Genesis 2:3 God created לַעֲשֽׂוֹת, la'asot

3 And God blessed the seventh day and He hallowed it, for thereon He abstained from all His work that God created to do.

(9) Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Chama bar Chanina: Three creations created The Holy One, blessed be He, on each day: on the first, heaven, earth, and light; on the second, the firmament, Gehenna, and the angels; on the third, trees, herbs, and the Garden of Eden; on the fourth, the sun, the moon, and the constellations; on the fifth, birds, fish, and the Leviathan; on the sixth, Adam, Eve, and moving creatures. Rabbi Pinchas said: On the sixth He created six things: Adam, Eve, moving creatures, cattle, wild beasts, and demons. Rabbi Benayah said: "That God created and did/made" is not written here, but "that God created to do/make": All that the Holy One, blessed be He, would have created on the seventh, He did earlier and created it on the sixth.

"That God created to do/make." The work which should have been done on the Sabbath He did in the double work which He executed on the sixth day, as it is explained in Genesis Rabbah 11:9.

Rabbi Pinchas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: Even though it says: "for thereon He abstained from all His work", He abstained from the work of [creating] His world, but He did not abstain from the work on the wicked and not from the work on the righteous, but He labours with them both. He shows both the wicked and the righteous the nature [or: a semblance] of their designs. From where [do we know] that the punishment of the wicked is called "work"? From what is said in Jer. 50:25: "The Eternal One opened His armoury and brought out the weapons of His wrath; surely that is work." And from where [do we know] that the reward of the righteous is called "work"? From what is said in Ps. 31:20: "How great is Your goodness that You store up for those who fear You; You labour for those who take refuge in You in the sight of the sons of men."

Even though it says: "for thereon He abstained from all His work," He abstained anyhow only from the work of [creating] His world. But the Eternal One did not abstain from the work of the hashgacha [providence, care] by which He rules the world, which is the work for the wicked and the righteous. For for the sake of the wicked and the righteous the Eternal One himself labours on the hashgacha by which He rules world, that there will not be one fate for the righteous and for the wicked [as there would be] according to the natural order. Sometimes He destroys the natural order to give everyone according to the fruit of his deeds and to repay the God-fearing man [chasid] according to his labours, and the wicked according to his wickedness. And about that says the midrash: "He shows borh the nature of their designs," that is to say that He shows them both the payment fitting to the substance of their deeds, measure for measure, for from that is known the hashgacha of the Eternal One in the world.

Another interpretation (of Gen. 2:3): WHICH HE CREATED "and made" is not written, but TO MAKE, because the Sabbath preceded the completion of the work. R. Bannaya said: These are the demons (mazziqin), whose souls he had created. While he was creating their bodies, the Sabbath commenced. So he left them alone and they survive to the present as spirit with no body. [...]

There are also some who say: WHICH GOD HAD CREATED TO MAKE: This is the Temple which is going to be.

"which God created la'asot." [...]
To me, the explanation appears to be that He rested from all His work which He created out of nothing; to make from it all the works mentioned on the six days. Thus the verse is stating that G-d rested from creating and forming — from the creation He created on the first day, and from the formation He formed on the rest of the days. And it is possible that the word la’asoth (to make) is connected with the expression above in the verse, that in it He rested from all His work which He created from making, [thus making the word la’asoth to be understood as mila’asoth (from making)]. So also are the verses: Until he ceased ‘lispor’ (to count) (Gen 41,49), which means milispor (until he left off counting); And they ceased ‘livnoth’ (to build) the city (Gen 11,8), which means milivnoth; Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount (Ex 19,12); And they departed not ‘mitzvath’ (the commandment of the king) (2 Chron. 8,15), which should be understood as mimitzvath (from the commandment); and thus in many other cases.

"from all His work that God created to do/make." The explanation of this is that "to do/make" refers to the future. That is that the Holy-One-blessed-be-He renews every day continually the work of creation. And the renewal of the work of creation on the Sabbath day is prepared on the day before and on the Sabbath He refrains from that too; and that is the meaning of the words "from all His work."

(2) He illuminates the earth [and provides light] for those who dwell on it, with compassion; and in His goodness renews every day, continually, the work of creation.

"That God created to do/make." Its meaning is: God placed in the root of all the species the power to reproduce themselves.⁷ I disagree with the person who explains la’asot (had made) as having the same meaning as made⁸ and who, furthermore, insists that created and made are synonymous.

אשר ברא אלוקים לעשות, He had created them, whereas it was now up to the plants, animals, etc., to continue the process G’d had begun and to perfect the earth as well as themselves, each species according to its potential.

N.B. The above translation is a bit too free. A more literal translation is:

"That God created to do/make." To do/make from then on. He created them in the six days of creation, so that from then on every species would make its descendants, according to what they are.

“from all His work etc.” La'asot is a reference to the functioning henceforth of the earth and its inhabitants, i.e. living creatures developing and multiplying, trees producing fruit, etc. An alternative exegesis of the phrase; the word: la'asot at the end of this verse refers to the continuity of this process for as long as earth would exist.

(3) [...] Any place that it is stated, "and it was in the days of," it is nothing but a term of grief. [...] Rabbi Shimon ben Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, "Any place that it is stated, 'and it was (vayehi),' it is used for grief and it is used for joy. And when for grief, there is no grief like it, and when for joy, there is no joy like it." Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman came and divided it, "Any place that it is stated 'it will be,' it is used for joy; [but] 'and it was' [is for] grief." The Sages responded, "Behold 'And God said, "Vayehi (here used as a command form, and not past tense) light"' [is] joy!" He said to them, "It too is not of joy, as the world did not merit to use that light. As so did Rabbi Yehudah bar Simon say, '[Regarding] the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, created on the first day, Adam [could] look and observe from [one] end of the world to the [other] end. [But] since the Holy One, blessed be He, saw the deeds of the generation of Enosh and the generation of the flood, He arose and hid it from them. That is [the meaning of] what the verse states (Job 38:15), "From the wicked is their light withheld." And to where is it hidden? [It is] in the Garden of Eden, for the righteous ones, as it is stated (Psalms 97:11), "Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the straight-hearted."'" They responded to him further, "It states, 'And it was evening and it was morning, one day.'" He said to them, "On that day too, it is not of joy, as all the acts of the first day are destined to wither, as it is stated (Isaiah 51:6), 'when the heavens melt away like smoke and the earth wither like a garment.'" They responded to him, "Behold, the [acts of] the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day." He said to them, "They too are not of joy, as everything that was created in the six days of creation requires doing/making - for example, mustard needs to be sweetened; wheat needs to be ground; lupine need to be sweetened." [...]

[...] "That God created la'asot." That means: to explain and renew the nature of creation as much as possible. Likewise for those of us who have the capability [it means] to explore in depth the language of the Torah. And [by] that the glory of God [is increased] [...].