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very beautiful... and certain parts from matter; for it is dishonorable to be constructed... it is possible to see other dishonorable parts such as hairs and the like, and in no way would one who knows how to judge the proportion of a city blame the one who constructed it because along with the honored and beautified places in the city he also built a prison and other things. For each thing taken by itself is not so marvelous as when one tests the usefulness of all things together as in the form of a city, so also in the case of creation, and much more marvelous; for it is not possible to say for what purpose this is, or for what purpose that is, for all things were created for their own use. 10, 8. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. Know that some of those outside of piety attempt to say: Why ever, according to you, are days said to have existed before the sun was established? It is possible, then, to say to them that all these things are considered according to an allegorical sense; for teaching through symbols is not forbidden among them; but since it is also consistent to argue against them with the literal sense, come let us discuss a few things about this. The day is understood in two ways: according to the interval of time and according to the illumination of the air around us. For when it says, 'And on the third day,' the quantity of the day is indicated, not whether the day is bright or gloomy; but when someone says that today is a gloomy day, he will not say this looking to its quantity. If, therefore, the divine word says that a first and a second and a third day existed before the genesis of the sun and the other luminaries, one must look to the quantity of the temporal interval, and it must be said to the one who raises difficulties against the divine scripture that seventy-two as it were hours have passed after the creation of the firmament, the luminaries not yet having come into being, and this is not at all surprising; for the sun is not the maker of the day but is its signifier, since neither would one say that the mechanically constructed measures of the hours are their makers but their signifiers. Therefore the sun and the moon signify the times and do not make them. And to signify is different from to make, so that it is not at all absurd for such an interval to pre-exist the creation of the sun and the other luminaries, which, if there had been something to signify it, became an interval of three days. 10, 9. And God said: Let the water that is under the heaven be gathered together into one gathering, and let the dry land appear. We understand God's speaking in the same way as the preceding instances, when it was said 'and God said: Let there be light' and 'let there be a firmament.' And the literal narrative of the present chapter would be this: God commands not all water but that under the heaven to be gathered into one gathering; for it has been said that the firmament came to be in the midst of the waters, so that part of the water remained above, and part below. And he indicates the usefulness of the command by saying 'and let the dry land appear'; for with the waters lying upon it, it was hidden, and being so, it was unsuitable for the genesis of plants and animals. Then he says: 'The water was gathered into their gatherings.' And one thing, as one might say, is in the command, but another is in the execution; for it is stated that all the water was to be gathered into one gathering, but the fulfillment says that the water was gathered into their gatherings and thus the dry land appeared. But the apparent discrepancy will be resolved by the one presiding over the history thus. The ocean is one sea, surrounding the whole inhabited world; for so say those who have discoursed on the nature of places, that the relation which an island has with us to the whole sea—for it is contained and surrounded on all sides—this same relation, he says, the whole earth and the whole inhabited world has to the ocean. And there are certain outlets, as it were, of the ocean, going into deep places, and thus the other seas were formed. If, then, he says 'into one gathering,' he speaks of the universal gathering, which to call

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περικαλλ···· καί τινα μέρη ἐξ ὕλης· ἀ´̣τιμον γὰρ τ̣ο`̣ κατασκευάζεσθαι, -ἔστιν ἰδεῖν μέρη ἕτερα ἄτιμα οἷον τρίχες καὶ τὰ ὅμοια, καὶ οὐδήπου ὁ πόλεως κρίνειν α᾿̣ναλο- γίαν ἐπιστάμενος μέμψαιτο τὸν κατασκευάσαντα ὅτι μετὰ τῶν τετιμημένων καὶ κεκαλλωπισμένων ἐν τῇ πόλει τόπων καὶ εἱρκτὴν καὶ ἄλλα ᾠκοδόμησεν· ἕκαστον γὰρ καθ' ἑαυτὸ λαμβανόμενον οὐχ οὕτως ἐστὶ θαυμαστὸν ὡς ὅταν ἀθρόως ἁπάντων ὡς ἐν πόλεως σχήματι δοκιμάσῃ τὴν χρείαν, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς δημιουργίας, καὶ π[ο]λλῷ [θ]αυμαστό- τερον· οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν εἰς τί τοῦτο ἢ εἰς τί τοῦτο, πάντα γὰρ εἰς χρείαν αὐτῶν ἔκτισται. ι, 8. Κ[αὶ] ἐγένετο ἑ[σ]πέρ[α κ]αὶ ἐγένετο πρωΐ, ἡμέρα δευτέρα. Ἐπίστασο [ὥ]ς τινε[ς πε]ιρώμενοι τῶν ἐκτὸς τῆς θεοσεβεία<ς> φασίν· Τί δή[πο]τε, κα[τὰ] ὑμᾶς μήπω τοῦ ἡλίου συστάντος, ἡμέραι εἶναι προείρηνται; Ἔστιν μὲν οὖν εἰπεῖ[ν] πρὸς αὐτο[ὺς] ὅτι ταῦτα πάντα κατὰ ἀναγωγὴν θεωρεῖτ̣α̣ι· οὐ γὰρ κεκώλυται παρ' α[ὐ]τοῖς ἡ διὰ συμβόλων διδασκαλία̣· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀκόλουθον πρὸς αὐτοὺς κινοῦντα καὶ τῷ ῥητῷ σ̣υστῆναι, φέρε ὀλίγα περὶ τούτου διαλάβωμεν. Ἡ ἡμέρα διχῶς νοεῖται κατά τε τὸ χρονικὸν διάστημα καὶ κατὰ τὸν̣ φωτισμὸν τοῦ περὶ ἡμᾶς ἀέρος. Ὅταν γὰρ λέγηται· "6Καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ"6, τὸ πόσον τῆς ἡμέρας δηλοῦται, οὐχὶ ἡ φαιδρὰ ἢ ζοφερὰ ἡμέρα· ὅταν δέ τις λέγῃ ὅτι ζοφώδης ἐστὶν ἡ σήμερον ἡμέρα, οὐκ εἰς τὸ πόσον αὐτῆς βλέπων τοῦτ' ἐρεῖ. Ἐὰν οὖν ὁ θεῖος λόγος λέγῃ πρώτην καὶ δευτέραν καὶ τρίτην 24 ἡμέραν πρὸ γε̣νέσεως ἡλίου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φωστήρων ὑφεστάναι, εἰς τὸ πόσον τοῦ χρονικοῦ διαστήματος δεῖ σκοπεῖν, καὶ λεκτέον τῷ ἐπαποροῦντι τῇ θεί[α̣] γραφῇ ὅτι ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ δύο ὡσανεὶ ὧραι γεγένη<ν>ται μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν τοῦ στερεώματος οὔπω τῶν φωστήρων γεγενη- μένων, καὶ οὐδὲν θ̣α̣υ̣μαστόν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ποιητικὸς ὁ ἥλιος τῆς ἡμέρας ἀλλὰ ση̣μ̣αντικὸς ὑπάρχει, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ τὰ κατασκευαζόμενα μηχανικῶς μέτρα τῶν ὡρῶν ποιητικά τις αὐτῶν ἀλλὰ σημαντικὰ ἐρεῖ. Σημαίνουσιν οὖν τοὺς χρόνους ὁ ἥλιος καὶ ἡ σελήνη καὶ οὐ ποιοῦσιν. Ἕτερον δὲ τὸ σημαίνειν παρὰ τὸ ποιεῖν, ὥστε οὐδὲν ἄτοπον διάστημα τοσοῦτον προϋφεστάναι τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φωστήρω[ν] δημι[ο]υργίας, ὅ, εἰ ὑπῆρχέν τι̣ σ̣ημαῖνον, τριῶν ἡμερῶ[ν] ἐ[γ]ένετ[ο] διάστημα. ι, 9. [Καὶ ε]ἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Συναχθήτω τὸ ὕδωρ τὸ ὑπ[ο]κάτω τ[οῦ] οὐρανοῦ εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά. Τὸ εἰπεῖν τὸν Θεὸν ὁμοίως ἐκλαμβάνομεν τοῖς φθάσασιν, ὅτε ἐλέγετο "6καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός· Γενηθήτω φῶ[ς]"6 καὶ "6γενη[θ]ήτω στερέωμα"6. Εἴη δὲ καὶ τοῦ ἐκκειμένου κεφαλαίου ἡ ῥ[η]τὴ διήγησις ἥδε· οὐ πᾶν ὕδωρ ἀλλὰ τὸ ὑποκάτω το̣ῦ οὐρανοῦ προστάττει Θεὸς εἰς μίαν συναχθῆναι συναγωγήν· εἴρηται γὰρ ὅτι τὸ στερέωμα γέγονεν ἐμμέσῳ τῶν ὑδάτων, ὡς τὸ μὲν τοῦ ὕδατος ἄνω ἀπομεῖναι, το`̣ δὲ κάτω. Τὸ χρησιμὸν δὲ τῆς προστάξεως δηλοῖ διὰ τοῦ φάναι "6καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά"6· ἐπικειμένων γὰρ τῶν ὑδά- των αὐτὴ κέκρυπται, οὕτω δὲ ἔχουσα ἀνεπιτηδείως εἶχεν πρὸς γένεσιν φυτῶν καὶ ζῴων. Εἶτά φησιν· "6Συνήχθη τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς 25 αὐτῶν."6 Καὶ ἄλλο μέν, ὡς ἂν εἴποι τις, ἐστὶν τὸ ἐν τῇ προστάξει, ἕτερον δὲ τὸ ἐν τῇ τελεσιουργίᾳ· εἰς γὰρ μίαν συναγωγὴν διείρηται τὸ πᾶν συναχθῆναι ὕδωρ, ἡ δὲ ἀντα- πόδοσίς φησιν εἰς τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτῶν [σ]υνῆχθαι τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ οὕτως ὦφθαι τὴν ξηράν. Ἀποκατασταθή[σε]ται δὲ τὸ ὡσανεὶ διάφωνον ὑπ̣ὸ τοῦ προισταμένου τῆς ἱ[σ]τορίας οὕτως. Μία θάλασσά ἐστιν ὁ ὠκεανὸς περιέχουσα τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην· οὕτω γάρ φασιν οἱ τὰ περὶ τόπων φυσιολογήσαντες ὅτι ὃν ἔχει λόγον παρ' ἡμῖν νῆσος πρὸς τὸ ὅλον πέλαγος- περιέχεται γὰρ καὶ πάντοθεν περι- ραίνεται-, τοῦτόν φησιν ὅλη ἡ γῆ καὶ ὅλη ἡ οἰκουμένη τὸν λόγον ἔχει πρὸς τὸν ὠκεανόν. Εἰσὶν δέ τινες τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ ὡσπερεὶ διεκβολαὶ χωροῦσαι εἰς τόπους βαθεῖς, καὶ οὕτως συνέστη τὰ ἄλλα πελάγη. Ἐὰν οὖν λέγῃ "6εἰς συναγωγὴν μίαν"6, εἰς τὴν οἰκουμενικὴν λέγε[ι] συναγωγήν, ἣν καλεῖν