God’s Word Translation
Genesis 1:6
6Then God said, “Let there be a horizon in the middle of the water in order to separate the water.”
Genesis 1:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
- New International Version (NIV)And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
Context of Genesis 1:6
4God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness. 5God named the light day, and the darkness he named night. There was evening, then morning—the first day. Then God said, “Let there be a horizon in the middle of the water in order to separate the water.” 7So God made the horizon and separated the water above and below the horizon. And so it was. 8God named ⌞what was above⌟ the horizon sky. There was evening, then morning—a second day.
Read all of Genesis 1Genesis 1:6 word by word
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Genesis 1:6
- Genesis 1:14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs and will mark religious festivals, days, and years.
- Genesis 7:11On the seventeenth day of the second month of the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, all the deep springs burst open. The sky opened,
- Job 26:7“He stretches out his heavens over empty space. He hangs the earth on nothing whatsoever.
- Job 37:11Yes, he loads the thick clouds with moisture and scatters his lightning from the clouds.
- Job 38:22Have you been to the warehouses where snow is stored or seen the warehouses for hail
- Psalms 19:1The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky displays what his hands have made.
- Psalms 33:6The heavens were made by the Lord’s word and all the stars by the breath of his mouth.
- Psalms 104:2You cover yourself with light as though it were a robe. You stretch out the heavens as though they were curtains.
- Psalms 136:5to the one who made the heavens by his understanding— because his mercy endures forever.
- Psalms 148:4Praise him, you highest heaven and the water above the sky.
- Psalms 150:1Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy place. Praise him in his mighty heavens.
- Ecclesiastes 11:3If the clouds are full of rain, they will let it pour down on the earth. If a tree falls north or south, the tree will remain where it fell.
- Jeremiah 10:10But the Lord is the only God. He is the living God and eternal king. The earth trembles when he is angry. The nations can’t endure his fury.
- Jeremiah 51:15The Lord made the earth by his power. He set up the world by his wisdom. He stretched out heaven by his understanding.
- Zechariah 12:1This is the prophetic revelation, the Lord’s word about Israel. The Lord—who spread out the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit in a person—says,
Commentaries on Genesis 1:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6And God said, Let there be a firmament - Our translators, by following the firmamentum of the Vulgate, which is a translation of the of the Septuagint, have deprived this passage of all sense and meaning. The Hebrew word רקיע rakia, from רקע raka, to spread out as the curtains of a tent or pavilion, simply signifies an expanse or space, and consequently that circumambient space or expansion separating the clouds, which are in the higher regions of it…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6-8Verses 6-8 - IV. The Second Day 6. רקיע rāqı̂ya‛ “expanse;” ́ stereōma רקע rāqa‛ “spread out by beating, as leaf gold.” This expanse was not understood to be solid, as the fowl is said to fly on the face of it Genesis 1:21. It is also described as luminous Daniel 12:3, and as a monument of divine power Psalm 150:1. 7. עשׂה ‛āśâh “work on,” “make out of already existing materials.” The second act of creative power bears upon the deep of waters, over…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-13Verses 6-13 The earth was emptiness, but by a word spoken, it became full of God's riches, and his they are still. Though the use of them is allowed to man, they are from God, and to his service and honour they must be used. The earth, at his command, brings forth grass, herbs, and fruits. God must have the glory of all the benefit we receive from the produce of the earth. If we have, through grace, an interest in Him who is the Fountain, we may rejoice…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6-8The creation story describes how things appear from a human perspective. The sky looks like a shiny dome separating two groups of water (see Job 37:18; Ezekiel 1:22). In the ancient Near East, people understood the universe to have three levels, with rain coming from the highest level (see Genesis 7:11–12 and study note).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 6-86. firmament--an expanse--a beating out as a plate of metal: a name given to the atmosphere from its appearing to an observer to be the vault of heaven, supporting the weight of the watery clouds. By the creation of an atmosphere, the lighter parts of the waters which overspread the earth's surface were drawn up and suspended in the visible heavens, while the larger and heavier mass remained below. The air was thus "in the midst of the waters," that is…Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 1:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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