Alexander of Macedon proposed ten queries to the elders of the south: — " Which are more remote from each other, the heavens from the earth or the east from the west?" They answered, "The east is more remote from the west, for when the sun is either in the east or in the west, any one can gaze upon him; but when the sun is in the zenith or heaven, none can gaze at him, he is so much nearer.* The Mishnaic Rabbis, on the other hand, say they are equidistant; for it is written (Ps. ciii. 11, 12), "As the heavens are from the earth,... so is the east removed from the west."
Alexander then asked, " Were the heavens created first or was the earth? " The heavens," they replied, " for it is said, ( In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. >M He then asked, "Was light created first or was darkness?" They replied, "This is an unanswerable question." They should have answered darkness was created first, for it is said, "And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the