Hexaemeron

Basil's series of homilies on the six days of creation in Genesis, a foundational patristic commentary on the opening chapter of Scripture.

Preliminaries

• TO THE MOST REVEREND AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LORD HENRY FRANCIS VAN DER BURCH, ARCHBISHOP AND DUKE OF CAMBRAI, PRINCE OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, COUNT OF CAMBRAI. — Cited as showing how thoroughly Basil studied Moses; Ambrose translated this work for Latin readers

  "How thoroughly Saint Basil wore out his Moses is shown by the Hexaemeron alone — those works which he so laboriously composed as a commentary on the Genesis of Moses that Saint Ambrose translated them"

Preface and Praise of Sacred Scripture

• Chapter II: On the Object and Breadth of Sacred Scripture — Basil cited: Scripture compared to a fully stocked workshop supplying medicines for every disease

  "St. Basil rightly compares it to a most fully stocked workshop, which supplies medicines of every kind for every disease"

• Chapter V: On the Dispositions Required for This Study — Basil cited from prologue to Isaiah: constant exercise in Scripture needed

  "What is required," he says, "is constant exercise in Scripture, so that the majesty and mystery of the divine words may be imprinted on the mind by perpetual meditation."

• Moses and Christ: Nineteen Parallels — Homily 1 on the Hexaemeron quoted: praise of Moses' life from infancy to contemplation

  "Moses even while hanging at his mother's breast was beloved and pleasing to God... in Ethiopia (in Midian) he devoted forty years to contemplation"

• The Fathers' Defense of the Old Testament — Basil wrote Hexaemeron books on Genesis

  "Basil and his follower or interpreter St. Ambrose wrote Hexaemeron books on Genesis"

Commentary on the Pentateuch of Moses

• Canons Bearing a Torch Before the Pentateuch — Cited (Homilies 3 and 9) for arguing against Origen's allegorical interpretation of Genesis

  "See St. Basil arguing against Origen here, Homilies 3 and 9 on the Hexaemeron"

Chapter I (The Six Days of Creation)

• In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Cited (Homily 1) on "in the beginning" meaning in the first origin of time

  "Ambrose and Basil, homily 1 on the Hexameron: "In the beginning," they say, that is, in the first origin or start"

• In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Cited (Homily 1) on "in the beginning" meaning in a moment

  "St. Ambrose and St. Basil, homily 1 on the Hexameron: "In the beginning," they say, that is, in a moment"

• In the Beginning: Nine Interpretations — Cited (Homily 1) on "in the beginning" as foundations

  "say St. Basil and Procopius"

• He Created — Cited on God's power to create and annihilate

  "from which Saint Basil infers: because God made this world by His power, art, and freedom, by the same He can create many more"

• Heaven and Earth: Four Interpretations — Cited (Homily 1) on heaven and earth as foundations of the universe

  "Saint Basil, homily 1 on the Hexaemeron, says that "heaven and earth were first laid and constructed as certain foundations and supporting bases of the universe.""

• Verse 3: And God said: Let there be light — Cited (Homily 2) on light bringing beauty to the world like oil poured on water

  "St. Basil gives a beautiful comparison in Homily 2 on the Hexaemeron"

• Verse 3: And God said: Let there be light — Cited on the quality of light created without a subject

  "St. Basil, Theodoret, and Nazianzen think that only the quality of light was here created without a subject"

• Verse 3: And God said: Let there be light — Cited (Homily on Penance) on Christ bestowing His prerogatives on others

  "On this St. Basil speaks beautifully in his Homily on Penance"

• Verse 9: Let the waters be gathered together — Cited on the Red Sea being restrained by God's command

  "St. Basil asks: "What would prevent the Red Sea from bursting with its overflowing flood into all of Egypt,"

• Verse 11: Let the earth bring forth — Cited on God's providence in germination

  "Moreover St. Basil marvels, and rightly so, at God's providence in germination"

• Verse 14: Let There Be Lights in the Firmament — Cited (Homily 6) on the moon as sign of weather

  "says St. Basil, homily 6 on the Hexaemeron"

• Verse 16: And God Made Two Great Lights — Cited (Homily 6) on the moon as symbol of inconstancy

  "Symbolically, St. Basil, homily 6 on the Hexaemeron: The moon, he says, which perpetually waxes or wanes, is a symbol of inconstancy"

• Verse 16: And God Made Two Great Lights — Cited (Homily 6) on the sun and moon compared to a gnat and an ant before the Creator

  ""For the sun and moon compared to the Creator bear the same proportion as a gnat and an ant," says St. Basil, homily 6 on the Hexaemeron."

• Verse 20: Let the Waters Bring Forth — Cited (Homily 7) on fish being unteachable due to moisture

  "because of an excess of moisture, fish are unteachable and stupid, and cannot be tamed or domesticated by man, says St. Basil, Homily 7 on the Hexaemeron."

• Verse 20: Let the Waters Bring Forth — Cited (Homily 7) on marvels of the sea: salt, coral, pearls, purple, remora

  "Then St. Basil marvels at how seawater is forced into salt"

• Verse 20: Let the Waters Bring Forth — Cited on drawing moral lessons from fish and creatures

  "from all these things St. Basil teaches, first, to admire God's power, wisdom, and munificence in this theater of the sea"

• Verse 21: And God Created the Great Sea Creatures — Cited on great sea creatures appearing like islands

  "when they raise their backs above the water, they present the appearance of a huge island, say St. Basil and Theodoret."

• Verse 22: And He Blessed Them, Saying: Increase and Multiply — Cited (Homily 8) on the industry of bees and sentry watches of cranes

  "St. Basil, Homily 8 on the Hexaemeron, and following him St. Ambrose, Book V of the Hexaemeron, describes and marvels at"

• Verse 22: And He Blessed Them, Saying: Increase and Multiply — Cited on silkworms as a type of the resurrection

  "So says Basil."

• Verse 24: Let the Earth Bring Forth the Living Creature — Cited (Homily 9) on the species of animals

  "St. Basil enumerates and contemplates these species, Homily 9 on the Hexaemeron"

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited (Homily 10) on distinguishing image and likeness

  "So St. Basil, Homily 10 on the Hexameron: "Through the image impressed on my soul, I obtained the use of reason; but having become a Christian, I am made truly like God.""

• Verse 26: Let Us Make Man in Our Image and Likeness — Cited (Homily 10) on man as an animal born to command

  "Hear St. Basil in Homily 10 on the Hexameron: "You are, therefore, O man, an animal born to command. "

• Verse 31: And God Saw All Things That He Had Made, and They Were Very Good — Cited (Homily 4) on the world as a book testifying to God's glory

  "St. Basil, Homily 4 on the Hexaemeron: "This entire mass of the world," he says, "is like a book written with letters,"

Related

• St. Ambrose of Milan
• Creation