Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
Parallel translations
- WEB God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
- KJV And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
- BSB And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”
- NASB Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
- NLT Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands an expanse to separate the waters, beginning to shape habitable space. He continues bringing structure to the formless deep.
Overview
On the second day God speaks an 'expanse' (the sky or firmament) into being to divide the waters above from those below. This act of separation, like the dividing of light from darkness, shows God making the world orderly and prepared for life. The passage reflects an ancient picture of the cosmos while teaching the enduring truth that God alone structures and governs the heavens and the earth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Jer 51:15“He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.
- Job 37:18Can you, with him, spread out the sky, which is strong as a cast metal mirror?
- Ps 33:6By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth.
- Job 26:7–8He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.
- Jer 10:12–13He has made the earth by his power. he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.
- Ps 104:2He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
- Ps 148:4Praise him, you heavens of heavens, You waters that are above the heavens.
- Ps 33:9For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.
- Ps 136:5–6To him who by understanding made the heavens; for his loving kindness endures forever:
- Ps 19:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.
- Zech 12:1A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
- Ps 150:1Praise Yah! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his heavens for his acts of power!
- Gen 1:20God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
- Job 26:13By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.
- Gen 7:11–12In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky’s windows were opened.
- Job 37:11Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning.
- Job 38:22–26Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail,
- Gen 1:14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
- Eccl 11:3If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves on the earth; and if a tree falls toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there shall it be.
- Jer 10:10But Yahweh is the true God; he is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles, and the nations are not able to withstand his indignation.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Lay
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 1:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.