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of moisture, but is intertwined with fire through heat. But fire, being by nature hot and dry, is bound to the air by heat, and by dryness it returns again to fellowship with the earth. And thus there comes to be a circle and a harmonious dance, with all things in agreement and corresponding with one another. Hence the name "elements" has been properly applied to them. These things have been said by me to present the reason for which God called the dry land "earth," but did not call the earth "dry." Because dryness is not among the qualities that later came to be added to the earth, but among those that from the beginning complete its substance. And those things which provide the cause for its being are by nature prior to and more honorable than those things which are added afterwards. So that it was fitting that the characteristics of the earth were conceived from what was pre-existing and older. 4.6 And God saw that it was good. The text does not indicate that some pleasing sight of the sea appeared to God. For the Maker does not see the beauties of creation with eyes, but with ineffable wisdom He contemplates what comes to be. For it is a pleasant sight, the sea growing white, when a steady calm holds it; and pleasant too when, its surface roughened by gentle breezes, it strikes the onlookers with a purple or dark blue color; when it does not strike the neighboring land violently, but, as it were, embraces it with certain peaceful embraces. Yet one must not think that Scripture has said that the sea appeared thus good and pleasant to God, but rather that "the good" there is judged by the reason of its creation. First, that the water of the sea is the source of all moisture on the earth; this water, being distributed through hidden channels, as the porous and cavernous parts of the continents show, under which the flowing sea courses, whenever it is trapped in crooked passages that do not lead upwards, pushed by the wind that moves it, it is carried outwards, breaking through the surface, and becomes drinkable, its bitterness having been cured by the filtration. And now also, having acquired a hotter quality from metals during its passage, from the same cause that moves it, it becomes boiling, for the most part, and fiery; which it is possible to observe in many places on the islands and in many of the coastal regions. Where indeed, even in the interior, some places neighboring river waters, to compare small things with great, suffer similar things. For what purpose, then, has this been said by me? That the whole earth is undermined, with the water returning from the sources of the sea through unseen channels. 4.7 The sea, therefore, is good in God's sight, both because of the underlying course of moisture in its depth; good also because, being a receptacle of rivers, it receives into itself the streams from all sides, and remains within its own bounds; good also because it is a beginning and source for the waters in the air, being warmed by the sun's ray and laying aside the fine part of the water through vapors, which, having been drawn up to the region above, then cooled by being higher than the reflection of the rays from the ground, and at the same time the shadow from the cloud intensifying the cooling, becomes rain, and makes the earth fertile. And surely no one disbelieves these things, who considers cauldrons heated from below, which, though full of liquid, have often been left empty, with all that was boiling being separated into vapor. But it is also possible to see the very water of the sea being boiled by sailors; who, receiving the vapors with sponges, moderately alleviate their need in times of necessity. And it is good in God's sight in other ways, because it embraces the islands, providing them at once with adornment and with safety through itself; then also because it connects through itself continents that are very far distant from one another, providing unhindered intercourse for sailors; through which it also bestows knowledge of things unknown, and becomes a source of wealth for merchants, and easily rectifies the needs of life, providing an outlet for the surplus of those who have plenty, and bestowing a remedy for the lack of those in need. And from where

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ὑγρότητος, τῷ πυρὶ δὲ διὰ τοῦ θερμοῦ συμπλεκόμενος. Τὸ δὲ πῦρ θερμὸν καὶ ξηρὸν ὑπάρχον τὴν φύσιν, τῷ μὲν θερμῷ πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα συνδεῖται, τῷ ξηρῷ δὲ πάλιν πρὸς τὴν κοινωνίαν τῆς γῆς ἐπανέρχεται. Καὶ οὕτω γίνεται κύκλος καὶ χορὸς ἐναρμόνιος, συμφωνούντων πάντων καὶ συστοιχούντων ἀλλήλοις. Ὅθεν κυρίως αὐτοῖς καὶ ἡ προσ ηγορία τῶν στοιχείων ἐφήρμοσται. Ταῦτά μοι εἴρηται παριστῶντι τὴν αἰτίαν δι' ἣν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ξηρὰν ἐκάλεσε γῆν, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ τὴν γῆν προσεῖπε ξηράν. ∆ιότι τὸ ξηρὸν οὐχὶ τῶν ὕστερον προσγινομένων ἐστὶ τῇ γῇ, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς συμπληρούντων αὐτῆς τὴν οὐσίαν. Τὰ δὲ αὐτὴν τοῦ εἶναι αἰτίαν παρέχοντα, πρότερα τῇ φύσει τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα προσγινομένων καὶ προτιμότερα. Ὥστε εἰκότως ἐκ τῶν προϋπαρχόντων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων ἐπενοήθη τῇ γῇ τὰ γνωρίσματα. 4.6 Καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι καλόν. Οὐκ αὐτὸ τοῦτο τερπνήν τινα ὄψιν θαλάσσης ὁ λόγος ἐνδείκνυται τῷ Θεῷ πεφηνέναι. Οὐ γὰρ ὀφθαλμοῖς βλέπει τὰ κάλλη τῆς κτίσεως ὁ ποιητὴς, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἀρρήτῳ σοφίᾳ θεωρεῖ τὰ γινόμενα. Ἡδὺ μὲν γὰρ θέαμα, λευκαινομένη θάλασσα, γαλήνης αὐτὴν σταθερᾶς κατεχούσης· ἡδὺ δὲ καὶ ὅταν πραείαις αὔραις τραχυνομένη τὰ νῶτα, πορφύρουσαν χρόαν ἢ κυανῆν τοῖς ὁρῶσι προσ βάλλῃ· ὅτε οὐδὲ τύπτει βιαίως τὴν γείτονα χέρσον, ἀλλ' οἷον εἰρηνικαῖς τισιν αὐτὴν περιπλοκαῖς κατασπάζεται. Οὐ μὴν οὕτω καὶ Θεῷ οἴεσθαι χρὴ τὴν Γραφὴν εἰρηκέναι καλὴν καὶ ἡδεῖαν ὦφθαι τὴν θάλασσαν, ἀλλὰ τὸ καλὸν ἐκεῖ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς δημιουργίας κρίνεται. Πρῶτον μὲν, ὅτι πηγὴ τῆς περὶ γῆν ἁπάσης νοτίδος ἐστὶ τὸ τῆς θαλάσσης ὕδωρ· τοῦτο μὲν ἐν τοῖς ἀφανέσι πόροις διαδιδόμενον, ὡς δηλοῦσιν αἱ σομφώδεις τῶν ἠπείρων καὶ ὕπαντροι, ὑφ' ἃς ἡ ῥοώδης διαυλωνίζουσα θάλασσα, ἐπειδὰν σκολιαῖς καὶ οὐ πρὸς τὸ ὄρθιον φερομέναις ἐναποληφθῇ διεξόδοις, ὑπὸ τοῦ κινοῦν τος αὐτὴν πνεύματος ὠθουμένη, φέρεται ἔξω τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν διαρρήξασα, καὶ γίνεται πότιμος ἐκ τῆς διηθήσεως τὸ πικρὸν ἰαθεῖσα. Ἤδη δὲ καὶ θερμοτέρας ἐκ μετάλλων ποιότητος κατὰ τὴν διέξοδον προσλαβοῦσα, ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς τοῦ κινοῦντος αἰτίας ζέουσα γίνεται, ὡς τὰ πολλὰ, καὶ πυρώδης· ὅπερ πολλαχοῦ μὲν τῶν νήσων, πολλαχοῦ δὲ τῶν παραλίων τόπων ἔξεστιν ἱστορῆσαι. Ὅπου γε καὶ κατὰ τὴν μεσόγειαν, τόποι τινὲς τῶν ποταμίων ὑδάτων γείτονες, ὡς μικρὰ μεγάλοις εἰκάσαι, τὰ παραπλήσια πάσχουσι. Πρὸς οὖν τί τοῦτο εἴρηταί μοι; Ὅτι πᾶσα ὑπόνομός ἐστιν ἡ γῆ, διὰ πόρων ἀφανῶν ἐκ τῶν ἀρχῶν τῆς θαλάσσης ὑπονοστοῦντος τοῦ ὕδατος. 4.7 Καλὴ τοίνυν ἡ θάλασσα τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐν τῷ βάθει τῆς ἰκμάδος ὑποδρομήν· καλὴ καὶ διότι ποταμῶν οὖσα δοχεῖον, εἰς ἑαυτὴν τὰ πανταχόθεν καταδέχεται ῥεύματα, καὶ μένει τῶν ὅρων εἴσω τῶν ἑαυτῆς· καλὴ καὶ διότι τοῖς ἀερίοις ὕδασιν ἀρχὴ τίς ἐστι καὶ πηγὴ, θαλπομένη μὲν τῇ ἀκτῖνι τοῦ ἡλίου, ἀποτιθεμένη δὲ τὸ λεπτὸν τοῦ ὕδατος διὰ τῶν ἀτμῶν, ὅπερ ἑλκυσθὲν εἰς τὸν ἄνω τόπον, εἶτα κατα ψυχθὲν διὰ τὸ ὑψηλότερον γενέσθαι τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐδάφους ἀνακλάσεως τῶν ἀκτίνων, καὶ ὁμοῦ τῆς ἐκ τοῦ νέφους σκιᾶς τὴν ψύξιν ἐπιτεινούσης, ὑετὸς γίνεται, καὶ πιαίνει τὴν γῆν. Καὶ τούτοις οὐδεὶς ἀπιστεῖ πάντως τοὺς ὑποκαιομένους λέβητας ἐννοήσας, οἳ πλήρεις ὄντες ὑγροῦ, πολλάκις κενοὶ κατελείφθησαν, εἰς ἀτμὸν παντὸς τοῦ ἑψομένου διακρι θέντος. Ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτό ἐστιν ἰδεῖν τὸ τῆς θαλάσσης ὕδωρ παρὰ τῶν ναυτιλλομένων ἑψόμενον· οἳ τοὺς ἀτμοὺς σπόγ γοις ὑποδεχόμενοι, τὴν χρείαν μετρίως ἐν ταῖς ἀνάγκαις παραμυθοῦνται. Καλὴ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως παρὰ Θεῷ, ὅτι περι σφίγγει τὰς νήσους, ὁμοῦ μὲν κόσμον αὐταῖς, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ ἀσφάλειαν παρεχομένη δι' ἑαυτῆς· ἔπειτα καὶ ὅτι τὰς πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων διεστώσας ἠπείρους συνάπτει δι' ἑαυτῆς, ἀκώλυτον τοῖς ναυτιλλομένοις τὴν ἐπιμιξίαν παρεχομένη· δι' ὧν καὶ ἱστορίας τῶν ἀγνοουμένων χαρίζεται, καὶ πλούτου πρόξενος ἐμπόροις γίνεται, καὶ τὰς τοῦ βίου χρείας ἐπανορ θοῦται ῥᾳδίως, ἐξαγωγὴν μὲν τῶν περιττῶν τοῖς εὐθηνου μένοις παρεχομένη, ἐπανόρθωσιν δὲ τοῦ λείποντος χαριζο μένη τοῖς ἐνδεέσι. Καὶ πόθεν