Genesis 1:6 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 1:6-8

We have here an account of the second day's work, the creation of the firmament, in which observe, 1. The command of God concerning it: Let there be a firmament, an expansion, so the Hebrew word signifies, like a sheet spread, or a curtain drawn out. This includes all that is visible above the earth, between it and the third heavens: the air, its higher, middle, and lower, regions?the celestial globe, and all the spheres and orbs of light above: it reaches as high as the place where the stars... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:6

And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters ,.... On which the Spirit of God was sitting and moving, Genesis 1:2 part of which were formed into clouds, and drawn up into heaven by the force of the body of fire and light already produced; and the other part left on the earth, not yet gathered into one place, as afterwards: between these God ordered a "firmament to be", or an "expanse" F22 רקיע "expansio", Montanus. Tigurine version; "extensio", Munster, Fagius,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be a firmament - Our translators, by following the firmamentum of the Vulgate, which is a translation of the στερεωμα of the Septuagint, have deprived this passage of all sense and meaning. The Hebrew word רקיע rakia , from רקע raka , to spread out as the curtains of a tent or pavilion, simply signifies an expanse or space, and consequently that circumambient space or expansion separating the clouds, which are in the higher regions of it, from the seas,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:6

Verse 6 6Let there be a firmament (58) The work of the second day is to provide an empty space around the circumference of the earth, that heaven and earth may not be mixed together. For since the proverb, ‘to mingle heaven and earth,’ denotes the extreme of disorder, this distinction ought to be regarded as of great importance. Moreover, the word רקיע (rakia) comprehends not only the whole region of the air, but whatever is open above us: as the word heaven is sometimes understood by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:6

Day two . The work of this day consisted in the formation of that immense gaseous ocean, called the atmosphere, by which the earth is encircled. And God said, Let there be a firmament ( rakiya , an expand, from rakah , to beat out; LXX ; στερε ì ωμα ; Vulgate, firmamentum ) in the midst of the waters . To affirm with Knobel, Gesenius, and others that the Hebrews supposed the atmospheric heavens to be a metallic substance ( Exodus 24:10 ), a vault fixed... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 1:6-8

- IV. The Second Day6. רקיע rāqı̂ya‛, “expanse;” στερέωμα stereōma, רקע rāqa‛, “spread out by beating, as leaf gold.” This expanse was not understood to be solid, as the fowl is said to fly on the face of it Genesis 1:21. It is also described as luminous Daniel 12:3, and as a monument of divine power Psalms 150:1.7. עשׂה ‛āśâh “work on,” “make out of already existing materials.”The second act of creative power bears upon the deep of waters, over which the darkness had prevailed, and by... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 1:6

Genesis 1:6. Let there be a firmament This term, which is an exact translation of the word used by the Septuagint, or Greek translation of the Old Testament, by no means expresses the sense of the word used by Moses, רקיע , rakiang, which merely means extension or expansion. And as this extension or expansion was to be in the midst of the waters, and was to divide the waters from the waters, it chiefly, if not solely, means the air or atmosphere which separates the water... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:1-31

THE STORY OF CREATIONThe Bible and scienceModern science has revealed so much about the wonders and the size of the physical universe that human beings may seem almost to be nothing. The Bible takes a different view. Human beings are its main concern, for they alone are made in God’s image. The story of creation is but an introduction to the story of God’s dealings with the human race. The Bible demonstrates this order of importance from the outset by fitting the story of creation into a mere... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Genesis 1:6

firmament = expanse. Something spread out. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 1:6-8

THE SECOND DAY"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day."The creation of the earth's atmosphere was God's work on the second day of creation. Jamieson pointed out that the term... read more