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In Genesis, the creation of the sky is described as separating water. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Rabbinic tradition follow ancient Near Eastern cosmology, describing water literally below and above this solid firmament.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 1:6
Hebrew Bible
5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. 6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.
Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 1:6
Targum
5 And God called the light Day, and he made it so that the inhabitants of the world might labor during it; and he called the darkness Night, and he made it that creatures might rest during it. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. 6 God said, 'Let the firmament be in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the upper waters from the lower waters.' 7 God made the firmament—its thickness being three finger breadths—between the limits of the heavens and the waters of the ocean, and he separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above in the reservoir of the firmament. And it was so.
Genesis Rabbah 4:3
Aggadah
Rabbinic
Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: Equivalent to the space between the earth and the firmament, so is the distance between the firmament and the upper waters. “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water” – at the midpoint between them. Rabbi Tanḥuma said: I will say the source. Had it been stated: “God made the firmament and he divided between the waters that were on the firmament,” I would have said that the upper waters rest directly upon the firmament. But since it says: “And the waters that were above the firmament” (Genesis 1:7) – [it indicates that] the upper waters are suspended [above the firmament] by the word of God. Rabbi Aḥa said: It is like the flame in a lamp. And its fruits are rainwater.
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Targum Onkelos translates “the waters from the waters” literally. The Palestinian Targums and Pseudo Jonathan specify that “the upper waters and the lower waters” are being referred to. Genesis Rabbah 4:3 refers to the “upper waters” that are above the firmament. Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezar explains that the firmament separates “the waters above and the waters below” ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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