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.

BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia): וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃

ESV (English Standard Version):  And it was so

NLT (New Living Translation): It does not close with a statement but includes the statement at the beginning: “And that is what happened”

LXX (Septuagint):  Not in the LXX

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint): Not in this translation

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): Not in this translation

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible): Not in this translation

VUL (Latin Vulgate): et factum est ita

DRB (Douay Rheims Bible): and it was so.

NAB: (New American Bible): Not in this translation. (Another indication that the NAB doesn’t stick strictly with the Vulgate)

English Translations with variant readings:

CJB: God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome; that is how it was,

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

TM: And there it was

Every English translation has some rendition of the final phrase except the NLT, NJV, NCV, and the NAB,.

 CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): And that’s what happened.

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. That’s what happened.

BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia):      וַיִּקְרָ֧א אֱלֹהִ֛ים לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ שָׁמָ֑יִם

ESV (English Standard Version): And God called the expanse Heaven.

NLT (New Living Translation): God called the space “sky.”

שָׁמַיִם (šāmayim), heaven, sky, firmament, air (#9028).^[1]

רָקִיעַ m. Gen. 1:6, 7, 8; Psalm 19:2; fully רְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם Gen. 1:14, 15, 17, 20, etc. the firmament of heaven, spread out like a hemisphere above the earth (from the root רָקַע), like a splendid and pellucid sapphire (Ex. 24:10, compare Dan. 12:3), to which the stars were supposed to be fixed, and over which the Hebrews believed there was a heavenly ocean (Gen. 1:7; 7:11; Ps. 104:3; 148:4; compare, however, Gen. 2:6). LXX. στερέωμα. Vulg. firmamentum. Luth. Befte.^[2]

†רָקִיעַ S⁷⁵⁴⁹ TWOT^2217a GK⁸³⁸⁵ n.m. Gn 1:6 extended surface, (solid) expanse (as if beaten out; cf. Jb 37:18);—abs. ר׳ Ez 1:22 +, cstr. רְ׳ Gn 1:14 +;—�� στερέωμα, �� firmamentum, cf. Syriac sub √ supr.;—1. (flat) expanse (as if of ice, cf. כְּעֵין הַקֶרַח), as base, support (Wkl^{Altor. Forsch. iv. 347}) Ez 1:22, 23, 25 (gloss? cf. Co Toy), v 26 (supporting י׳’sthrone) 10:1. Hence (Co Ez 1:22) 2. the vault of heaven, or ‘firmament,’ regarded by Hebrews as solid, and supporting ‘waters’ above it, Gn 1:6, 7^(×3), 8 (called שָׁמַיִם; all P), ψ 19:2 (|| הַשָּׁמַיִם), זֹהַר הָר׳ Dn 12:3; also הַשָּׁמַיִם ר׳ Gn 1:14, 15, 17, עַל־פְּנֵי ר׳ הַשּׁ׳ v 20 (all P).*^[3]

רָקִיעַ: רקע, Bauer-L. Heb. 470n; SamP. arqi; MHeb. DSS (Kuhn Konkordanz 208), Sam., JArm., Syr., Mnd. rqiha sky, firmament (Drower-M. Dictionary 437b): cs. רְקִיעַ: the beaten metal plate, or bow; firmament, the firm vault of heaven: Sept. στερέωμα, Vulg. firmamentum; by רָקִיעַ was understood the gigantic heavenly dome which was the source of the light that brooded over the heavenly ocean and of which the dome arched above the earthly globe (see von Rad TWNT 5:501); for bibliography see further Eichrodt Theol. 2/3:57, 130; Westermann BK 1/1:162f; Zimmerli Ezechiel 55; O. Keel Jahwe-Visionen und Siegelkunst 250-255; Reicke-R. Hw. 719.

—1. a. הָרָקִיעַ Gn 17f Ps 192 Ezk 123.25f 101 Da 123, רְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם Gn 114f.17.20, רְקִיעַ עֻזּוֹ his mighty firmament Ps 1501, רָקִיעַ Gn 16 Ezk 122, רקיע Sir 438; —b. רָ׳ following a prepositional phrase: עַל־פְּנֵי רְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם in front of, before, across the firmament of heaven Gn 120 (→ *פָּנֶה D 7 b), cf. Westermann BK 1/1:190: beneath or upon the heavenly surface; similarly, Nielsen HUCA 43 (1972) 6.

—2. expressions: with הָיָה Gn 16, cf. 114f; with II הלל pi. (בִּרְקִיעַ עֻזּוֹ) Ps 1501; with I זהר hif. (בְּזֹהַר הָרָקִיעַ) Da 123; with נגד hif. (sbj. הָרָ׳) Ps 192; with נתן (בִּרְקִיעַ) Gn 120; with עָשָׂה (obj. הָרָ׳) Gn 17; with קָרָא (לָרָ׳) Gn 18. †^[4]

My BHS translation: God named the great expanse, heaven.

LXX (Septuagint): Καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ στερέωμα οὐρανόν·

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint):  And God called the firmament Heaven

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): And God called the firmament Sky

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible):  So God called the firmament Heaven

Only the NETS uses the idea of sky…

VUL (Latin Vulgate): vocavitque Deus firmamentum caelum

DRB (Douay Rheims Bible):  And God called the firmament, Heaven;

NAB: (New American Bible):  God called the dome “the sky.”

caelum (coe-), i, n., sky, heaven; in pl., caeli, orum, heaven^[5]

English Translations with variant readings:

GW: God named ⌊what was above⌋ the horizon sky.

Whatever the title of the expanse is in the translation (dome, vault, firmament, horizon, expanse…) God names it either sky or heaven in all the translations I have.

Comments and commentaries:

Then called God to the expanse, heaven. This expanse is, then, the proper and original skies. We have here an interesting and instructive example of the way in which words expand in their significance from the near, the simple, the obvious, to the far and wide, the complex and the inferential. The heaven, in the first instance, meant the open space above the surface in which we breathe and move, in which the birds fly and the clouds float. This is the atmosphere. Then it stretches away into the seemingly boundless regions of space, in which the countless orbs of luminous and of opaque surfaces circumambulate. Then the heavens come to signify the contents of this indefinitely augmented expanse,—the celestial luminaries themselves. Then, by a still further enlargement of its meaning, we rise to the heaven of heavens, the inexpressibly grand and august presence-chamber of the Most High, where the cherubim and seraphim, the innumerable company of angels, the myriads of saints, move in their several grades and spheres, keeping the charge of their Maker, and realizing the joy of their being. This is the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) to the conception of which the imaginative capacity of the human mind rises by an easy gradation. Having once attained to this majestic conception, man is so far prepared to conceive and compose that sublime sentence with which the book of God opens,—“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”^[6]

This is the first occurrence of the word Heaven since verse 1. The Hebrew word translated Heaven is always plural. It refers here to the place of the stars, sun, and moon (Gen 1:14–16), but it is also the place where birds fly (Gen 1:20). In 1 Kgs 8:30 it is also the place of God, and the place where God is enthroned (Isa 66:1). In English “sky” is not associated with the place of God but is the common term for the open space seen above the earth. Many languages have only one term for sky, “up,” while in others various terms are used according to the location; for example, of high flying birds of prey, of the heavenly bodies, or of the clouds. Examples of naming the firmament are “God gave the name ‘sky’ to the skin that stretches over the earth” and “God named the skin tent that covers the earth ‘sky.’ ”^[7]

Day two (vv. 6–8). God put an expanse between the upper waters and the lower waters and made “heaven,” what we know as “the sky.” It seems that these waters were a vaporous “blanket” that covered the original creative mass. When separated from the landmass, the lower waters eventually became the ocean and the seas; and the upper waters played a part in the Flood during Noah’s day (Gen. 7:11–12; 9:11–15).

The word translated “firmament” (expanse) means “to beat out.” In Scripture, the sky is sometimes referred to as a dome or a covering; however, Scripture nowhere supports the pagan mythological notion that the sky is some kind of solid covering. The luminaries were set in this expanse (1:14–17) and that’s where the fowl flew (v. 20).^[8]

1:8 For the third time God named his creation; here the expanse is termed šāmayim, “sky,” the same word rendered “heavens” in v. 1. The “expanse” is considered part of the “heavens,” and the two occur together in the description “the expanse of the sky” (1:15, 17, 20). The “heavens” are the skies visible to the human eye, whereas God’s abode is the heavens above, where his court convenes but cannot be seen.

The theological significance of God’s creation of the skies is the clarification that God alone rules the powers of the heavens.¹⁴⁸ Divine rule of the skies was particularly important for Sumerian religion, which gave prominent place to the heavens in its pantheon of gods (cf. 1:14). It was Anu, the sky god, and Enlil, god of the atmosphere, who established and deposed the kings of the Sumerian city-states.¹⁴⁹ Baal in the Ugaritic pantheon is identified as the “Rider of the Clouds.” He was the god of storm and rain (cf. 1 Kgs 18), but Israel’s faith declares that Yahweh is the source of heaven’s powers (Ps 68:4). The passage therefore asserts that the heavens and their celestial inhabitants are merely instruments to serve God and his earthly creatures; they are not autonomous authorities.^[9]

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): God named the great expanse, heaven.

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. That’s what happened. God named the great expanses heaven.

^[1] Willem VanGemeren, ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 160.

^[2] Wilhelm Gesenius and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2003), 780.

† prefixed, or added, or both, indicates ‘All passages cited.’

S Strong’s Concordance

TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.

GK Goodrick/Kohlenberger numbering system of the NIV Exhaustive Condordance.

1. nomen, noun.
2. masculine.
3. confer, compare.

abs. absolute.

+ plus, denotes often that other passages, etc., might be cited. So also where the forms of verbs, nouns, and adjectives are illustrated by citations, near the beginning of articles; while ‘etc.’ in such connexions commonly indicates that other forms of the word occur, which it has not been thought worth while to cite.

cstr. construct.

+ plus, denotes often that other passages, etc., might be cited. So also where the forms of verbs, nouns, and adjectives are illustrated by citations, near the beginning of articles; while ‘etc.’ in such connexions commonly indicates that other forms of the word occur, which it has not been thought worth while to cite.

Greek version of the LXX.

Vulgate.

1. confer, compare.

√ root or stem.

supr. supra, above.

1. confer, compare.

Wkl H. Winckler.

1. confer, compare.

Co C. H. Cornill.

v verse.

Co C. H. Cornill.

^×3 three times.

P Priests’ Code or Narrative.

|| parallel, of words (synonymous or contrasted); also of passages; sometimes = ‘see parallel,’ or ‘see also parallel.’

v verse.

P Priests’ Code or Narrative.

^[3] Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 956.

DSS Dead Sea Scrolls; → Dam.; DJD; Kuhn Konkordanz

Sam. Samaritan Pentateuch; → HAL Foreword; Würthwein Text 47ff (fourth ed.); Murtonen Vocab.; Ben-Hayyim

JArm. Jewish Aramaic; JArm.^b Jewish Aramaic of the Babylonian tradition; JArm.^g ~ Galilean tradition; JArm.^t ~ Targumic tradition; → HAL Introduction; Kutscher Fschr. Baumgartner 158ff

Syr. Syriac

Mnd. Mandaean

Sept. Septuagint; → Swete Septuagint, Göttingen Edition 1936ff; Rahlfs Sept.; Brooke-M. OT in Greek; Sept^A → BHS Prolegomena p. iv; Würthwein Text 75f (fourth ed.); Sept^Ra → Rahlfs Septuaginta

Vulg. Vulgata; Biblia Sacra Iuxta Latinam Vulgatam Versionem, ed. R. Weber, Stuttgart 1969; Biblia Sacra Iuxta Vulgatam Clemintinam, Rome 1956

TWNT Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament, 1–9, Stuttgart, 1933–

BK Biblischer Kommentar, Neukirchen

→ see further

* hypothetical form

D second (doubled) verbal theme of Akkadian and Ugaritic (cf. Heb. pi‘el)

1. confer, comparable with

BK Biblischer Kommentar, Neukirchen

HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual, Cincinnati

1. confer, comparable with

hif. hifʿil

hif. hifʿil

† every Biblical reference quoted

^[4] Ludwig Koehler et al., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), 1290.

1. neuter
2. plural

^[5] J. M. Harden, Dictionary of the Vulgate New Testament (London; New York: Society of Promoting Christian Knowledge; The Macmillan Co., 1921), 15.

^[6] James G. Murphy, Notes on the Old Testament: Genesis (Boston: Estes and Lauriate, 1873), 48.

^[7] William David Reyburn and Euan McG. Fry, A Handbook on Genesis, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1998), 38.

^[8] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Basic, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub., 1998), 26.

¹⁴⁸ See Barth, God with Us, 16–17.

¹⁴⁹ W. von Soden, The Ancient Orient: An Introduction to the Study of the Ancient Near East, trans. D. G. Schley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 176.

^[9] K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, vol. 1A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 150–151.

Genesis 1:8b in the LXX conatains a phrase missing from the BHS and the VULGATE

LXX (Septuagint): καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι καλόν

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint):  and God saw that it was good

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): And God saw that it was good

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible): And God saw that it was good

The observation or pronouncement of the second day creation being good is absent from both the BHS and the VUL. One commentators explains its absence if you choose to accept it.

Lacking here is the statement of divine approval, “and God saw that it was good.” Perhaps the author viewed the creation of the expanse as merely a preliminary stage to the emergence of the dry land on day three. Another possibility is that, given the fear that ancient people had of the firmament falling, it was important to make it clear that God was in complete control of it. He himself made it and it is, therefore, not to be feared. Another reason the formula of divine approval was withheld may be for stylistic reasons. Since the formula was to be used twice on the third and sixth days giving seven in total, not using it here allowed the author to preserve the pattern of sevens.^{48 [1]}

It is observable that in connection with the second day’s work the usual formula, “And God saw that it was good,” is omitted. The “καὶ εἰδεν ὁ θεος ὅτι καλόν” of the Septuagint is unsupported by any ancient version. The conceit of the Rabbis, that an expression of the Divine approbation was omitted because on this day the angels fell, requires no refutation. Aben Ezra accounts for its omission by making the second day’s work terminate with ver. 10. Lange asks, “Had the prophetic author some anticipation that the blue vault was merely an appearance, whilst the savans of the Septuagint had no such anticipation, and therefore proceeded to doctor the passage?” The explanation of Calvin, Delitzsch, Macdonald, and Alford, though declared by Kalisch to be of no weight, is probably the correct one, that the work begun on the second day was not properly terminated till the middle of the third, at which place, accordingly, the expression of Divine approbation is introduced (see ver. 10).^[2]

English Translations with variant readings:

Very similar! The only translations that reflect the notice of the “goodness” of the day’s efforts are those based on the LXX.

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): And God noted that it was very good.

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. That’s what happened. And God noted that it was very good.

⁴⁸ Wenham, Genesis 1–15, p. 6: “The correspondence of the first paragraph, 1:1–2, with 2:1–3 is underlined by the number of Hebrew words in both being multiples of 7. 1:1 consists of seven words, 1:2 of fourteen (7 × 2) words, 2:1–3 of 35 (7 × 5) words. The number seven dominates this opening chapter in a strange way, not only in the number of words in a particular section but in the number of times a specific word or phrase recurs. For example, “God” is mentioned 35 times, ‘earth’ 21 times, ‘Heaven/firmament’ 21 times, while the phrases ‘and it was so’ and ‘God saw that it was good’ occur 7 times.”

^[1] Paul J. Kissling, Genesis, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 2004–), 103–104.

^[2] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Genesis, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 15–16.

Genesis 1:8b in the LXX conatains a phrase missing from the BHS and the VULGATE

LXX (Septuagint): καὶ εἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς ὅτι καλόν

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint):  and God saw that it was good

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): And God saw that it was good

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible): And God saw that it was good

The observation or pronouncement of the second day creation being good is absent from both the BHS and the VUL. One commentators explains its absence if you choose to accept it.

Lacking here is the statement of divine approval, “and God saw that it was good.” Perhaps the author viewed the creation of the expanse as merely a preliminary stage to the emergence of the dry land on day three. Another possibility is that, given the fear that ancient people had of the firmament falling, it was important to make it clear that God was in complete control of it. He himself made it and it is, therefore, not to be feared. Another reason the formula of divine approval was withheld may be for stylistic reasons. Since the formula was to be used twice on the third and sixth days giving seven in total, not using it here allowed the author to preserve the pattern of sevens.^{48 [1]}

It is observable that in connection with the second day’s work the usual formula, “And God saw that it was good,” is omitted. The “καὶ εἰδεν ὁ θεος ὅτι καλόν” of the Septuagint is unsupported by any ancient version. The conceit of the Rabbis, that an expression of the Divine approbation was omitted because on this day the angels fell, requires no refutation. Aben Ezra accounts for its omission by making the second day’s work terminate with ver. 10. Lange asks, “Had the prophetic author some anticipation that the blue vault was merely an appearance, whilst the savans of the Septuagint had no such anticipation, and therefore proceeded to doctor the passage?” The explanation of Calvin, Delitzsch, Macdonald, and Alford, though declared by Kalisch to be of no weight, is probably the correct one, that the work begun on the second day was not properly terminated till the middle of the third, at which place, accordingly, the expression of Divine approbation is introduced (see ver. 10).^[2]

 English Translations with variant readings:

Very similar! The only translations that reflect the notice of the “goodness” of the day’s efforts are those based on the LXX.

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): And God noted that it was very good.

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. That’s what happened. And God noted that it was very good.

⁴⁸ Wenham, Genesis 1–15, p. 6: “The correspondence of the first paragraph, 1:1–2, with 2:1–3 is underlined by the number of Hebrew words in both being multiples of 7. 1:1 consists of seven words, 1:2 of fourteen (7 × 2) words, 2:1–3 of 35 (7 × 5) words. The number seven dominates this opening chapter in a strange way, not only in the number of words in a particular section but in the number of times a specific word or phrase recurs. For example, “God” is mentioned 35 times, ‘earth’ 21 times, ‘Heaven/firmament’ 21 times, while the phrases ‘and it was so’ and ‘God saw that it was good’ occur 7 times.”

^[1] Paul J. Kissling, Genesis, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 2004–), 103–104.

^[2] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., Genesis, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 15–16.