הָ֘כֵ֤ן בַּח֨וּץ ׀ מְלַאכְתֶּ֗ךָ וְעַתְּדָ֣הּ בַּשָּׂדֶ֣ה לָ֑ךְ אַ֝חַ֗ר וּבָנִ֥יתָ בֵיתֶֽךָ׃ (פ)
Prépare-toi une occupation au dehors, déploie ton activité dans ton champ, puis, tu édifieras ta maison.
Rabbeinu Bahya
In fact, a Midrash (Tanchuma Ki Tissa 16) asks: “how could Moses possibly have learned the entire Torah within forty days? Is it not written (Job 11,40) ‘its measurements are longer than the earth and its width wider than the oceans?’” We are forced to answer that what G’d taught Moses during these forty days were the rules governing study of the Torah and their application. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, extrapolating on the spelling of the word ככלתו in our verse said that anyone teaching Torah who does not succeed in making its words as beloved as a bride is to her groom would have done better not to lecture at all. At the time when the Torah was received by the Jewish people it was as beloved to them as a bride to her groom. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish added that just as a bride requires no fewer than 24 different kinds of ornaments, as mentioned in Genesis 2,22 ויבאה אל האדם, “G’d brought her (Chavah) to Adam,” so the Torah requires 24 ornaments [the numerical value of the letters in the word ויבאה is 24. Ed.]. G’d had decorated Adam’s bride with 24 ornaments. The ornaments are listed in Isaiah 3,18-23. Similarly, a Torah scholar needs to be decorated (thoroughly familiar) with 24 books; (the books of the Bible). Seeing that the Sabbath is perceived as the bride of the Jewish people, this may be the reason that the authors of the oral Torah divided tractate Shabbat into 24 chapters.
Another reason that the Sabbath is called כלה, “end, completion,” is that it occurred for the first time at the end of the six days of creation. It had been the objective, “end purpose,” of all that had been created before both in the heavens and on earth. The Sabbath in the celestial regions is perceived as the end of emanations. It is customary in our terrestrial world that as a man prepares for adulthood the final stage is that he picks a bride (after having established an economic base, acquired a field, or something like it, built a house). Solomon instructed us in this sequence of events when he wrote in Proverbs 24,27: “prepare your outside work; make ready what you have in the field; and after that build yourself a house.” The word אחר “afterwards,” in that verse is not a preposition but a command and refers to the founding of a family as making the acquisition of a bride the last of these endeavours. A similar construction is found in Psalms 55,10 פלג לשונם, ”confound their speech!” [where this root is used as a verb in the imperative instead of as an adjective or preposition. Ed.]
Another reason that the Sabbath is called כלה, “end, completion,” is that it occurred for the first time at the end of the six days of creation. It had been the objective, “end purpose,” of all that had been created before both in the heavens and on earth. The Sabbath in the celestial regions is perceived as the end of emanations. It is customary in our terrestrial world that as a man prepares for adulthood the final stage is that he picks a bride (after having established an economic base, acquired a field, or something like it, built a house). Solomon instructed us in this sequence of events when he wrote in Proverbs 24,27: “prepare your outside work; make ready what you have in the field; and after that build yourself a house.” The word אחר “afterwards,” in that verse is not a preposition but a command and refers to the founding of a family as making the acquisition of a bride the last of these endeavours. A similar construction is found in Psalms 55,10 פלג לשונם, ”confound their speech!” [where this root is used as a verb in the imperative instead of as an adjective or preposition. Ed.]
Meiri
A person should always strive to have a house, before they strive for other possessions, and after that they should strive for other possessions like vineyards and fields, and after that they should marry. The Torah alluded to this - "Who is the man" etc (Devarim 20:5) - house is placed before vineyard and vineyard before wife. And King Shlomo in his wisdom said “Prepare your work outside, and make it fit for yourself in the field; and afterward build your house” (Mishlei 24:27). “Prepare your work outside”; this is a house. “And make it fit for yourself in the field”; this is a vineyard and other possessions. “And afterward you shall build your house”; this is a wife. And whilst on the topic, they taught it another way: "Prepare your work outside"; this is Torah, Mishnah, and Talmud. "And make it fit for yourself in the field"; these are good deeds, meaning to say, degrees and attributes of character. "And build a house"; that you should study and receive reward, meaning that you should influence your counterpart.