פָּגַ֤עְתָּ אֶת־שָׂשׂ֙ וְעֹ֣שֵׂה צֶ֔דֶק בִּדְרָכֶ֖יךָ יִזְכְּר֑וּךָ הֵן־אַתָּ֤ה קָצַ֙פְתָּ֙ וַֽנֶּחֱטָ֔א בָּהֶ֥ם עוֹלָ֖ם וְנִוָּשֵֽׁעַ׃
주 외에는 자기를 앙망하는 자를 위하여 이런 일을 행한 신을 예로부터 들은 자도 없고 귀로 깨달은 자도 없고 눈으로 본 자도 없었나이다
Rabbeinu Bahya
The reason that in connection with the heaven, השמים, the Torah did not see fit to allude to anything which had preceded it, is simply that once you know what had occurred prior to creation of the earth as we know it, you can form your own conclusions as to what preceded the heaven. This is also the reason the Torah did not allude to the purpose of the planetary system prior to the time it was placed in the skies on the fourth day.
According to kabbalah, however, the reason the Torah refrains from such allusions is that seeing the material from which heaven was made is the most pure, the most refined, it never had to undergo a metamorphosis even while previous “earths,” its forerunners, had to undergo such transformations. How would anyone be able to form the slightest notion of what had been heaven previously seeing that our sages (Berachot 34) interpreted Isaiah 64,4 עין לא ראתה אלוקים זולתך, “no eye except the one of G’d Himself had ever seen it,” to mean that the material of heaven was so refined that it was invisible to the human eye. What point would there be in relating to what it had been like prior to the creation of our earth at this stage?
To sum up: the Torah made it its task to elaborate on what is known as הנגלות, matters which G’d has seen fit to reveal, whereas it is silent on matters G’d considers as הנסתרות, the hidden aspects of the universe. Remember that theהשמים והארץ which form the subject of the first verse are a reference to the two emanations תפארת and מלכות; they are identical with what is described in chapter 2,8 as גן and עדן respectively. This is the deeper meaning of Pessachim 54 that both Gan as well as Eden were created prior to the creation of the universe. If even the “garden” had come into existence prior to the universe, how much more so must עדן have ben created prior to the universe! After all, the Torah testifies that the “garden” been planted in Eden. Compare Genesis 2,8: “G’d planted a garden in Eden of old [i.e. prior to the creation of the universe].”
According to kabbalah, however, the reason the Torah refrains from such allusions is that seeing the material from which heaven was made is the most pure, the most refined, it never had to undergo a metamorphosis even while previous “earths,” its forerunners, had to undergo such transformations. How would anyone be able to form the slightest notion of what had been heaven previously seeing that our sages (Berachot 34) interpreted Isaiah 64,4 עין לא ראתה אלוקים זולתך, “no eye except the one of G’d Himself had ever seen it,” to mean that the material of heaven was so refined that it was invisible to the human eye. What point would there be in relating to what it had been like prior to the creation of our earth at this stage?
To sum up: the Torah made it its task to elaborate on what is known as הנגלות, matters which G’d has seen fit to reveal, whereas it is silent on matters G’d considers as הנסתרות, the hidden aspects of the universe. Remember that theהשמים והארץ which form the subject of the first verse are a reference to the two emanations תפארת and מלכות; they are identical with what is described in chapter 2,8 as גן and עדן respectively. This is the deeper meaning of Pessachim 54 that both Gan as well as Eden were created prior to the creation of the universe. If even the “garden” had come into existence prior to the universe, how much more so must עדן have ben created prior to the universe! After all, the Torah testifies that the “garden” been planted in Eden. Compare Genesis 2,8: “G’d planted a garden in Eden of old [i.e. prior to the creation of the universe].”
Radak
וארבות השמים נפתחו, the letter ו at the beginning of the word וארבות refers to something in addition. The Torah reports that after the “windows,” or storage chambers of the waters in the heavens had opened and poured down rain in great quantities, also the fountains in the earth below joined in flooding the surface of the globe. We already explained the procedure in our commentary on verse 4. The letter ו is used in a similar fashion in Isaiah 64,4 הן אתה קצפת ונחטא, “You are angry seeing that we have sinned.” Similar constructions are found in Judges 4,21 והוא נרדם ויעף “seeing that he was tired he fell asleep.” Or, Leviticus 9,22 וירד מעשות העולה, “seeing that he had performed the rites of the burnt-offering” he descended.” Seeing there was so much rain, the Torah, using a figure of speech, describes the source of the rain as the ארבות השמים נפתחו, “the windows of the sky having opened.” The term ארבות השמים also appears in Kings II 7,19 where the grain which had been in short supply is predicted by the skeptical captain as being inadequate to supply the necessary quantity even if all of the celestial windows were to be opened and it would rain down from there.
Radak
ותשק את הנער, the sequence sounds misleading, as she had drunk herself when she saw the well, then she had filled the hose and brought it to her son to drink, after which she had filled the hose again to continue on her way. The positioning of the letters ו such as ותלך, ותמלא.ותשק is not at all unusual. Examples of such constructions may be found in Isaiah 64,4; Exodus 14,21; Exodus 15,20, et al. An alternative meaning could be that she drew water from the well with the hose being used as a pail, and carried it to where Ishmael was lying, giving him to drink there.