Teks -- Genesis 1:7 (NET)

1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Gen 1:6-8

We have here an account of the second day's work, the creation of the firmament. In which observe, 1.

Wesley: Gen 1:6-8 - The command of God; 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 region, the celestial globe, and all the orbs of light above; it reaches as high as the place where the stars are fixed, for that is called here the firmament of heaven, Gen 1:14-15, and as low as the place where the birds fly for that also is called the firmament of heaven, Gen 1:20. 2. The creation of it: and God made the firmament. 3.

Wesley: Gen 1:6-8 - The design of it; to divide the waters from the waters

That is, to distinguish between the waters that are wrapt up in the clouds, and those that cover the sea; the waters in the air, and those in the earth. 4.

Wesley: Gen 1:6-8 - The naming it; He called the firmament Heaven

'Tis the visible heaven, the pavement of the holy city. The height of the heavens should mind us of God's supremacy, and the infinite distance that is between us and him; the brightness of the heavens, and their purity, should mind us of his majesty, and perfect holiness; the vastness of the heavens, and their encompassing the earth, and influence upon it, should mind us of his immensity and universal providence.

Defender: Gen 1:7 - above the firmament

The "waters which were above the firmament" are clearly not the clouds or the vapor which now float in the atmosphere. The Hebrew word al, definitely requires the meaning "above." Furthermore, the absence of rain (Gen 2:5) and the rainbow (Gen 9:13) is not only explained but required by a vapor canopy, not by an atmosphere like that of the present. Furthermore, these waters extending far out into space eventually condensed and fell back to the earth at the time of the Great Deluge, providing the source of the worldwide rainstorm that contributed to the Flood. Although the exact extent and structure of this canopy is still being researched by computer simulations, there are no insuperable scientific problems with the concept."

TSK: Gen 1:7 - divided // above // and it

divided : Pro 8:28, Pro 8:29

above : Job 26:8; Psa 104:10, Psa 148:4; Ecc 11:3

and it : Gen 1:9, Gen 1:11, Gen 1:15, Gen 1:24; Mat 8:27

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Gen 1:7 - The firmament // The waters under the firmament // The waters above the firmament

The firmament here is either,

1. The starry heaven; so called, not from its solidity, but from its fixed, durable, and, in a sort, incorruptible and unchangeable nature. Or,

2. The air; called here, the expansion or extension because it is extended far and wide, even from the earth to the third heaven; called also the firmament because it is fixed in its proper place, from whence it cannot be moved, unless by force.

The waters under the firmament are seas, rivers, lakes, fountains, and other waters in the bowels of the earth.

The waters above the firmament or above the heavens as they are called, Psa 148:4 , are either,

1. A collection or sea of waters placed by God above all the visible heavens, and there reserved for ends known to himself. Or rather,

2. The waters in the clouds; for the clouds are called waters, Psa 18:11 Psa 104:3 , and are said to be in heaven, 2Sa 21:10 Mat 24:30 , and the production thereof is mentioned as an eminent work of God's creation, Job 35:5 Job 36:29 Psa 147:8 Pro 8:28 ; which therefore it is not credible that Moses in his history of the creation would admit, which he doth, if they be not here meant; and these are rightly said to be above the firmament, i.e. the air, because they are above a considerable part of it. As God commanded and ordered it, so it was done and settled.

Haydock: Gen 1:7 - Above the firmament

Above the firmament and stars, according to some of the Fathers; or these waters were vapours and clouds arising from the earth, and really divided from the lower waters contained in the sea. (Calmet)

Gill: Gen 1:7 - 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 made the firmament,.... By a word speaking, commanding it into being, producing it out of the chaos, and spreading it in that vast space between the heaven of heavens and our earth ^z,

And divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; the lower part of it, the atmosphere above, which are the clouds full of water, from whence rain descends upon the earth; and which divided between them and those that were left on the earth, and so under it, not yet gathered into one place; as it now does between the clouds of heaven and the waters of the sea. Though Mr. Gregory ^a is of opinion, that an abyss of waters above the most supreme orb is here meant; or a great deep between the heavens and the heaven of heavens, where, as in storehouses, the depth is laid up; and God has his treasures of snow, hail, and rain, and from whence he brought out the waters which drowned the world at the universal deluge. Others suppose the waters above to be the crystalline heaven, which for its clearness resembles water; and which Milton ^b calls the "crystalline ocean",

And it was so: the firmament was accordingly made, and answered this purpose, to divide the waters below it from those above it; or "it was firm" ^c, stable and durable; and so it has continued.