Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ishnian" <ishinan AT comcast.net>]

The official translation of  Gen 1:20
According to the Masoretic Text


     כ  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים--יִשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם, שֶׁרֶץ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה; 
וְעוֹף יְעוֹפֵף עַל-הָאָרֶץ, עַל-פְּנֵי רְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם. 20 And God 
said: 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl 
fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.'


If the fowl flies over 'the surface' of the firmament, are you then 
suggesting that the fowl is flying through a solid matter or in the air? 
BTW, your interpretation does not match the official translation above, 
which is according to the Masoretic text . Besides pn' can be used in a 
great variety of applications one of them is being  'empty' or 'open' which 
would make more sense.

Sorry for disagreeing.


Ishinan Ishibashi


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> Ishinan wrote:
>
> > THE FIRMAMENT IS AN OPEN SPACE NOT A SOLID MATTER
> >
> > Gen 1:20 And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the
> > moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the
> > earth in the OPEN firmament of heaven.
>
> Actually, this is not correct. You've mistranslated the Hebrew expression 
> עַל־פְּנֵ֖י רְקִ֥יעַ הַשָּׁמָֽיִם. The expression is literally "over the 
> surface of the firmament of the sky". In particular, the expression 
> עַל־פְּנֵ֖י implies something that has a surface.
>
> The discussion of the word 'sky' is not really all that revealing, since 
> it can be used to refer to a number things: the open sky below the רקיע or 
> the whole entire structure that is 'up there'. Very clearly, though, in 
> Gen 1.20, the sky has a רקיע, which itself has a surface.