V: Day 3 sea, dry land, herbs, and trees
V. The work of the third day is the distribution of the waters into seas, the appearance of dry land, and the production of herbs and trees.
When the sea has been formed, dry land appears, which is called earth. Augustine thinks this happens formally on the third day and only materially on the first; other fathers think the name — or rather the nature — is then revealed, as Basil teaches against those who assign things an unknown nature in the Peripatetic school beyond what always lies open. Finally the uncovered earth, immediately fertilized by heat and moisture, brings forth herbs and trees by God's command before the creation of the sun, so that it germinated, Ambrose testifies, not from the sun but from God's precept; the sun afterward executes God's commands — and so do the other elements. He omitted stones and minerals because they are nearest to earth. On this third day the adornment of the elements begins after their distinction. Summarily, then, there are four works of the third day: (1) Sea, (2) Dry land, (3) Herb, (4) Trees — of which more fully in geographic and botanical writings.
Latin
V. Opus tertii diei est distributio aquarum in maria et apparitio aridae, herbarumque et arborum productio. Mari igitur efformato apparet arida, quae vocatur terra. Et hic quidem Augustino videtur fieri formaliter, in primo die solum materialiter; aliis vero patribus tunc revelari nomenque ex proprietate caecitatis vel potius naturam, ut Basilius docet contra eos qui aliam naturam ignotam rebus dant in Peripato quam quae semper patet. Ad extremum terra detecta statim foecundata calore et humore parit herbas et arbores jussu Dei ante solis creationem, ut germinaret, teste Ambrosio, non a sole sed a Dei praecepto; solem vero postea exequi jussiones Dei — sic et caetera elementa. Omisit autem lapides et mineralia, quoniam proxima terrae sunt. Et in hoc tertio die incipit ornatus elementorum post distinctionem. Sunt igitur summatim quatuor tertii diei opera: 1. Mare, 2. Arida, 3. Herba, 4. Arbores — de quibus in Geographicis et Botanicis plenius.