Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dora Smith" <villandra AT austin.rr.com>]

  I found out on the Internet last night that the most common opinion was
that the raqiya is a thin, "hammered out" layer of - the atmosphere!   It
separates whatever is below from whatever is above, which to some is, as you
say, more water which can pour through the firmament when God allows it.

Thanks for telling me there are parallel uses of these terms in the story of
the flood - I didn't know it!

Do the parallels also exist in other stories of the flood, particularly
those of Ugarit and northern Syria that are closest to teh Biblical story?

Why "from below" and "from above"; mitakhat and mi'al instead of just takhat
and al?

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
villandra AT austin.rr.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <david.kimbrough AT charter.net>
To: "Dora Smith" <villandra AT austin.rr.com>; <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2004 12:48 AM
Subject: Genesis 1:6-7, 8:1, Waters Above and Below


> 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.
>