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  • From: <david.kimbrough AT charter.net>
  • To: Dora Smith <villandra AT austin.rr.com>, <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Genesis 1:6-7, 8:1, Waters Above and Below
  • Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 5:48:19 +0000

The key to undestanding this section for me is found in
Genesis 8, the story of the flood. After the flood waters
had been on the earth for 150 days, God sent a wind (RWX,
just like in Genesis 1 where the same RWX that *fluttered*
over the water) after the *springs of the deep* [thywm, the
same *deep* as Genesis 1 ] and the sluicegates of heaven
(again the same #mym as in Genesis) were stopped up. The
RWX caused the waters to receed.

The two sections of Genesis 1 and 8 both present a similar
image (according the DH folks, these are both P portions).
The eart is surrounded by water, above and below. The
firmament [ lrky) ]above holds back the waters above while
the firmament (earth) below hold back the waters below.
This is what Genesis 1:6 says, separating the water from
the water. After Noah, there is a second creation of
sorts.

The world was just water until God created the firmament
which pushed the waters apart, creating an empty space, a
void, between the sky and the earth. When God destroyed
the earth, he allowed the water above and below to fill
enough of the void to wipe out all life except for what
floated in Noah's box.





>
> From: "Dora Smith" <villandra AT austin.rr.com>
> Date: 2004/06/14 Mon AM 04:04:52 GMT
> To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Question on Genesis 1:6-7
>
> I have a question about the meaning of raqiya in GEnesis
1. Also the
> phrase, v'yhiy mav'diyl, beyn mayiym lamayiym.
>
> First of all, the notion that raqiya means "heaven",
"sky" or "air" makes
> little sense. I always thought that "firmament" means
hard land, because
> the English word contains the word "firm", and because
only land in that
> context makes any sense.
>
> Here is how verses 6 and 7 translate. And God said, let
tehre be a sky in
> the midst of the waters. and let there be divided,
between/among the
> waters to/for the waters. Which is translated, and let
the sky divide the
> waters from the waters. How does any part of this add
up?
>
> And God made the sky, and he separated between the the
waters which were
> "from under" the sky, and the waters which were "from
upon" the sky.
> (mitachat and mi'al) Whatever that means. No clue
why not just say
> tachat and al; under and upon, if that's what it means.
Translated as God
> made the sky, and divided the waters which were under the
sky from the
> waters which were over the sky.
>
> All of this after verse 2 just got through explaining
that the Earth had no
> form at all, it was completely empty, and God hovered
over the waters- how
> did he manage that if there was no sky? And where did
the light that he
> created shine if all there was was water and mysteriously
some space above
> the water where the breath of God blew in the not air
which he hadn't
> created yet.
>
> And what sort of waters were above the sky?
>
> Can someone please make sense of these words?
>
> Yours,
> Dora Smith
> Austin, Texas
> villandra AT austin.rr.com
>
> _______________________________________________
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>

David Kimbrough
San Gabriel





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