And God said, {h} 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.

(h) So that we see it is the only the power of God's word that makes the earth fruitful, which naturally is barren.

Wesley's Notes

1:9-13 The third day's work is related in these verse s; the forming the sea and the dry land, and making the earth fruitful. Hitherto the power of the Creator had been employed about the upper part of the visible world; now he descends to this lower world, designed for the children of men, both for their habitation, and their maintenance. And here we have an account of the fitting of it for both; the building of their house, and the spreading of their table. Observe,
1. How the earth was prepared to be a habitation for man by the gathering of the waters together, and making the dry land appear. Thus, instead of that confusion which was, when earth and water were mixed in one great mass; now there is order, by such a separation as rendered them both useful.
(1.) The waters which covered the earth were ordered to retire, and to gather into one place, viz. those hollows which were fitted for their reception. The waters thus lodged in their proper place, he called Seas; for though they are many, in distant regions, yet either above ground or under ground, they have communication with each other, and so they are one, and the common receptacle of waters, into which all the rivers run.
(2.) The dry land was made to appear, and emerge out of the waters, and was called Earth. Observe,
2. How the earth was furnished for the support of man, Ge 1:11,12. Present provision was made, by the immediate products of the earth, which, in obedience to God's command, was no sooner made but it became fruitful. Provision was likewise made for time to come, by the perpetuating of the several species of vegetables, every one having its seed in itself after its kind, that during the continuance of man upon the earth, food might be fetched out of the earth, for his use and benefit.

King James Translators' Notes

grass: Heb. tender grass

Scofield Reference Notes

[3] bring forth grass

It is by no means necessary to suppose that the life-germ of seeds perished in the catastrophic judgment which overthrew the primitive order. With the restoration of dry land and light the earth would "bring forth" as described. It was "animal" life which perished, the traces of which remain as fossils. Relegate fossils to the primitive creation, and no conflict of science with the Genesis cosmogony remains.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. let the earth bring forth-The bare soil was clothed with verdure, and it is noticeable that the trees, plants, and grasses-the three great divisions of the vegetable kingdom here mentioned-were not called into existence in the same way as the light and the air; they were made to grow, and they grew as they do still out of the ground-not, however, by the slow process of vegetation, but through the divine power, without rain, dew, or any process of labor-sprouting up and flourishing in a single day.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:6-13 The earth was emptiness, but by a word spoken, it became full of God's riches, and his they are still. Though the use of them is allowed to man, they are from God, and to his service and honour they must be used. The earth, at his command, brings forth grass, herbs, and fruits. God must have the glory of all the benefit we receive from the produce of the earth. If we have, through grace, an interest in Him who is the Fountain, we may rejoice in him when the streams of temporal mercies are dried up.