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← Liber Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works)/Book 2 · Liber Divinorum Operum — Pars 2
Chapter 30LDO.2.30

VISIO QUINTA, cap. XXX

Gathering the Waters

God gathers the waters under the firmament so the dry land may appear and be illuminated by the stars, naming the earth as the mother of all and the seas as the source of flowing waters.

"God also said: Let the waters that are under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And so it was."✦ "This should be understood as follows: through the Word that is unquenchable, the waters that remained under the firmament flowed together into one place, so that the earth might appear, lest it waste away covered by them; and this happened before the firmament was illuminated, so that the earth, lit up by the stars in the expanses of the waters, might shine, once the waters on the earth were separated from the other waters."✦1 And God called the dry land earth, which is the mother of all things that sprout on the earth, because the first human was also made from it; and he called the gatherings of the waters seas, from which waters flow, as if they are born from them.✦✦

The Earth's Joyful Obedience

At God's command, the earth joyfully brings forth green grass, seed-bearing plants, and fruit-bearing trees, each containing its own seed for continual rebirth.

"And God saw that it was good, and he said: Let the earth bring forth green grass and seed-bearing plants, and fruit-bearing trees producing fruit according to their kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth."✦ And so it was.✦ "God saw that everything he had made was rightly and well suited to its purpose, and through his living Word he commanded that the mother earth should grow green to sprout flourishing grass, also producing seed, so that it might multiply through its own seed and be reborn from it, since every sprout has seed within itself, so that it does not fail in its own nature."✦ He also commanded that the fruit-bearing tree should sprout, producing fruit for food, having its seed within itself in its own nature, by which it may sprout again when it has fallen upon the earth.✦ And so it was fulfilled, just as when a servant carries out his lord's commands with a cheerful heart, when the master of the house calls him and entrusts his affairs to him, and tells him what to do with each thing; for the earth, too, was moved with joy at the commands of its Lord, fulfilling them in all things.✦

Provision for Humanity

The earth yields its greenery and fruit according to its kind, and God sees that it is good, providing all necessities for the man he is about to create.

"The earth brought forth green grass and seed-bearing plants according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit, each with its own seed in it" — because, just as God had commanded, the mother earth brought forth the greenness of plants, which hold their own seed within them, and the greenness of trees, yielding suitable fruit and springing up again from their own seed, since when the seeds of these fall to the ground, others rise again according to their own pattern of formation.✦ "And God saw that it was good" — so that all these things, which were necessary for the man he was about to make, would go ahead of him, and not fail in the necessity that followed for man.✦

The Stirring of the Word

The third day concludes God's initial works, which rested in his foreknowledge like an unstirred fire until the living Word brought them forth into being.

"And there was evening and morning, the third day" — that is, the end and the beginning by which the third work is completed, because God had accomplished the three works just mentioned with the circle of his knowledge, which had not yet been illuminated with the circuit of the luminaries.✦ For just as fire is still before it is stirred up by a blast of wind, but once the wind stirs it up it blazes — so the work of God was silent in his foreknowledge before it went forth, but once it was stirred up by the power of the living Word, it appeared in its own form. Whence also by my inspiration it is written:

From Silence to Speech

Scriptural prophecies from Isaiah and the Psalms reveal how God's patient silence gives way to speech and begetting through his Word.

The words of God in the book of the prophet Isaiah, saying, "I was silent, I kept silent forever, I was patient; like a woman giving birth I will speak," and in the second Psalm, speaking to the Son, "Today I have begotten you" — and to what end these things are set here, and how they are to be understood.✦✦

Read the original Latin

« Dixit vero Deus: Congregentur aquae quae sub coelo sunt in locum unum, et appareat arida Factumque est ita . » Hoc considerandum sic est: Per verbum quod inexstinguibile est confluxerunt aquae quae sub firmamento remanserant in locum unum, quatenus terra appareret, ne eis cooperta inanisceret, et hoc antequam firmamentum illuminaretur factum est ita, ut illud stellis elucidatum, plateis aquarum quae terra sunt ab aquis segregatis luceret. Et vocavit Deus aridam terram, quae mater omnium germinantium in terra est, quia et primus homo ex ipsa factus est, congregationesque aquarum appellavit maria, ex quibus aquae fluunt, quasi ab eis generentur. « Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum, et ait: Germinet terra herbam virentem et facientem semen, et lignum pomiferum faciens fructum juxta genus suum, cujus semen in semetipso sit super terram. Et factum est ita . » Vidit Deus quia omne quod fecerat recte et bene ad officium suum positum erat, ac per vivens verbum suum praecepit, ut ad germinandum florentem herbam materna terra viresceret, facientem quoque semen, quatenus in semine suo multiplicaretur, per quod iterum renasceretur, quoniam omne germen semen in se habet, ne in natura sua deficiat. Jussit etiam ut germinaret lignum fructiferum faciens fructum ad vescendum, in natura sua semen in semetipso habens quo iterum germinet cum super terram ceciderit. Et sic adimpletum est, quemadmodum cum servus laeto animo praecepta domini sui perficit, cum paterfamilias illum vocans ei negotia sua committit, et quid de unoquoque faciat ipsi indicat, quia et terra cum gaudio ad jussa Domini sui movebatur, illa in omnibus adimplendo.

« Et protulit terra herbam virentem et afferentem semen juxta genus suum, lignumque faciens fructum, et habens unumquodque sementem secundum speciem suam (Ibid), » quoniam ut Deus praecipiebat protulit materna terra viriditatem herbarum semen suum in se habentium, viriditatemque lignorum congruentem fructum proferentium et in semine suo renascentium, quia dum semina istorum in terra cadunt, secundum speciem formationis suae iterum alia resurgunt. « Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum, » ut omnia haec quae homini necessaria erant, quem facturus fuerat, ita praecederent, ne in sequenti necessitate hominis deficerent. « Factumque est vespere et mane dies tertius , » scilicet finis et initium, quibus completur tertium opus, quoniam Deus praefata tria opera cum circulo scientiae suae profecerat, quae nondum cum circuitu luminarium illustrata fuerant. Nam sicut ignis silet antequam flatu venti excitetur, sed flatu venti excitatus flagrat, ita opus Dei in praescientia ipsius siluit antequam prodiret, sed virtute viventis verbi excitatum in forma sua apparuit. Unde etiam inspiratione mea scriptum est:

Verba Dei in libro Isaiae prophetae dicentis, « Tacui, semper silui, patiens fui, sicut pariens loquar, » et in psalmo secundo loquentis ad Filium, « Ego hodie genui te, » et ad quid hic posita sint, et quomodo intelligantur.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gen.1.9 — And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
  2. ↩Gen.1.9 — And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
  3. ↩Gen.1.10 — And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
  4. ↩Gen.2.7 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
  5. ↩Gen.1.11-Gen.1.12 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so. Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  6. ↩Gen.1.11 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so.
  7. ↩Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  8. ↩Gen.1.11-Gen.1.12 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so. Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  9. ↩Gen.1.11 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so.
  10. ↩Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  11. ↩Gen.1.10 — And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
  12. ↩Gen.1.13 — And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
  13. ↩Isa.42.14 — I have kept silent for a long time; I have held back and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant all at once.
  14. ↩Ps.2.7 — I will tell of the decree. The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The Latin 'plateis aquarum quae terra sunt ab aquis segregatis' is syntactically dense and possibly corrupt. Rendered as the stars shining in the expanses of the waters above the earth, which are separated from the waters below.

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