Kejadian 1:6

1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse ¹  in the midst of the waters and let it separate water ²  from water.

Mazmur 33:6

33:6 By the Lord’s decree ³  the heavens were made;

by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created. ⁴ 

Mazmur 33:9

33:9 For he spoke, and it ⁵  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ⁶  and it stood firm.

Mazmur 148:5

148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for he gave the command and they came into existence.

Ibrani 11:3

11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds ⁷  were set in order at God’s command, ⁸  so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. ⁹ 

[1:6]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word refers to an expanse of air pressure between the surface of the sea and the clouds, separating water below from water above. In v. 8 it is called “sky.”

[1:6]  sn An expanse. In the poetic texts the writers envision, among other things, something rather strong and shiny, no doubt influencing the traditional translation “firmament” (cf. NRSV “dome”). Job 37:18 refers to the skies poured out like a molten mirror. Dan 12:3 and Ezek 1:22 portray it as shiny. The sky or atmosphere may have seemed like a glass dome. For a detailed study of the Hebrew conception of the heavens and sky, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 37-60.

[1:6]  ² tn Heb “the waters from the waters.”

[33:6]  ³ tn Heb “word.”

[33:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “and by the breath of his mouth all their host.” The words “were created” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons; they are understood by ellipsis (note “were made” in the preceding line). The description is consistent with Gen 1:16, which indicates that God spoke the heavenly luminaries into existence.

[33:9]  ⁵ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

[33:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “he commanded.”

[11:3]  ⁷ tn Grk “ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 1:2 for same usage.

[11:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “by God’s word.”

[11:3]  ⁹ sn The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that what is seen did not come into being from things that are visible.”