Genesis 1:9 (ASV)

Passage

And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Nearby Context

Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Genesis 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

Genesis 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, [and] fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "waters", "under", "heavens", "gathered", "together", "place", and "land". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "waters", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And God called the firmament Heaven And..." into verse 10's "And God called the dry land Earth...", so "said" and "waters" belong inside that flow. In Genesis context, the local focus is creation, human rebellion, covenant promise, and God's providence.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "waters" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.