He is the Creator, whereas they are merely creatures. This is why Moses added the word אלוקים, when mentioning צלם, to make sure that we get the point that if man is compared to something celestial, he is compared to a creature in the celestial regions, not to the Creator himself.

זכר ונקבה ברא אותם, in the following paragraph Moses explains how G’d created man as both male and female.