Genesis 1:8
in Genesis 1God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
KJV
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
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This verse in Genesis 1
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Let there be an expanse between the waters
on Genesis 1:6-8
The Hebrew word is raqia, from a root meaning to hammer out, as metal is beaten thin. JFB give that sense and call it an expanse. The older translations took it as something solid, which is how the Greek stereoma and the Latin firmamentum came to stand in for it.
This site's exposition
God called the expanse
The second day is the one day of the six that closes without the words God saw that it was good. Day three has it twice. Hippolytus held that after the first day God shaped what He had already made, and the sky here is formed out of the waters.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Although God had already previously made heaven, now he makes the firmament. For he made heaven first, about which he says, "Heaven is my throne." But after that he makes the firmament, that is, the corporeal heaven. For every corporeal object is, without doubt, firm and solid; and it is this that "divides the water which is above heaven from the water which is below heaven."
A commentator
Augustine of HippoON THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 8.29 · Written before 430.
proposed
Since Scripture called heaven the firmament, we can without absurdity hold that anything below the ethereal heaven, in which everything is peaceful and stable, is more mutable and perishable and is a kind of corporeal matter prior to the reception of beauty and the distinction of forms.
Although God said about the light that came to be on the first day that "it was very good," He did not say this about the firmament which came to be on the second day, because the firmament had not yet been finished, neither in …
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 9 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
GOD called the firmament heaven. It has been said that the scope of faith consists in two things, the extreme of loftiness and the extreme of depth. The scope of faith has been discussed: its firmness now remains to be covered.
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
There now follows the work of the second day, which is the second vision of understanding, lifted up by faith: and of this it is not said that God "saw" but that He "called" it.
4 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
In the work of virtue, six things are required corresponding to the works of the six days. It is necessary that a man set for himself a right end in God; and this is indicated when he says: Let there be a firmament in the …
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
GOD called the firmament heaven. The loftiness and firmness of faith have been explained. Now we must speak of its splendor. Heaven is called caelum, because engraved (caelatum), that is, sculptured with stars.
And if the words, "God saw that it was good," are not said of the work of the second day, this is because the work of distinguishing the waters was only begun on that day, but perfected on the third.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And God called the firmament heaven,....
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֧א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֛ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ | larakia' | <to> the firmament | H7549 → | 17 times |
| שָׁמָ֑יִם | shamayim | heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וַֽיְהִי־ | vayhi- | and there was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עֶ֥רֶב | ʾerev | evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
| וַֽיְהִי־ | vayhi- | and there was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בֹ֖קֶר | voker | morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| י֥וֹם | yom | a day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שֵׁנִֽי׃ פ | sheni | second | H8145 → | 156 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֧אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֱלֹהִ֛יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ<to> the firmament
larakia'H7549 →17 times
שָׁמָ֑יִםheaven
shamayimH8064 →421 times
וַֽיְהִי־and there was
vayhi-H1961 →3559 times
עֶ֥רֶבevening
ʾerevH6153 →134 times
וַֽיְהִי־and there was
vayhi-H1961 →3559 times
בֹ֖קֶרmorning
vokerH1242 →214 times
י֥וֹםa day
yomH3117 →2304 times
שֵׁנִֽי׃ פsecond
sheniH8145 →156 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 1:31And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 4:4
For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Psalms 104:24
How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
- Psalms 19:1–2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
- Exodus 20:11
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath…
- 1 Timothy 4:4
Through
Genesis 1:5God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
it leads to
- Psalms 74:16
The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.
- Isaiah 45:7
I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:5
For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
- Psalms 104:20
You bring darkness, and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest prowl.
- Psalms 74:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies40
On this chapter
- Adam
- The Bible and the Ancient Near East
- The Designer's Fingerprint
- The Numbers of Scripture
- The Covenants
- Creation and Evolution
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About Genesis
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 8.29; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 9; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 4; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 10; Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary (church-history corpus); Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments - On Genesis; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 1.2 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary (church-history corpus).