The Firmament

Genesis 1:6-8

6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7. 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.

8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The word translated as “firmament” here is the Hebrew word raqiya`. Raqiya` basically means an expanse. It is derived from the word rä·kah' which means to beat, spread or stretch. The English word “expanse” means a large space or area but can also mean an expansion. As a result these verses seem to be referring to a large space with the implication of this space having been stretched out thus fitting Relativity’s depiction space perfectly.

The waters that are below this expanse are clearly a reference to the water on the Earth’s surface. The water above is a little harder to identify. The Hebrew word translated above is `al which can mean above, but also together with. As a result while this could refer to water above or beyond the observable universe, it could also refer to water that is within the expanse of space, and water has been observed in space much of it in comets.

Once again we have the term “evening and the morning” denoting this second day as an ordinary Earth day.