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| Concerning the waters.
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Chapter IX.—Concerning the
waters.
Water also is one of the four elements, the most
beautiful of God’s creations. It is both wet and cold,
heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows with great
readiness. It is this the Holy Scripture has in view when it
says, And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters1743
. For the deep is nothing else
than a huge quantity of water whose limit man cannot comprehend.
In the beginning, indeed, the water lay all over the surface of the
earth. And first God created the firmament to divide the water
above the firmament from the water below the firmament. For in
the midst of the sea of waters the firmament was established at the
Master’s decree. And out of it God bade the firmament
arise, and it arose. Now for what reason was it that God placed
water above the firmament? It was because of the intense burning
heat of the sun and ether1744
| 1744 See
Basil, Hexaëm., Hom. 3. | . For
immediately under the firmament is spread out the ether1745
| 1745 Text, ὑφήπλωται.
Variant, ἐφήπλωται. | , and the sun and moon and stars are in
the firmament, and so if water had not been put above it the firmament
would have been consumed by the heat1746
| 1746 Basil, Hom.
2 in Hexaëm.; Sever. Gabal., Orat. de opific.
mundi. | .
Next, God bade the waters be gathered together
into one mass1747
. But
when the Scripture
speaks of one mass it evidently does not mean that they were gathered
together into one place: for immediately it goes on to say,
And the gatherings of the waters He called seas1748
: but the words signify that the
waters were separated off in a body from the earth into distinct
groups. Thus the waters were gathered together into their special
collections and the dry land was brought to view. And hence arose
the two seas that surround Egypt, for it lies between two seas.
These collections contain1749
| 1749 Text, συνήχθησαν.
R. 2927 has διέστησαν:
Edit. Veron. Reg. 3362 has ὅθεν
συνέστησαν:
Colb. 1 has ὀθεν
συνέστη. | various seas
and mountains, and islands, and promontories, and harbours, and
surround various bays and beaches, and coastlands. For the word
beach is used when the nature of the tract is sandy, while coastland
signifies that it is rocky and deep close into shore, getting deep all
on a sudden. In like manner arose also the sea that lies where
the sun rises, the name of which is the Indian Sea: also the
northern sea called the Caspian. The lakes also were formed in
the same manner.
The ocean, then, is like a river encircling the
whole earth, and I think it is concerning it that the divine Scripture
says, A river went out of Paradise1750
. The water of the ocean is sweet and
potable1751
| 1751 For ποταμὸς δὲ
ὁ γλυκὺ ὕδωρ
ἔχων ἐστί, reading
πότιμον
καὶ γλυκὺ
ὕδωρ ἔχων. | . It is it
that furnishes the seas with water which, because it stays a long time
in the seas and stands unmoved, becomes bitter: for the sun and
the waterspouts draw up always the finer parts. Thus it is that
clouds are formed and showers take place, because the filtration makes
the water sweet.
This is parted into four first divisions, that is
to say, into four rivers. The name of the first is Pheison, which
is the Indian Ganges; the name of the second is Geon, which is the Nile
flowing from Ethiopia down to Egypt: the name of the third is
Tigris, and the name of the fourth is Euphrates. There are also
very many other mighty rivers of which some empty themselves into the
sea and others are used up in the earth. Thus the whole earth is
bored through and mined, and has, so to speak, certain veins through
which it sends up in springs the water it has received from the
sea. The water of the spring thus depends for its character on
the quality of the earth. For the sea water is filtered and
strained through the earth and thus becomes sweet. But if the
place from which the spring arises is bitter or briny, so also is the
water that is sent up1752
| 1752 Basil, Hom.
4 in Hexaëm. | . Moreover,
it often happens that water which has been closely pent up bursts
through with violence, and thus it becomes warm. And this is why
they send forth waters that are naturally warm.
By the divine decree hollow places are made in the
earth, and so into these the waters are gathered. And this is how
mountains are formed. God, then, bade the first water produce
living breath, since it was to be by water and the Holy Spirit that
moved upon the waters in the beginning1753
, that man was to be renewed. For
this is what the divine Basilius said: Therefore it produced
living creatures, small and big; whales and dragons, fish that swim in
the waters, and feathered fowl. The birds form a link between
water and earth and air: for they have their origin in the water,
they live on the earth and they fly in the air. Water, then, is
the most beautiful element and rich in usefulness, and purifies from
all filth, and not only from the filth of the body but from that of the
soul, if it should have received the grace of the Spirit1754
| 1754 Sever. Gabal.,
Orat. 4, De opific. mundi: Basil, Hom.
8. | .
Concerning the seas1755
| 1755 This chapter
is wanting in certain copies, Reg. 7, Colb. 1, R.
2930. In Cod. Hil. it is given after the chapter On
Creation. | .
The Ægean Sea is received by the Hellespont, which
ends at Abydos and Sestus: next, the Propontis, which ends at
Chalcedon and Byzantium: here are the straits where the Pontus
arises. Next, the lake of Mæotis. Again, from the
beginning of Europe and Libya it is the Iberian Sea, which extends from
the pillars of Hercules to the Pyrenees mountain. Then the
Ligurian Sea as far as the borders of Etruria. Next, the
Sardinian Sea, which is above Sardinia and inclines downwards to
Libya. Then the Etrurian Sea, which begins at the extreme limits
of Liguria and ends at Sicily. Then the Libyan Sea. Then
the Cretan, and Sicilian, and Ionian, and Adriatic Seas, the last of
which is poured out of the Sicilian Sea, which is called the Corinthian
Gulf, or the Alcyonian Sea. The Saronic Sea is surrounded by the
Sunian and Scyllæan Seas. Next is the Myrtoan Sea and the
Icarian Sea, in which are also the Cyclades. Then the Carpathian,
and Pamphylian, and Egyptian Seas: and, thereafter, above the
Icarian Sea, the Ægean Sea pours itself out. There is also
the coast of Europe from the mouth of the Tanais River to the Pillars
of Hercules, 609,709 stadia: and that of Libya from the Tigris,
as far as the mouth of the Canobus, 209,252 stadia: and lastly, that of Asia
from the Canobus to the Tanais, which, including the Gulf, is 4,111
stadia. And so the full extent of the seaboard of the world that
we inhabit with the gulfs is 1,309,072 stadia1756
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