The Firmament and the Waters
The nature of the firmament (rakia) as the starry heaven and celestial orbs, made from condensed waters on the second day. "Firmament" in Hebrew is rakia, whose root raka means to spread out, stretch, and solidify. Above all the heavens, immediately below the empyrean, there are true and natural waters. From the primordial abyss, partly thinned and partly condensed, all heavens were made, as crystal is formed from frozen water.
Chapter I (The Six Days of Creation)
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Verse 6: Let there be a firmament
— "Firmament" (rakia) means something spread out, stretched, and solidified — like molten bronze; called stereoma in Greek, firmamentum in Latin.
""Firmament" is called in Hebrew rakia, whose root, raka, according to St. Jerome and other most learned Hebrews, means to spread out, to stretch, and by stretching to make firm and solidify something that was previously fluid and thin."
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Verse 6: Let there be a firmament
— The firmament is the starry heaven and all celestial orbs; above all the heavens, immediately below the empyrean, there are true and natural waters.
"I say that the firmament is the starry heaven and all the celestial orbs neighboring it, both lower and upper up to the empyrean. And so above all the heavens, immediately below the empyrean heaven, there are true and natural waters."
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Heaven and Earth: Four Interpretations
— The earth, empyrean, and the abyss of waters were the first three things created; from the abyss, partly thinned and partly condensed, all heavens were made, as crystal is formed from frozen water.
"from which abyss, or water, partly thinned out and partly condensed and solidified, all the heavens were made, or the firmament on the second day, and all the stars on the fourth day: just as crystal is formed from frozen water."