Genesis Chapter 1 verse 6 Holy Bible

ASV Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
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BBE Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be a solid arch stretching over the waters, parting the waters from the waters.
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DARBY Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it be a division between waters and waters.
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KJV Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
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WBT Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
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WEB Genesis 1:6

God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
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YLT Genesis 1:6

And God saith, `Let an expanse be in the midst of the waters, and let it be separating between waters and waters.'
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 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., στερέωμα; 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 on the water-flood which surrounds the earth (Proverbs 8:27), firm as a molten looking-glass (Job 37:18), borne by the highest mountains, which are therefore called the pillars and foundations of heaven (2 Samuel 22:8), and having doors and windows (Genesis 7:11; Genesis 28:17; Psalm 78:23), is to confound poetical metaphor with literal prose, optical and phenomenal language with strict scientific statement. The Vulgate and English translations of rakiya may convey the idea of solidity, though it is doubtful if στερέωμα (LXX.) does not signify that which makes firm as well as that which is made firm (McCaul, Wordsworth, W. Lewis), thus referring to the well-known scientific fact that the atmosphere by its weight upon the waters of the sea keeps them down, and by its pressure against our bodies keeps them up; but it is certain that not solidity, but expansiveness, is the idea represented by rakiya (cf. Scottish, tax, to stretch; Job 37:18; Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 40:22). "The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure,Transparent, elemental air, diffusedIn circuit to the uttermost convex Of this great round."(Milton, 'Par. Lost,' Bk. 7.) And let it divide the waters from the waters. What these waters were, which were designed to be parted by the atmospheric firmament, is explained in the verse which follows.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(6) A firmament.--This is the Latin translation of the Greek word used by the translators of the Septuagint Version. Undoubtedly it means something solid; and such was the idea of the Greeks, and probably also of the Hebrews. As such it appears in the poetry of the Bible, where it is described as a mighty vault of molten glass (Job 37:18), upheld by the mountains as pillars (Job 26:11; 2Samuel 22:8), and having doors and lattices through which the Deity pours forth abundance (Genesis 7:11; Psalm 78:23). Even in this "Hymn of Creation" we have poetry, but not expressed in vivid metaphors, but in sober and thoughtful language. Here, therefore, the word rendered "firmament" means an expanse. If, as geologists tell us, the earth at this stage was an incandescent mass, this expanse would be the ring of equilibrium, where the heat supplied from below was exactly equal to that given off by radiation into the cold ether above. And gradually this would sink lower and lower, until finally it reached the surface of the earth; and at this point the work of the second day would be complete.