Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>]

I think you'll find the root רקע refers to 'spreading out' in the same sense 
as one hammers out gold plaiting onto a wooden object or panel. The רקיע, 
just going by the morphology of the noun, suggests something that is spread 
out in the same way, like the gold in the example I just gave. The sky is 
evidently not conceived of as an emptiness or ether, but rather as a hard 
thing that has been spread out in this 'hammering out' kind of way.

Yes, there are other words that mean to beat in repetitive manner, like כתת. 
But they are in some way synonymous or have overlapping semantic domains, 
even as they each have specific exclusive nuances. The root כתת has the sense 
of beating or crushing down in order to pulverise into small pieces. The idea 
of רקע is to beat something out in a particular shape—not to pulverise into 
pieces.


GEORGE ATHAS
Dean of Research,
Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au)
Sydney, Australia