And God said,
Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and
let the dry land appear:
and it was so.
All Commentaries on Genesis 1:9 Go To Genesis 1
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Now when Scripture says, “Let the water which is below the heavens be gathered into one gathering,” these words mean that this corporeal matter is to be formed into the beauty that these visible waters have. This gathering into one place is the formation of these waters that we see and touch. For every form is reduced to a rule of unity. What else should we understand is meant by the words “let the dry land appear” than this matter receives the visible form that this earth that we see and touch now has? Hence the previous expression “the earth was invisible and without form” signified the confusion and obscurity of matter, and the expression “the water over which the spirit of God was borne” signified that same matter. But now this water and earth are formed from that matter that was called by their names before it had received the forms that we now see. .
