Genesis 1:9-10

1:9 God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place ¹  and let dry ground appear.” ²  It was so. 1:10 God called the dry ground “land” ³  and the gathered waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.

[1:9]  ¹ sn Let the water…be gathered to one place. In the beginning the water covered the whole earth; now the water was to be restricted to an area to form the ocean. The picture is one of the dry land as an island with the sea surrounding it. Again the sovereignty of God is revealed. Whereas the pagans saw the sea as a force to be reckoned with, God controls the boundaries of the sea. And in the judgment at the flood he will blur the boundaries so that chaos returns.

[1:9]  ² tn When the waters are collected to one place, dry land emerges above the surface of the receding water.

[1:10]  ³ tn Heb “earth,” but here the term refers to the dry ground as opposed to the sea.