Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Hi Ted!

Thanks for your post. There is a difference between the clouds that bring 
rain and the waters above the sky-dome (רקיע). In the flood narrative, the 
water is not brought by clouds, but rather by the opening of the sluice gates 
in the רקיע above allowing the celestial sea to inundate the earth below, and 
the bursting open of the springs of the deep (תהום). See Genesis 7.11–12. The 
separation of waters that is mentioned in Gen 1 is undone in the flood, such 
that the flood is envisioned not merely as a big deluge of rain, but rather 
as an act of uncreation leading to a new beginning—a second genesis. The 
flood (מבול) is, in fact, the celestial sea allowed to inundate the earth 
below. This is confirmed in Ps 29, where Yahweh is pictured as enthroned 
permanently at this celestial sea — that is, at the מבול, the same word for 
'flood'. After all, Yahweh is pictured as the God of the Heavens, whose 
dwelling is above the waters — that is, on the other side of the רקיע, which 
is generally why he can't usually be seen.

Also, you quoted Job 26, but did not mention 26.11:


‏עַמּוּדֵ֣י שָׁמַ֣יִם יְרוֹפָ֑פוּ וְ֝יִתְמְה֗וּ מִגַּעֲרָתֽוֹ׃

The pillars of the sky totter, but freeze at his reprimand.

The fuller picture in Job is this: an earth seemingly suspended in an ether 
(in this, Job probably differs from other biblical writers who see the earth 
floating on water), with pillars holding up a sky that can totter. The next 
few verses imply that these were created by Yahweh's conquest of Rahab the 
sea snake. Are you seeing only the pillars of the sky as metaphorical? If so, 
why? What is your method for slicing off a metaphor here from reality in this 
bigger cosmological picture? Or is it the case that Job sees creation as the 
result of Yahweh's successful conquest of a chaos monster, resulting in a 
hard-panelled sky that balances on pillars.


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