The original term transliterated “hexaemeron” (ἑξαήμερον) describes a six-day unit or period. J.C.M. van Winden (1988, 1253) clarifies three patristic uses of this term (and Latin hexameron):

1.  the six-day creation process;

2.  the biblical account of the six-day creation found in Gen 1;

3.  a written work devoted to the exposition of this biblical narrative.

Our natural focus here is this third sense, describing a genre of patristic literature. Yet along with self-conscious “hexaemera,” which sometimes form…