Genesis 1:8-9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 1:6-8

We have here an account of the second day's work, the creation of the firmament, in which observe, 1. The command of God concerning it: Let there be a firmament, an expansion, so the Hebrew word signifies, like a sheet spread, or a curtain drawn out. This includes all that is visible above the earth, between it and the third heavens: the air, its higher, middle, and lower, regions?the celestial globe, and all the spheres and orbs of light above: it reaches as high as the place where the stars... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 1:9-13

The third day's work is related in these verses?the forming of the sea and the dry land, and the making of the earth fruitful. Hitherto the power of the Creator had been exerted and employed about the upper part of the visible word; the light of heaven was kindled, and the firmament of heaven fixed: but now he descends to this lower world, the earth, which was designed for the children of men, designed both for their habitation and for their maintenance; and here we have an account of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:8

And God called the firmament heaven ,.... Including the starry and airy heavens: it has its name from its height in the Arabic language, it being above the earth, and reaching to the third heaven; though others take the word "shamaim" to be a compound of two words, "sham" and "maim", that is, there are waters, namely, in the clouds of heaven: and the evening; and the morning were the second day ; these together made up the space of twenty four hours, which was another natural day; the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 1:9

And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place ,.... Which are before called the waters under the firmament; and which were either on the surface of the earth, or in the bowels of it, or mixed with it, which by the compressure of the expanse or air were separated from it and these, by apertures and channels made, were caused to flow as by a straight line, as the word F5 יקוו "congregentur tanquam ad amussim et regulam", Fagius; "recto et equabili... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 1:9

Verse 9 9.Let the waters... be gathered together This also is an illustrious miracle, that the waters by their departure have given a dwelling-place to men. For even philosophers allow that the natural position of the waters was to cover the whole earth, as Moses declares they did in the beginning; first, because being an element, it must be circular, and because this element is heavier than the air, and lighter than the earth, it ought cover the latter in its whole circumference. (64) But that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:8

And God called the firmament heaven . Literally, the heights, shamayim , as in Genesis 1:1 . "This," says Principal Dawson, "may be regarded as an intimation that no definite barrier separates our film of atmosphere from the boundless abyss of heaven without;" and how appropriate the designation "heights" is, as applied to the atmosphere, we are reminded by science, which informs us that, after rising to the height of forty-five miles above the earth, it becomes imperceptible, and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:9

Day three . The distribution of land and water and the production of vegetation on this day engaged the formative energy of the word of Elohim. And God said, Let the waters under heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear . To explain the second part of this phenomenon as a consequence of the first, the disclosure of the solid ground by the retirement of the waters from its surface, and not rather vice versa , is to reverse the ordinary processes of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 1:9-12

Sea, land, and vegetation, contrasted and compared. I. CONTRASTED , in respect of— 1. Their constitutions ; — sea being matter liquid and mobile, land matter solid and dry, vegetation matter organized and living. All God's creatures have their own peculiar natures and characteristic structures. Each one's nature is that which makes it what it is. A change of constitutional characteristics would be equivalent to an alteration of being. The nature and structure of each are... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 1:6-8

- IV. The Second Day6. רקיע rāqı̂ya‛, “expanse;” στερέωμα 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 Psalms 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 which the darkness had prevailed, and by... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 1:9-13

- V. The Third Day9. קוה qāvâh “turn, bind, gather, expect.”יבשׁה yabāshâh “the dry, the ground.” יבשׁ yabēsh, “be dry.” בושׁ bôsh, “be abashed.”11. דשׁא deshe', “green thing, grass.”עשׂב ‛ēśāb, “herb.”זרע zēra‛, “seed.” זרע zāra‛, “sow,” sero.פרי perı̂y, “fruit.” ברה pārâh, “bear”; φέρω pherō.The work of creation on this day is evidently twofold, - the distribution of land and water, and the creation of plants. The former part of it is completed, named, reviewed, and approved... read more

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