Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>]

From what I have seen of various languages, English is rather unusual in
having separate words for "heaven" and "sky". (Some languages have a
separate word for "heaven" in the sense of "the place of the blessed dead"
cf. "paradise", but not in the sense "the place where God dwells".) Of
course "heaven" originally meant "sky" as well as its other more theological
use, so I guess the distinction in English is rather recent.

But I have noted with interest that in several languages there is a tendency
to use a singular form for the physical "sky" and a plural for "heaven" or
"the heavens". This is true of Greek, also of Russian, and of Azerbaijani
which has less direct European influence. Is this a plural of majesty, or is
it based on philosophical ideas of multiple heavens? Anyway, in Koine Greek
there is certainly a tendency, though not a rule, for OURANOS to mean "sky"
but for hOI OURANOI to mean "heaven".

Peter Kirk

> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Athas [mailto:gathas AT ausisp.com]
> Sent: 25 August 2001 05:28
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Subject: Re: heaven or sky?
>
>
> Liz,
>
> I know of no other Greek word for "sky". OURANOS can refer to the
> area above or below the
> "vault". There are various other words which refer to the
> contents or shape of the sky
> (such as AIQHR or KUKLOS), but OURANOS is your standard word for "sky".
>
> The four winged creature chariot which Yahweh rides in Ezekiel
> has a vault above the
> creatures. Over this vault sits Yahweh's throne. This would
> suggest, IMHO, the notion that
> Yahweh sits above the vault.
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> GEORGE ATHAS
> (Sydney, Australia)
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