And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
What does Genesis 1:8 mean?
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.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Genesis 1:6-8 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Genesis 1:8
Then called God to the expanse, heaven. - This expanse is, then, the proper and original skies. We have here an interesting and instructive example of the way in which words expand in their significance from the near, the simple, the obvious, to the far and wide, the complex and the inferential: The heaven, in the first instance, meant the open space above the surface in which we breathe and move, in which the birds fly and the clouds float. This is the atmosphere. Then it stretches away into the seemingly boundless regions of space, in which the countless orbs of luminous and of opaque surfaces circumambulate.
Key words
- called
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And God called the firmament heaven,.
- firmament
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And God called the firmament heaven,.
- Heaven
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And God called the firmament heaven,.
Context in Genesis 1
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Genesis 1 belongs to the opening movement of the book, especially the section often described as primeval history from creation to Babel. Genesis opens the whole Bible with creation, fall, flood, Babel, and the long patriarchal story that carries the reader from Eden to Egypt. Read this chapter with the wider themes of creation, fall, and covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
Related topics
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Passages on peace with God, peace in the heart, peace in community, and the biblical difference between true peace and false reassurance.
Passages on the nature of truth, honesty, deception, the word of God as truth, and Jesus' claim to be the truth.
Who quoted Genesis 1:8?
Find out who used Genesis 1:8 in their speeches and writings. Which famous people quoted Genesis 1:8?
Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders used Genesis 1:8 in Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast.