Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Verna Craig <rowan2 AT cpnw.net>]

Jack,
    I find it important to understand the original intent of the authors of Scripture, but language itself is not frozen in the past. Language changes, grows, and meets new times and ideas. The founders of Israel made a purposeful decision to go back and construct vocabulary for new situations and industries from Hebrew roots rather than Hebrewize foreign words. Has raqia been used in science or physics? I guess this is what I am asking. Did the word develop with time, or was there some other lucky word that got chosen?
                                    Verna

Jack Kilmon wrote:

----- Original Message -----

From:Verna Craig

To: Biblical Hebrew

Sent: Monday, January 08, 2001 9:16 PM

Subject: Firmament as Dimension

 Can the Hebrew word raqia (7549 NAS Hebrew-Aramaic Dict. for firmament) in Gen 1 take the meaning of  the modern scientific concept of dimension? Verse 16 would seem to express a possibily of this. This would open endless possibilities to the Genesis account.
 I suspect, Verna, that it may open up possibilities to a post-Einstein mind but not to a bronze age concept of the architecture of the cosmos which saw a solid vault "spread out" (raqa) that separated the water "up there" from the water down here.  Jack
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______________________________________________ taybutheh d'maran yeshua masheecha am kulkon Jack Kilmon
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