Chuck Larsen

BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia):            וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים׀ לָאֹור֙ יֹ֔ום וְלַחֹ֖שֶׁךְ קָ֣רָא לָ֑יְלָה

ESV (English Standard Version): God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.

NLT (New Living Translation): God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

LXX (Septuagint): Καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸ φῶς ἡμέραν, καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐκάλεσε νύκτα.

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint): And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): And God called the light Day and the darkness he called night

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible): God called the light Day; the darkness He called Night

VUL (Latin Vulgate): appellavitque lucem diem et tenebras noctem

DRB (Douay Rheims Bible):  And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night

NAB: (New American Bible): God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”

English Translations with variant readings:

CEV: and named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.”

Observations & Discussions

1. Naming things is important. It is done by the one sovereign over the thing or things being named. I believe that may be why God gave Adam the right to name the animals. Gowan says as much in his commentary on Genesis, “So God affirms his sovereignty over both light and darkness by giving them names, Day and Night. And with this, time begins.”^[1] In Psalm 147:4, (ESV) we read, “He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names.” The idea of naming is significant to each of us. We are God’s people, those of us with faith in Jesus Christ are now His chosen ones according to Paul. I like to think that the promises we find in the Old Testament addressed specifically to Israel and the Patriarchs are intended for us today. Psalm 43:1-2 (ESV) is encouraging, “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
2. Notice the last statement in Gowan’s quote: He suggests that the separating of light from darkness and naming them was God’s act that set in motion “time” as an entity in and of itself. This might be seen because God begins to number the days of creation from this point on. The sequencing of events seems to be the definition of time in some ways.
3. There have been questions about the nature of “darkness.” Is it something in and of itself or is it the absence of light. It seems to be the later. We know that light is forever, but darkness is temporary. Revelation 22:5 (ESV) makes that clear: “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Constable observes, “Darkness was not a creation like light but the absence of light (cf. v. 2). Darkness (Heb. hosek) in Scripture often connotes evil (cf. Exod. 10:21–23; 1 Sam. 2:9; Job 2:4, 5; Ps. 35:6; Joel 2:2).”^[2]
4. In Exodus 10, the ninth plaque that Moses called down upon Egypt was darkness throughout the land. Not just normal darkness, but “dark-darkness.” But to the Israelites God gave light (See Exodus 10:23).

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): God named the light “day” and he named the darkness “night.”

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.”

^[1] Donald E. Gowan, From Eden to Babel: A Commentary on the Book of Genesis 1–11, International Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1988), 22.

^[2] Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ge 1:4.

Genesis 1:6a

BHS:וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּתֹ֣וךְ הַמָּ֑יִם

ESV: And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters”

NLT: Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters”

My translation of the BHS: Let there be some distance between the waters.

Maybe better: Let there be some solid border that will keep the waters above separated from the waters below.

Comment:

It appears that the MT implies and distance or space or expanse between the waters which makes me think of an empty space. The other translations say that there is a solid body of some kind: Firmament? But when you look up the word it does refer to something solid also. The ESV and others that use distance as an idea miss the mark so I’m going to have to correct my translation. The BDB (Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon) says, “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^[1]”

LXX: Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεὸς, γενηθήτω στερέωμα ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ὕδατος

BETS: And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water”

NETS: And God said, “let a firmament come into being between the water”

OSB: Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water”

My translation of the LXX: Let there be a solid mass in the middle of the water

Comment:

It looks like the LXX supports the idea of something solid rather than a mere distance. “στερέωμα, τος n; στηριγμός^b, οῦ m: a state of firm, inner strength—‘firm position, being firm in, firmness, steadfastness.’^[2]

VUL:  dixit quoque Deus fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum

DRB: And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters

NAB: Then God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters”

My translation of the VUL: And God declared that a firmament exist in the middle of the water

It appears the Latin doesn’t add much to the understanding of “firmament.” the sky fixed above the earth, the firmament^[3]

English Translations with variant readings:

NASB: Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters”

GW (God’s Word Translation): Let there be a horizon in the middle of the water

ISV: Then God said, “Let there be a canopy between bodies of water”

LEB: And God said, “Let there be a vaulted dome in the midst of the waters”

LB: And God said, “Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below.”

TM: God spoke: “Sky! In the middle of the waters!”

NCV: Then God said, “Let there be something to divide the water in two.”

NIRV: Let there be a huge space between the waters.

NIV: Let there be a vault between the waters

Observations & Discussions & Commentary quotes of interest

Prior to the second day, it seems that the earth was completely surrounded by a thick layer of water, perhaps in the form of a heavy vapor.^[4]

When speaking of this “firmament” one Commentary says, “This term (BDB 956, KB 1290) could mean “to hammer out” or “to stretch out” as in Isa. 42:5. This refers to the earth’s atmosphere (cf. 1:20) depicted metaphorically as an air vault or inverted bowl above the surface of the earth (cf. Isa. 40:22).^[5]

A lengthy comment from another commentary attempts to explain the “expanse” thoroughly considering other uses of the word in future passages. It says, “On the second day of God’s creative activity, He said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. The word for firmament comes from a verb that means “to beat, stamp, beat out, and spread out.” The noun in this instance is best rendered by an expanse. Whitcomb and Morris suggest that God suspended a vast body of water in vapor form over the earth, protecting it from the destructive rays of the sun (p. 229). This would accomplish two things: it would provide a means for the longevity attested to in chapter 5, and it would also provide a water source for the Flood in 6–9. This theory is an attempt to explain the tropical conditions that existed on the early earth. One must note that the term firmament in verse 8 must include the area above the canopy, or this suspended vapor body, as well as below it. This must be so, because in verse 17 God set the sun and moon in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, seemingly the same as in verse 8 when it says, And God called the firmament Heaven. With a second evening and morning, another day of creative activity was ended.”^[6]

Okay, here’s another commentary with a relevant discussion of the “firmament.” It says, “As Adam Clarke points out, firmament is a most unfortunate mistranslation.¹⁴ Firmament means “something firm” and seems to imply a sky something like a solid vault in which the sun, moon, and stars are fixed like light bulbs. The error had its beginning in the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek which was made in the third century B.C. and which we call the Septuagint. The ancient Greeks conceived of the sky as a solid crystalline sphere. It was their false science which determined the Greek word used in this verse. The error was copied by Jerome in the Latin Vulgate and in turn by the translators of the King James Version. Modern science has ridiculed what it thought to be a biblical error when it was actually a scientific error of another era!¹⁵ The true meaning of the Hebrew original here is that of something ‘stretched out’ or ‘extended’ like a tent, and the better translation is ‘expanse.’ As such it exactly fits the earth’s atmosphere, which is here intended.”^[7]

More comments: “a firmament] This word reproduces the Lat. firmamentum; LXX στερέωμα. The Hebrew râqîa denotes (see Heb. Lex.) “extended surface, (solid) expanse” (as if beaten out; cf. Job 37:18). For the verb raq‘a=beat, or spread, out, cf. Ex. 39:3, Num. 17:4, Jer. 10:4, Ezek. 1:22, “and over the head of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament … stretched forth over their heads above.” Compare Job 37:18, “canst thou with him spread out (tarqi‘a) the sky which is strong as a molten mirror?” See Ps. 19:1, 150:1, Dan. 12:3, where “firmament” = sky.”^[8]

Several Commentators include graphics of what the ancient Semitic view of the universe might have looked like. Here is one of them.

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): Let there be some solid border that will keep the waters above separated from the waters below.

1. confer, compare.

Wkl H. Winckler.

1. confer, compare.

Co C. H. Cornill.

v verse.

Co C. H. Cornill.

^[1] Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 956.

n neuter

m masculine

^[2] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 677.

^[3] Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, Harpers’ Latin Dictionary (New York; Oxford: Harper & Brothers; Clarendon Press, 1891), 752.

^[4] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 33.

BDB A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by F. Brown, S. R. Driver and C. A. Briggs

KB The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament by Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner

^[5] Robert James Utley, How It All Began: Genesis 1–11, vol. Vol. 1A, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International, 2001), 25.

^[6] Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 11.

¹⁴ A Commentary and Critical Notes, I, 33.

¹⁵ Free, op. cit., pp. 23–24.

^[7] Lee Haines, “The Book of Genesis,” in Genesis-Deuteronomy, vol. 1:1, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), 26.

^[8] Herbert E. Ryle, The Book of Genesis in the Revised Version with Introduction and Notes, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921), 8–9.

BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia): וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם

ESV (English Standard Version): and let it separate the waters from the waters.

NLT (New Living Translation): to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.

Definitions: (bādal), ni. separate o.s.; go over to (+ אֶל); be excluded from (+ מִן); be singled out; hi. separate; make a distinction; segregate (#976); בְּדִיל (b^edîl), tin, plumb line (#974); בָּדָל (bādāl), piece (#977); מִבְדָּלוֹת (mibdālôt), nom. singled out, selected (a mixed form with the vowels of the ni. part. and the consonants of the hi. part.) (hapleg.; #4426).^[1]

Hiphil—(1) to separate, to disjoin, Lev. 1:17; as two places by a veil, fence, wall. Ex. 26:33; Eze. 42:20; Gen. 1:6, things previously mixed together; Gen. 1:4.^[2]

My translation from the MT: To be a barrier between the waters above and the waters below

LXX (Septuagint): καὶ ἔστω διαχωρίζον ἀνὰ μέσον ὕδατος καὶ ὕδατος

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint): and let it be a division between water and water

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint): And let it be a separator between water and water

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible):  and let it divide the water from the water

My LXX translation: To be a barrier between the two waters

VUL (Latin Vulgate): et dividat aquas ab aquis

DRB (Douay Rheims Bible):  and let it divide the waters from the waters

NAB: (New American Bible): to separate one body of water from the other.

My VUL translation: To be a barrier between the two waters

English Translations with variant readings:

CEV: God said, “I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it.”

EMPH: and let it be a means of dividing､ between waters and waters

GNB: “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places”

LB: And God said, “Let the vapors separate to form the sky above and the oceans below.”

NCV: “Let there be something to divide the water in two.”

Observations & Discussions

An Interesting Cross Reference for thought: Isaiah 59:2 “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): And God declared, “Let there be some solid border that will keep the waters above separated from the waters below.”

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.”

1. niphal

o.s. oneself (in lexical definition)

1. hiphil
2. niphal
3. hiphil

hapleg. hapax legomenon

^[1] Willem VanGemeren, ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 603–604.

^[2] Wilhelm Gesenius and Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2003), 103.

BHS (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia): The last phrase is not in the TM

ESV (English Standard Version):  Not included here

NLT (New Living Translation): …and that is what happened

The NLT is obviously not leaning solely on the BHS. It had to get this from the LXX or the VUL. However, it puts this phrase as part of verse 7.

LXX (Septuagint): καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως.

BETS (Brenton English translation Septuagint):

NETS (New English Translation Septuagint):

OSB (Orthodox Study Bible):

My Translation: Thus, it came to be or Thus, it happened.

The LXX adds at the end of this verse, “and it was so.” This formula, which appears in vv. 11, 15 and 24, in each case after the words of Divine fiat, seems more suitable here than at the close of v. 7, as in the Hebrew text.

7. and it was so] This formula is here out of place. See previous note.^[1]

VUL (Latin Vulgate): This phrase is not in the Latin vulgate

DRB (Douay Rheims Bible): This phrase is not in the DRB

NAB: (New American Bible): Then God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters, to separate one body of water from the other.” And so it happened:

It’s strange that the NAB should have it if it is supposed to favor the VUL.

English Translations with variant readings:

GNB: Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places”—and it was done.

NJB: God said, ‘Let there be a vault through the middle of the waters to divide the waters in two.’ And so it was.

Out of 40 english translations compared. Only the GNB, NJB, and the NAB are the only ones with the final phrase found in the LXX.

Observations & Comments:

If verse five closes the work of the first day, verse 6 starts the 2^nd day. Day six begins with a need to separate the waters but we don’t see the two waters in the first day or do we?

CLV (Chuck Larsen Version): And so it was.

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.

^[1] Herbert E. Ryle, The Book of Genesis in the Revised Version with Introduction and Notes, The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921), 9.

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.