Pemikiran Yahudi Kejadian 1:10: Derush Chiddushei HaLevanah & Guide for the Perplexed

And with regard to the water, the Sages stated:²¹Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 5; consult that source. When the utterance,²²Bereishis 1:9. “Let the waters be collected,” was pronounced by the Holy One, blessed be He, the mountains and the hills separated²³The wording in the standard published text of Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer differs slightly. over the surface of the earth and a series of valleys were made reaching the depths of the earth. The waters naturally flowed into them and were collected there, as indicated by the verse,²⁴Bereishis 1:10. I.e., at first there was one watery mass. After God commanded the water to be collected, these valleys were made, and the watery mass was separated and collected into separate seas. “He called the gathering of the water, seas.” Immediately thereafter, the waters rose up in pride and sought to cover the earth as was their original state until the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked them and subdued them.

In this figurative sense the verb is to be understood, when applied to God e.g., “I saw (raïti) the Lord” (1 Kings 22:19); “And the Lord appeared (va-yera) unto him (Gen. 18:1); “And God saw (va-yar) that it was good” (Gen. 1:10) “I beseech thee, show me (hareni) thy glory” (Exod. 33:18); “And they saw (va-yirü) the God of Israel” (Exod. 24:10). All these instances refer to intellectual perception, and by no means to perception with the eye as in its literal meaning: for, on the one hand, the eye can only perceive a corporeal object, and in connection with it certain accidents, as colour, shape, etc.: and, on the other hand, God does not perceive by means of a corporeal organ, as will be explained.

We must further consider that the term ereẓ is a homonym, and is used in a general and a particular sense. It has a more general signification when used of everything within the sphere of the moon, i.e., of all the four elements; and is used in particular of one of them, of the lowest, viz., earth. This is evident from the passage: “And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the surface of the deep. And the wind of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The term “earth” [mentioned here, and in the first verse] includes all the four elements, whilst further on it is said, “And God called the dry land Earth” (Gen. 1:10).