Isidore of Seville

PL 83, col. 209C

Datec. 620PlaceSevilleTraditionlatinVerseGenesis 1:2

English

'And the Spirit of God was borne over the waters.' The Spirit of God was already being borne over our dark and fluid heart, as over waters: that standing in him we might find rest, be quickened by his breath, and be washed in his wave.

Fresh draft (Claude), approved by Wilson Pruitt · cc-by

Latin

Et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas. Spiritus autem Dei super cor nostrum tenebrosum et fluidum, quasi super aquas, jam 262 superferebatur; in quo subsistentes requiesceremus, cujusque vivificaremur flatu, et cujus unda ablueremur.

PL 83, col. 209C · pd

Notes

Isidore does not answer the physical question at all; the waters are the heart. The allegorical reading the Glossa will carry in its margin.

Over the heart

Threads

← cites · Glossa ordinaria (school of Laon)
'In quo subsistentes requiesceremus flatu ejus vivificati, et unda baptismi abluti' is Isidore's 'in quo subsistentes requiesceremus, cujusque vivificaremur flatu, et cujus unda ablueremur' (PL 83:209C); a second gloss is labelled 'ISID. in Gen.?' by Migne.