Louis Ginzberg

“The sea said to the earth, “Take thy children unto thyself,” and the earth retorted, “Keep those whom thou hast slain.” The sea hesitated to do as the earth bade, for fear that God would demand them back on the day of judgment; and the earth hesitated, because it remembered with terror the curse that had been pronounced upon it for having sucked up Abel’s blood. Only after God swore an oath, not to punish it for receiving the corpses of the Egyptians, would the earth swallow them.””

“The sheep, which had been left unmolested by the queen of Sheba, were taken away by the Chaldeans. Job's first intention was to go to war against these marauders, but when he was told that some of his property had been consumed by fire from heaven, he desisted, and said, "If the heavens turn against me, I can do nothing."”

“Woman covers her hair in token of Eve's having brought sin into the world; she tries to hide her shame; and women precede men in a funeral cortege, because it was woman who brought death into the world. ... Adam was the heave offering of the world, and Eve defiled it. As expiation, all women are commanded to separate a heave offering from the dough. And because woman extinguished the light of man's soul, she is bidden to kindle the Sabbath light.”

“The purpose of the sleep that enfolded Adam was to give him a wife, so that the human race might develop, and all creatures recognize the difference between God and man. When the earth heard what God had resolved to do, it began to tremble and quake. “I have not the strength,” it said, “to provide food for the herd of Adam’s descendants.” But God pacified it with the words, “I and thou together, we will find food for the herd.””

“The whole of creation was called into existence by God unto His glory,” and each creature has its own hymn of praise wherewith to extol the Creator. Heaven and earth, Paradise and hell, desert and field, rivers and seas—all have their own way of paying homage to God. The hymn of the earth is, “From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, glory to the Righteous.””