Midras Amsal 8:27: Midrash Tanchuma & Vayikra Rabbah

The Torah served as an artisan in all the work of creation, as it is said: Then I was with Him, as a nursling (amon) (Prov. 8:30). However, you do not read the word as amon (“nursling”), but as uman (“artisan”), since it was with the assistance of the Torah that God stretched out the heavens and established the earth, as it is said: If My covenant be not with day and night, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth (Jer. 33:25). With it, He bound up the sea lest it should go forth and overflow the world, as it is said: Fear ye not Me? saith the Lord; nor will ye not tremble at My presence who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea (ibid. 5:22). With it, also, He locked up the deep so that it might not inundate the world, as is written: When He set a circle on the face of the deep (Prov. 8:27). Similarly, He fashioned with it the sun and the moon, as is said: The Lord giveth the sun to light the day, the ordinances of the moon and the stars to light the night. Who stirreth up the sea, that the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is His name (Jer. 31:35). Hence, you learn that the world was founded upon the Torah.

“Statutes [ḥukim]” with which I set the heavens and the earth, as it is stated: “If My covenant with day and night would not be, had I not set the statutes of heaven and earth” (Jeremiah 33:25). Statutes with which I set the sun and the moon, as it is stated: “So said the Lord, who gives the sun for light of day, and the statutes of the moon and stars for light of night” (Jeremiah 31:35). Statutes with which I set the sea, as it is stated: “When He set His statute for the sea” (Proverbs 8:29). Statutes with which I set the sand, as it is stated: “For I set the sand as the boundary of the sea [an eternal statute]” (Jeremiah 5:22). Statutes with which I set the depths, as it is stated: “When He set [beḥuko] a circle on the surface of the depths” (Proverbs 8:27); statute [ḥok] and circle [ḥug] for a verbal analogy.⁶Some suggest that the text should read “statute [ḥok] and statutes [ḥukot] for a verbal analogy” (Rabbi David Luria). The point is to connect all the verses cited here with Jeremiah 33:25, which is understood to mean that were it not for the Torah, God would not have created the world or support its continued existence.