Genesis 1:7
New International Version
So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.

New Living Translation
And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens.

English Standard Version
And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.

Berean Standard Bible
So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.

King James Bible
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

New King James Version
Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

New American Standard Bible
God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so.

NASB 1995
God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

NASB 1977
And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Legacy Standard Bible
So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Amplified Bible
And God made the expanse [of sky] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so [just as He commanded].

Christian Standard Bible
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.

American Standard Version
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And God made the firmament, and it separated between the waters lower than the sky and between the waters that were higher than the sky, and it was in this way.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And God made the firmament, and God divided between the water which was under the firmament and the water which was above the firmament.

Contemporary English Version
And that's what happened. God made the dome

Douay-Rheims Bible
And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.

English Revised Version
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So God made the horizon and separated the water above and below the horizon. And so it was.

International Standard Version
So God made a canopy that separated the water beneath the canopy from the water above it. And that is what happened:

JPS Tanakh 1917
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

Literal Standard Version
And God makes the expanse, and it separates between the waters which [are] under the expanse, and the waters which [are] above the expanse: and it is so.

Majority Standard Bible
So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.

New American Bible
God made the dome, and it separated the water below the dome from the water above the dome. And so it happened.

NET Bible
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.

New Revised Standard Version
So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.

New Heart English Bible
And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse.

Webster's Bible Translation
And God made the firmament; and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

World English Bible
God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Young's Literal Translation
And God maketh the expanse, and it separateth between the waters which are under the expanse, and the waters which are above the expanse: and it is so.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Second Day
6And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so. 8God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.…

Cross References
Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.

Job 38:8
Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,

Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

Psalm 148:4
Praise Him, O highest heavens, and you waters above the skies.


Treasury of Scripture

And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

divided.

Proverbs 8:28,29
When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: …

above.

Job 26:8
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

Psalm 104:10
He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.

Psalm 148:4
Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

and it.

Genesis 1:9,11,15,24
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so…

Matthew 8:27
But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

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Arch Below Divided Division Expanse Firmament Maketh Separated Separateth Water Waters
Genesis 1
1. God creates heaven and earth;
3. the light;
6. the firmament;
9. separates the dry land;
14. forms the sun, moon, and stars;
20. fishes and fowls;
24. cattle, wild beasts, and creeping things;
26. creates man in his own image, blesses him;
29. grants the fruits of the earth for food.














(7) God made the firmament.--This wide open expanse upon earth's surface, supplied by the chemistry of nature--that is, of God--with that marvellous mixture of gases which form atmospheric air, was a primary necessity for man's existence and activity. In each step of the narrative it is ever man that is in view; and even the weight of the superincumbent atmosphere is indispensable for the health and comfort of the human body, and for the keeping of all things in their place on earth. (See Note, Genesis 1:8.) And in this secondary sense it may still rightly be called the firmament.

The waters which were under the firmament . . . the waters which were above the firmament.--While this is a popular description of what we daily see--namely, masses of running water congregated upon earth's surface, and above a cloudland, into which the waters rise and float--it is not contrary to, but in accordance with, science. The atmosphere is the receptacle of the waters evaporated from the earth and ocean, and by means of electrical action it keeps these aqueous particles in a state of repulsion, and forms clouds, which the winds carry in their bosom. So full of thoughtful contrivance and arrangement are the laws by which rain is formed and the earth watered, that they are constantly referred to in the Bible as the chief natural proof of God's wisdom and goodness. (See Acts 14:17.) Moreover, were there not an open expanse next the earth, it would be wrapped in a perpetual mist, unvisited by sunshine. and the result would be such as is described in Genesis 2:5, that man could not exist on earth to till the ground. The use, however, of popular language and ideas is confessedly the method of Holy Scripture, and we must not force upon the writer knowledge which man was to gain for himself. Even if the writer supposed that the rains were poured down from an upper reservoir, it would be no more an argument against his being inspired than St. Mark's expression, "The sun did set" (Mark 1:32), disproves the inspiration of the Gospels. For the attainment of all such knowledge God has provided another way.

Verse 7. - And God made the firmament. How the present atmosphere was evolved from the chaotic mass of waters the Mosaic narrative does not reveal. The primary intention of that record being not to teach science, but to discover religious truth, the thing of paramount importance to be communicated was that the firmament was of God's construction. This, of course, does not prevent us from believing that the elimination of those gases (twenty-one parts of oxygen and seventy-nine of nitrogen, with a small proportion of carbonic acid gas and aqueous vapor) which compose our atmosphere was not effected by natural means; and how far it may have been assisted by the action of the light upon the condensing mass of the globe is a problem in the solution of which science may legitimately take an interest. And divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. The upper waters are not the material of the stars (Delitzsch, Wordsworth), although Jupiter is of the same density as water, and Saturn only half its density; but the waters floating about in the higher spaces of the air. The under waters are not the lower atmospheric vapors, but the oceanic and terrestrial waters. How the waters are collected in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, Scripture, no less than science, explains to be by means of evaporation (Genesis 2:6; Job 36:27; Job 37:16). These latter passages suggest that the clouds are balanced, suspended, upheld by the buoyancy of the air in exact accordance with scientific principles. And it was so. Six times these words occur in the creation record. Sublimely suggestive of the resistless energy of the Divine word, which speaks, and it is done, commands, and it standeth fast, they likewise remind us of the sweet submissiveness of the creature to the all-wise Creator's will, and, perhaps, are designed as well to intimate the fixed and permanent character of those arrangements to which they are attached.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So God
אֱלֹהִים֮ (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

made
וַיַּ֣עַשׂ (way·ya·‘aś)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

the expanse
הָרָקִיעַ֒ (hā·rā·qî·a‘)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7549: An expanse, the firmament, visible arch of the sky

and separated
וַיַּבְדֵּ֗ל (way·yaḇ·dêl)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 914: To be divided, separate

the waters
הַמַּ֙יִם֙ (ham·ma·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

beneath
מִתַּ֣חַת (mit·ta·ḥaṯ)
Preposition-m
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of

[it]
לָרָקִ֔יעַ (lā·rā·qî·a‘)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7549: An expanse, the firmament, visible arch of the sky

from
וּבֵ֣ין (ū·ḇên)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 996: An interval, space between

the waters
הַמַּ֔יִם (ham·ma·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

above.
מֵעַ֣ל (mê·‘al)
Preposition-m
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

And it was
וַֽיְהִי־ (way·hî-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

so.
כֵֽן׃ (ḵên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus


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OT Law: Genesis 1:7 God made the expanse and divided (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 1:6
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