Language
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (and said )- Psalm 107:25, “For he commanded (spoke) and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.”
אֱלֹהִ֔ים (God )אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) is a plural form ofאֵל (god) and is commonly used as a name for the God of Israel. It can also refer to foreign gods (idols), angels, or human judges, but when referring to God, it is accompanied by singular verbs. In theology, the plural form is called “plural of majesty,” signifying God’s incomparable greatness and complexity.- Exodus 20:2-3 – “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”
יְהִ֥י (let there be )- Psalm 33:9, “For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”
רָקִ֖יעַ (expanse )- Psalms 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
בְּת֣וֹךְ (in [the] midst of )- Exodus 14:22, “And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.”
- Luke 17:20b-21, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
הַמָּ֑יִם (the waters )מַיִם (waters) is actually a dual form in Hebrew, appears in diverse contexts, often symbolizing chaos (in the ancient Near Eastern context), sustenance, or purification. Its dual form may be reflective of water’s dual nature: it can both give life and destroy, as seen in narratives like Noah’s flood and the parting of the Red Sea.- Psalm 148:4, “Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!”
מַבְדִּ֔יל (separate )מַבְדִּיל is often used in religious or ritualistic contexts to denote the act of separating holy from unholy, or pure from impure. For example, in the creation account in Genesis, God separates light from darkness, and land from water. It is also used in Leviticus to discuss the dietary laws that distinguish clean animals from unclean ones.- Leviticus 10:10, “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.”
- Leviticus 20:26, “You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
Word of the DayAn important Hebrew word from Genesis 1:6 is
רָקִיעַ (expanse, firmament). The rootרקע has the basic meaning of “to spread out” or “to stretch,” or “to beat or stamp out” as in the working of metal. In the Bible,רָקִיעַ is not just a passive background but a feature of creation that was actively “stamped” or “spread out” by God to separate “the waters from the waters,” essentially creating a division between what would become the sky and the sea. In the Ancient Near East, the concept often referred to the sky as a solid dome, which was the prevailing cosmological view at the time. Throughout the Hebrew Bible,רָקִיעַ generally refers to the sky or heavens, often as the domain of celestial bodies like the sun, moon, and stars (e.g., Genesis 1:14-17). The term emphasizes the grandeur and complexity of creation, serving as a testament to God’s creative power and wisdom. In a theological context, it symbolizes the structured order that God brings to the universe, separating and defining realms as part of the divine creative process.
Insights
- God as Separator: Genesis 1:6 shows God’s ability to separate elements within His creation (“Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters”). This demonstrates His authority and power to set boundaries, emphasizing His sovereignty and wisdom.
- Orderliness of God: By separating the waters above from the waters below, God brings about order within His creation. This action manifests God’s nature as an organized and systematic Creator, showing that everything has a place and function within His design.
- Supremacy over Natural Elements: The act of separating the waters underscores God’s supremacy over all natural elements. The waters did not separate themselves; it was God’s word that brought about the separation, reinforcing His ultimate control over the natural world.
- Preparation for Life: God’s act of separating waters creates a space for life to eventually exist. The act of separating the waters also reveals the wisdom of God in setting up ecosystems and natural laws that would be foundational for life.
- The Immanence of God: While God is transcendent, His act of separating the waters in Genesis 1:6 also shows His immanence. He is intricately involved in the details of His creation, not a distant Creator but one who actively sustains and governs His creation.
- Uniqueness of the Biblical Account: Unlike other ancient Near Eastern accounts, where water is often deified, the biblical account in Genesis 1:6 firmly places water as part of God’s creation, showing that He alone is sovereign.
Cross-References
“The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself. Therefore, when there is a question about the true and full meaning of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), that meaning must be searched out and ascertained by other places that speak more clearly.” (WCF 1.9)
- Job 37:18, “Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?”
- This verse from Job illustrates the idea of God spreading out the expanse or sky, similar to the separation of waters mentioned in Genesis 1:6, emphasizing God’s creative power.
- Proverbs 8:27-28, “When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep.”
- Here speaks of God’s role in establishing the heavens, which relates to the creation of the expanse or sky in Genesis 1:6, emphasizing His wisdom and involvement in creation.
- Psalm 104:2, “Covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.”
- Psalm 104:2 uses poetic language to describe God stretching out the heavens, similar to the act of creating the expanse mentioned in Genesis 1:6.
- Isaiah 40:22, “It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;”
- This verse in Isaiah emphasizes God’s sovereignty over the heavens and His ability to stretch them out, reinforcing the concept of God’s creative power.
- Jeremiah 10:12, “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.”
- In this verse, the stretching out of the heavens is emphasized as a part of God’s creative act. This stretching out is a poetic way of describing the expanse or space that God created to separate the waters above from the waters below, as described in the Genesis 1:6. The stretching out of the heavens signifies God’s sovereignty over the cosmos.
