Could you post the statement and source in which you found the statement of Ginsburg? It sounds like it may come from his reading of two passages in the Zohar. One passages comments upon Genesis 2,4.
Robbi Yosi heard a word-play from Rabbi Shimon bar-Yochai based on the phrase בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם "when they were created." By switching the order of the letters, the phrase can be read as b'avraham instead of as bhibar'am. This also seems to rely on a word-play between ברא "to create" ברה, the latter included in the rearranged order of letters. Until this hidden word play was deciphered, when Abraham appeared, the world could not be created. Thus another passage in the Zohar speaks of Abraham appearing when God changed his name from 'avram (אַבְרָ֑ם) to 'abraham (אַבְרָהָ֔ם) (Gen 17,5), also added to Sarai's name when it was changed to Sarah, thus in a sense the world was created by the letter h (ה) for the sake of Abraham.
The Zohar can be very confusing. If you accept these word-plays, you might say that the idea is very indirectly derived from the Bible. A much simpler derivation of this idea from the Bible is when God tells Abraham that his offspring shall be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (15,5 22,17). Thus the heavens and the earth are created for the sake of this promise made to Abraham.
Quote:אֵ֣לֶּה תוֹלְד֧וֹת הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם בְּי֗וֹם עֲשׂ֛וֹת יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃
Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When the LORD God made earth and heaven—
Robbi Yosi heard a word-play from Rabbi Shimon bar-Yochai based on the phrase בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם "when they were created." By switching the order of the letters, the phrase can be read as b'avraham instead of as bhibar'am. This also seems to rely on a word-play between ברא "to create" ברה, the latter included in the rearranged order of letters. Until this hidden word play was deciphered, when Abraham appeared, the world could not be created. Thus another passage in the Zohar speaks of Abraham appearing when God changed his name from 'avram (אַבְרָ֑ם) to 'abraham (אַבְרָהָ֔ם) (Gen 17,5), also added to Sarai's name when it was changed to Sarah, thus in a sense the world was created by the letter h (ה) for the sake of Abraham.
The Zohar can be very confusing. If you accept these word-plays, you might say that the idea is very indirectly derived from the Bible. A much simpler derivation of this idea from the Bible is when God tells Abraham that his offspring shall be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore (15,5 22,17). Thus the heavens and the earth are created for the sake of this promise made to Abraham.