Commentary of Charles Spurgeon, Adam Clarke & Matthew Henry
And God said,
Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
and God saw that it was good.
And God said,
Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day.
Vs.9-13
The third day's work is related in these verses—the forming
of the sea and the dry land, and the making of the earth fruitful. Hitherto the
power of the Creator had been exerted and employed about the upper part of the
visible word...
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas - These
two constitute what is called the terraqueous globe, in which the earth
and the water exist in a most judicious proportion to each other.
Thus, instead of the confusion which there was (v. 2) when earth and water were
mixed in one great mass, behold, now, there is order, by such a separation as
rendered them both useful.
Let the earth bring forth grass - herb - fruit-tree - The earth
still remains under the efficacy of this command, to bring forth grass, and
herbs, and its annual products; and though, being according to the common course
of nature, these are not standing miracles, yet they are standing instances of
the unwearied power and unexhausted goodness of the world's great Maker.
Having attended to the air, God further exercised his power by setting
the earth in order. Observe the remarkable fact that, no sooner had God
made the dry land appear, than it seemed as if he could not bear the
sight of it in its nakedness. .... As
soon as ever the earth appeared, then came the herb, and the tree, and
the grass.
---So, dear brethren, in like manner, let us bring forth fruit
unto God, and bring it forth abundantly, for herein is our heavenly
Father glorified, that we bear much fruit.