Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (71).

On the work of the second day, on which the firmament was made. God said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And he divided the waters that were below the firmament from those that were above the firmament.

Chapter 2 (72).

That here the heaven is said to be created. — Bede. We should know that the creation of that «heaven» is described here, as Bede says in On Genesis: the heaven in which the stars are fixed. Beneath it are waters in the air and on earth, and above it are other waters, of which it is said: Who made its upper regions of waters. Thus the firmament is in the midst, that is, the starry heaven.

Chapter 3 (73).

From what material that heaven was made. «It may be believed to have been made from water. For the crystal stone, which has great firmness and transparency, was made from water».

1 Ps. 32, 6. 2 Augustine, Enarr. II in Ps. 32, serm. 2, no. 5 (PL 36, 288; CCL 38, 259). 3 Cf. Lib. I, dist. 12, ch. 2, no. 5 (p. 121); then Dist. 20 (pp. 172ff.). 4 Cf. John 5:22. 5 Hom. 2, no. 2 (PG 63, 21).

Apparatus (p. 394): 8–9 Rubrica om. NVW. 14 dicit] dicet LMNW, quod corr. L. 21 Sancto om. LMN.

No. 3 (see below, no. 5). — No. 5: John Chrysostom, Master’s Gloss on Heb. 1:3 (PL 192, 406 C).

1 Gen. 1, 6–7. 2 In Gen., I, 6–8 (PL 91, 18 B–19 A; CCL 118A, 10s); cuius verba prosequuntur usque ad cap. 4, n. 1. 3 Ps. 103, 3. 4 Resp. Eccli. 43, 22: Et gelavit crystallus ab aqua. Cf. Basilius, In Hexaemeron, hom. 3, n. 4 (PG 29, 62 B).

Apparatus (p. 395): 5 Rubrica om. RVW. 15 Rubricae om. NRVW. 16 hic om. LMNRX (Glossa). 19 id est] scilicet LMNTW. 21 Rubrica om. NRVW.

Chapters 2–3 and chapter 4, no. 1: Glossa ordin. on Gen. 1:6; see also Summa sent., III.1.

Chapter 4 (74).

1. How the waters can be above the heaven, and what those waters are like. “If anyone is troubled as to how waters, fluid by nature and prone to flow downward, can remain above the heaven, let him remember what is written of God: He binds the waters in his clouds. For he who binds the waters beneath the heaven, held for a time by the vapors of clouds, can also suspend waters above the sphere of heaven—not by vaporous thinness, but by icy solidity—so that they do not flow down. What they are like and for what purpose they were made, he himself knows who made them.”

— Behold, these words have shown that the heaven was made—namely, that in which the stars are fixed, that is, the heaven beyond the air—and from what material, namely waters; and what the waters above that heaven are like, namely, solidified as ice.

2. Some think that heaven is of a fiery nature, and Augustine agrees with them. Some say that the heaven beyond the reaches of the air is of a fiery nature, asserting that “above the pure air there is fire, which is called heaven; and they conjecture that the stars and luminaries were made from that fire.” Augustine seems to agree with them. — Whether by the name “firmament” “the heaven beyond the air, or the air itself, is meant here,” Augustine likewise asks, but does not resolve the question; nevertheless he seems rather to approve taking it here as that heaven which exceeds the reaches of the air.

3. What the waters above heaven are like and how they came there, according to Augustine. These waters “rise vaporously from earthly waters, from which springs and rivers originate, and which the sun vaporously draws up by the earth’s exhalation, suspending them above in fine particles, then pouring them back as rain after they have gathered into a denser mass. If, then, as we see, water can become so finely divided that it is borne vaporously above the air, which is naturally lighter than water, why should we not believe that above that lighter heaven it likewise streams in finer drops and lighter vapors? But however they are there, we do not doubt that they are there.”

Chapter 5 (75).

1. What shape the firmament has. — Augustine, On Genesis. “It is also often asked what shape the heaven has. But although our authors knew, the Holy Spirit did not wish to say through them anything except what is useful for salvation.”

2. Whether heaven stands still or moves, and why it is called a firmament. “It is also asked whether heaven stands still or moves. If it moves, they say, how is it a firmament? If it stands still, how do the fixed stars revolve in it? But it can be called a firmament not because it stands still, but because of its firmness or as an impassable boundary for the waters. If it stands still, nothing prevents the stars from moving and revolving.”

Chapter 6 (76).

Why Scripture was silent about the work of the second day, which it mentioned for the others. After this it is commonly asked why here, as in the works of the other days, it was not said: God saw that it was good. Some mystery is commended here: perhaps it was not said here, although it was done as on the other days, because the number two is the beginning of otherness and a sign of division.

Chapter 7 (77).

On the work of the third day, when the waters were gathered into one place. Next comes: God said: Let the waters be gathered into one place, and let dry land appear.

1 Job 26:8. 2 August., De Genesi ad litt., II, c. 5, n. 9 (PL 34, 267; CSEL 28-I, 39). 3 August., De Genesi ad litt., II, cc. 3–4 (PL 34, 265s; CSEL 28-I, 36ss). 4 Ibid., c. 1, n. 1 (PL 34, 263; CSEL 28-I, 32). 5 Ibid., cc. 4–5, nn. 7–9 (PL 34, 266; CSEL 28-I, 38s).

1 Lib. II, c. 9, n. 20 (PL 34, 270; CSEL 28-I, 45s). 2 August., ibid., c. 10, n. 23 (PL 34, 271s; CSEL 28-I, 47s). 3 Gen. 1, 4; 1, 10; 1, 12; etc. 4 Secundum versionem Genesis quam sequitur Augustinus, etiam hic dictum est: Et vidit Deus quia bonum est; cf. De Genesi ad litt., II, c. 1, n. 1 (PL 34, 263; CSEL 28-I, 32). 5 Hieron., Adv. Jovinianum, I, n. 16 (PL 23 [1845], 236 A); cf. Beda, In Gen. 1, 7 (PL 91, 19 C; CCL 118A, 12). 6 Gen. 1, 9.

Apparatus: 2–3 sint illae aquae] ille sint OP. 10 fixa sunt trp. OPW. 12 glacies] est add. OP. solidatae] soliditate P, sunt add. BCW. 26 feratur] referatur BCOPRW, quod corr. R. 28 levioribus] levibus BCOPR, quod corr. R.

Apparatus (p. 397): 8–9 circumeunt] circueunt BCMRTW. 21 locum unum trp. NVWX.

Chapter 4, no. 2, is based on the Glossa ordin. on Gen. 1, 6 and 7; no. 3 is taken from the same Gloss. — Chapter 5: Everything is from the Glossa ordin. on Gen. 1:7 (in Lyra I, 25b; v 5a, 5b). — Chapter 6 is based for the most part on Hugh’s words, De sacram., I, 1, 20 (PL 176, 201 B); but “principium alteritatis” is drawn from Jerome’s authority in the Glossa ordin. on Gen. 1:8 (in Lyra I, 25a–b; v 4b–c). — Chapters 7–8, with few exceptions, are taken verbatim from the Glossa ordin. on Gen. 1:9 (in Lyra I, 25c; v 5b). The word “matricem” (ch. 7) is found in Hugh’s Notulae in Gen. (PL 175, 35 B); the Master, however, seems not to have known this little work. dry land. The work of the third day is the gathering of the waters into one place. — Bede: “For all the waters below heaven were gathered into one basin, ‘so that the light, which during the preceding two days had shone brightly over the waters, might shine more brightly in the clear air, and the earth, which had lain hidden beneath its covering, might appear; and what had been muddy with waters might become dry and fit for plants.’” For on that same day the earth brought forth green grass and trees bearing fruit.

Chapter 8 (78).

1. Where the waters were gathered. — Bede: “If it is asked where the waters were gathered, since they had covered the whole space up to heaven, it could have happened that the sinking earth provided hollow places to receive the flowing waters. It may also be believed that the primordial waters were more rarefied, covering the lands like a mist, but were thickened by their gathering,” and so could easily be brought together into one place.

2. How all the waters were gathered into one place, when there are many seas and rivers. “Although there are plainly many seas and rivers, Scripture nevertheless says that the waters were gathered into one place because all the waters on earth are connected: all rivers and seas join the great sea. Therefore, after saying that the waters were gathered into one place, it then speaks in the plural of ‘the gatherings of the waters,’ because of their many inlets, all of which have their source in the great sea.”

Chapter 9 (79).

1. On the work of the fourth day, when the luminaries were made. Next comes: God said: Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, and let them divide day and night.

2. The four elements were arranged and distinguished in the preceding three days, and the world was adorned in the following three. During the preceding three days the structure of this whole universe was arranged and distributed into its parts. For after light was formed on the first day to illuminate all things, the next two days were assigned to the upper and lower parts of the world, namely the firmament, air, earth, and water. On the second day the firmament was spread above; on the third, when the mass of waters had been gathered into its reservoirs, the earth was uncovered and the air cleared. Thus the four elements of the world were distinguished and ordered in their proper places on those days. In the following three days those four elements were adorned. On the fourth day the firmament was adorned with the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth, the air received its adornment in flying creatures, and the waters in fish. On the sixth the earth received cattle, creeping things, and beasts. After all these, the human being was made from the earth and on the earth—not, however, for the earth or on account of the earth, but for heaven and on account of heaven.

3. The adornment of heaven is treated before the others, as it was made first. Since heaven surpasses the other elements in beauty and was made before them, it is therefore adorned before the others on the fourth day, when the stars are made.

Chapter 10 (80).

For what benefit the luminaries were made. — Augustine, On Genesis: They were made so that through them “the lower region might be illuminated, lest it be dark for its inhabitants. Provision was also made for human weakness, so that as the sun travels around, people might enjoy the alternation of day and night, needed for sleeping and waking. They were made also so that night would not remain cheerless, but people for whom the need to work fell at night might be comforted by the moon and stars; and because some animals cannot endure the light.”

Apparatus (p. 398): 3 lustraverat] illustraverat TX. 4 cooperta] occulta V, om. LMNRX, sed add. operta mg. N, interl. R. 17–18 flumina et maria trp. BCWX. 18 dixerit] dixit TW, dixerat V. 19 congregationesque] congregationes LMNTW. 23 quarti] quarte CVW. 25–26 Rubrica om. NVW.

Apparatus (p. 399): 4 scilicet et add. LMTVW. 8 ornata] ordinata BCX, quod corr. B. 20–21 circumeunte] circueunte BCLMW. 21 homines om. MNTX (Glossa).

1 On Genesis 1:9 (PL 91, 20 A–B; CCL 118A, 12–13). 2 Gen. 1:12. 3 On Genesis, ibid. (PL 91, 20 B–C and 20 D–21 A; CCL 118A, 13–14), whence no. 2 as well; more remotely from Augustine, On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis, I, ch. 12, no. 26 (PL 34, 255–56; CSEL 28-I, 18–19). 4 Cf. Gen. 1:10. 5 Gen. 1:14.

1 On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, II, ch. 13, no. 27 (PL 34, 274; CSEL 28-I, 52s).

Chapter 9. Dist. XV; see the note below at the beginning of that Distinction. — No. 2: Hugh, De sacram., I, 1, 24–25 (PL 176, 202 D–203 A); «duo... parti mundi»; Glossa ordinaria on Gen. 1:14 (in Lyra, I, 26a; v 7b); Augustine, On the Literal Meaning of Genesis, II, ch. 13, no. 27 (PL 34, 274; CSEL 28-I, 52s). — No. 3: Glossa ordinaria.

Chapter 10. From the same Glossa ordin. on Gen. 1, 14 (ibid.).

Chapter 11 (81).

How the phrase “Let them be for signs and seasons” is to be understood. — Augustine in the same work: It is commonly asked how the following words are to be understood: and let them be for signs and seasons and days and years. For it seems to be said as though seasons began on the fourth day, although the preceding three days were not without time. Therefore, by the seasons produced through the stars we should understand not spans of duration but changes in the quality of the air, since such changes result from the movements of the stars, as do the days and years familiar to us. They serve as signs of calm and storm, and as seasons because by them we distinguish the four seasons of the year, namely spring, summer, autumn, and winter. — Bede: Or they serve as signs and seasons, that is, in distinguishing the hours of time, “because before they were made, the order of the seasons was marked by no indicators, whether the midday hour or any other hour.” These things were made on the fourth day.