![]() The usual explanation is that there was some kind of water or ice layer above the earth called the canopy which is pictured as follows: John Appelt Sometimes the question is also worded, “What is the canopy theory?” The question is based on the wording of Genesis 1:6, from which has come an interpretation known as the firmament/canopy theory. ![]() The firmament theory also has implications (again, according to my understanding) that are contradicted by other specific statements in the Bible that could not be (or have been) true if the firmament theory were valid, such as the visibility of the stars (discussed in Genesis 1:14-18). I have not studied Hebrew, but my understanding is that the usage of the same words in other contexts in the Old Testament does not support the contention of those words having the specific and exclusive meaning that proponents of the firmament theory assign to them. The theory seems to hinge on a specific translation of various words used in the original Hebrew text. The canopy is used to explain the long lifespans of pre-flood humanity, along with the source of all the water required to produce or explain a global flood. Army The firmament theory (to the best of my knowledge) maintains (based on a specific interpretation of the Genesis account of creation) that the original earth possessed a water canopy consisting of vapor (the most common interpretation) or ice that surrounded the earth above the troposphere and potentially up through the stratosphere. Genesis 7:11 mentions these windows, stating, “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. ![]() The water for rain, snow, hail, etc., was stored outside the raki’a, which had "windows" to release them onto the earth. According to Genesis 1:8, God called the firmament Heaven, giving it significance beyond just the border between the earth and beyond.Īccording to biblical cosmology, the firmament, seen as the sky from Earth, is essentially a fixed upside-down container over the Earth, colored blue from the heavenly waters above it. As part of the cosmic design, the firmament is the formation above the atmosphere of Earth, understood as an immense stable arch. In the story of creation, as found in Genesis, God formed the firmament to divide the "waters above" the earth from the "waters below" the earth. The “firmament” is mentioned 15 times in the King James Version of the Bible and refers to the expanse of the heavens above the earth. ![]() It was the support also of the heavenly bodies ( Genesis 1:14) and is spoken of as having "windows" and "doors" ( Genesis 7:11 Isaiah 24:18 Malachi 3:10) through which the rain and snow might descend. The raki'a supported the upper reservoir ( Psalms 148:4). It formed a division between the waters above and the waters below ( Genesis 1:7). It is plain that it was used to denote solidity and expansion. The language of Scripture is not scientific but popular, and hence we read of the sun rising and setting, and also here the use of this particular word. They who rendered raki'a by firmamentum regarded it as a solid body. This word means simply "expansion." It denotes the space or expanse like an arch appearing immediately above us. Merriam-Webster defines the firmament as “the vault or arch of the sky heavens.”Īccording to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, from the Vulgate firmamentum, which is used as the translation of the Hebrew raki'a, or raqia. The definition of the firmament can be essentially summarized as the arch or vault over the earth and sky that separates the earthly realm from what is beyond.
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