“And there was no man to till [laavod] the ground” – there was no man to induce people to worship [lehaavid] the Holy One blessed be He, like Elijah the prophet and Ḥoni HaMe’agel.18Both of them brought about rainfall with their prayers. “And there was no man to till the ground” – man was created only for toil. If he merits, his toil is with Torah. If he does not merit, his toil is with the earth. Fortunate is the person whose toil is with Torah.
“Because the Lord God did not cause it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man…” – were it not for man, there would be no covenant made with the earth to cause rain to fall on it, as it is stated: “Who would…bring rain on land with no man, or on a wilderness with no person in it?” (Job 38:26).