And when He began with the upper world due to its nobility, for it is of the highest rank and place, He then turned to the lower world and said, 'And when the earth' meaning [in regard to] what it has of solidity, thickness, and density. He indicated by the construction for the passive form to the ease of the action in it, glorified and exalted is He, and the quickness of its response, while it is more astonishing than the splitting of the sky. For perhaps in a thing, there is weakness due to the prolonged passage of time upon it, unlike the stretching. So He said, 'It has been stretched' meaning, 'I have spread it like the spreading of leather,' and it has expanded. Thus, it increased greatly in its width after it became smooth, so it became flat, and its mountains, hills, and mounds were removed. You do not see in it any crookedness or elevation, just as when leather is stretched, it is like that, so it lost its folds and expanded.