II. (1) On the third day the earth was like a plain, and the waters covered the face of the whole earth. When the word of God went forth, saying, ' Let the waters be gathered together,' the mountains were lifted up and scattered over the earth, and deep valleys were dug down in the bowels of the earth, into which the waters rolled and were gathered, as it is said, ' The gathering of waters He called seas.' The waters then immediately rose tumul- tuously to a great height and covered the face of the earth as at first, until God rebuked them and subdued them, and placed them under the hollow of His feet, and measured them in His palm, so that they could neither diminish nor increase. He surrounded the sea with sand as a fence, just as a man makes a fence for his vineyard. So that when the waters approach and see the fence before them they recede, as it is said, 'Will they not fear My signs, says the Lord.' (2) Before the waters were finally gathered together, the rivers and the fountains of the deep were created, for the earth was stretched over the waters just as a ship floating in the midst of the sea, as it is said, ' To spread out the earth over the waters.' (3) And God opened a gate in the Garden of Eden and brought forth all kinds of plants, every kind of tree yielding fruit after its kind, and every kind of grass. He took their seeds and planted them upon the earth, as it is said, ' Whose seed is within itself upon the earth.' He prepared food for His creatures before they were created, as it is said, ' Thou preparest a table before me.' (4) All the fountains of waters rise from the depths. B. Joshua said that the depth of the earth would take sixty years to w^alk through. There is one fountain close to Gehinnom which receives and gives out hot waters that delight man. (5) B. Jehudah says: Once every month
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rivulets ascend from the depths and water the face of the whole earth, as it is said, ' And a spray went up from the earth to water the garden.' The thick clouds pass on the sound of the water-courses to the seas, and the seas to the depths, and the depths to each other, and finally rise and give moisture to the clouds, as it is said, ' Who causes the vapours to ascend at the end of the earth.'
(6) The rains descend upon every place bidden them by the King, so that the earth immediately flourishes and becomes fertile. But when God wishes to bless the land and make it fertile and prosperous, so as to feed His creatures. He then opens His storehouse of good con- tained in the heavens and rains upon the earth, so that it immediately becomes fertile and produces the seed of blessing, as it is said, ' The Lord will open for thee His treasure of good.'
HI. (1) On the fourth day he formed two lights, one not larger than the other; they were identical both in their form and in their light, as it is said, ' And God made the two lights.' A quarrel ensued between them; one said to the other, ' I am greater than thou.' Therefore God, in order to make peace between them, enlarged the one and diminished the other, as it is said, 'And the greater to rule by day.' (2) E. Eliezer said that God uttered one word and the heavens were created to become the dwelling- place of the throne of the glory of His kingdom, as it is said, * By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,' but for the numerous host of heaven God exerted Himself more; He blew with the breath of His mouth, and all the host of the heavens were created, as it is said, ' And with the breath of His mouth all their host.' (3) All the stars and planets and the two lights were created at the beginning of the fourth night. One did not precede the other except by one minute particle of time; therefore, all the work of the sun is done slowly, while that of the moon is done quickly; what the sun takes twelve days to do the moon can do in one day; what the sun does during the whole year the moon does in thirty days, as it is explained in the chapters
of E. Eliezer. (4) Three letters of the meffable name of God are written upon the heart of the sun, and angels lead it. Those that lead it in the day do not lead it in the night, and those that lead it in the night do not lead it in the day. The sun rises in a chariot, and rides forth crowned as a bridegroom, as it is said, ' And he goeth forth from his canopy as a bridegroom.' The horns (the rays) and the fiery face of the sun look upon the earth in the summer, they would consume it with fire if the ice above would not temper the heat, as it is said, ' Nothing is hidden from his heat.' In the winter-time the sun turns his icy face to the earth, and were it not for the fire which warms the cold, the world would not be able to endure it, as it is said, ' Who can stand before his cold?' (5) The sun rises in the east and sets opposite in the west. The Shekinah always resides in the west, and the sun enters in its presence, and, bowing down before the King of kings, says: ' 0 Lord of the universe, I have fulfilled all Thy commands.' These are some of the ways of the sun. (6) The habitation of the moon is placed between the clouds and the thick darkness, which are like two dishes one above the other; within them the moon travels. These two clouds turn themselves towards the west, and the moon peeps out from between the two in the form of a little horn. On the first night of the new month one part is visible, on the second night a second portion, and so on until the middle of the month, when it is full moon. From the middle of the month onwards these two clouds turn them- selves eastwards, and that part of the moon which appeared first is the first to be covered by the tw^o clouds — on the first night one part, on the second night a second part, until the end of the month, when it is entirely covered. Whence do we know that the moon is between two clouds? Because it is said, ' The cloud is its clothing, and clouds of darkness its covering.'