R. Ishmael questioned R. 'Aqiva, who was interpreting the words akh ("but") and raq ("only") as indicating exclusions, with et (either the sign of a definite accusative or the preposition "with") and gam ("also") as indicating inclusions. R. Ishmael said to him: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth" is not written here but ET THE HEAVEN AND ET THE EARTH. The use of ET is simply a clarification of Scripture. R. 'Aqiva said to him: It is written (in Deut. 32:47): FOR IT (the Torah) IS NO EMPTY THING FOR YOU. If "heaven and earth" had been stated (in Gen. 1:1), we should have said: They are two deities. But ET THE HEAVEN AND ET THE EARTH means those two creations and what was created along with them.