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קרא ימים CALLED HE SEAS — But does it not form one great sea? But it speaks of seas because the taste of fish which comes up from the sea at Acco is not the same as the taste of fish which comes up from the sea at Aspamia (Genesis Rabbah 5:8).

ליבשה ארץ, as I explained earlier, the “yabashah” is none other than the earth mentioned in verse 1 as הארץ, as well as in many other places.

ויקרא אלוקים ליבשה ארץ, G’d assigned a name which is applicable to the whole also to parts of it. The reason is that the particular part of the “earth” described previously as merely יבשה, is in reality the most important and productive part of the “earth.” (based on Moreh Nevuchim) Isaiah 45,18 already referred to this when he said of earth that לשבת יצרה, “G’d formed it in order that it be populated,” i.e. subterranean earth is of secondary importance, seeing one cannot cultivate it and make it one’s habitat.

And He called: See above, verse 5. And it states that God called the dry land and the sea with a name, to say that He is the one that [keeps] the waters of the seas in the seas that they should not go out and flood the land; and when He wants, He sends them [out] and they overturn the land and destroy great countries to the point that what was dry land yesterday will become sea today, without man having any control over this.

AND G-D CALLED THE DRY LAND EARTH. The verse states that the proper name for it would be yabashah (dry land) for as the waters are separated from the sand it becomes dry. However, He called it eretz (earth) as the name which included the four elements created on the first day. The reason for this is that they were all created for the sake of the earth in order that there be a habitation for man, since among the lower creatures no one but man recognizes his Creator.¹²⁹This is a major principle in Ramban’s thought, that the purpose of all existence is that man acknowledge his Creator. “We have no other reason for the Creation.” (See end of Seder Bo in the Book of Exodus).
And the gathering together of the waters He called ‘yamim’ (seas). It is as if [the word yamim, (seas) combines the two words] yam and mayim (a sea of waters), for the bottom of the ocean is called yam, as it is written, As the waters cover the sea,¹³⁰Isaiah 11:9. and likewise, And he took down the sea from off the brazen oxen.¹³¹II Kings 16:17. It is called “sea” because there was a large gathering of water in it.

And God called the dry land earth: And it is the one mentioned in the first verse, "In the beginning, etc." And its stating the word, "called" can be explained in two ways: either it is an expression of calling a name or it is an expression of yelling; He yelled at it that it should no longer spread out, as they, of blessed memory, said (Chagigah 12a), "He said to his world, 'enough!'" And when it listened and no longer spread out, He called it earth, as they, of blessed memory, stated (Bereishit Rabbah 5:8), as a result of being reconciled (nitratsit), it was called earth (erets).

He called seas: A gathering [of water] is called a sea, and many gatherings are called seas. This is the simple explanation of the thing. And the exegetical understanding [drasha] is known.

ויקרא, up until now this mass of dry land had not qualified for a name, seeing that it had not been visible to the naked eye. The same applies to the waters, which, though they had existed since the first day, had only now been called ימים, oceans. They had previously only been known as תהום, a murky mass of liquid containing some opaque solid particles. The second verse in which we read of these definitions had been written by Moses, had not been said by G’d. What Moses had meant is that at that time there existed something, which in his time was referred to as תהום.
Alternately, we could say that the word תהם is derived from the word תהו. This would be an appropriate description, seeing that in the deep waters there is so much confusion and so little light that everything appears as utter confusion, and none of the creatures in that environment can derive pleasure or satisfaction from their existence. There are such locations in the middle of the ocean where the waters are exceedingly deep and far removed from any of the continents of the earth known as dry land by the Torah. Certain of the scientists have already offered proof that earth, i.e. our lower universe, is a sphere seeing that earth itself exists as part of a much greater sphere, the universe. [remember that in Kimchi’s time before Copernicus, the earth was considered the center of the universe or the galaxy, not the sun, as proven by Copernicus in 1543. Ed.] According to the theory proposed by Kimchi or the scientists of his time, one configuration cannot maintain its individuality if it is within another configuration which is different. [If I understand him correctly, he reasons that the earth being spherical is determined by its position within the larger universe surrounded by orbiting planets, which would collide if earth were not dead center, and equidistant on all sides from all the planets orbiting around it. Ed.]
; In fact, the very place described by scientists as תהום is an area in which ships cannot navigate, nor fish survive. The word תהום is a figure of speech, borrowed from descriptions of places containing deep waters. The name ים, ocean, on the other hand, is a term describing the location of the water, a word which is not a derivative of any other root or noun. It is not an adjective describing the condition of the water. It is not comparable to the name יבשת, which is called thus because it reflects the fact that it consists of material which is dry. It is a noun in its own right. The noun ארץ, on the other hand, is also not derived from an adjective, but a definition in its own right. The word תהום, though a noun, merely describes a large quantity of water, as distinct from the word ים, which may apply even to a very shallow expanse of water, including areas very close to a sandy beach.

ויקרא אלוקים ליבשה ארץ. “G’d named the dry land ארץ. The name יבשה is appropriate, seeing that as soon as the water is removed from the dust, [one of the four basic raw materials. Ed.] that is left behind becomes dry.

"He called seas"d. Is there not but one sea? I.e., all other seas flow from the Ocean, as it says (Koheles 1:7): “All the rivers flow into the sea...”

ויקרא, Gott gab dem aus den Fluten hervorragenden festen Erdkörper die Bestimmung: ארץ, die eigentliche Erde zu sein, in welcher, durch welche und auf welcher das die Erde charakterisierende Individualitäten-Dasein seine eigentliche Gestalt und Verwirklichung findet. Das Wasser, das Flüssige, ist nur die vorbereitende Bedingung dazu. ולמקוה המים קרא ימים der Sammlung der Wasser aber rief er zu: Bette! Bleibet nicht Eine Sammlung von Wassern, sondern brechet in den Kontinent ein und sammelt euch in verschiedenen Betten zu gesonderten, den Kontinent teilenden Meeren. Diese Scheidung des Kontinents durch den überall eindringenden Ozean in gesonderte Erdteile, eine Scheidung, die dann durch weitere Sonderung vermittelst der Ströme und Flüsse eine noch weitere Zerfällung bewirkte, hat der Individualitätenbestimmung der Erde ein noch größeres Gebiet der Mannigfaltigkeit gegeben und ist die Grundlage aller Völkerentwicklung geworden. So singt das תהלים-Lied: "Gottes ist die Erde und was sie füllt, so auch die Menschenwelt und was sie bewohnt; denn Er hat an Meere sie gegründet und stellt noch fort und fort an Strömen sie fest." — (Ps. 24.2.)

"and G-d saw that it was good" - He wanted it thus because of the goal which is: the intended Goodness

Yamim (seas): It is one sea that includes all the seas (as I wrote above about the word, Elohim), since they are all united (connected) one with the other.

ולמקוה המים קרא ימים, “He named the collection of waters ימים.” The reason why the waters were now described as ימים, oceans, is because the ground at the bottom of the ocean is called ים, as we know from Isaiah 11,9 כמים לים מכסים, “as the waters which cover the ocean.”

At Spain. For in Spain, the fish are better.

And its stating, "He called seas," this is not the depths, which is spoken of in verse 2, since 'the depths' is said about the waters more generally; and the water under the earth as well as the gathered waters were all in the aspect of depths, [during the time] before the earth appeared, since they were all equally mixed with the waters that today are below the earth.

Concerning the use of the plural mode to describe such waters, i.e. ימים, the scholar Rabbi Yitzchok Israeli writes that it includes two parts of the oceans. It includes what was known as the “great ocean,” the one which spans the better part of the sphere called earth, as well as the southern sea known as “sarndif.”

AND G-D SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD. This means that their continued existence was by His Will, and the purport is that when He clothed them with this form He desired them to be so and their existence was thus established as I have explained.¹³²In Verse 4. This conforms to what our Rabbis have said:¹³³Bereshith Rabbah 4:8. “Why is it not stated in reference to the work of the second day that it was good? Because the work associated with the waters was not completed until the third day. Therefore on the third day, [the words ki tov — that it was good] are repeated, once in reference to the completion of the work associated with the waters, and once in reference to [the completion of the other work of] that day.”

וירא א׳ כי טוב Gott sah ein, dass diese Sonderung gut, d. h. seinem Zwecke mit der Erdwelt entsprechend sei, darum lässt Er sie fortbestehen und darum besteht sie fort. Beim vorhergehenden Werke fehlt das כי טוב, weil erst mit diesem die Wassersonderung ihre Vollendung erhielt. Bis dahin war es eine Trennung, ein מהלקת ohne Zweck. Allein ein מהלקת mit Zweck, damit das טוב, das Gute gefördert werde, ist nicht nur einmal כי טוב, sondern, wenn sogar noch ein מהלקת hinzu kommt, gar — wie hier am dritten Tage — zweimal כי טוב, weil hier der Zweck des Guten hervortritt, das ohne jene Gegensätze gar nicht Leben gewonnen hätte. Dieses וירא א׳ כי טוב schließt somit die erste Scheidung der unteren und oberen Wasser mit ein. Dass dieser große Kreislauf und Austausch, wie wir ihn jetzt bewundernd erblicken, urkräftig noch heute sich vollzieht, dass der Ozean die Erde umkreist, alles Wasser zum Meere stürtzt, aus dem Ozean zu Wolken steigt und wieder niederstürzend, nachdem es die Erde getränkt, in Quellen, Bächen, Flüssen und Strömen wieder dem Meere zueilt, um den Kreislauf aufs neue zu beginnen, und ebenso Meer und Land in beständigem Austausch begriffen sind: Alles dies ist nicht nur also, weil Gott es einmal geschaffen, sondern weil er, nachdem Er es geschaffen, noch fort und fort es Seinem Zwecke entsprechend findet. —

And God saw that it was good: The intention is that His desire was completed and it was what He wanted it to be. And above on the second day, it doesn't say, "it was good," because the work of the water was not completed (Rashi). Since the desire of God was not completed [on the second day] with the separation of the higher waters from the lower ones, as the main [point] of the creation of the firmament was for the need of bringing down water for the growth of the plants; and behold, until the waters were gathered and the dry land did not appear, there was no place for all this, since the earth was still "chaos and void" - covered by water on all sides and not fitting for habitation. However, when the waters gathered to one place and the dry land appeared, then the work of the water was finished, since there was [now] a place for the falling of the rain onto the face of the dry land, to make it propagate and to make it grow vegetation. And if you will [ask]: if so, why was it not stated that the waters should gather on the second day together with "let there be a firmament;" [the answer is] that the order would not have been proper and elegant if He was involved on one day with [both] the heavens and the earth. And just the opposite, behold the matter comes out very nicely: that on the second day, He created the firmament and on the third day, He arranged the earth that it should grow vegetation; and in order for that to be, He needed first to gather the waters to one place, so that the planet could appear.

וירא אלוקים כי טוב, “G’d ‘saw’ that it was good.” A reference to the permanence of the waters covering the bottom of the ocean, a change from the previous condition. [The new condition needed approval by G’d, seeing that nature had carried out His command, as opposed to G’d having done it Himself, as on the second day. (verse 7). Ed.]

And its stating, "and God saw that it was good," refers also to the gathering of waters, since with it is there life and existence in the world; since the rains in the world are from it, as they, of blessed memory, say (Taanit 9b).

The reason why the Torah does not report that G’d separated the oceans and the dry land from one another is because no absolute separation exists between these phenomena such as the absolute separation between light and darkness. The phenomenon of the tides illustrates this, i.e. the borders of the oceans and the land mass are not constant but vary during the course of the day [due to the influence of the moon’s gravitational pull. Ed.] In Bereshit Rabbah 5,8 Rabbi Yoseph bar Chalafta attributes the plural mode in the name ימים to the fact that the taste of fish caught in different oceans is different from one another, suggesting that the habitat in which one category of fish lived is materially different from one another although both are water.