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One Word: Rakia Here are the steps to take to sometimes understand what the text is saying. Step 1. Read the text.
The Hebrew is quite simple and straightforward. The only difficult word is 'Rakia.' We are curious about this word. What exactly does it mean?
Step 2. Compare translations When a word is translated differently it is especially cause for suspicion! What other differences do you notice? Other translations use: God said, "Let there be an vault in the midst of the water... Step 3. Consult Commentaries/Other sources The earliest translation of the Bible into Latin from the original Hebrew is called the Vulgate (from the Latin Vulgata). It was done by a Church Father named Jerome (342-420 CE). His Hebrew was very proficient, and he lived for some time in Palestine. His Latin translation was accepted by the Catholic Church as the official version of Scripture. His use of 'firmamentum' has entered the English language as 'firmament.' Step 4. Check the Bible for cross references Sometimes seeing where else the word appears in the Bible is helpful. (A word that NEVER appears anywhere else is often problematic; such a solitary word is called a 'hapax legomenon.') Luckily in this case, the word Raki'a not only appears 7 times in Genesis, chap. 1, but it also appears in Psalms and Ezekiel. We use a volume called a 'Concordance' that is like a dictionary of every word of the Bible listed alphabetically with where it appears. There is a Hebrew concordance, as well as several English editions. Sometimes the name 'Lexicon' is used. Consult a store that carries Bibles and religious volumes. The Concordance is available as a book, but the equivalent function today can be accomplished by using the search function of any Bible on CD (several Hebrew editions are available), or nowadays on the Internet. There are a variety of Bible search engines. Of course, searching in English means knowing how the Hebrew word has been translated; it is quite possible that the same Hebrew word is translated differently, yielding inaccurate search results. You will need to experiment. In our case, searching for Rakia yields the following sources:
Check out the verses above. The Hebrew root ( Step 5. Study Commentators The Rabbis are always a handy source for help. Rav said, 'The heavens were in a fluid form on the first day, and on the second day they solidified.' Rav thus said, 'Let there be a firmament means let the firmament become strong.' Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Shimon said, 'Let the firmament become like a plate, just as you say in the verse (Ex. 39:3), 'And they did beat [from the same Hebrew root] the gold into thin plates.' (Breishit Rabbah 4:1) Step 6. Find a teacher/study partner Step 7. Come up with your conclusion What do you think 'Rakia' is? |
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One Word
The account of the second day's creation appears in Genesis 1:
6-8. After creating light, the text now tells us that God creates
a 'Raki'a' to separate the water. 
) also appears in Isaiah 42:5, 44:24, and Psalm 136:6, with the
meaning 'to spread out' (like a tent), or 'establish.' Job 39:14
reads: Can you help God stretch out the heavens, Firm as a mirror
of cat metal? It is also used to mean stamp [your feet] in Ezekiel
6:11; 25:6. We see in the construction of the Mishkan, that the
root is used in stamping metal. "The ephod was made of gold...They
hammered out sheets of gold..." (Exodus 39:3)