Rabbi Bun said: What is the meaning of the verse (Proverbs 8:23), "I was set up from eternity, from a head, before the earth"? What is the meaning of "from eternity” (מֵעוֹלָם)?" This means that it must be concealed (הֶעֱלֵם) from the world. It is thus written: (Ecclesiastes 3:11), "He has also placed the world in their hearts..."
Do not read “the world” (הָעֹלָם), but “concealment” (הֶעֱלֵם). The Torah said, "I was first, so that I might be the head of the world." It is thus written, "I was set up from eternity, from a head." You may think that the earth was before it.
It is therefore written, "before the earth." It is thus written (Genesis 1:1), "In the beginning God created heaven and the earth." What is the meaning of "created"? He created everything that was needed for all things. And then God. Only after that is it written "the heaven and the earth."