The second day of creation

The Second Day of
Creation
Gen. 1:6-8

The Second Day of Creation
Gen. 1:6-8
• A dome, also
firmament, an
expanse

Gen. 1:6-8
• A dome, also
firmament, an
expanse
• The Hebrew term is
related to a verb
that means “hammer
out”

Gen. 1:6-8
• Exodus 39:3

Gen. 1:6-8
• Exodus 39:3
• Gold was first
hammered into gold
leaf and then cut up
into threads, which
were woven with the
violet, purple and
scarlet yarn into an
embroidered pattern
on the fine linen.

Gen. 1:6-8
• “This suggests the ancient
Israelites imagined the
firmament as a hammered bowl
that is placed over the world
like a roof or dome, holding up
waters above the earth and
separating them from the seas
below. Modern readers must
recognize that the author’s
world view is one of his cultural
assumptions, not one of his
inspired assertions; thus the
cosmological presuppositions of
the author should not be taken
as revealed propositions to be
accepted by faith.” (Ignatius Catholic
Study Bible: Commentary, Notes and Study Questions;
Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch; Ignatius Press, San
Francisco, CA 2010 p.18)

Gen. 1:6-8
• “There can never, indeed, be any real
discrepancy between the theologian
and the physicist, as long as each
confines himself within his own lines,
and both are careful, as St. Augustine
warns us, "not to make rash assertions,
or to assert what is not known as
known." (In Gen. op. imperf. ix., 30) If
dissension should arise between them,
here is the rule also laid down by St.
Augustine, for the theologian:
"Whatever they can really
demonstrate to be true of physical
nature, we must show to be capable of
reconciliation with our Scriptures; and
whatever they assert in their treatises
which is contrary to these Scriptures
of ours, that is to Catholic faith, we
must either prove it as well as we can
to be entirely false, or at all events we
must, without the smallest hesitation,
believe it to be so." (De Gen. ad litt. i.
21, 41)...

Gen. 1:6-8
• Hence they did not seek to penetrate
the secrets of nature, but rather
described and dealt with things in
more or less figurative language, or in
terms which were commonly used at
the time, and which in many instances
are in daily use at this day, even by the
most eminent men of science. Ordinary
speech primarily and properly
describes what comes under the
senses; and somewhat in the same way
the sacred writers-as the Angelic
Doctor also reminds us - `went by what
sensibly appeared,"( Summa theol. p. I,
q. lxx., a. I, ad 3) or put down what
God, speaking to men, signified, in the
way men could understand and were
accustomed to.” (Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus
Deus: On the Study of Sacred Scripture, “The Authority
of Holy Scripture; Modern Criticism; Physical Science”
(1893)

Gen. 1:6-8
• An expanse

Gen. 1:6-8
• An expanse
• The Hebrew noun
rakia’ is unparalleled
in cognate languages.
The verbal form is
often used for
hammering out metal
or flattening out
earth, which suggests
a basic meaning of
“extending.” (The JPS Torah
Commentary: Genesis; Commentary by Nahum M.
Sarna; The Jewish Publications Society,
Philadelphia, PA 1989 p.8)

Gen. 1:6-8
• “extending”
• Nm. 17:4

Gen. 1:6-8
• “extending”
• Nm. 17:4
• So Eleazar the
priest had the
bronze censers of
those burned
during the offering
hammered into a
covering for the
altar,

Gen. 1:6-8
• “extending”
• Is 40:19

Gen. 1:6-8
• “extending”
• Is 40:19
• An idol, cast by a
craftsman, which
the smith plates
with gold and fits
with silver chains?

Gen. 1:6-8
• “extending”
• Jer. 10:9

Gen. 1:6-8
• “extending”
• Jer. 10:9
• Silver strips brought
from Tarshish, and
gold from Ophir, The
work of the
craftsman and the
handiwork of the
smelter, Clothed with
violet and purple - all
of them the work of
artisans.

Gen. 1:6-8
• “stamping with the
feet”
• 2 Sam. 22:43

Gen. 1:6-8
feet”
• 2 Sam. 22:43
• I ground them
fine as the dust
of the earth; like
the mud in the
streets I
trampled them
down.

Gen. 1:6-8
• “stamping with the feet”
• Ezekiel 6:11
•

Gen. 1:6-8
• “stamping with the feet”
• Ezekiel 6:11
• Thus says the Lord
GOD: Clap your hands,
stamp your feet, and
cry "Alas!" because of
all the abominations of
the house of Israel,
for which they shall
fall by the sword, by
famine, and by
pestilence.

Gen. 1:6-8
feet”
• Is. 42:5
•

Gen. 1:6-8
feet”
• Is. 42:5
• Thus says God, the
LORD, who created the
heavens and stretched
them out, who spreads
out the earth with its
crops, Who gives breath
to its people and spirit
to those who walk on it:

Gen. 1:6-8
• and so it happened or
and it was so

Gen. 1:6-8
• and so it happened or
and it was so
• “Henceforth this is the
standard formula for
expressing the execution
of the divine command. It
was only the brevity of
God’s initial utterance in
verse 3 that permitted
repetition of its content
without stylistic
clumsiness…each
occurrence immediately
follows the divine speech,
which is how it appears in
the Septuagint version of
the text.”

Gen. 1:6-8
• The formula “ki tov”,
“that it was good”, is
omitted because rain
has no value unless
there is dry land to be
fructified; the creative
acts relating to water
are not completed until
the third day, the
account of which
records the formula
twice.” (The JPS Torah Commentary:
Genesis; Commentary by Nahum M. Sarna; The Jewish
Publications Society, Philadelphia, PA 1989 p.8)

Gen. 1:6-8
• God made

Gen. 1:6-8
• God made
• “This verb…is used again in
verses 16 and 25, simply means
the divine intention became a
reality. It does not represent a
tradition of creation by deed as
opposed to word. This is clear
from a passage like Psalm 33:6
which features God’s creative
word and deed with no
perceptible difference between
them “By the word of the Lord
the heavens were made; by the
breath of his mouth all their
host.” In the same way, several
texts indiscriminately
interchange “create” bara and
“make” with God as the actor”
(The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis; Commentary by
Nahum M. Sarna; The Jewish Publications Society,
Philadelphia, PA 1989 p.8)

Gen. 1:6-8
• “Create” and
“Make” in Scripture

Gen. 1:6-8
• Is. 41:20

Gen. 1:6-8
• Is. 41:20
• That all may see and
know, observe and
understand, That
the hand of the
LORD has done this,
the Holy One of
Israel has created
it.

Gen. 1:6-8
• Is. 43:7

Gen. 1:6-8
• Is. 43:7
• Everyone who is
named as mine, whom
I created for my
glory, whom I
formed and made.

Gen. 1:6-8
• Is. 45:7

Gen. 1:6-8
• Is. 45:7
• I form the light, and
create the darkness,
I make well-being
and create woe; I,
the LORD, do all
these things.

Gen. 1:6-8
• the sky, heaven

Gen. 1:6-8
• the sky, heaven
• “…translated “sky” or
“heavens”…It is uncertain what
concept the Israelites had of
multiple heavens. In later
Jewish tradition, the lowest
level of heaven was thought to
be the atmosphere, and the
highest level was the dwelling
place of God. Different forms
of the tradition counted three
heavens (2 Cor. 12:2: “I know
someone in Christ who, fourteen
years ago (whether in the body
or out of the body I do not
know, God knows), was caught up
to the third heaven.”; or seven
heavens (Talmud, b. Hagigah
12b).

Gen. 1:6-8
• the sky, heaven
• Ps. 104:2

Gen. 1:6-8
• the sky, heaven
• Ps. 104:2
• robed in light as
with a cloak. You
spread out the
heavens like a tent;

Gen. 1:6-8
• the sky, heaven
• Zech 12:1

Gen. 1:6-8
• the sky, heaven
• Zech 12:1
• An oracle: the word of
the LORD concerning
Israel. Thus says the
LORD, who spreads out
the heavens, lays the
foundations of the
earth, and forms the
spirit of man within him:

The second day of creation

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked (7)

Similar to The second day of creation (20)

More from Ronald Cormier (13)

Recently uploaded (20)

The second day of creation