וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיּ֖וֹם וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמ֣וֹעֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃
At sinabi ng Diyos: “Magkaroon ng mga tanglaw sa kalawakan ng langit upang paghiwalayin ang araw at ang gabi; at maging mga tanda sila at mga takdang panahon, at mga araw at mga taon.”
On the Account of the World's Creation
It is added, moreover, “and for appointed times” (Gen. 1:14). By “appointed times” Moses understood the four seasons of the year, and surely with good reason. For what idea does “appointed time” convey but “time of achievement”? Now the four seasons of the year bring about achievement by bringing all things to perfection, all sowing and planting of crops, and the birth and growth of animals.
Concerning Noah's Work as a Planter
[117] “And in the fourth year,” it says, “all its fruit shall be holy, for giving praise unto the lord” (Lev. 19:24). In many parts of the Lawgiving, but above all in the record of the creation of the universe, we see the prophetic word glorifying the number 4. For (Gen. 1:14) it ascribes to the fourth day the making of those things on which depends the soul’s chiefest good;