את הארץ למה לי להקדים שמים לארץ והארץ היתה תהו ובהו מכדי בשמים אתחיל ברישא מאי שנא דקא חשיב מעשה ארץ תנא דבי ר' ישמעאל משל למלך בשר ודם שאמר לעבדיו השכימו לפתחי השכים ומצא נשים ואנשים למי משבח למי שאין דרכו להשכים והשכים
[If the purpose of "et hashamayim" is to show that it is not God's name,] why do I need "et ha'aretz"? To show precedence of heaven to earth. (Genesis 1:2) "And the earth was chaos and desolation." Let's see. He began with heaven first. What changed that it is [now] considering the account of the earth? The house of R. Ishmael taught, It is comparable to a king of flesh and blood, who says to his servants, Rise up early [and come] to my door. He himself rises early, and finds women and men. Whom does he praise? Those whose way is not to rise early, yet did rise early. [Thus, earth, mentioned second in order in verse 1, was created at the same time as the heaven, and is "praised" by being described first in verse 2.]
