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J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Genesis 1:7
Bible Study Resources
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Then God made the firmament, and separated the waters, which were vnder the firmament, from the waters which were aboue the firmament. and it was so.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament; and it was so.
God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so.
So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it.
And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God made the arch for a division between the waters which were under the arch and those which were over it: and it was so.
And that's what happened. God made the dome
God made the dome and divided the water under the dome from the water above the dome; that is how it was,
And God made the expanse, and divided between the waters that are under the expanse and the waters that are above the expanse; and it was so.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
And God made the firmament; and diuided the waters, which were vnder the firmament, from the waters, which were aboue the firmament: and it was so.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded].
And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.
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. And it was so.
And God made the expanse, and He separated between the waters which were under the expanse and the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so.
So God made the air and placed some of the water above the air and some below it.
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.
Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens.
God made the open space, and divided the waters under the open space from the waters above the open space. And it was so.
And god made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.
And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.
And God made the firmament, and departide the watris that weren vndur the firmament fro these watris that weren on the firmament; and it was don so.
And God maketh the expanse, and it separateth between the waters which [are] under the expanse, and the waters which [are] above the expanse: and it is so.
God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God made the firmament; and divided the waters which [were] under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so.
And God made the firmament, and set the diuision betwene the waters which [were] vnder the firmament, and the waters that [were] aboue the firmament: and it was so.
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.
Then God made ye firmamet, and parted the waters vnder the firmamet, from the waters aboue the firmament: And so it came to passe.
God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so.
So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.
God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
divided: Proverbs 8:28, Proverbs 8:29
above: Job 26:8, Psalms 104:10, Psalms 148:4, Ecclesiastes 11:3
and it: Genesis 1:9, Genesis 1:11, Genesis 1:15, Genesis 1:24, Matthew 8:27
Reciprocal: Genesis 1:20 - open firmament Genesis 7:11 - all Exodus 3:16 - elders Job 9:8 - Which Jonah 2:10 - General
Cross-References
And God called the expanse, heavens. So it was evening - and it was morning, a, second day.
And God said - Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together, into one place, and let the dry - ground appear. And it was so.
And God said - Let the land put-forth vegetation-herb yielding seed, fruit-tree, bearing fruit, after its kind, whose seed is within it on the land. And it was so,
yea let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to give light on the earth. And it was so.
And God said - Let the land, bring forth, living soul, after its kind, tame-beast and creeping thing and wild-beast, of the land, after its kind. And it was so.
And God blessed them, and God said to them Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, - and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the bird of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth on the land.
And God said - Lo! I have given to you - every herb yielding seed which is on the face of all the land, and every tree wherein is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, - to you, shall it be, for food;
Who bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent beneath them;
Who hast sent forth springs, through the torrent-beds, Between the mountains, they flow along;
Praise him, O ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that are above the heavens;
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And God made the firmament,.... By a word speaking, commanding it into being, producing it out of the chaos, and spreading it in that vast space between the heaven of heavens and our earth z.
And divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; the lower part of it, the atmosphere above, which are the clouds full of water, from whence rain descends upon the earth; and which divided between them and those that were left on the earth, and so under it, not yet gathered into one place; as it now does between the clouds of heaven and the waters of the sea. Though Mr. Gregory a is of opinion, that an abyss of waters above the most supreme orb is here meant; or a great deep between the heavens and the heaven of heavens, where, as in storehouses, the depth is laid up; and God has his treasures of snow, hail, and rain, and from whence he brought out the waters which drowned the world at the universal deluge. Others suppose the waters above to be the crystalline heaven, which for its clearness resembles water; and which Milton b calls the "crystalline ocean".
And it was so: the firmament was accordingly made, and answered this purpose, to divide the waters below it from those above it; or "it was firm" c, stable and durable; and so it has continued.
z ------and God made The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure, Transparent, elemental air, diffused In circuit to the uttermost convex Of this great round.------ Milton, Paradise Lost, B. 7. l. 263, &c. a Notes and Observations, &c. c. 23. p. 110, &c. b Ibid. l. 291. c ויהי כן "et factum est firmum", Fagius & Nachmanides in ib.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- IV. The Second Day
6. רקיע rāqı̂ya‛, “expanse;” στερέωμα stereōma, רקע rāqa‛, “spread out by beating, as leaf gold.” This expanse was not understood to be solid, as the fowl is said to fly on the face of it Genesis 1:21. It is also described as luminous Daniel 12:3, and as a monument of divine power Psalms 150:1.
7. עשׂה ‛āśâh “work on,” “make out of already existing materials.”
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.
Genesis 1:6
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 (Genesis 1:14, Genesis 1:20).
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.
The state of things before this creative movement may be called one of disturbance and disorder, in comparison with the present condition of the atmosphere. This disturbance in the relations of air and water was so great that it could not be reduced to the present order without a supernatural cause. Whether any other gases, noxious or innocuous, entered into the constitution of the previous atmosphere, or whether any other ingredients were once held in solution by the watery deep, we are not informed. Whether any volcanic or plutonic violence had disturbed the scene, and raised a dense mass of gaseous damp and fuliginous matter into the airy region, is not stated. How far the disorder extended we cannot tell. We are merely certain that it reached over all the land known to man during the interval between this creation and the deluge. Whether this disorder was temporary or of long standing, and whether the change was effected by altering the axis of the earth’s rotation, and thereby the climate of the land of primeval man, or by a less extensive movement confined to the region under consideration, are questions on which we receive no instruction, because the solution does not concern our well-being. As soon as human welfare comes to be in any way connected with such knowledge, it will by some means be made attainable.
The introduction of the expanse produced a vast change for the better on the surface of the earth. The heavy mass of murky damp and aqueous steam commingling with the abyss of waters beneath is cleared away. The fogs are lifted up to the higher regions of the sky, or attenuated into an invisible vapor. A leaden mass of clouds still overshadows the heavens. But a breathing space of pure pellucid air now intervenes between the upper and lower waters, enveloping the surface of the earth, and suited for the respiration of the flora and fauna of a new world.
Let it be noted that the word “be” is here again employed to denote the commencement of a new adjustment of the atmosphere. This, accordingly, does not imply the absolute creation on the second day of our present atmosphere: it merely indicates the constitution of it out of the materials already at hand, - the selecting and due apportionment of the proper elements; the relegation of all now foreign elements to their own places; the dissipation of the lazy, deadening damps, and the establishment of a clear and pure air fit for the use of the future man. Any or all of these alterations will satisfy the form of expression here adopted.
Genesis 1:7
Then made God the expanse. - Here the distinction between command and execution is made still more prominent than in the third verse. For the word of command stands in one verse, and the effect realized is related in the next. Nay, we have the doing of the thing and the thing done separately expressed. For, after stating that God made the expanse, it is added, “and it was so.” The work accomplished took a permanent form, in which it remained a standing monument of divine wisdom and power.
Genesis 1:8
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 Corinthians 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.”
The expanse, or aerial space, in which this arrangement of things has been effected, having received its appropriate name, is recognized as an accomplished fact, and the second day is closed.
