THE FIRMAMENT
The sixth verse of the first chapter of Genesis presents a difficulty as
to the precise meaning of the principal word, viz. that translated
_firmament_.
"And God said, Let there be a _r[=a]qi[=a]`_ in the midst of
the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And
God made the _r[=a]qi[=a]`_, and divided the waters which were
under the _r[=a]qi[=a]`_ from the waters which were above the
_r[=a]qi[=a]`_: and it was so. And God called the
_r[=a]qi[=a]`_ _Shamayim_. And the evening and the morning
were the second day."
It is, of course, perfectly clear that by the word _r[=a]qi[=a]`_ in the
preceding passage it is the atmosphere that is alluded to. But later on
in the chapter the word is used in a slightly different connection. "God
said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven."
As we look upward from the earth, we look through a twofold medium. Near
the earth we have our atmosphere; above that there is inter-stellar
space, void of anything, so far as we know, except the Ether. We are not
able to detect any line of demarcation where our atmosphere ends, and
the outer void begins. Both therefore are equally spoken of as "the
firmament"; and yet there is a difference between the two. The lower
supports the clouds; in the upper are set the two great lights and the
stars. The upper, therefore, is emphatically _reqi[=a]` hasshamayim_,
"the firmament of heaven," of the "uplifted." It is "in the face
of"--that is, "before," or "under the eyes of," "beneath,"--this higher
expanse that the fowls of the air fly to and fro.
The firmament, then, is that which Tennyson sings of as "the central
blue," the seeming vault of the sky, which we can consider as at any
height above us that we please. The clouds are above it in one sense;
yet in another, sun, moon and stars, which are clearly far higher than
the clouds, are set in it.
There is no question therefore as to what is referred to by the word
"firmament"; but there is a question as to the etymological meaning of
the word, and associated with that, a question as to how the Hebrews
themselves conceived of the celestial vault.
The word _r[=a]qi[=a]`_, translated "firmament," properly signifies "an
expanse," or "extension," something stretched or beaten out. The verb
from which this noun is derived is often used in Scripture, both as
referring to the heavens and in other connections. Thus in Job xxxvii.
18, the question is asked, "Canst thou with Him _spread out_ the sky,
which is strong as a molten mirror?" Eleazar, the priest, after the
rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram took the brazen censers of the
rebels, and they were "_made broad_ plates for a covering of the altar."
The goldsmith described by Isaiah as making an idol, "_spreadeth it
over_ with gold"; whilst Jeremiah says, "silver _spread_ into plates is
brought from Tarshish." Again, in Psalm cxxxvi., in the account of
creation we have the same word used with reference to the earth, "To him
that _stretched out_ the earth above the waters." In this and in many
other passages the idea of extension is clearly that which the word is
intended to convey. But the Seventy, in making the Greek Version of the
Old Testament, were naturally influenced by the views of astronomical
science then held in Alexandria, the centre of Greek astronomy. Here,
and at this time, the doctrine of the crystalline spheres--a
misunderstanding of the mathematical researches of Eudoxus and
others--held currency. These spheres were supposed to be a succession of
perfectly transparent and invisible solid shells, in which the sun,
moon, and planets were severally placed. The Seventy no doubt considered
that in rendering _r[=a]qi[=a]`_, by _stere[=o]ma_, i. e. firmament,
thus conveying the idea of a solid structure, they were speaking the
last word of up-to-date science.
There should be no reluctance in ascribing to the Hebrews an erroneous
scientific conception if there is any evidence that they held it. We
cannot too clearly realize that the writers of the Scriptures were not
supernaturally inspired to give correct technical scientific
descriptions; and supposing they had been so inspired, we must bear in
mind that we should often consider those descriptions wrong just in
proportion to their correctness, for the very sufficient reason that not
even our own science of to-day has yet reached finality in all things.
There should be no reluctance in ascribing to the Hebrews an erroneous
scientific conception if there is any evidence that they held it. In
this case, there is no such evidence; indeed, there is strong evidence
to the contrary.
The Hebrew word _r[=a]qi[=a]`_, as already shown, really signifies
"extension," just as the word for heaven, _shamayim_ means the
"uplifted." In these two words, therefore, significant respectively of a
surface and of height, there is a recognition of the "three
dimensions,"--in other words, of Space.
When we wish to refer to super-terrestrial space, we have two
expressions in modern English by which to describe it: we can speak of
"the vault of heaven," or of "the canopy of heaven." "The vault of
heaven" is most used, it has indeed been recently adopted as the title
of a scientific work by a well-known astronomer. But the word _vault_
certainly gives the suggestion of a solid structure; whilst the word
_canopy_ calls up the idea of a slighter covering, probably of some
textile fabric.
The reasons for thinking that the Hebrews did not consider the
"firmament" a solid structure are, first, that the word does not
necessarily convey that meaning; next, that the attitude of the Hebrew
mind towards nature was not such as to require this idea. The question,
"What holds up the waters above the firmament?" would not have troubled
them. It would have been sufficient for them, as for the writer to the
Hebrews, to consider that God was "upholding all things by the word of
His power," and they would not have troubled about the machinery. But
besides this, there are many passages in Scripture, some occurring in
the earliest books, which expressly speak of the clouds as carrying the
water; so that the expressions placing waters "above the firmament," or
"above the heavens," can mean no more than "in the clouds." Indeed, as
we shall see, quite a clear account is given of the atmospheric
circulation, such as could hardly be mended by a modern poet.
It is true that David sang that "the _foundations_ of heaven moved and
shook, because He was wroth," and Job says that "the _pillars_ of heaven
tremble and are astonished at His reproof." But not only are the
references to foundations and pillars evidently intended merely as
poetic imagery, but they are also used much more frequently of the
earth, and yet at the same time Job expressly points out that God
"stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth
upon nothing." The Hebrew formed no ideas like those of the Hindus, who
thought the earth supported by elephants, the elephants by a tortoise,
the tortoise by a snake.
In Scripture, in most cases the word "earth" (_eretz_) does not mean the
solid mass of this our planet, but only its surface; the "dry land" as
opposed to the "seas"; the countries, the dwelling place of man and
beast. The "pillars" or "foundations" of the earth in this sense are the
great systems of the rocks, and these were conceived of as directly
supported by the power of God, without any need of intermediary
structures. The Hebrew clearly recognized that it is the will of God
alone that keeps the whole secure.
Thus Hannah sang--
"The pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
And He hath set the world upon them."
And Asaph represents the Lord as saying:--
"The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved:
I bear up the pillars of it."
Yet again, just as we speak of "the celestial canopy," so Psalm civ.
describes the Lord as He "who stretchest out the heavens like a
curtain," and Isaiah gives the image in a fuller form,--"that stretcheth
out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell
in." The same expression of "stretching out the heavens" is repeatedly
used in Isaiah; it is indeed one of his typical phrases. Here, beyond
question, extension, spreading out, is the idea sought to be conveyed,
not that of solidity.
The prophet Amos uses yet another parallel. "It is He that buildeth His
stories in the heaven." While Isaiah speaks of the entire stellar
universe as the tent or pavilion of Jehovah, Amos likens the height of
the heavens as the steps up to His throne; the "stories" are the
"ascent," as Moses speaks of the "ascent of Akrabbim," and David makes
"the ascent" of the Mount of Olives. The Hebrews cannot have regarded
the heavens as, literally, both staircase and reservoir.
The firmament, _i. e._ the atmosphere, is spoken of as dividing between
the waters that are under the firmament, _i. e._ oceans, seas, rivers,
etc., from the waters that are above the firmament, _i. e._ the masses
of water vapour carried by the atmosphere, seen in the clouds, and
condensing from them as rain. We get the very same expression as this of
the "waters which were above" in the Psalm of Praise:--
"Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens,
And ye waters that be above the heavens;"
and again in the Song of the Three Children:--
"O all ye waters that be above the heaven, bless ye the Lord."
In the later books of the Bible the subject of the circulation of water
through the atmosphere is referred to much more fully. Twice over the
prophet Amos describes Jehovah as "He that calleth for the waters of the
sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth." This is not
merely a reference to the tides, for the Preacher in the book of
Ecclesiastes expressly points out that "all the rivers run into the sea,
yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come,
thither they return again"; and Isaiah seems to employ something of the
same thought:
"For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it
bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to
the eater."
Schiaparelli indeed argues that this very passage from Isaiah "expressly
excludes any idea of an atmospheric circulation of waters"[41:1] on the
ground that the water so falling is thought to be transmuted into seeds
and fruits. But surely the image is as true as it is beautiful! The rain
is absorbed by vegetation, and is transmuted into seeds and fruit, and
it would go hard to say that the same particles of rain are again
evaporated and taken up afresh into the clouds. Besides, if we complete
the quotation we find that what is stated is that the rain does not
return _until_ it has accomplished its purpose:--
"So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it
shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I
sent it."
Elihu describes the process of evaporation precisely:--
"Behold, God is great, and we know Him not;
The number of His years is unsearchable.
For He draweth up the drops of water,
Which distil in rain from His vapour:
Which the skies pour down
And drop upon man abundantly."
Throughout the books of Holy Scripture, the connection between the
clouds and the rain is clearly borne in mind. Deborah says in her song
"the clouds dropped water." In the Psalms there are many references. In
lxxvii. 17, "The clouds poured out water;" in cxlvii. 8, "Who covereth
the heaven with clouds, Who prepareth rain for the earth." Proverbs xvi.
15, "His favour is as a cloud of the latter rain." The Preacher says
that "clouds return after the rain"; and Isaiah, "I will also command
the clouds that they rain no rain upon it"; and Jude, "Clouds they are
without water, carried about of winds."
The clouds, too, were not conceived as being heavy. Nahum says that "the
clouds are the dust of His feet," and Isaiah speaks of "a cloud of dew
in the heat of harvest." The Preacher clearly understood that "the
waters above" were not pent in by solid barriers; that they were
carried by the clouds; for "if the clouds be full of rain, they empty
themselves upon the earth." And Job says of Jehovah, "He bindeth up the
waters in His thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them;" and,
later, Jehovah Himself asks:--
"Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds,
That abundance of waters may cover thee?
* * * * *
Who can number the clouds by wisdom,
Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven?"
The Hebrews, therefore, were quite aware that the waters of the sea were
drawn up into the atmosphere by evaporation, and were carried by it in
the form of clouds. No doubt their knowledge in this respect, as in
others, was the growth of time. But there is no need to suppose that,
even in the earlier stages of their development, the Hebrews thought of
the "waters that be above the heavens" as contained in a literal cistern
overhead. Still less is there reason to adopt Prof. Schiaparelli's
strange deduction: "Considering the spherical and convex shape of the
firmament, the upper waters could not remain above without a second wall
to hold them in at the sides and the top. So a second vault above the
vault of the firmament closes in, together with the firmament, a space
where are the storehouses of rain, hail, and snow."[43:1] There seems to
be nowhere in Scripture the slightest hint or suggestion of any such
second vault; certainly not in the beautiful passage to which Prof.
Schiaparelli is here referring.
"Where is the way to the dwelling of light,
And as for darkness, where is the place thereof;
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,
And that thou shouldst discern the paths to the house thereof.
* * * * *
Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow,
Or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail,
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,
Against the day of battle and war?
By what way is the light parted,
Or the east wind scattered upon the earth?
Who hath cleft a channel for the water-flood,
Or a way for the lightning of the thunder;
* * * * *
Hath the rain a father?
Or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Out of whose womb came the ice?
And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?"
The Song of David, Psalm xviii., clearly shows that its writer held no
fantasy of a solidly built cistern of waters in the sky, but thought of
the "dark waters" in the heavens, as identical with the "thick clouds."
The passage is worth quoting at some length, not merely as supplying a
magnificent word picture of a storm, but as showing the free and
courageous spirit of the Hebrew poet, a spirit more emancipated than can
be found in any other nation of antiquity. It was not only the gentler
aspect of nature that attracted him; even for its most terrible, he had
a sympathy, rising, under the influence of his strong faith in God, into
positive exultation in it.
"In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried unto my God:
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry before Him came into His ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled,
The foundations also of the mountains moved
And were shaken, because He was wroth.
There went up a smoke out of His nostrils,
And fire out of His mouth devoured:
Coals were kindled by it.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down;
And thick darkness was under His feet.
And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly:
Yea, He flew swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His hiding place,
His pavilion round about Him;
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
At the brightness before Him His thick clouds passed,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice;
Hailstones and coals of fire.
And He sent out His arrows, and scattered them;
Yea lightnings manifold, and discomfited them.
Then the channels of waters appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare,
At Thy rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.
He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from them that hated me, for they were too mighty for me."
Two other passages point to the circulation of water vapour upward from
the earth before its descent as rain; one in the prophecy of Jeremiah,
the other, almost identical with it, in Psalm cxxxv. 7: "When He
uttereth His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and He
causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh
lightnings for the rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of His
treasuries." Here we get a hint of a close observing of nature among
the Hebrews. For by the foreshortening that clouds undergo in the
distance, they inevitably appear to form chiefly on the horizon, "at the
ends of the earth," whence they move upwards towards the zenith.
A further reference to clouds reveals not observation only but acute
reflection, though it leaves the mystery without solution. "Dost thou
know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of Him Which is
perfect in knowledge?" There is a deep mystery here, which science is
far from having completely solved, how it is that the clouds float, each
in its own place, at its own level; each perfectly "balanced" in the
thin air.
"That mist which lies in the morning so softly in the valley,
level and white, through which the tops of the trees rise as
if through an inundation--why is _it_ so heavy? and why does
it lie so low, being yet so thin and frail that it will melt
away utterly into splendour of morning, when the sun has shone
on it but a few moments more? Those colossal pyramids, huge
and firm, with outlines as of rocks, and strength to bear the
beating of the high sun full on their fiery flanks--why are
_they_ so light--their bases high over our heads, high over
the heads of Alps? why will these melt away, not as the sun
rises, but as he descends, and leave the stars of twilight
clear, while the valley vapour gains again upon the earth like
a shroud?"[46:1]
The fact of the "balancing" has been brought home to us during the past
hundred years very vividly by the progress of aërial navigation.
Balloons are objects too familiar even to our children to cause them any
surprise, and every one knows how instantly a balloon, when in the
air, rises up higher if a few pounds of ballast are thrown out, or sinks
if a little of the gas is allowed to escape. We know of no balancing
more delicate than this, of a body floating in the air.
[Illustration: CIRRUS FROM SOUTH KENSINGTON, 1906, MAY 29.]
[Illustration: CUMULI FROM TUNBRIDGE WELLS, 1906, MAY 20.
(Photographs of clouds, taken by Dr. W. J. S. Lockyer.)
"Dost thou know the balancing of the clouds?"]
"The spreadings of the clouds," mentioned by Elihu are of the same
nature as their "balancings," but the expression is less remarkable. The
"spreading" is a thing manifest to all, but it required the mind both of
a poet and a man of science to appreciate that such spreading involved a
delicate poising of each cloud in its place.
The heavy rain which fell at the time of the Deluge is indeed spoken of
as if it were water let out of a reservoir by its floodgates,--"the
windows of heaven were opened;" but it seems to show some dulness on the
part of an objector to argue that this expression involves the idea of a
literal stone built reservoir with its sluices. Those who have actually
seen tropical rain in full violence will find the Scriptural phrase not
merely appropriate but almost inevitable. The rain does indeed fall like
hitherto pent-up waters rushing forth at the opening of a sluice, and it
seems unreasonable to try to place too literal an interpretation upon so
suitable a simile.
There is the less reason to insist upon this very matter-of-fact
rendering of the "windows of heaven," that in two out of the three
connections in which it occurs, the expression is certainly used
metaphorically. On the occasion of the famine in the city of Samaria,
Elisha prophesied that--
"To-morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be
sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in
the gate of Samaria. Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned
answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would
make windows in heaven, might this thing be?"
So again Malachi exhorted the Jews after the Return from Babylon:--
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may
be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the
Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it."
In neither case can the "windows of heaven" have been meant by the
speaker to convey the idea of the sluice-gates of an actual,
solidly-built reservoir in the sky.
One other cloud fact--their dissipation as the sun rises high in the
heavens--is noticed in one of the most tender and pathetic passages in
all the prophetic Scriptures. The Lord, by the mouth of Hosea, is
mourning over the instability of His people. "O Ephraim, what shall I do
unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a
morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away."
The winds of heaven were considered as four in number, corresponding to
our own four "cardinal points." Thus the great horn of Daniel's he-goat
was broken and succeeded by four notable horns toward the four winds of
heaven; as the empire of Alexander the Great was divided amongst his
four generals. In Ezekiel's vision of the dry bones the prophet prays,
"Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain;" and
Jeremiah foretells that "the four winds from the four quarters of
heaven" shall be brought upon Elam, and scatter its outcasts into every
nation.
The circulation of the winds is clearly set forth by the Preacher in the
Book of Ecclesiastes.
"The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the
north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth
again according to his circuits."
Of the four quarters, the Hebrews reckoned the east as first. It was to
the east that they supposed themselves always looking. The chief word
for east, therefore, _kedem_, means "that which is before," "the front";
and the word next in use is, naturally, _mizrach_, the rising of the
sun. The west is, as naturally, _meb[=o] hasshemesh_, the going down of
the sun; but as the Mediterranean Sea lay to the westward of Palestine
"the sea" (_yam_) is frequently put instead of that point of the
compass. With the east in front, the south becomes the right, and the
north the left. The south also was _negeb_, the desert, since the desert
shut in Palestine to the south, as the sea to the west. In opposition to
_tsaphon_, the dark or hidden north, the south is _darom_, the bright
and sunny region.
The phrase "four corners of the earth" does not imply that the Hebrews
thought of the earth as square. Several expressions on the contrary show
that they thought of it as circular. The Lord "sitteth upon the circle
of the earth," and in another passage the same form is applied to the
ocean. "He set a compass (_margin_ circle) upon the face of the depth."
This circle is no doubt the circle of the visible horizon, within which
earth and sea are spread out apparently as a plain; above it "the vault
of heaven" (Job xxii. 14; R.V. _margin_) is arched. There does not
appear to be allusion, anywhere in Scripture, to the spherical form of
the earth.
The Hebrew knowledge of the extent of the terrestrial plain was of
course very limited, but it would seem that, like many other nations of
antiquity, they supposed that the ocean occupied the outer part of the
circle surrounding the land which was in the centre. This may be
inferred from Job's statement--
"He hath described a boundary upon the face of the waters,
Unto the confines of light and darkness."
The boundary of the world is represented as being "described," or more
properly "circumscribed," drawn as a circle, upon the ocean. This ocean
is considered as essentially one, exactly as by actual exploration we
now know it to be;--"Let the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place;"--all the oceans and seas communicate.
Beneath the earth there are the waters. The Lord hath founded the world
"upon the seas, and established it upon the floods," and (Psalm cxxxvi.
6) "stretched out the earth above the waters." This for the most part
means simply that the water surface lies lower than the land surface.
But there are waters,--other than those of the ocean,--which are, in a
strict sense, beneath the earth; the subterranean waters, which though
in the very substance of the earth, and existing there in an altogether
different way from the great masses of water we see upon the surface,
form a water system, which may legitimately be termed a kind of ocean
underground. From these subterranean waters our springs issue forth, and
it is these waters we tap in our wells. Of the cedar in Lebanon Ezekiel
spoke: "The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her
rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers
(_margin_, conduits) unto all the trees of the field." The "deep,"
_teh[=o]m_, applies therefore, not merely to the restless waters of the
ocean, but to these unseen waters as well; and means, not merely
"surging waters," but depths of any kind. When in the great Deluge the
floodgates of heaven were opened, these "fountains of the great deep
were broken up" as well. And later both fountains and windows were
"stopped." So the Lord asks Job, "Hast thou entered into the springs of
the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?" and in
Proverbs it is said of the Lord, "By His knowledge the depths are broken
up, and the clouds drop down the dew."
The tides upon the sea-coast of Palestine are very slight, but some have
seen a reference to them in Jer. v. 22 where the Lord says, I "have
placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it
cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can
they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it." More
probably the idea to be conveyed is merely that of the restraint of the
sea to its proper basin, as in the passage where the Lord asks Job, "Who
shut up the sea with doors when it brake forth, as if it had issued out
of the womb?" And the writer of Proverbs sums all up:--
"When He prepared the heavens I [Wisdom] was there: when He
set a compass upon the face of the depth: when He established
the clouds above: when He strengthened the fountains of the
deep: when He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters
should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the
foundations of the earth."
FOOTNOTES:
[41:1] _Astronomy in the Old Testament_, p. 33 note.
[43:1] _Astronomy in the Old Testament_, p. 32.
[46:1] Ruskin, _Modern Painters_, part vii. chap. i.