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Day 3
(ט) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יִקָּו֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם מִתַּ֤חַת הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ אֶל־מָק֣וֹם אֶחָ֔ד וְתֵרָאֶ֖ה הַיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃
(9) God said, “Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.
(א) יקוו המים. שֶׁהָיוּ שְׁטוּחִין עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ וְהִקְוָם בָּאוֹקְיָנוֹס הוּא הַיָּם הַגָּדוֹל שֶׁבְּכָל הַיַּמִּים:

(1) יקוו המים THE WATERS SHALL BE DRAWN TOGETHER — For they were then spread over the surface of the whole earth, and He now gathered them together into what now constitutes the Ocean, which is the largest of all seas (Genesis Rabbah 5:2).

(א) יקוו המיסי לא שיבשו כאשר חשבו רבים ואמרו שיובש חלק הארץ המגולה קרה בכח מערכות השמים. אבל צוה שיקוו אל מקום אחד ולא יעברונהו ובכן גבהו מן הארץ ואינם נופלי' עליה כאשר יעיד החוש כאמרו וגבול שמת בל יעבורון בל ישובון לכסות הארץ:

(1) יקוו המים; this does not mean that the waters should dry up, as many people interpreted it. These people said that the process would be achieved by a substantial part of the oceans freezing and turning to ice such as the polar regions, and that this would be caused by forces in the celestial regions. אל מקום אחד. The waters should not deviate from this location. As a result they became much higher than the surrounding land mass without crashing down on earth as our senses would have us think would be the case. This is why David tells us in Psalms 104,9: גבול שמת בל יעברון, “You have set them limits which they must not cross.” The meaning is that the waters must not flood the earth.”

(י) וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ לַיַּבָּשָׁה֙ אֶ֔רֶץ וּלְמִקְוֵ֥ה הַמַּ֖יִם קָרָ֣א יַמִּ֑ים וַיַּ֥רְא אֱלֹהִ֖ים כִּי־טֽוֹב׃
(10) God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of waters He called Seas. And God saw that this was good.
(א) קרא ימים. וַהֲלֹא יָם אֶחָד הוּא? אֶלָּא אֵינוֹ דוֹמֶה טַעַם דָּג הָעוֹלֶה מִן הַיָּם בְּעַכּוֹ לְטַעַם דָּג הָעוֹלֶה מִן הַיָּם בְּאַסְפַּמְיָא:

(1) 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).