Kejadian 1:6-8

1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse ¹  in the midst of the waters and let it separate water ²  from water. 1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. ³  It was so. ⁴  1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” ⁵  There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

Yehezkiel 1:22-26

1:22 Over the heads of the living beings was something like a platform, ⁶  glittering awesomely like ice, ⁷  stretched out over their heads. 1:23 Under the platform their wings were stretched out, each toward the other. Each of the beings also had two wings covering ⁸  its body. 1:24 When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings – it was like the sound of rushing waters, or the voice of the Almighty, ⁹  or the tumult ¹⁰  of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.

1:25 Then there was a voice from above the platform over their heads when they stood still. ¹¹  1:26 Above the platform over their heads was something like a sapphire shaped like a throne. High above on the throne was a form that appeared to be a man.

Yehezkiel 10:1

God’s Glory Leaves the Temple

10:1 As I watched, I saw ¹²  on the platform ¹³  above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them.

Daniel 12:3

12:3 But the wise will shine

like the brightness of the heavenly expanse.

And those bringing many to righteousness

will be like the stars forever and ever.

[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.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “the expanse.”

[1:7]  ⁴ tn This statement indicates that it happened the way God designed it, underscoring the connection between word and event.

[1:8]  ⁵ tn Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”

[1:22]  ⁶ tn Or “like a dome” (NCV, NRSV, TEV).

[1:22]  ⁷ tn Or “like crystal” (NRSV, NLT).

[1:23]  ⁸ tc Heb “each had two wings covering and each had two wings covering,” a case of dittography. On the analogy of v. 11 and the support of the LXX, which reads the same for v. 11 and this verse, one should perhaps read “each had two wings touching another being and each had two wings covering.”

[1:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “Shaddai” (probably meaning “one of the mountain”), a title that depicts God as the sovereign ruler of the world who dispenses justice. The Old Greek translation omitted the phrase “voice of the Almighty.”

[1:24]  ¹⁰ tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew word translated “tumult” is in Jer 11:16. It indicates a noise like that of the turmoil of a military camp or the sound of an army on the march.

[1:25]  ¹¹ tc The MT continues “when they stood still they lowered their wings,” an apparent dittography from the end of v. 24. The LXX commits haplography by homoioteleuton, leaving out vv. 25b and 26a by skipping from רֹאשָׁם (rosham) in v. 25 to רֹאשָׁם in v. 26.

[10:1]  ¹² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[10:1]  ¹³ tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.