Bede

In his own words on Genesis

• Genesis 1:1

  In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. By introducing the creation of the world, the divine Scripture aptly and immediately demonstrates the eternity and omnipotence of God the Creator. Indeed, by stating that He created the world at the beginning of time, it designates that He existed eternally before time. And by narrating that He created heaven and earth at the very beginning of creation, it declares that He is omnipotent in such a swift act of operation, to whom wanting is doing. For human frailty, when it operates; for example, when we build a house, we first prepare the material at the beginning of the work, and after this beginning, we dig deep, then lay stones in the foundation, then build walls by adding rows of stones, and thus gradually progressing, we reach the perfection of the intended work. But God, whose hand is omnipotent to execute His work, did not need the delay of time, because it is written: "He has made all that He desired" (Psalm 113:3). Hence, it was well-pleasing, because in the beginning, God created heaven and earth, to be clearly understood that both were made by God simultaneously, although both cannot be said by man at the same time. Finally, the prophet says: "In the beginning, you have laid the foundation of the earth, Lord" (Psalm 102:26). However, here it is narrated that the Lord created heaven and earth in the beginning; from which it is clearly inferred that the creation of both elements was accomplished together, and this with such speed of divine power that not even the first moment of the nascent world was surpassed. However, it may not improbably be understood that in the beginning, God made heaven and earth in His Only Begotten Son, who, when asked by the Jews what they should believe about Him, replied: "The beginning, who is speaking to you" (John 8:25). Because in Him, as the Apostle says (Colossians 1:16), all things were created in heaven and on earth. But it must be carefully considered, so that whoever devotes attention to allegorical senses may not, by allegorizing, forsake the evident truth of history. But what and of what nature the heaven was, which was made in the beginning along with the earth, is hinted at in the following words when it is said:

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:2

  And the Spirit of God was moving over the waters. It should not be childishly thought that the creative Spirit, of whom it is written, 'the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world' (Wis. I, 7), was hovering over the things to be created in terms of physical location; rather, it must be understood that the divine power was excelling over the creatures, having in its own power when he would enlighten the abyss of waters, when he would separate them into one place so that the dry land would appear, when and how he would arrange the other creatures according to his will, in the likeness of a craftsman, whose will is accustomed to being superior to the things to be made. This also pertains to the distinction of the higher heaven, in which presently everything arranged by the presence of the Holy Spirit was perfectly illuminating: But these things, as in the lower, that is, the creatures of this world, he intended to lead well the beginnings of condition from time to perfection. For Moses also briefly mentioned the higher world for this reason, because he intended to speak about this world in which man was made, for the instruction of the human race, believing it sufficient if he comprehended the entire state and ornament of the spiritual and invisible creature under the single name of heaven, which he said was made in the beginning; he described the bodily, visible, and corruptible creature more extensively in order; that is, he silently passed over those things which men have sought out as higher and stronger, proposing rather those things which were commanded or promised by God to men. Hence, he also deliberately kept silent about the fall of the rebellious angel and his companions, because this clearly pertained to the state of that invisible and spiritual creature, of which the holy Basil in his second book of Hexameron thus mentions: 'For we think that if there was anything before the establishment of this sensible and corruptible world, it surely was in light. For neither the dignity of angels, nor all the celestial hosts, or if there is anything named or unnameable or any rational power, or ministering spirit, could dwell in darkness, but in light and joy, possessing a fitting abode.' When he well proclaimed that in the beginning God, that is, the Father through the Son, made heaven and earth, he also added a mention of the Holy Spirit by adding: And the Spirit of God was moving over the waters, to signify that the power of the whole Trinity was working together in the creation of the world.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:2

  But the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. For why were these things about the earth mentioned, leaving heaven aside, unless because he did not want anything like that to be understood about heaven? For the higher heaven is that which remains always quiet, secluded from all the variable state of this world, in the divine glory of foreknowledge. For about our heaven, in which the lights necessary for this age are placed, scripture subsequently declares both how and when it was made. Therefore, the higher heaven, which is inaccessible to all mortal sights, was not created formless and empty on the earth, which in its first creation produced neither budding plants nor living creatures, because undoubtedly it was immediately created with its inhabitants, that is, filled with the most blessed hosts of angels; who, created in the beginning along with heaven and earth, immediately attributed their condition and that of the entirety of primeval creation to the praise of the Creator, as the very Creator testifies who, speaking to his holy servant Job, says: Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth (Job 38:4)? And shortly after: When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy (Job 38:7); clearly calling the morning stars those same angels, whom he also names the sons of God, to distinguish them from holy men, who were to be created afterward, and who, like evening stars, were to die in the flesh after confessing divine praise; among these morning stars, one due to the contempt of the praise of God, deserved to hear: How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! You are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God (Isaiah 14:12). In the exposition of this statement, Saint Jerome also recalls the higher heaven, writing thus: "Either before he fell from heaven, he was saying these things; or after he fell from heaven: if he was still in heaven, how does he say: I will ascend into heaven? But because we read, The heaven of heaven is the Lord's, while he was in heaven, that is, the firmament, he desired to ascend into heaven, where the Lord's throne is, not out of humility, but out of pride. But if he speaks these things after he fell from heaven, we should understand the words of arrogance, since neither does he settle being cast down, but still promises himself grandeur, not to be among the stars, but above the stars of God (book VI, on Isaiah)." Justly, therefore, it is memorable that the heaven of heaven was not made formless or empty, nor is there said to remain any place in it for darkness or the abyss, for the Lord God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And justly the earth was formless and empty, as it was still covered entirely by the abyss, that is, the immense depth of waters. Rightly, darkness was over the face of the abyss, since light, which could expel it, had not yet been created. However, those who criticize God by saying that He created darkness before light should not be heeded, because God did not create any darkness in the water or air, but by the distinct order of His providence, He first created the waters along with the heavens and the earth, and then, when He wished, adorned them with the grace of light. This is what we still see happening both in the water and in the air through the daily approach and departure of the sun. For it is not appropriate to believe that the waters were made by anyone other than God, which Scripture, although not saying it openly, clearly implies by indicating that they were illuminated and ordered by His command. Furthermore, the psalm openly states: "And the waters above the heavens praise the name of the Lord, because He commanded and they were created" (Psalm 148:4). It is noteworthy that in the beginning, when heaven was made, two elements of this world—water and earth—are specifically mentioned, and it is understood that the two remaining elements, fire and air, were also included. Fire was concealed in the iron and stones, which were hidden within the earth's interior at that time, and air in the very earth itself, known to be mixed with it because when it becomes moist and receives the warmth of the sun, it immediately exhales abundant vapors. The hot springs that erupt from the earth's interior serve as evidence of the burning fire within, which, when certain metals are encountered deep in the earth, not only produce warm but even scalding waters that reach the surface. These elements were not, as some argue, mixed formlessly together, but the earth, bounded entirely by its current borders, was then just as it is now, except that part of it still remains hidden under the deep sea. The waters covered its entire surface to such a depth that they reached those places where waters now dwell above the firmament of heaven, praising the name of the Creator God along with the heavens of the heavens without ceasing. Thus, the formless matter from which the world was made, as attested by Scripture in its praise of God, saying: "Who made the world from formless matter," had no beauty until it came into the light. Everything that we see in the world, whether starting from the waters and the earth or from nothing, began their natural course. The earth and the waters themselves are called formless matter because, before coming into the light, they had no form. What is so out of order about the material beginnings of the world being dark, so that when light came, what was made would become better, and like a progressing person, what was to follow would be signified by this initial state? This is explained by the Apostle when he says: "For God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts" (2 Cor. 4:6). Elsewhere he says: "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8)—that very light which, when there was darkness over the face of the abyss, God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:3

  And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. It is fitting for the works of God that the adornment of the world should begin with light: for since He Himself is the true light and dwells in inaccessible light, whose most blessed vision the angels in the heavens of heavens began to enjoy immediately after they were created, He also suitably granted to this world the first grace of material light to be its adornment, so that the other things He created might appear from the source of that light. However, that God is said to have spoken, whether for light to come into being or for other things, we must not believe to be by a bodily voice as we do, but rather that it is understood higher that God spoke for creation to be made, because through His Word He made all, that is, through His only-begotten Son: about whom the Evangelist John speaks more plainly: "In the beginning," he says, "was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him" (John 1:1). Therefore, what John says, all things were made through the Word of God, is what Moses says, that God said: "Let there be light"; said: "Let there be a firmament"; said: "Let there be," and other creatures. This the psalm also says with the addition of the Holy Spirit's person: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens established and all their host by the spirit of His mouth" (Psalm 33:6). But if it is asked in what places light was made on God's command, while the abyss still covered the entire breadth of the earth, it is undoubtedly clear that it shone in the higher parts of that same earth, which the daylight of the sun now usually illuminates. Nor should it be surprising to us that light can shine in the waters by divine operation, since it is established that waters are often illuminated even by human operation, particularly by sailors, who, submerged in the depths of the sea, make them transparent and clear by emitting oil from their mouths. For if man can do such things with the oil from his mouth, how much more must we believe God can create through the Spirit of His mouth, especially as we must believe much rarer waters existed in the beginning than we now usually see on earth, before they were gathered together into one place so that dry land might appear.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:4

  And God saw the light, that it was good. Not as if suddenly seeing the light previously unknown did He praise it, because He says it is good; but He declared that it, which He knew would be praiseworthy once created, was already worthy of praise and admiration by men. Indeed, because He did not completely dispel the darkness of the world by infusing light (for it is the privilege of the heavenly realm to enjoy fixed and perpetual light), but by illuminating one part, He left the other dark, it is rightly added:

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:4

  And He divided the light from the darkness. For He divided them not only by their quality but also by the distance of places, namely by spreading light in the upper part of the world where human activity was to take place, while allowing the lower parts to remain in their ancient darkness.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:5

  And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And there was evening as the light gradually waned following the completion of the period of daytime length, and as the lower parts of the world emerged, which now habitually happens by the circuit of the sun throughout the night; and there was morning as the same light gradually returned over the earth and initiated another day; and thus one day was completed, namely of twenty-four hours, for the commendation of which the Scripture vigilantly admonishes us so that we might learn that the light which was made illuminated the lower parts of the earth by its setting. For if this did not happen, but rather as evening came, the whole light perished gradually, and gradually returned with the morning and rose again, it would not call it a perfect day in the morning of the next day but in the evening of the first day. Hence, it also preferred to say evening and morning, rather than night and day, to imply that the action of the original light was by circuit, which now indeed happens by the circuit of the sun night and day; beyond this only, that after the stars were created, night too is suffused with its own light, although lesser than that of the day. However, during those first three days, the night remained entirely gloomy and obscure. It was completely fitting that the day beginning from the light should be extended into the morning of the following day, so that it might be intimated that the works of Him who is the true light, and in whom there are no shadows, begin from the light and are completed in the light.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:5

  And He called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. This was said for our understanding; for in what language did God call the light Day and the darkness Night; whether in Hebrew, or Greek, or some other language! And so for everything else that He named, it can be asked in what language He named them; but with God, there is pure understanding without noise and diversity of tongues. However, it is said He "called" because He made them to be called, as He distinguished and ordered everything so that Days could be seen and names given. For we say: That householder built this house, meaning he had it built, and many such examples are found throughout the books of divine Scriptures.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:6

  God also said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from those which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. Here the creation of our heaven, in which the stars are fixed, is described; that it is established firm in the midst of the waters. For we see that waters are underneath it, and above the air and the earth; but we are taught not only by the authority of this Scripture but also by the words of the prophet, who says: Stretching out the heaven like a tent curtain, who covers its higher parts with waters (Psalm 104:2). Therefore, it is established that the starry heaven is firm in the midst of the waters, and nothing prevents believing that it was made out of the waters; for we know how strong, transparent, and pure the crystal stone is, which is certainly generated from the condensation of water, what hinders us from believing that the same disposer of natures solidified the substance of the waters in the firmament of heaven? If someone is moved by how waters, which naturally always flow and fall to the lowest place, can stand above the round heaven, let him remember the Scripture saying about God: Who binds the waters in his clouds, that they do not burst out together downward (Job 26:8); and understand that He who binds the waters below the heaven temporarily as He wills, so that they do not fall all together, not supported by a stronger material foundation, but only retained by the vapors of the clouds, He could also suspend the waters above the round sphere of the heaven, so that they never fall down, not by a vaporous thinness, but by an icy solidity. But even if He wanted to hold liquid waters there, is this greater a miracle than what Scripture says that He hangs the earth itself on nothing? For when the waves of the Red Sea or the river Jordan were set up like walls for the passing of the Israelite people, do they not give evident evidence that waters could stand fixed even above the revolving round heaven? Certainly, what kind of waters they are there, or for what purpose they are reserved, the Creator Himself knows; only it should not be doubted that there are waters there because the holy Scripture says so. But what it is to say of God "let this or that creature be made" has been said above. For He said that it should be made, since He arranged everything to be created in His co-eternal Word, that is, His only-begotten Son. Therefore, when we hear: God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters, let us understand that it was in the Word of God to be made, in which whatever God did out of time He foresaw would be made within the Word before all time. But when we hear: And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from those which were above the firmament, and it was so, let us understand that the creation and disposition of the heaven and waters did not exceed the limits prescribed in the Word of God, according to that of the Psalmist: He gave a commandment, and it shall not pass away (Psalm 148:6). This is to be understood equally about the creatures that are said to be made in the following four days. And when we hear added: And God saw that it was good, let us understand that in the goodness of His Spirit, it pleased Him not as if it was known after it was made but rather in that goodness it pleased Him that it should remain, where it pleased Him it should be made. For it is to be noted that the addition of this word in this place is not found in the Hebrew truth. And it is surprising why among all the things that are read to have been created by God, only in the works of the second day, the approbation of the divine vision is not added, which, however, itself along with the others that God made are shown to have been good when it is said afterward: And God saw all things that He had made, and they were very good, unless perhaps, as some of the Fathers expound, the Scripture wanted to make us understand that the double number, which divides from unity and prefigures the covenants of marriage, is not good; whence also all the animals entering two by two into Noah's ark turn out to be unclean, and an odd number is shown to be clean. Concerning what has been so far expounded, that is, about the creation of the first and second day, the holy Clement thus reports to have spoken by the apostle Peter: "In the beginning, when God made the heaven and the earth, like one house, and the very bodies of the world cast a shadow of those that were enclosed within, they issued darkness from themselves. But when the will of God introduced light, those shadows of the bodies were immediately devoured by light; then the light is assigned to the day, the darkness to the night. Now, the water which was inside the world in the middle of that first heaven and earth, as if congealed by cold, and solidified like crystal, is stretched out, and by such a firmament, the spaces between heaven and earth are as if shut in, and the Creator called that firmament heaven, named by the word of the ancient heaven, and thus divided the whole fabric of the world, when it was one house, into two regions. The cause of this division was that the upper region might serve as a habitation for angels and the lower for men." (Recognition of St. Clement, book I, chapter 27). I have chosen to insert these few things into our work so that the reader may see how much this agrees with the sense of the Fathers.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:9

  God said: Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. The waters that filled everything between the sky and the earth were drawn off, and they gathered into one place, so that the light which shone clearly on the waters for the previous two days might shine more brightly in the pure air; and the earth which had been hidden appeared, and that which had remained muddy and weak under the waters, by their withdrawal, became dry, and was made suitable for receiving seeds. If anyone should ask where the waters that had covered all parts of the earth up to the sky were gathered, let him know that it could have happened that the earth itself, by the command of the Creator, subsided far and wide, providing some parts concave, into which the waters, flowing together, might be received, so that the dry land might appear from those parts where the moisture had receded. It can also not unreasonably be believed that the primary waters, as we mentioned above, were rarer, which covered the land like a mist; but by gathering were made denser, which could be contained in their assigned places, with the dry land appearing in the remaining parts. Although it is clear that there are many seas, he says that the waters were gathered into one place, because evidently all these are connected by a continuous wave and are joined to the great ocean and sea; but even if some lakes appear to be enclosed by themselves, they are said to discharge their streams into the sea through some hidden perforated caverns. For the diggers of wells also prove this, since the entire earth is filled with flowing waters through invisible veins, which draw their origin from the sea.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:10

  And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas. Previously, indeed, He called this entire more solid part of the world Earth for distinction, when He said: In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth; and the Earth was without form and void. But now, after the world began to be formed, and when the waters retreated to their place, the surface of the Earth appeared. For distinction of the part still covered by waters, the other portion, which was dry, received the name Earth; hence it was called in Latin, because it is trodden by the feet of living creatures. The gatherings of the waters are called Seas, namely for the most part. For also among the Hebrews, all gatherings of waters, whether salty or fresh, are said to be called Seas. Aptly, He who first, because of the continuation of all waters on Earth, stated they were gathered into one place, now also names their gatherings of waters in the plural, and says these are called Seas in the plural, because of their manifold inlets, which themselves acquire names according to the regions.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:10

  And God saw that it was good. The Earth was not yet producing herbs, nor had it yet, whether by itself or the waters, brought forth living creatures, and yet God is said to have seen that it was good, with the waters receding and the dry land appearing. Because the Creator of waters and the Estimator of the universe, foreseeing what was to be, praises as perfect that which was still in the beginning of the first work. And it is no wonder for Him, for whom the perfection of things lies not in the completion of the work but in His predestined will.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:11

  And He said: Let the earth bring forth green plants producing seed, and fruit trees making fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in itself upon the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth green plants, and bearing seed according to their kinds, and trees making fruit, each having seed according to its kind. And God saw that it was good, and the evening and the morning were the third day. It is clear from these words of God that the world's adornment was perfected in springtime. For it is in this season that green plants usually appear on the earth and trees are laden with fruit; and it is also noteworthy that the first sprouts of plants and trees did not come from seed, but emerged from the earth; for at one command of the Creator, the earth, which appeared dry, was suddenly adorned with plants and dressed with flowering groves, and these immediately produced from themselves fruit and seeds of their respective kinds. For it was necessary that each form of things should first proceed perfectly at the command of the Lord, just as man himself, for whom all things on earth were made, is believed to have been created perfectly, that is, in the age of youth.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:14

  Therefore God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night." That is, by the division which is explained more clearly in what follows, that the sun indeed should illuminate the day, but the moon and the stars the night. For this addition of lights to the sky, which occurred after the primary light was made, was so that the night would also advance luminously, either by the splendor of the moon, or by the stars, or irradiated by both, which until then had known nothing but ancient darkness. For even if the night often appears dark and blind to us, obviously obscured by nebulous whirlwinds in the air that is closest to the earth, those higher spaces, which are designated by the name aether, which extend from this turbulent air up to the starry heaven, always shine brightly due to the circling stars. But also, by the divine gift, the stars arising in the sky offered their light with added brilliance to the world, so that the distinction of passing times could also be recognized by them; whence it follows.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:14

  And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven." The world proceeds in fitting order from formless matter to suitable form. For after God created heaven and earth and water before any day of this age, that is, the higher and spiritual world with its inhabitants, and the formless matter of this whole world, according to what is written: "He who lives forever created all things at once" (Ecclesiasticus 18:1); on the first day of this age, He made light, which would make the other creatures capable of form. On the second day, He solidified the firmament of heaven, that is, the upper part of this world, in the midst of the waters. On the third day, He separated the sea and the lands within their boundaries and spread the air in its places, with the water receding. It was fitting, therefore, that the elements should advance in the same order in which they were created to a more ample ornamentation, that is, on the fourth day the sky would be adorned with lights. On the fifth day, the air and sea, and on the sixth day, the land, would be filled with their animals. For the fact that on the third day the earth was covered with herbs and trees pertains not to its ornamentation but to the very surface of its form, if I may say so.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:14

  And let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years. Because, of course, before the stars were made, there were none by which the order of times could be marked by indications; there was nothing from where the meridian hour could be recognized, before the fiery orb climbed the middle of the sky; nothing from where the other hours of day and night could be marked, until the stars divided the sky by equal allotment in day and night. Therefore, the luminaries are for signs and seasons and days and years, not because from their creation times began, which evidently started from the beginning when God made heaven and earth; nor days and years, which are known to have originated from when God said: Let there be light, and there was light; but because through their risings or crossings the order of times and days and years is marked. For that entire earlier period of three days passed with an indistinct course of its progress, having entirely no dimension of hours, since the primary light was still generally filling everything, having no head, which is now received from the sun, no rays shone brighter anywhere, no shadow cooled under any rock or tree. But besides the marking of times, the luminaries are for signs necessary for the uses of this life, which either sailors in steering or those traveling in the sandy deserts of Ethiopia observe, where even a very slight wind quickly flattens all tracks found of travelers. And therefore those going in those regions need no less, than those navigating the sea, signs of the stars by night and day. There are also signs by which we sometimes foresee the quality of the weather to come through their contemplation.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:15

  So that they may shine in the firmament of the heaven, and give light upon the earth; and it was so. Indeed, the luminaries always shine in the firmament of the heaven, as we have said, and they flood the nearby regions with bright light, but at appropriate times they give light to the earth. For sometimes the cloudy atmosphere obstructs, so that neither the light of the moon, when it is small, nor the light of the stars appears to the earth; and the rising of the sun, with its greater light, prevents the moon and the stars from illuminating the earth; hence it is named in Latin, because it alone, with the stars and the moon obscured, shines on the earth during the day.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:16

  God also made two great luminaries. We can understand the great luminaries not so much by comparison with others but by their role, as the heaven is great and the sea is great. For there is also the great sun which fills the world with its heat, or the moon with its light, which, wherever they are in the sky, illuminate all the earth and are equally observed by everyone. An evident example of their greatness is that they appear the same to all people. For if they appeared smaller to those far away and larger to those nearer, it would indicate a limitation of their size.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:16

  And he said, "And the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars; and he set them in the firmament of the heaven"; because although it happens sometimes that the moon and the major stars are seen in the day every month, it is certain that they bring some aid of light not to the day but only to the night.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:16

  The greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars; and He set them in the firmament of the heaven. The greater light is the sun, not only in its form whatever it may be, but also in the magnitude of its light, by which it is believed to illuminate both the lesser light and the stars. It is also greater in the power of its heat, which warms the world when it rises, whereas the previous days before its creation had no heat at all: but the fact that the moon is seen as of equal size to the sun is said to be because the sun is much farther from the earth and higher than the moon; therefore, its true size cannot be discerned by us who dwell on the earth. For all things set farther away generally appear smaller.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:18

  And God saw that it was good. Necessarily, the holy Scripture often finds that God saw that the things He made were good, so that the piety of the faithful might be informed by this; however, it is not for human understanding, which often is offended even by good things whose causes and order it does not know, to judge visible and invisible creation, but rather to believe and yield to the praising God. For the more religiously one has believed in God before knowing, the more easily they will understand something in progressing. Therefore, God saw that the things He made were good, because what pleased Him to be made so that they would be made, pleased Him when made to last, to the extent that the measure of existing or persisting was established for each thing by such a great Creator.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:18

  To shine upon the earth, and to rule over the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. These things can be understood both about the great lights and about the stars with this distinction only, that what is said "to rule over the day" refers especially to the sun; what is added "and the night" pertains to the moon and the stars; but what is further stated "and to separate the light from the darkness" applies equally to all the stars, which carry light wherever they move and leave all things dark where they are absent. But if anyone inquires what kind of light could have existed by day before the creation of the stars, it might reasonably be said that it was such as we see every morning, namely, when the rising of the sun is approaching, but it does not yet appear on the lands, when the day indeed shines with the dim rays of the stars but does not yet glow fully until the sun rises. Hence, there could be no distinction of times then except only of day and night, and rightly it was said when the stars were made: "And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years." For the changes of times began to be distinguished from when, on the fourth day of the nascent world, the sun, proceeding from the middle of the east, consecrated the vernal equinox with its rising, and by daily advances climbing to the heights of the sky, and again gradually descending from the solstitial peak to the lower parts, without delay reusing the equinoctial circles from the lower winter places, it completed the space of the year with the four well-known times and definite days. Also, the moon appearing full in the evening, set apart the times to be observed for the celebration of Easter on its first ascent. For that is the hour when not only the ancient people of God but also we today observe the first celebration of Easter, when, after the day of the equinox has passed, the full moon in the evening, that is, the fourteenth day, has appeared in the sky. For just after these things, when the Lord's day has come, the proper time for celebrating the Lord's resurrection will arrive, fulfilling to the letter also the word of the prophet who said: "He made the moon for seasons, the sun knows its setting" (Psalm 104:19). The stars also, apart from what we have mentioned above, because they either by their appearance indicate what the quality of the air will be or by their course show what watch of the night it is; they are for signs and seasons, because those coming into the sky designate summer times, those designate winter. They are also for days, because some accompany the sun in vernal days, others in autumnal. They are also for years, because those that for example now rise in the morning during the vernal equinox, come into the sky at the same equinox in the face of the sky every year; those that now rise in the evening or morning at the solstice, always rise at those times in the same hours. But there are also some stars which the astrologers call planets, that is, wandering stars, which make longer years by their orbit, returning to the same place in the sky. For the star called Saturn is said to return to the same places of the stars in which it was thirty years before, Jupiter in twelve years, Mars in two solar years completing its circuit in the sky, the moon, too, makes a year with twelve of its cycles, that is, of three hundred fifty-four days, and to make its cycle concord with the solar year, every second or third year it adds a thirteenth month, which calculators call the embolismiatic year, and it becomes a year of three hundred eighty-four days.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:19

  It was evening, and it was morning, the fourth day. This is that memorable evening in which the people of God in Egypt offered a lamb in celebration of Passover; this morning, which first saw the yoke of long servitude being cast off and the journey of freedom beginning. It is written, the Lord said to Moses: This month shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. On the tenth day of this month, each man shall take a lamb for the families and households, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the month, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight (Exodus 12:2), etc. On that same evening, to complete the legal sacraments of Passover, our Lord initiated the celebration of the mysteries of His body and blood after eating the lamb typologically; at that dawning morning, as an unblemished lamb, redeeming us by His blood, He freed us from the servitude of demonic domination. The day of that full moon, which proceeded on the fourth day in the creation of the world, in the time of the Lord's passion, by the grace of a higher sacrament, fell on the fifth day of Sabbath, so that the Lord was crucified on the sixth day of Sabbath, rested in the tomb on the Sabbath itself, and by His resurrection consecrated the first day of Sabbath, granting us also in it the faith and hope of rising from the dead and entering into eternal light.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:20

  God also said: Let the waters bring forth swarming living creatures, and flying creatures above the earth under the firmament of heaven. After adorning the face of the sky with lights on the fourth day, He then adorned on the fifth day the parts of the lower world, namely the waters and the air, with those which are moved by the breath of life, because these elements are also connected to each other and to heaven by a certain kind of kinship. To each other, indeed, because the nature of the waters is close to the quality of the air; hence it is proven that their exhalations thicken, so that they contract clouds, and can support the flight of birds, as Scripture attests: For suddenly the air will gather into clouds, and the wind passing by will dispel them (Job 37:21). Moreover, even on serene nights it dews, the drops of which are found on the grass in the morning; they are also connected to the sky in this way, because the air is so close to it that it sometimes takes its name, as Scripture names the birds of the sky, which are known to fly in the air; and the Lord Himself speaks to the crowds, who had not known the time of His coming from the manifestation of the powers, saying: When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say: A shower is coming, and so it happens; and when the south wind blows, you say there will be heat, and it happens. Hypocrites, you know how to judge the face of the earth and sky, but how do you not judge this time (Luke 12:54)? Where it is certain that he calls the face of the sky nothing other than this changing state of the air.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:20

  Therefore God said, let the waters bring forth swarming living creatures, and flying creatures above the earth under the firmament of heaven. And lest by chance, because there are water creatures, which move not by crawling, but by swimming or walking with feet, and there are among the flying creatures those which have wings, yet lack the full use of flying, anyone might think that some kind of flying or aquatic animals were left out in this word of the Lord, it is carefully added:

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:21

  And God created great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth in their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. Therefore, no kind was excluded, where all living creatures were created with the great sea creatures, which the waters brought forth in various kinds, that is, reptiles, swimming creatures, and flying creatures; but also those that are fixed to rocks and cling with no suitable movement, as are the many kinds of shells. But the mention of the flying creature above the earth under the firmament of the heavens is not contrary to reason and truth, because indeed, even if there is an immense intervening space, birds fly under the stellar sky that fly above the earth, just as we humans set on earth are rightly and truly said to be under the sky and sun, as Scripture attests, which says: "Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven, were living in Jerusalem" (Acts 2:5); and: "What does man gain from all the toil with which he toils under the sun?" (Eccl. 1:3). Of course, according to another translation, some are troubled by the phrase: "And winged birds flying near the firmament of the heavens," that is, near the firmament of the heavens. But it must be understood that it is said that birds fly under the firmament of the heavens because that name also indicates the ether, that is, the higher region of the air which reaches from this turbulent and gloomy place where birds fly up to the stars and is believed, not without reason, to be entirely calm and full of light. For even the seven wandering stars, which are said to travel in this etheric space, Scripture has said to be placed in the firmament of the heavens. Therefore, birds are rightly said to fly near the firmament of the heavens because, as we have said, the turbulent spaces of the air which sustain the flights of birds are close to the ether. Nor is it surprising if the ether is called the firmament of the heavens, since air is called heaven, as we have taught above. Nor should it be overlooked that when God is said to have created every living soul, it is added, "and mortal," to the distinction of man whom He was going to make in His image and likeness, so that if he kept His commandments, he would live blessedly in perpetual unchangeableness. For other living creatures were made in such a first condition that some would yield in sustenance to others while themselves perishing due to their own decline through age.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:22

  And God saw that it was good, and He blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. When He said, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, it pertains to both kinds of creatures made from the waters, that is, both to fish and to birds, because just as all fish can live only in the waters, so too there are many birds which, although they sometimes rest on the lands and propagate their offspring, not only feed from the land but also from the sea, and prefer to inhabit marine dwellings rather than terrestrial ones. But when He adds, and let birds multiply on the earth, it pertains to both kinds of birds, that is, both those that come from the waters and those that feed from the earth, because indeed even those birds which do not know how to live without waters often hide much of the time under the depths of the waters like fish, occasionally tend to come out onto the lands, especially when they are breeding and nurturing their young.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:24

  God also said: Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and wild animals according to their species. And it was so. After the heavens were adorned with stars, after the air, which due to its proximity deserved the name of heaven, was filled with flying creatures, and after the waters, which are closely connected by nature to the air, were enriched with their animals, from which also rains, snows, hail, and the like derive, it was fitting that the earth too should be filled with its own animals, that is, those born from itself. For it also has a chief connection with the waters, for without their moisture and irrigation, it can neither bear fruit nor even sustain itself, as Peter attests, who says: For the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by God's word (II Peter 3:5). Therefore, God commands the earth to produce livestock, and creeping things, and wild animals; because under the true name of wild animals, everything that rages with mouth or claws, except for serpents, is understood to be comprehended, but the name of creeping things on the earth also includes serpents, and by the name of livestock are designated the animals that are in the use of humans. Where therefore the condition of the other four-footed animals is described, for example, deer, roe deer, antelopes, and goats, and similar creatures, unless perhaps we should say that these also, due to the wildness of their untamed nature, are numbered among the wild animals, according to the old translation, in which it is written: Let the earth bring forth a living soul according to its kind: four-footed creatures, and creeping things, and wild animals, there is no question at all, because under the name of four-footed creatures, all are comprehended which, except for wild animals and creeping things, the earth produced, whether those under human care or those that are wild and in the field.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:25

  But when it follows: And God saw that it was good, it is rightly asked why it is not added here what was said of the creatures brought forth from the waters: And He blessed them, saying: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Is it perhaps because what was said by God about the first creation of the living soul commended, He left us to understand the same about the second? Especially since in the works of this day He would later add many other things; moreover, concerning man, He took care to necessarily iterate this, saying: And God blessed them, and said: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, lest anyone think that the honorable union was to be compared to sinful and disgraceful fornication. But when the worldly dwelling place was made and adorned, it remained that the inhabitant himself, for whom all things were being prepared, the man and master of things, should be created, it follows:

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:25

  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the cattle, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its kind. The change in words is to be noted, because above it is said that God commanded the earth to produce the beasts, and the cattle, and the creeping things, and the beasts of the earth; but now, in a changed order, God is said to have made the beasts of the earth and the cattle and every creeping thing of the earth; and it is to be understood that everything which was willed happened faster than said; and it matters not that human speech first names in the order of creatures what divine power created all at once.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:26

  And He said: Let us make man in our image and likeness. Now it appears more clearly why it is said of the created herbs and trees, fishes and birds, also terrestrial animals, that each was made according to its kind and species. For it was foreseen that his creation was coming, who would not only correspond by similarity and species to his own kind but would also be made in the image and likeness of his Creator. The nobility of this creation is also testified by the fact that, unlike the other creatures, God did not say: Let man be made, and man was made; or: Let the earth bring forth man, and the earth brought forth man; but, before he was made, it is said: Let us make man, so that, because a rational creature was being created, it might seem as if he were made with counsel. As if he were formed with effort out of the earth and raised by the inspiration of the Creator with the power of the vital spirit, so that he might exist not by the command of voice but by the dignity of operation, because he was being made in the image of the Creator. When it is said, Let us make man in our image and likeness, the unity of the Holy Trinity is openly commended. Indeed, the same indivisible Trinity was mystically hinted at in the preceding formation of things, when it was said: And God said: Let it be done, and God made it; and God saw that it was good. But now this same is more manifestly suggested, when it is said: Let us make man in our image and likeness, and rightly so, because until he who was to be taught was, the proclamation of Deity was hidden in profundity; but when the creation of man began to be expected, faith was revealed, and the dogma of truth clearly shone forth. For in that it is said, Let us make, the operation of the three persons is shown; and in what follows, in our image and likeness, the one and equal substance of the same Holy Trinity is indicated. For how would it be one image and likeness if the Son were lesser than the Father, if the Holy Spirit were lesser than the Son, if the glory of the whole Trinity were not consubstantial of the same power? Or how would it be said, Let us make, if there were not cooperative power of the three persons in one deity? Nor could it be said by God to the angels, Let us make man in our image and likeness, because no reason at all allows that we believe the image or likeness of God and the angels to be one and the same. And concerning how man was made in the image and likeness of God, the Apostle testifies, as he diligently admonishes us to recover within ourselves, through the grace of the same Creator, this which we lost in the first parent. Renew yourselves, he says, in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who is created according to God in justice, holiness, and truth (Ephesians IV, 23). Therefore, Adam was created a new man from the earth according to God, so that he would be just, holy, and true, subject and humbly adhering to the grace of his Creator, who exists eternally and perfectly just, holy, and true: who because he corrupted through sin this very beautiful novelty of the divine image in himself, and procreated a corrupted offspring of the human race from himself, from where came the second Adam, that is, the Lord Himself and our Creator, born of the Virgin, created incorruptibly and unchangeably in God's image, immune from all fault, and full of all grace and truth, so that He might restore in us His image and likeness by His examples and gifts. For He is truly the new man created according to God, because He took from Adam the true substance of flesh so that He would draw nothing of the filthy vice from him: whose examples we follow according to our capacity, whose gifts we adhere to, whose commandments we obey; this is to recover the image of God which we lost in the old man, in the new. Therefore, man is created in the image of God not according to the body, but according to the intellect of the mind. Although even in the body he has a certain property which indicates this, for he is made with an upright stature, so that he might be admonished by this very thing that earthly things, such as those of the beasts whose entire pleasure is from the earth, are not to be pursued; from which all things prone and prostrate towards the ground are, according to what one of the poets has most beautifully and truly said: Other animals look downward toward the earth, but He gave man an uplifted face to look toward the heavens and the stars.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:26

  It is therefore fitting that his body matches his rational soul, not according to the outlines and shapes of the limbs, but rather according to that which is raised up to heaven to observe the things in the upper parts of the world, just as the rational soul ought to be raised in those things which excel most in spiritual nature, so that it may set its mind on things above, not on things on the earth. But it is well added.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:26

  And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; because doubtless in this primarily man was made in the image of God, in that he surpasses the irrational beings: being made capable of reason, through which he can rightly govern all created things in the world, and enjoy the knowledge of Him who created all things. If set in this honor he does not understand to do good, he will be compared to the very same senseless animals over which he has been placed in authority, as the Psalmist testifies (Psalm 49:13).

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:27

  And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him. What was said before, in His image, He doubled for the sake of confirmation, by adding, in the image of God He created him, so that He might more diligently impress upon us what kind of beings we were made by God, and more closely fix in our minds the hope of receiving the image of God, lest, walking in the image of God, we be vainly troubled, hoarding uncertain riches, but instead look for the Lord with longing, when we shall come and appear before His face, certain that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. But now it is said, in the image of God He created him, when it was said earlier, let us make in our image, it signifies not that this plurality of persons makes us believe in multiple gods, but that we accept one God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, on account of which it was said, in our image, and on account of which it is said, in the image of God.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:27

  Male and female He created them. It will be explained more fully in the following, from where and how God made the first humans. But now, for the sake of brevity, it is only mentioned that they were created, so that the work of the sixth day and the dedication of the seventh day along with the rest may be explained, and thus freely from time both this and other omitted matters that were worthy of mention may be said. However, God first created one male and one female alone, not like the other animals, which He created not single but multiple in each kind, so that by this He might bind the human race more closely together with the bond of charity, because it would remember that it was all born of one parent; for the sake of which union the sacred Scripture, when it said: "And God created man, in the image of God He created him," immediately added: "Male and female He created them," it did not wish to add: "in the image of God He created them," for the female too was created in the image of God, according to that which she also possessed a rational mind; but Scripture did not think it necessary to add this about her, considering that in the unity of conjunction it left it to be understood in her as well, and indeed it signified that it should be understood in the entire human race that originates from them. For every man even now, to the extent that he uses reason, has in himself the image of God; whence John says: "He was the true light which illuminates every man coming into this world" (John 1:9). For it is the light about which the Psalmist glories in the Lord, saying: "The light of Your countenance has been signed upon us, O Lord" (Psalm 4:7). And indeed rightly in this place it is mentioned that male and female were created, although the manner of the same creation is not yet referred to, so that the discourse of divine blessing may have a fitting place, about which it follows:

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:28

  And rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that move upon the earth. It is rightly asked for what use man received dominion over the fish, birds, and all the animals of the earth, or to what uses and comforts these were created for man, if he had never sinned: to whom, as the following scripture declares, these were not given for food but only the herbs and fruits of trees were granted in the first condition, unless it is to be said that God foresaw that man would sin and become mortal by sinning, whom He created immortal, and therefore originally provided those comforts for him by which mortal fragility could be sustained, namely either food from them, or clothing, or aids for work or travel. And it is not worth asking why man also does not now rule over all animals; for after man did not want to be subject to his Creator, he lost dominion over those which his Creator had subjected to his authority. Finally, we read as a testimony of the first creation that the birds provided service to the holy and humbly serving men of God, the jaws of beasts withdrew and the venom of serpents was not able to harm.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:28

  And He blessed them and said: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. For indeed, this multiplication of humans and filling of the earth could only be accomplished through the union of man and woman. Yet, if the human race grows and multiplies by the blessing of God, how much more worthy of a curse are those who forbid marriage and condemn the arrangement of the heavenly decree as if it were devised by the devil? Therefore, marriages should not be condemned, which were established by the grace of the heavenly blessing for the propagation of the human race and the filling of the earth; but rather, virginity is more to be honored and is worthy of greater blessing, which, after the earth has been filled with people, desires in chastity of mind and body to follow the Lamb wherever He goes—that is, the Lord Jesus in heaven—and to sing a new song, which no one else can sing. For God and our Lord, who in the beginning of the nascent world formed the woman from the side of the man to teach that the earth was to be filled by their mutual union, Himself in the end of the age took a man from the flesh of a Virgin, free from all contamination, filled with the fullness of all divinity, to prove that He valued the glory of virginity more than marriage.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:29-30

  And God said: Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all the trees which have in themselves the seed of their own kind, to be your food, and to all the beasts of the earth and every bird, and to all that move upon the earth, and in which there is a living soul, that you may have them to eat: It is now clear that before man's guilt the earth produced nothing harmful, no poisonous herb, no sterile tree, since it was clearly said that every herb and all trees were given to men and the birds, and to all the beasts of the earth for food, it is evident that even the birds did not live by snatching weak wings, nor did the wolf plot ambushes around the folds, nor was dust the snake's bread, but all ate in concord the green herbs and the fruits of the trees. Certainly among these must arise the question of how man was made immortal above other creatures, and nevertheless received common earthly nourishment with them. In which we must see that there is one kind of immortality of the flesh which we received in Adam's first state, and another which we hope to receive in the resurrection through Christ. Thus, he was made immortal in such a way that he could not die if he did not sin; but if he did sin, he would die. Thus the children of the resurrection will be immortal, when they will be equal to the angels of God, so that they will neither die anymore, nor be able to sin. Therefore our flesh after the resurrection will need no nourishment of food, as it will not be subject to deficiency from hunger, or weariness, or any other kind of weakness. But Adam's flesh before sin was created immortal in such a way that, helped by the supports of temporal nourishment, it existed free from death and pain, until, having been brought to that age which pleased the Creator through bodily growths; then having created much progeny of this kind, by the command of God, it would also partake of the tree of life, from which becoming perfectly immortal, it would no longer need the sustenance of bodily food. Thus, therefore, the flesh of the first humans is created immortal and incorruptible, so that they might retain the same immortality and incorruptibility through obedience to God's commandments; among which commandments was also this, that they should eat of the allowed trees of paradise, but refrain from the consumption of the forbidden one, preserving the gifts of immortality granted to them by the consumption of these, and in the touch of that find the ruin of death. Thus indeed our flesh will be incorruptible and immortal at the end; so that, like angelic splendour, it may remain always in the same state, unable to need bodily foods, since in the spiritual life there will be no need of them. For the fact that angels are read to have eaten with the patriarchs was done not out of need but out of kindness, so that by doing these things they might more sweetly adapt to the men to whom they appeared. The Lord also after the resurrection ate with the disciples, not because he needed nourishment but to show that he had indeed received true flesh after death.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:30

  And it came to be so, that is, that man might rule over all that were created on land or in the waters, and that he might receive the faculty and power to eat from the fruits of the earth along with the birds of the sky and the creatures of the land.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:31

  And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Because it was said of each of God's works individually that he saw that they were good, rightly in conclusion, with all things completed, it was stated with an added emphasis that he saw all that he had made, and it was very good. But the question rightly arises, why of man, when he was made, was it not additionally stated individually: And God saw that it was good, but rather that his creation was more generally praised among the others? Or did God, foreseeing that man would sin and not remain in the perfection of his image, wish to state that he was good not individually but along with the others, as if indicating what was to come? Therefore, man before sin and undoubtedly in his own kind was good, but Scripture omitted saying this, rather to state more what would announce something to come. For God is the best creator of natures, but indeed the most just regulator of sinners, so that even if certain things become deformed through individual sins, yet the entirety always remains beautiful with them.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 1:31

  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. The number six is considered to be perfect because it is completed by its parts: namely the sixth which is one, the third which is two, and the half which is three. Indeed, one and two and three make up six, which in the units of numbers you will nowhere else find except here, nor in the tens except for the number twenty-eight. Therefore, in six days God completed all the array of the heaven and the earth, so that He who established all things in measure and number and weight, might also teach that His works are perfect in this very number in which He worked. And God completed on the seventh day His work which He had made. In another translation, it is said that God completed His works which He had made on the sixth day. This brings up no question at all because it is declared plainly in the description of what was done in it. But it is rightly questioned how our version, which descends from the Hebrew truth, says that God completed His work which He had made on the seventh day, in which nothing new is mentioned as having been created, unless perhaps we say that He made the seventh day itself then, and in its making completed His work, by which creation of it He finished the measure and number of the days by whose cycle all ages henceforth would proceed to their end. For in the revolution of times, the eighth day is counted the same as the first day.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:1-2

  Under the law the people were ordered to work for six days and to rest on the seventh … because the Lord completed the creation of the world in six days and desisted from his work on the seventh. Mystically speaking, we are counseled by all this that those who in life devote themselves to good works for the Lord's sake are in the future led by the Lord to sabbath, that is, to eternal rest.

  Homilies on the Gospels 2.17

• Genesis 2:2

  So God completed His work on the seventh day, which He had made. Because He ended the sum of the days He had made in it, adding the seventh itself, which He wanted to be called and to be the Sabbath, because he endows it with mystical blessing and sanctification above the others, as the following teaches. Hence also the day of judgment and consummation of the world, because it is to come after the seventh Sabbath, is called the eighth in the Scriptures, namely because only seven precede it. For it is said in the title of the psalms: To the end, in hymns, for the eighth, a psalm of David, which the entire text of the following psalm teaches is written about the day of judgment, in which the prophet, fearing the wrath of the coming judge, exclaims: Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath (Psalm VI, 1), etc. But also the day of the Lord's Resurrection, although it was to come after so many thousands of days, is also called the eighth in the title of another psalm, because naturally it follows the seventh, so that it exists as the first of the following week, that is, the same one in which God said in the beginning: Let there be light and there was light. The psalm written about the Lord's Resurrection indeed proves it by the one speaking in it, saying: For the misery of the needy and the groaning of the poor, now I will arise, says the Lord (Psalm XI, 6). Moreover, it can rightly be accepted that God completed His work on the seventh day, which He had made, even in that He blessed and sanctified that day itself. For blessing and sanctification are not no work. Neither could Solomon be said to have done no work when he dedicated the temple he had made; rather, it is an eminent work of God, when He glorified with eternal blessing and sanctification those things He had made. Finally, about this work which He does in the eternal day of the Sabbath, He says Himself in the parable of the faithful servants: Amen, I say to you that He will gird Himself, and make them sit down to eat, and passing, will serve them (Luke XII, 37). For he who girds himself, who prepares a meal, who passes by, who serves, surely works. But by all these words, nothing else is intimated than that the Lord blesses and sanctifies His saints forever, that is, He rewards them with the vision of His glory after their good works which He gave.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:2

  And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. Not as if God rested like a weary man from excessive labor through human frailty after completing the world's creation; but He is said to have rested from all His work, because He ceased to create any new creature thereafter. For Scripture often uses the term "rest" to indicate the cessation of work or speech, as in the Apocalypse about the holy animals: And they have no rest day and night saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty (Apoc. IV, 8). Instead of saying they did not cease to always chant this. For the greatest and only rest for the saints in heaven is to declare the praise of the highest Trinity, which is God, with an unfailing voice. It can indeed be understood more profoundly that the Lord rested from all His works, not having any need for those works in which He might rest, since His rest in Himself is always true without beginning and end, but He made His works solely for the sake of His goodness, so that they might rest in Him: which, conversely, is easier to understand when we remember that human necessity particularly insists on daily labors for the purpose of finding rest in its works, as the Lord tells him: By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread (Gen. III, 19). But God, who before the creation of the world had perfect rest in Himself eternally, even after creating the world, did not rest in the works He made, but from all the works He made, as He had no necessity to rest in His creatures, but rather, offering rest to rational creatures, while perfectly always resting in Himself, and being blessed in that good which He alone is to Himself.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:3

  And He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He had rested from all His work which God had created and made. That is, having completed the adornment of the world, He had ceased from instituting new kinds of things. Nor should this be considered contrary to the saying in the Gospel: My Father works until now, and I work (John 5:17). Clearly responding to those who complained that the Sabbath was not observed by Him, invoking the authority of this ancient Scriptural rest of God. For He had ceased on the seventh day from creating kinds of creatures, because He no longer created any new kinds; thereafter, however, He works the administration of these same kinds which He had instituted even to this very day, so that not even on that seventh day would His power cease to govern heaven and earth, and all things which He had made, otherwise they would immediately fall apart.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:3

  And He blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. That is to say, with the blessing and sanctification which He more fully intimates to His people in the law, saying: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God, in it you shall not do any work (Exod. XX, 8). And a little further on: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day (Exod. XX, 11). Therefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. Indeed, the blessing and sanctification of the seventh day were made as a type of greater blessing and sanctification. For just as by the frequent, or rather daily, sacrifices in the law the blood of the Lord's passion, which was to be poured out once for the salvation of the world, was signified; so also by the rest of the seventh day, which was always celebrated after the works of six days, that great day of the Sabbath, in which the Lord was once to rest in the tomb, was prefigured, having completed and perfected on the sixth day all His works, by which He was restoring the world, which He had perfect in the sixth day, now lost. On which also, as if recalling His original work, with an open word He declared that He had now completed the salvation of the world. For when He had taken the vinegar, He said: It is finished, and He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit (John XIX, 30). But this sanctification and blessing of the seventh day, and God's rest in it after His very good works, signified that we individually tend to the rest of heavenly life after the good works He works in us both to will and to do, in which we may enjoy His eternal sanctification and blessing. Hence, it is well written that the seventh day did not have an evening, because evidently it signifies our perpetual rest in it.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:4

  These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. With this conclusion, Scripture addresses those who assert that the world always existed without a beginning, or those who believe that the world was indeed made by God, but from material not made by God, but which was coeternal with the Creator and without beginning. For it says the generations of the heavens and the earth are the very order of divine institution, by which their adornment through the works of six days reached that level of perfection which has been described above, according to what the Creator himself said in the Decalogue of His law: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them (Exodus 20:11); what follows, however: On the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth and every herb of the field before it grew, should by no means appear contradictory to the statement of God that has been mentioned, but should be clearly understood because here Scripture put the day for all that time in which the primordial creation was formed. For neither in one of those six days was heaven made, or illuminated by the stars, and the earth separated from the waters and clothed with trees and grasses; but Scripture, according to its custom, put the day for time, in the same way the Apostle, when he says: Behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2), signifies not one specific day, but the whole time in which we labor in the present life for eternal salvation. And the prophet speaks not of one specific day, but of the multiplied time of divine grace: In that day the deaf shall hear the words of this book (Isaiah 29:18). Otherwise, it is difficult to understand how on this day God made the heaven, and the earth, and all the plants of the field, and every herb of the region, unless perhaps we would say that all creation was made simultaneously in formless matter, as it is written: He who lives forever created all things together (Ecclesiasticus 18:1), but this he surely did before any day of this age, when he created the heaven and the earth in the beginning, when even if the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the abyss, nevertheless in the very nature of earth and of the abyss, that is, of waters, these things lay hidden as it was by seminal substance, which were not to be produced all at once by the work of the Creator from them afterwards; therefore, if we say this, the noted question reverts to the same conclusion, that we understand the appellation of the day as the signification of time, that is, when God created all these things simultaneously in the beginning: On the day, he says, that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. But if on the day he speaks of, we understand that time is designated, when before any day of this age all things were made simultaneously, the sense appears straightforward that both the grass and all the trees were made in the very substance of the earth causally before they visibly arose or sprouted from the earth. Otherwise, if we take the appellation of the day, as we more consistently judge, for the signification of the time in which this world was made and adorned through six days, we can understand because now Scripture wanted to explain more openly how it previously said that the earth brought forth green grass and bearing seed according to its kind, and the tree yielding fruit. For these things were not produced by the earth at the beginning of things as they are now, where with the presence of irrigation the earth spontaneously brings forth fruit arranged by God; but by an entirely more wondrous work of the Creator, before any fruits arose from the earth by growing, or germinated, the fields, mountains, and hills were suddenly covered with grasses and trees, having the suitable height, spreading branches, the shade of leaves, and the abundance of fruits, which they received not gradually by arising from the earth or sprouting, and advancing by the growth of increment, but suddenly by existing from it. For the following words also seem to support this meaning, where it is said:

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:5-6

  For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. For who does not see that these things could not have been said about the first creation of the earth when it was still void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the abyss? Was it necessary to narrate about the rain not descending upon the earth at that time, when neither it could yet receive the rain nor the air could give it, because the places of both were still completely filled with water? Nor could a mist go up from the earth to water it, so long as the whole was covered by the abyss; whence, if I am not mistaken, it remains to be understood that by the name of the day above, when it is said: On the day when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, etc., the time of those first six days is intimated, in which all the creation of the world was formed, where it rightly remembers that God had not rained upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, that we may understand how much the first sprouting of the earth differed from the modern. For now the earth spontaneously germinates by the irrigation of rains, and by the industry and cultivation of men many things grow in gardens and orchards and woods; but the first creation of herbs and trees was completed very differently, in which by the new command of the supreme maker, the earth, which appeared dry, was suddenly filled far and wide with various kinds of fruits without rain and without human labor; but a mist, it says, went up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. From this source and its ascent to the earth we will speak, let us first see that the initial sprouting of the earth, which the aforementioned sentence recalls, was made without any watering of the waters, by God's command. The irrigation of this source, however it was, came after the earth was clothed with herbs and trees, which is proved by the very syllables of the Scripture itself, which after it said in the past tense that the Lord God created heaven and earth and every shrub of the field and every herb of the region, it immediately appended with the pluperfect tense: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, showing that before the creation of shrubs and herbs, God had not sent rain; but what was done afterward, it immediately appended with the imperfect tense saying: for a stream would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground, signifying by the declension of the verb that this was not done once but often, since it did not say "rose" but "would rise"; while it is said that a stream would rise from the earth that would water its entire surface, it is rightfully inquired in what order it would rise; nor is there anything to prevent it from being believed that it thus ascended and returned by turns to water it, as even today the Nile annually ascends to water the plains of Egypt, just as once the Jordan watered the land of Pentapolis, about which Scripture says: "it was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord" (Genesis 13:10), and like Egypt before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah; as, according to Saint Augustine, it is said of some wonderful alternation of certain springs that they flood at fixed intervals of years so as to irrigate the entire region, which at other times provides sufficient drinking water from high wells. Why then should it be incredible, as he also says, if the whole earth was then watered from a single head of the abyss, alternating flowing and ebbing? For if, he says, the vastness of the abyss itself, excluding the part called the sea, surrounds the land with evident height and bitter waves in that only part which the land contains in concealed recesses, from where all fountains and waters distribute themselves in various tracts and veins, and burst forth in their respective places, Scripture wished to call it a fountain rather than fountains, due to the unity of nature, and through innumerable paths of caverns and crevices ascending from the earth, and everywhere watering the whole face of the earth with distributed locks, not in a continuous form like the sea or a lake, but as we see waters running through the channels of rivers and the bends of streams, and overflowing to cover nearby areas, who would not accept this unless he is troubled by a contentious spirit? Indeed, it can also be understood that the whole face of the earth was thus watered, just as it is said that a whole garment is colored with a face, even if not continuously but spotted; especially since then at the dawn of the earth many plains were likely to exist where widely bursting streams could be scattered and spread. Therefore, concerning the magnitude or multitude of this fountain, whether it had a single eruption from somewhere, or because of some unity in the hidden depths of the earth from which all waters upon the earth spring forth, it is called one fountain for all great and small fountains, rising from the earth through all its dispersions, and watering the whole face of the earth; or more likely, since it does not say a single fountain but says a fountain was rising from the earth, placing singular for the plural, that we thus understand many fountains throughout the entire earth, watering their own places or regions: just as a soldier is mentioned, and many are understood, just as the locust and the frog are mentioned in the plagues by which the Egyptians were struck, although there was an innumerable number of locusts and frogs, let us not labor further on this. When it was said that God created herbs and shrubs, without yet descending rain, nor man existing to till the ground, consequently, the creation of man is introduced and it is said: The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Here, therefore, the creation of man is described more broadly, who was indeed made on the sixth day; but there his creation was briefly mentioned, which is more fully expounded here, namely that he was made in the substance of body and soul, of which the body was formed from the dust of the ground, while the soul was created from nothing by God's inspiration; and also the woman was formed from his side while he was sleeping. In which statement, the poverty of the carnal sense is to be avoided, lest we perhaps think that God formed the body of man from the dust with corporeal hands, or breathed into the face of the formed with a mouth and lips so that he might live and have the breath of life. For even the Prophet when he says: Your hands have made me and fashioned me (Psalm 119:73), spoke this in a figurative rather than a literal sense, that is, according to the custom by which men are accustomed to work. For God is Spirit, nor is it believed by the uninstructed that His simple substance is composed of the lineaments of corporal members. Therefore, God formed man from the dust. Whom he commanded to be made from the dust by His word. He breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living being, creating in him the substance of soul and spirit in which he might live. For it is rightly understood that God breathed into the face of man the breath by which he would live, just as it is understood above: God called the light day, meaning that He made it to be called day by men. Well, indeed, it is said that God breathed into man's face to make him a living being, because surely the spirit infused into him contemplates external things, as it is located in the frontal part of the brain where all the senses are distributed. For even the sense of touch, which is spread throughout the whole body, is also shown to have its way from the same frontal part of the brain, which is led backwards through the top and neck to the spinal cord. Moreover, this agrees with what was said above about man.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:7

  In the image of God He created him. Male and female He created them. For what is said to be in the image of God is understood correctly only in the soul; what is added as male and female is understood correctly only in the body. Therefore, those who think that the soul is a part of God should not be listened to, as if the soul of man were a part of God, and could neither be taken away by itself nor by anyone, nor be compelled by any necessity to do or suffer anything evil, nor be changed at all for better or worse. But that breath of God, which animated man, was made by Him, not from Him, just as neither is man's breath a part of man, nor does man make it from himself, but it is taken and emitted from the aerial vapor. But God was able to make from nothing, and He could make it living and rational, which man cannot do; although some think that the first man was not animated when God breathed into his face, and he became a living soul, but that he received the Holy Spirit at that time. However credible any of these hypotheses may be shown to be, we should not doubt that the soul is not a part of God, nor that it was created or issued from His substance, but that it was made from nothing.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:8

  Now the Lord God had planted a garden of pleasure from the beginning, in which He placed the man whom He had formed. Surely, it is to be believed that God planted the garden from that very beginning, from which He commanded all the earth, after removing the waters that covered it, to produce herbs and fruit-bearing trees, in which He placed man on the sixth day, on which He had also formed him. Nor should there be any doubt that the garden in which the first man was placed, although it holds the type either of the present Church or of the future homeland, nevertheless must be understood according to the literal meaning, to be sure, a most pleasant place, shaded by fruitful groves, and also large, and fruitful with a great spring. However, because our edition, which is translated from the Hebrew truth, has "from the beginning," while in the ancient translation it is put "towards the East," some wish that the location of the garden is in the eastern part of the world, although separated by a great distance, either by the Ocean or by lands, from all the regions now inhabited by the human race. Therefore, not even the waters of the flood, which most deeply covered the entire surface of our world, could reach it. But whether it is there or elsewhere, God knows, we are only permitted to doubt that this place was and is earthly. Finally, with the following words, Scripture more fully explains how God planted it, saying:

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:9

  And the Lord God brought forth from the soil every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food: the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is understood to have been done on the same day on which, at God's command, the earth also brought forth the other fruit-bearing trees. But it is necessarily repeated here so that we could understand the nature of the place of paradise, especially because there needed to be a special reference to the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; in one of which was a sign to man of the obedience he owed, in the other the sacrament of eternal life, which he would merit through this very obedience. And indeed the tree of life was so called because it had this power, as we said, divinely received, that whoever ate from it would have their body strengthened with stable health, never changing for the worse through any infirmity or age, nor even falling into decline; but this was done physically in such a way that it was also a figure of a spiritual sacrament, that is, of our God and Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it is said in the praise of wisdom: "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her" (Proverbs 3:18). And in the Apocalypse of Saint John: "To him that overcomes, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God" (Revelation 2:7). Which is openly to say: To him who overcomes the temptation of the ancient serpent, by which Adam was overcome, I will give what I would have given to Adam if he had overcome, so that he may be eternally refreshed by the present vision of the glory of Christ, and thus be touched by no onset of death, because evidently the Lord Christ, the power and wisdom of God the Father, is in the paradise of the heavenly kingdom, whom He also deigned to promise to the thief confessing Him on the cross along with the other saints. And the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Saint Augustine says of this tree: "To me, considering again and again, it cannot be said how much that sentiment pleases, that the tree itself was not harmful for food. For He who had made all things very good had not established anything bad in paradise, but the transgression of the command was evil for man. Nevertheless, it was fitting that man, put under the Lord God, should be prohibited from something, so that his virtue for deserving his Lord was obedience itself, which I can most truly say is the only virtue for every rational creature acting under the power of God; and the first and greatest vice for destruction is the will to use one's own power, which has the supreme name of vice in disobedience. Therefore man could not think or feel that he had a Lord unless something was commanded to him. That tree, therefore, was not evil, but it was called the tree of the knowledge of discerning good and evil; because if after prohibition man should eat from it, in the transgression of the command the man would learn by the experience of punishment what the difference was between the good of obedience and the evil of disobedience. Therefore this should indeed be taken not in a figurative sense, but as a certain real tree, to which the name was not given from the fruit or apple that grew from there, but from the actual matter, which, when touched contrary to the prohibition, was to follow."

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:10

  And a river went out of the place of delight to water the paradise. That is, those beautiful and fruitful trees that shaded the whole land of that region, where it is believed to have been made as in this land we inhabit, the Nile waters the plains of Egypt, wherefore, as we also mentioned above, it was said of the land of Sodom, which was wholly watered like the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt (Genesis XIII, 10). And surely with provident arrangement, the Lord and Creator of things wished to have some likeness in our world to that homeland which we were created to possess in the first parent, so that he might warn us by a nearby example to merit a return thereto, and especially by that river which is known to emanate from paradise. For the Nile, which waters Egypt, is itself the Gihon, which is remembered to proceed from paradise in what follows. Just as also, when the same cities of Sodom were overturned, which were once watered like the paradise of the Lord, he provided an example of those who act impiously, so that we might flee the most certain paths of the perdition of the wicked, by shunning their eternal torments through vigilance.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:11

  This is the one which encircles the whole land of Havilah. This is the region of India, deriving its name from being settled after the flood by Havilah, son of Joktan, who was the son of Eber the patriarch of the Hebrews, whom Josephus also reports with his brothers possessed the land from the river Cephen and the region of India to the place called Hieria.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:11

  Which then is divided into four heads: the name of the first is Pishon. It is established, according to the most certain authorities, that the sources of all these rivers, which are said to go out from paradise, are known in our land. The source of the Pishon, which is now called the Ganges, is indeed in the places of the Caucasus mountains; but the Nile, which the Scripture, as we have said, names Gihon, now far from Mount Atlas, which is the furthest end of Africa to the west. Furthermore, the Tigris and Euphrates from Armenia, from where it is believed that the place of paradise itself is most distant from human knowledge, and from there the four parts of the waters are divided; but those rivers, whose sources are said to be known, are somewhere beneath the earth and after passing through extended regions erupt in other places, where they are reputed to be known in their sources. For who is unaware that some waters are accustomed to do this? But it is known there where they do not run under the earth for long. Finally, historians report that the same rivers Tigris, Euphrates, and Nile are taken up in many places of the earth, and after some interval reemerging, continue their usual course; which is also believed to be done by the Lord as a sign of that course by which they come to us from paradise through the more hidden channels and longer veins of the earth. Now Phison is interpreted as change of mouth, and rightly, because indeed it shows another appearance for our benefit, that is, much more humble than it has in paradise.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:12

  There is found gold, and the gold of that land is good. Pliny the Elder reports that the regions of India abound in gold veins more than other lands, whence even their islands took the names Chryse and Argyre from the abundance of gold or silver.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:12

  In that place are found bdellium and onyx stone. Bdellium is, as Pliny the Elder writes, an aromatic tree, black in color, of the size of an olive, with oak-like leaves, fruit like the fig, and its nature is such that it exudes gum. Its tear is bright, somewhat white, light, sticky, uniformly waxy, and easily softened, with a bitter taste, a pleasant smell, and more fragrant when soaked in wine. The book of Numbers also mentions it, saying, "Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color was like bdellium" (Num. XI, 7), that is, bright and somewhat white. Onyx, on the other hand, is a precious stone, so called because it has a whiteness mixed within it like a human fingernail. The Greeks call a fingernail "onyx." Arabia produces it, but Indian onyx has sparks with white bands surrounding them; Arabian onyx, however, is black with white bands. The ancient translation has for these a carbuncle and a prasinus stone. The carbuncle, as its name suggests, is a stone of fiery color, which is said to illuminate the darkness of night. The prasinus stone has a greenish appearance and derives its name from the Greek word for leek, which they call "prason."

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:13

  And the name of the second river is Geon. It is the one which goes around all the land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river is Tigris. It goes towards the Assyrians. The fourth river is Euphrates. Therefore, concerning the Euphrates, where it goes or what lands it circles, it does not say, because, flowing nearby the land of promise, it was very easily known to the people of Israel, who were placed there and were to read this. But since a return to heavenly places is open to us through the waters of regeneration, it is sufficiently fitting to the dispensation of divine piety that this very element, through which we are led back to the upper homeland, is common to us with paradise, where the first man was placed, and just as grace invisibly recreates us in preparation for the entrance to the heavenly kingdom: so also invisibly from paradise through the veins of the earth the very water through which we are recreated flows forth to the Lord's world. Just as the Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, but do not know where it comes from or where it goes (John 3:8); thus it was fitting that the water which the Holy Spirit sanctifies those whom He wills, should come to us by unknown ways from paradise, and return to unknown places to us, because it is known to have its origin from the paradise of pleasure.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:15

  The Lord God took the man whom He had formed and placed him in the paradise of pleasure, to work and keep it. What He said, to work and keep it, seems to refer to the place where it was said, And there was no man to till the ground. Truly we also, in exposing this word, let us place the words of the holy Father Augustine. "What was he to work or keep?" he said. "Did the Lord perhaps want the first man to do agriculture? Or is it not believable that He condemned him to labor before sinning? Indeed, we would think so, unless we saw some people work the land with so much delight of mind, that it would be a great punishment for them to be called away from it. Whatever delights agriculture had, then of course it was far greater, when nothing adverse happened to the land or the sky. For it was not the affliction of labor, but the exhilaration of the will, when those things which God created would thrive more joyfully and fruitfully with the help of human work, from which the Creator Himself would be more abundantly praised, who had given the reasoning and skill of working to the soul set in an animal body, as much as would suffice for a willing soul, not as much as the necessity of the body would force the unwilling." To work and keep it, he said, to keep the same paradise for himself, lest he permit anything for which he would deserve to be expelled from there. Finally, he also receives the command, so that he keeps the paradise for himself, that is, by observing it, he would not be thrown out from there. For rightly is anyone said not to have kept his property, who acted in such a way that he lost it, even if it is safe for another who either found it or deserved to receive it. There is another sense in these words, which I think should not undeservedly be put first, that God was working and keeping the man himself; just as a man works the ground, not to make it the ground, but to make it cultivated and fruitful, so God works the man whom He created as a man, so that he may be just, if the man does not depart from Him through pride. Therefore God placed the man in the paradise of pleasure, to work and keep it. He was to work, that is, to be good and blessed: and to keep it, that is, to be whole, by humbly submitting himself to His domination and protection.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:16-17

  And He commanded him, saying: Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. It is not to be believed that there was anything naturally evil in that tree, as we have also taught above, but man was forbidden from that which was not evil, so that the very observance of the command itself would be good for him and its transgression evil. Indeed, the sinner desired nothing but to not be under the dominion of God when that was committed concerning which only the command of the ruler should have been regarded, which, if it alone were regarded, what else but the will of God would have been loved? What else but the will of God would have been preferred to the human will? Nor can it happen that one's own will does not fall upon man with the weight of a great ruin, if he exalts it by preferring it to the superior will. This man experienced, who scorned the precept of God; and by this experience he learned what difference there is between good and evil, namely, the good of obedience, but the evil of disobedience, that is, of pride, defiance, perverse imitation of God, and harmful freedom. However, the name was given to this in which it could happen from the very matter, as said above.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

• Genesis 2:17

  On whichever day you eat from it, you shall surely die. He did not say, if you eat, you shall be mortal, but on whichever day, he said, you eat from it, you shall surely die. For man died in the soul when he sinned, because God, who is the life of the soul, departed from him, through whose desert the death of the body followed, with the soul departing from it, which is its life, and which death first happened to the same man when he reached the end of the present life not long after he ate the forbidden. It can also be understood that that day in which they sinned brought death upon them, as the Apostle laments saying: For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death (Romans 7:22)? For it is not enough for him to say: Who will deliver me from this mortal body, but from this body of death, he says. As indeed also this: The body is dead because of sin (Romans 8:10); nor did he say there, mortal, but dead, although indeed it is mortal because it is to die, it is not to be believed that those bodies were such, but though they were animal, not yet spiritual, yet not dead, that is, which it must needs be that they should die, which happened on that day when they touched the forbidden tree.

  Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)