And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Let the waters under the heaven ... i:e., which extended far and wide under the whole heavens.
Unto one place, х maaqowm (H4725)] - position, station, receptacle. The import of the clause is, not that the terrestrial waters were to form one vast unbroken expanse of ocean-for they were to be gathered together in such a manner as to form many "seas," - but that the sea should occupy one place, and the dry land another; each should have its respective domain assigned to it.
And let the dry land appear - literally, be seen. The world was to be rendered a terraqueous globe. A comparison of this passage with Job 38:8, which seems to contain a poetical allusion to the separation of the waters from the dry land, conveys an impression that the change was effected, not by a slow and gradual process, but with the violent impetuosity of an overwhelming torrent; in fact, done rapidly, and in a manner poetically described by the forcible shutting of a door. How this was effected, according to the views of modern science, will be shown afterward; but in the meantime it may be remarked that the language of the Palmist (Psalms 104:6-9) seems to point to a volcanic convulsion by which great changes were worked on the earth's surface;-the upheaving of some parts, the depression of others, and the consequent formation of vast hollows, into which the waters impetuously rushed. Called he seas. God, it appears, called the light "day," the darkness "night," the firmament "heaven," the dry land, "earth," and the mass of terrestrial waters "seas." Since man was not yet created, the inspired historian must be considered as speaking proleptically, or by way of anticipation, in the mention of those names. But the very prominent place which the bestowment of such names occupies in a narrative so brief and general-especially the circumstance of God himself assigning them, while the work of originating appropriate names to things after his creation was devolved upon Adam-affords a strong presumptive argument in favour of the opinion that God gave these names among the elementary lessons taught to man, who, instead of being left to invent language by the slow and unaided exercise of his natural powers, had the important gift imparted to him from the start, and was thus enabled to hold communion with his Maker.
Let the earth bring forth grass. "The earth," or "the dry land," which had been separated from the waters, was as yet only bare soil, but it was about to be stocked with vegetable life; and it is noticeable that the trees, plants, and grasses-the three great divisions of the vegetable kingdom here mentioned-were not called into existence in the same way as the light and the air: they were made to grow, and they grew, as they do still, out of the ground; not, however, by the self-developing powers of the earth, but through the energy of creative power, without rain, dew, or any process of labour or cultivation. But nothing further is said and whether they were created in full maturity or the seeds were deposited in the soil, the quickening virtue was imparted to them by the command, 'Let the earth bring forth, young tenderness, grass, deshe' (H1877)' the blade of which is the choice food of beasts (Job 6:5). х `eeseb (H6212), an herb growing up and setting, such as the cereals and pulse, the seed of which is the valuable part.]
And the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself. х 'ªsher (H834) zar`ow (H2233) bow (H871a)]. This peculiar feature distinguishes the fruit tree from the herb previously mentioned; for it is neither the fresh herbage nor the seed, but it is in the fruit which encloses the seed as a kernel that its value principally consists.
Upon the earth. These words refer particularly to the fruit tree, whose esculent properties have just been described; and they were intended most probably to indicate its durability, compared with the ephemeral existence of the inferior tribes of the vegetable kingdom.
After his kind, х lªmiynow (H4327)] - after its species. It was applied to the herb, noticed previously, as it is mentioned afterward in connection with the lower animals as well as man; and it is particularly worthy of notice that this mark of distinction is made and repeated in all the successive parts of the narrative relating to the creation of organic life, thereby clearly announcing it to be a universal law, established both in the vegetable and animal world, that distinctions of species entered into the original plan of the Creator.