Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said in the name of Rabbi Levi: A builder requires six items: Water, dirt, wood, stones, reeds, and iron. If you say that he is wealthy and does not need reeds [to build with], he still needs to use them as a measuring rod, as it is stated: “A linen thread and a measuring rod” (Ezekiel 40:3). So, too, the Torah employed these six expressions of precedence: “Of old [kedem]…from earliest time [me’az], from ancient times [meolam]…from the beginning [merosh], from before [mikadmei]…” (Proverbs 8:22–23) – which counts as two,31Since mikadmei is a plural form. in the section of “the Lord made me” (Proverbs 8:22).