Rabbi Neḥemya of Kefar Siḥon said: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, [the sea]…” (Exodus 20:11). The three items are the essential basis of the creation of the world, and each one waited three days and then produced three products: The earth [was created] on the first day, in accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel,11Bereshit Rabba 1:15. and it waited three days, the first and second and third, and then [on day three] produced three products – trees, vegetation, and the Garden of Eden.
The firmament [was created] on the second day, waited three days, the second and third and fourth, and then [on day four] produced three products – the sun, the moon, and the constellations. Water [was created] on the third day, waited three days, the third and fourth and fifth, and then [on day five] produced three products – birds, fish, and Leviathan. Rabbi Azarya did not say thus, but rather, “on the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens” – there were [only these] two items that were the essential basis of the creation of the world, and each waited three days and their labor was completed on the fourth.
The heavens [were created] on the first day, in accordance with the opinion of Beit Shammai,12Bereshit Rabba 1:15. they waited three days, the first and second and third, and then their labor was completed on the fourth day. What was the completion of their labor? The celestial lights. The earth [was created] on the third day: “The earth brought forth [vegetation, etc.]” (Genesis 1:12), [the vegetation] being the essential element of its creation.
It waited three days, the third and fourth and fifth, and its labor was completed on the sixth. What was the completion of its labor? It is man, as it is stated: “I made the earth and created man upon it” (Isaiah 45:12).