R. Ishmael questioned R. 'Aqiva,²¹. 12b; Gen.R. 1:14; 22:2; 53:15. who was interpreting the words akh ("but") and raq ("only") as indicating exclusions, with et (either the sign of a definite accusative or the preposition "with") and gam ("also") as indicating inclusions. R. Ishmael said to him: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth" is not written here but ET THE HEAVEN AND ET THE EARTH. The use of ET is simply a clarification of Scripture. R. 'Aqiva said to him: It is written (in Deut. 32:47): FOR IT (the Torah) IS NO EMPTY THING FOR YOU. If "heaven and earth" had been stated (in Gen. 1:1), we should have said: They are two deities.²² the two might be seen as the subject of “create” along with God. But ET THE HEAVEN AND ET THE EARTH means those two creations and what was created along with them.²³

footnotes: ²¹ Cf. Hag ²² Without the use of et ²³ Aquila apparently followed the principle of his master ‘Aqiva in his Greek rendering of Gen. 1:1.