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Yesterday at 10:35 PM RazorX said this in Post #1

What Does This Verse Mean? Specifically the stuff in italic?

"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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A quote from Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary:

firmament--an expanse--a beating out as a plate of metal: a name given to the atmosphere from its appearing to an observer to be the vault of heaven, supporting the
weight of the watery clouds. By the creation of an atmosphere, the lighter parts of the waters which overspread the earth's surface were drawn up and suspended in the visible
heavens, while the larger and heavier mass remained below. The air was thus "in the midst of the waters," that is, separated them; and this being the apparent use of it, is the
only one mentioned, although the atmosphere serves other uses, as a medium of life and light.

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A quote from Family Bible Notes:

Firmament; in the original, expanse; namely, that above and around the earth, which we call sky.

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From Barnes notes on the bible:

Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water. - For this purpose God now calls into existence the expanse. This is that interval of space between the earth on the one side and the birds on the wing, the clouds and the heavenly bodies on the other, the lower part of which we know to be occupied by the air. This will appear more clearly from a comparison of other passages in this chapter (Gen_1:14, Gen_1:20).

And let it be dividing between water and water. - It appears that the water in a liquid state was in contact with another mass of water, in the shape of dense fogs and vapors; not merely overhanging, but actually resting on the waters beneath. The object of the expanse is to divide the waters which are under it from those which are above it.

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Hope that helps.

Some people have interpreted it simply as suggesting that there is water on both sides of land, thus, the land divides water from water; some scholars think the original cosmology was that there was an infinite plain of water, out of which land was raised.

I think it just means that there is water in the sky (like clouds) and water on the earth (like the ocean, seas, rivers, etc.)

21st February 2003 at 12:35 AM RazorX said this in Post #1

What Does This Verse Mean? Specifically the stuff in italic?

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters'

Click to expand...

 It is an interesting observation, and I don't have a definitive answer, but I believe strongly that in those days, the earth was different than it is now, or at least there were different things that were obvious (like a division of waters above and below). The reason I say that is looking at the Great Flood, we find that the floodwaters came, not just from the rain, but from below!

"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." Genesis 7:11

 There's something else I just noticed as well. The way the Lord got rid of those waters was different:

"And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
  The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;"

 Genesis 8:1,2

 Notice that the waters were taken from the earth by wind as well as over time (evaporation?). Both the windows of heaven (rain) and the fountains of the deep (?) were stopped. So something spectacular happened.

 More evidence that there was a change seems to come in two forms: (1) Man's lifespan shortened drastically and (2) Fermentation was possible. Now, it isn't conclusive, but it appears that the atmosphere seriously changed after the flood. So we don't necessarily have a proper reference for the waters of the deep.

 Just my take.

21st February 2003 at 04:35 AM RazorX said this in Post #1

What Does This Verse Mean? Specifically the stuff in italic?

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters'

Click to expand...

My first question would be , what is a firmament ?

And as far as the waters go check this  :

Jesus said to a woman , "drink my water and you will never thirst again"

And what about this type of water&nbsp; :&nbsp; <SUP>15</SUP>Then he said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.<SUP> </SUP>

<SUP>And then there is ordinary rain water , so which water do we choose ?</SUP>

<SUP></SUP>&nbsp;&nbsp;




&nbsp;

PM RazorX said...

What Does This Verse Mean? Specifically the stuff in italic?

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters


Eph writes...

It means that prior to the flood there was water above the earth and it was seperated by the "firmament"..

Firmament is a word that...comes from the Latin Volgate verison of the Bible...

In other places in the Bible it is described as looking like crystal...as making noise....

When it broke...it came crashing down to earth and water came down with it...!

MY best guess is it was some sort of Ice ring simular to Saturn's rings that melted and caused the flood...! There is a book by a man named "Dillow" who wrote in great length about it...called The Waters Above....I know Capstone books has it...!

There's alot more in the Bible about it..along with the reference of the 7 days of light just before the flood...that might have had something to do with it melting..!

<BLOCKQUOTE>THIS WAS TAKEN FROM www.drdino.com&nbsp;(this is not meant to be a debate on how you feel about Kent Hovind. Eat the meat and spit out the bones.)

The Bible teaches that before the flood a canopy of water surrounded the earth. This canopy is mentioned in Gen. 1:6&amp;7, Psalms 148:4 and II Peter 3:5. The Creation Account in Genesis 1 records that a mist that went forth and watered the face of the whole ground. Genesis mentions no other precipitation until the flood brought rain for 40 days and 40 nights. Many people teach that rain never fell before the flood. Although that is probably true, it cannot be taught dogmatically because the Bible simply does not mention the subject. Possibly if the canopy of water that is mentioned in Genesis 1:6 and 7 increased the air pressure, as many think it did, rain was not possible.

It may be that Noah was preaching that rain would come out of the sky (something that had never happened), and the people laughed just like today when Christians preach that Jesus will come out of the sky (something that has never happened) to catch up all believers in Christ. See Matthew 24:37, Luke 17:26 and I Thess 4:16.

This is the theory. Some things that support that theory are:

If the canopy existed it would have blocked out ozone (which speeds up the aging process) and people would have lived longer...to say...900? After the flood people just didn't live as long...

Also if the canopy existed it has been said that the air pressure would have been highly increased. When air pressure is increased things grow ALOT larger. (The bible says, there were giants in those days, there were also dinosaurs.)

Just a few notes. I know there are more, but it is late and I just don't have them on my brain. Take them for what they are worth. Research them. Don't just take my word for it. Mixee.

This might be what a few of the others were saying, but I heard once that the Jewish belief of how the earth was made is that there was this 'dome' between two parts of water... sort of like this | ( ) | only turn it so that the lines are horizontal. This probably isn't making sense, but I think that they were saying that God separated water from water, bring some water 'above the dome' of the sphere of earth and some being the waters of the earth. I would also agree with Mixaleena and Nicolai's posts.

You've probably lost track of what I was saying...haha...I have a tendency to ramble, but if you could follow, I hope that helps.