

Others argue that such interpretations are unsound, in that they confuse poetic and figurative language with literal prose. The firmament was punctuated by grilles or sluices, “windows of heaven” through which rain was released.

Above the firmament flowed the heavenly waters. Some scholars argue that the Hebrews had a primitive cosmology where the firmament was visualized as a rigid, solid dome-a celestial dam ( Genesis 7:11 2 Samuel 22:8 Job 26:8 Job 37:18 Proverbs 8:28 Malachi 3:10 ). It is described as bright, transparent like crystal, revealing the handiwork of God, and signifying His seat of power ( Psalm 19:1 Psalm 150:1 Ezekiel 1:22 Daniel 12:3 ). The firmament is mentioned nine times in Genesis, the Psalms, Ezekiel, and Daniel. In Genesis 1:6 the firmament separates the mass of waters and divides them into layers. At times the use of the word connotes the idea of extension or expansion-thus the expanse of the heavens at creation. In the present heavens and Earth there exists a three (3) heavens structure. God spreads out (verbal form of raqiaspro ) the sky ( Job 37:18 ). 'The heaven for height, and the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable.' (Proverbs 25:3 KJV) The firmament deals with the structure of the present heavens and Earth (Genesis 2:1), as opposed to the structure of the original heaven and Earth (Genesis 1:1). The original Hebrew word Gaqiacspode notes a strip of hammered out metal. There it is used to translate the Greek word stereomaoin the Septuagint rendering of Genesis 1:6-7. The word “firmament” comes from the Latin word firmamentum in the Vulgate. Into this expanse, God set the sun, moon, and stars ( Genesis 1:14-18 ). Heaven in this sense is also referred to as the firmament or sky ( Genesis 1:8 ). 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. This word also reflected the beliefs that the. It comes from a Latin word that communicates the idea of a piece of metal that was hammered thin into a dome that encased the earth.

It is commonly defined as the heavens or the sky, especially when regarded as a tangible thing. One use of “heaven” in the Bible is to refer to the ceiling or canopy of the earth. Then God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. The word firmament is primarily used in the King James Bible. From H7554 properly an expanse, that is, the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky: - firmament. The firmament was created by God on the second day to separate the “waters from the waters” ( Genesis 1:6-7 ). with the word firmament, which is described as the arch in the sky, which god created, it only is in the bible 17 times. The great vault or expanse of sky that separates the upper and lower waters.
