Chuck Larsen

BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia): וַיַּ֣עַשׂ אֱלֹהִים֮ אֶת־הָרָקִיעַ֒ וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל בֵּ֤ין הַמַּ֙יִם֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ מִתַּ֣חַת לָרָקִ֔יעַ וּבֵ֣ין הַמַּ֔יִם אֲשֶׁ֖ר מֵעַ֣ל לָרָקִ֑יעַ

ESV (English Standard Version): And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse.

NLT (New Living Translation): God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens

My BHS translation: So God made the barrier to keep the waters below it from the waters above it.

 

LXX (Septuagint): Καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα· καὶ διεχώρισεν ὁ Θεὸς ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος, ὃ ἦν ὑποκάτω τοῦ στερεώματος, καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος, τοῦ ἐπάνω τοῦ στερεώματος

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint): And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): And God made the firmament, and God separated between the water that was under the firmament and the water that was above the firmament.

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible): And God made the border and God separated the waters which were above the border from the waters that were below the border.

 

VUL (Latin Vulgate): et fecit Deus firmamentum divisitque aquas quae erant sub firmamento ab his quae erant super firmamentum

DRB (Douay Rheims Bible):  And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament

NAB: (New American Bible): God made the dome, and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.

 

 

English Translations with variant readings:

CEV: And that’s what happened. God made the dome.

ISV: So God made a canopy that separated the water beneath the canopy from the water above it.

LEB: So God made the vaulted dome, and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the vaulted dome and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome.

NIRV: God made the huge space between the waters. He separated the water that was under the space from the water that was above it.

 

Comments:

The expanse (kjv, firmament), called “sky,” is the atmosphere, or layer of air between the water-covered earth and the clouds above, made possible by the cooling of the earth’s waters.^[1]

Pictorial representations throughout the ancient Near East portray waters above and below, which demonstrates that this was a common feature of ancient cosmic geography.⁵³ In Mesopotamia Marduk assigns guards to keep the heavenly waters from flooding the earth.⁵⁴ These waters are the remnants of Tiamat’s body, which was split to form the waters above and the waters below after she was defeated by Marduk. Egyptian texts refer to the heavenly ocean as ḳbḥw-Ḥr, the cool or upper waters of Horus.⁵⁵ The sun god’s barque travels from horizon to horizon across this heavenly ocean. In the Old Testament, the heavenly waters are sometimes called the mabbûl, above which Yahweh is enthroned (Ps. 29:10) and which are released in the time of Noah (Gen. 7:10).^{56 [2]}

God’s second day in Genesis 1 involved creating an expanse to separate the water under it from the water above it (Gen. 1:7). The point of reference is the expanse itself, for the Hebrew literally designates “the under side” and “the upper side.” The difference seems to be between water as water at the bottom of the expanse and water as humidity above it. We again see God’s orderly preparation for humankind by making it possible for water to escape being continuously contaminated with “salts,” in order for plants and animals to grow and also to allow humans and animals to consume it.^[3]

The waters which were above the firmament: Here, the Bible recognizes the existence of water vapor in the sky. “The waters above the firmament thus probably constituted a vast blanket of water vapor above the troposphere and possibly above the stratosphere as well, in the high temperature region now known as the ionosphere, and extending far into space.” (Morris) Such a vapor blanket would greatly change the ecology of the earth, and Henry Morris suggests several effects of a vapor blanket.

1. It would serve as a global greenhouse, maintaining an essentially uniformly pleasant temperature all over the world.
2. Without great temperature variations, there would be no significant winds, and the water-rain cycle could not form. There would be no rain as we know it today.

iii. There would be lush, tropical-like vegetation, all over the world, fed not by rain, but by a rich evaporation and condensation cycle, resulting in heavy dew or ground-fog.

1. The vapor blanket would filter out ultraviolet radiation, cosmic rays, and other destructive energies bombarding the planet. These are known to be the cause of mutations, which decrease human longevity. Human and animal life spans would be greatly increased.
2. A vapor blanket would provide the necessary reservoir for a potential worldwide flood.^[4]

As God continued to give form to the world, He next brought into being a “firmament,” something that according to the Hebrew was spread out, put firmly in place, that is, the “vault of heaven.” That firmament He called heaven, not the abode of God, but the sky, as verses 9 and 20 indicate. Reference is to the gaseous atmosphere.

The formation of the atmosphere was achieved by dividing the waters under the atmosphere from those above it. Originally the earth may have been surrounded by a “cloud-fog” condition or a “watery fluid,” which would have made life as we know it virtually impossible. Now the waters under the atmosphere were separated more distinctly from those above it, and the ocean thus was formed.

What were the waters above the atmosphere? Apparently they were ordinary rain clouds. Some have been attracted to the theory that they refer to a water vapor canopy that enveloped the earth; that was brought into being during the creative process and dissipated at the time of the Noahic Flood. Davis A. Young shows that Scripture itself militates against such a view. For instance, in Psalm 148 when the psalmist calls on creation to praise the Creator God, it commands the “waters that be above” the heavens to praise God (v. 4). Those waters are still above the heavens, and verse 6 indicates they are to stay there “for ever and ever” in response to God’s unalterable decree.^{6 [5]}

The second act of creative power bears upon the deep of waters, over which the darkness had prevailed, and by which the solid crust was still overlaid. This mass of turbid and noisy water must be reduced to order, and confined within certain limits, before the land can be reached. According to the laws of material nature, light or heat must be an essential factor in all physical changes, especially in the production of gases and vapors. Hence its presence and activity are the first thing required in instituting a new process of nature. Air naturally takes the next place, as it is equally essential to the maintenance of vegetable and animal life. Hence its adjustment is the second step in this latest effort of creation.

6. Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water. For this purpose God now calls into existence the expanse. This is that interval of space between the earth on the one side and the birds on the wing, the clouds and the heavenly bodies on the other, the lower part of which we know to be occupied by the air. This will appear more clearly from a comparison of other passages in this chapter (Gen. 1:14, 20).

And let it be dividing between water and water. It appears that the water in a liquid state was in contact with another mass of water, in the shape of dense fogs and vapors; not merely overhanging, but actually resting on the waters beneath. The object of the expanse is to divide the waters which are under it from those which are above it. Hence it appears that the thing really done is, not to create the space that extends indefinitely above our heads (which, being in itself no thing, but only room for things, requires no creating), but to establish in it the intended disposition of the waters in two separate masses, the one above, and the other below the intervening expanse. This we know is effected by means of the atmosphere, which receives a large body of water in the state of vapor, and bears up a visible portion of it in the form of clouds. These ever-returning and ever-varying piles of mist strike the eye of the unsophisticated spectator; and when the dew is observed on the grass, or the showers of rain, hail, and snow are seen falling on the ground, the conclusion is obvious, that above the expanse, be the distance small or great, is laid up an unseen and inexhaustible treasury of water, by which the earth may be perpetually bedewed and irrigated. The aqueous vapor is itself, as well as the element with which it is mingled, invisible and impalpable; but when condensed by cold it becomes apparent to the eye in the form of mists and clouds, and, at a certain point of coolness, begins to deposit itself in the palpable form of dew, rain, hail, or snow. As soon as it becomes obvious to the sense it receives distinguishing names, according to its varying forms. But the air being invisible, is unnoticed by the primitive observer until it is put in motion, when it receives the name of wind. The space it occupies is merely denominated the expanse; that is, the interval between us and the various bodies that float above and hang upon nothing, or nothing perceptible to the eye.^[6]

 

 

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): So God made the barier, and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the barrier and between the waters which were over the barrier.

 

CLV In the beginning God created heaven and earth but the earth was invisible and incomplete. And darkness covered the abyss. The spirit of God was brooding over the abyss’ darkness so God issued a decree that there should be light, and there was light. God saw the light and declared that the light was very good. Then God named the light “day” and he named the darkness “night.” And it was evening and it was morning: Day One! And God declared, “Let there be some solid border that will keep the waters above separated from the waters below.” And so it was. So God made the barrier, and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the barrier and between the waters which were over the barrier.

^[1] Henry Hampton Halley, Halley’s Bible Handbook with the New International Version., Completely rev. and expanded. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 87.

⁵³ O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World (New York: Seabury, 1978), 35–47.

⁵⁴ Enuma Elish 4.139–40; see Horowitz, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography, 262.

⁵⁵ Keel, Symbolism, 37.

⁵⁶ Ps. 104:13 and 148:4 both refer to waters above but do not use mabbûl.

^[2] John H Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 17.

^[3] Wilbur Glenn Williams, Genesis: A Commentary for Bible Students (Indianapolis, IN: Wesleyan Publishing House, 1999), 33.

^[4] David Guzik, Genesis, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Ge 1:6–8.

⁶ Ibid., 123–24.

^[5] Howard F. Vos, Genesis, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1982), 18.

^[6] James G. Murphy, Notes on the Old Testament: Genesis (Boston: Estes and Lauriate, 1873), 45–47.