And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
All Commentaries on Genesis 1:7 Go To Genesis 1
Hippolytus of Rome
AD 235
As the excessive volume of water bore along over the face of the earth, the earth was by reason thereof “invisible” and “formless.” When the Lord of all designed to make the invisible visible, He fixed then a third part of the waters in the midst; and another third part He set by itself on high, raising it together with the firmament by His own power; and the remaining third He left beneath, for the use and benefit of men. Now at this point we have an asterisk. The words are found in the Hebrew, but do not occur in the Septuagint.