What does firmament mean in genesis

Zira US English. Oliver British. Wendy British. Fred US English. Tessa South African. How to say firmament in sign language? Examples of firmament in a Sentence Omar Khayyam : When morning silvers the dark firmament , Why shrills the bird of dawning his lament?

Ralph Waldo Emerson : A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam that flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Philipus Aureolus Paracelsus : Thoughts give birth to a creative force that is neither elemental nor sidereal.

Popularity rank by frequency of use firmament Select another language:. Please enter your email address: Subscribe. Discuss these firmament definitions with the community: 0 Comments. Notify me of new comments via email. Cancel Report. Create a new account. Log In. Powered by CITE. There were no telescopes, space exploration, or means of testing the atmosphere.

They relied on what their senses told them. Biblical scholars agree on this understanding of raqia. For some Christians, however, this is troubling. How can the Bible, which is the inspired, revealed word of God, contain such an inaccurate piece of ancient nonsense? Hence, some invest a lot of time and energy to show that the raqia is not solid but more like the atmosphere.

Arguing for a non-solid raqia in Genesis is extremely problematic, for two reasons. First, the biblical and extrabiblical data indicate that raqia means a solid structure of some sort. The second problem is a much larger theological issue, but is actually more foundational. Regardless of what one thinks of the raqia, why would anyone assume that the ancient cosmology in Genesis could be expected to be in harmony with modern science in the first place?

This second issue creates a conflict where they need not be one. Our understanding of ancient perceptions of the cosmos has not been overturned by more information.

The debate exists because of the assumption made by some Christians that the ancient biblical description of the world must be compatible on a scientific level with what we know today. Genesis and modern science are neither enemies nor friends, but two different ways of describing the world according to the means available to the people living at these different times.

To insist that the description of the sky in Genesis 1 must conform to contemporary science is a big theological problem. It is important to remember that God always speaks in ways that people can actually understand. In the ancient world, people held certain views about the world around them. Those views are also reflected in Genesis.

Archer Jr. Waltke, Hughes, R. Genesis: Beginning and Blessing. Preaching the Word series. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway. Humphreys, D. Starlight and Time. Keil, C. Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch , original in Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans.

Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. Translated and edited by M. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. Kulikovsky, Andrew S. Luther, Martin. Translated by Jaroslav Pelikan. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing.

Oswalt, John N. Poythress, Vern S. Rosenberg, Joel W. Revised and updated. Edited by Paul J. Achtemeier et al. Ross, Allen P. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker. Sailhamer, John H. Sisters, Oregon: Multnomah. Sarfati, Jonathan D. Snelling, Andrew A. Dallas, Texas: Institute for Creation Research.

Steinmann, Andrew E. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1— Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas, Texas: Word Publishing.

Westermann, Claus. Genesis 1—11 , Continental Commentary. Translated by John J. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing. Whitcomb, John C. The Genesis Flood. Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed. Show more. Zachary Klein , et. To interpret the natural world through the lens of Scripture, one must have a correct understanding of the Fall and its effects on the physical creation.

Nathaniel T. Recent human history represents a novel arena in which to comparatively test evolution and young-earth creation YEC against each other. Jeanson , et. Pedigree-based mutation rates act as an independent test of the young-earth creation and evolutionary timescales.

Bible scholars have transliterated this Hebrew word in different ways which differ in technical linguistic exactness in English. Job ; Psalm ; and Isaiah and All the verses cited by Humphreys are in poetic passages, except the verses in Ezekiel and Zechariah. Ezekiel is describing something he saw in a vision. God is speaking in Zechariah. He refers to stretching out the heavens, laying the foundation of the earth and forming the spirit of a man within him. But translators differ on the correct tense of the verbs.

The LXX uses present participles. Hereafter this source is referred to as BDB. Also, Koehler and Baumgartner , The square-bracketed words in the translation reflect the syntactical relationship of the words in Hebrew and accurately reflect the meaning. Later, many others translated the rest of the Old Testament into Greek.

Whitcomb, who co-authored The Genesis Flood with Morris, also held to the canopy theory and says that God made two different firmaments, one on Day 2 and another on Day 4. See Whitcomb , In 2 Kings the man talking to Elisha is referring to a hypothetic situation to express his disbelief.

Even if this pagan believed in literal windows of heaven which is doubtful , the statement could not be legitimately used to say that the Bible teaches that heaven has literal windows. In 1 Samuel , the context shows that it is referring to a pillar of rock.

But in 1 Samuel it very likely is used metaphorically for Hannah is praising God for who He is and that He is sovereign over all. The parallelism of verse 7 equates the poor with the lowly people and the rich with the exalted. In the parallelism of verse 8, the poor are the needy and the nobles are the pillars of the earth.

In verse 9, she contrasts the godly and the wicked. And she ends her prayer referring to the King and His anointed. God is sovereign over all these people. This understanding is part of the basis for Dr. See a summary of the problems in Snelling , vol. This does not necessarily mean that there was no watery whether liquid, vapor, or ice canopy in the upper atmosphere of the pre-Flood world. It only means that without a clear biblical basis or a sound scientific model for believing that it existed, we cannot be dogmatic about either for or against the canopy theory.

The caption underneath the engraving not shown here translates to "A medieval missionary tells that he has found the point where heaven and Earth meet A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years," Genesis ESV. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. Share this. What Is the Firmament? Bible Meaning, Verses and Illustrations The firmament is mentioned in Genesis as part of the origin story of God creating the heavens and the earth.