“God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas, and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10). “God called the dry land Earth [eretz].” Why was it called eretz? It is because it hastened [ratzeta] to perform the will of its Maker.11By beginning to expand.
Rabbi Natan in the name of Rabbi Aḥa, and Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak said: “I am God Almighty [shadai]” (Genesis 17:1) – I am the One who [she] said to the heavens and the earth: Enough [dai]. Had it not been so, they would have continually stretched out until now. “And the gathering of the waters He called Seas” – Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Ḥalafta said: Is it not only one sea?12“The gathering of waters” is in the singular, indicating that the verse is referring to one body of water.
Why does the verse state “Seas”? However, the taste of a fish that comes up in Akko is not similar to one that comes up in Sidon or one that comes up in Spain.13Even in a single body of water (the Mediterranean), there are several distinct sections.