[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: raqia, Genesis 1
On Mon, 3 Feb 1997 05:01:39 -0800 vcbrown@sprynet.com wrote:
>> Of particular
>>interest to me is the ORIGINAL meaning of the Hebrew word transliterated
>>"raqia", which is often translated as firmament or expanse.
> Scanlin lists six mss which contain portions of Genesis 1. They are
>4QGen g, 4QGen b, 4QGen h(1), 4QGen k, 1QGen, and 4QGen d.
> So far as I know the basic meaning of raqia has not been changed due
>to studies on the DSS mss. Raqia comes from a verb which means to stamp as
with
>a foot. see Ezek 25:6 and II Sam 22:43.
"Raqia" derives from raqa, meaning to spread or stamp in the sense of
beating out or spreading out by hammering. "R'qiah" is a flattening or
flattened material, e.g. like a plating beaten by hammer. The meaning of
raqia is best expressed in English as "sky"; that is, the atmosphere above,
say, trees and mountains, but beneath the stars; the domain of the birds.
It's as if the ancients perceived raqia as something the Creator spread out
over the earth like humus (ok, margarine) on pita (ok, bread).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
17:37:36 Y'rushalayim Time, 02/03/97
Yirmiyahu Ben-David, Paqiyd 16; Ra'anana, Israel
Q'hiylat Ha-N'tzarim
(Global Congregation of Nazarene Jews)
N'tzarim Virtual Community Center:
www.netvision.net.il/~netzarim
N'tzarim... Authentic
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *