New English Translation
Genesis 1:6
6God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from 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 that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day. God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water. 7So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so. 8God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening, and there was 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 1:14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,
- Genesis 7:11In 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 open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Job 26:7He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth on nothing.
- Job 37:11He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through the clouds.
- Job 38:22Have you entered the storehouse of the snow, or seen the armory of the hail,
- Psalms 19:1The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky displays his handiwork.
- Psalms 33:6By the Lord’s decree the heavens were made; by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created.
- Psalms 104:2He covers himself with light as if it were a garment. He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
- Psalms 136:5to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens, for his loyal love endures,
- Psalms 148:4Praise him, O highest heaven, and you waters above the sky!
- Psalms 150:1Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength!
- Ecclesiastes 11:3If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.
- Jeremiah 10:10The Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When he shows his anger the earth shakes. None of the nations can stand up to his fury.
- Jeremiah 51:15He is the one who by his power made the earth. He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place, by his understanding he spread out the heavens.
- Zechariah 12:1The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord – he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within 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
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