Genesis 1:14

1:14 God said, “Let there be lights ¹  in the expanse ²  of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs ³  to indicate seasons and days and years,

Genesis 1:20

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms ⁴  of living creatures and let birds fly ⁵  above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

Genesis 7:11-12

7:11 In 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 ⁶  burst open and the floodgates of the heavens ⁷  were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell ⁸  on the earth forty days and forty nights.

Job 26:7-8

26:7 He spreads out the northern skies ⁹  over empty space; ¹⁰ 

he suspends the earth on nothing. ¹¹ 

26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,

and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

Job 26:13

26:13 By his breath ¹²  the skies became fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. ¹³ 

Job 37:11

37:11 He loads the clouds with moisture; ¹⁴ 

he scatters his lightning through the clouds.

Job 37:18

37:18 will you, with him, spread out ¹⁵  the clouds,

solid as a mirror of molten metal?

Job 38:22-26

38:22 Have you entered the storehouse ¹⁶  of the snow,

or seen the armory ¹⁷  of the hail,

38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,

for the day of war and battle? ¹⁸ 

38:24 In what direction is lightning ¹⁹  dispersed,

or the east winds scattered over the earth?

38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,

and a path for the rumble of thunder,

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ²⁰ 

a desert where there are no human beings, ²¹ 

Psalms 19:1

Psalm 19 ²² 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; ²³ 

the sky displays his handiwork. ²⁴ 

Psalms 33:6

33:6 By the Lord’s decree ²⁵  the heavens were made;

by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created. ²⁶ 

Psalms 33:9

33:9 For he spoke, and it ²⁷  came into existence,

he issued the decree, ²⁸  and it stood firm.

Psalms 104:2

104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.

He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,

Psalms 136:5-6

136:5 to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens,

for his loyal love endures,

136:6 to the one who spread out the earth over the water,

for his loyal love endures,

Psalms 148:4

148:4 Praise him, O highest heaven,

and you waters above the sky! ²⁹ 

Psalms 150:1

Psalm 150 ³⁰ 

150:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary!

Praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength! ³¹ 

Ecclesiastes 11:3

11:3 If 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 10:10

10:10 The 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 10:12-13

10:12 The Lord is the one who ³²  by his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.

And by his understanding he spread out the skies.

10:13 When his voice thunders, ³³  the heavenly ocean roars.

He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons. ³⁴ 

He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain.

He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it. ³⁵ 

Jeremiah 51:15

51:15 He is the one who ³⁶  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 12:1

The Repentance of Judah

12:1 The 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 ³⁷  – says,

[1:14]  ¹ sn Let there be lights. Light itself was created before the light-bearers. The order would not seem strange to the ancient Hebrew mind that did not automatically link daylight with the sun (note that dawn and dusk appear to have light without the sun).

[1:14]  ² tn The language describing the cosmos, which reflects a prescientific view of the world, must be interpreted as phenomenal, describing what appears to be the case. The sun and the moon are not in the sky (below the clouds), but from the viewpoint of a person standing on the earth, they appear that way. Even today we use similar phenomenological expressions, such as “the sun is rising” or “the stars in the sky.”

[1:14]  ³ tn The text has “for signs and for seasons and for days and years.” It seems likely from the meanings of the words involved that “signs” is the main idea, followed by two categories, “seasons” and “days and years.” This is the simplest explanation, and one that matches vv. 11-13. It could even be rendered “signs for the fixed seasons, that is [explicative vav (ו)] days and years.”

[1:20]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.

[1:20]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.

[7:11]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).

[7:11]  ⁷ sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.

[7:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “was.”

[26:7]  ⁹ sn The Hebrew word is צָפוֹן (tsafon). Some see here a reference to Mount Zaphon of the Ugaritic texts, the mountain that Baal made his home. The Hebrew writers often equate and contrast Mount Zion with this proud mountain of the north. Of course, the word just means north, and so in addition to any connotations for pagan mythology, it may just represent the northern skies – the stars. Since the parallel line speaks of the earth, that is probably all that was intended in this particular context.

[26:7]  ¹⁰ sn There is an allusion to the creation account, for this word is תֹּהוּ (tohu), translated “without form” in Gen 1:2.

[26:7]  ¹¹ sn Buttenwieser suggests that Job had outgrown the idea of the earth on pillars, and was beginning to see it was suspended in space. But in v. 11 he will still refer to the pillars.

[26:13]  ¹² tn Or “wind”; or perhaps “Spirit.” The same Hebrew word, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context.

[26:13]  ¹³ sn Here too is a reference to pagan views indirectly. The fleeing serpent was a designation for Leviathan, whom the book will simply describe as an animal, but the pagans thought to be a monster of the deep. God’s power over nature is associated with defeat of pagan gods (see further W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan; idem, BASOR 53 [1941]: 39).

[37:11]  ¹⁴ tn The word “moisture” is drawn from רִי (ri) as a contraction for רְוִי (rÿvi). Others emended the text to get “hail” (NAB) or “lightning,” or even “the Creator.” For these, see the various commentaries. There is no reason to change the reading of the MT when it makes perfectly good sense.

[37:18]  ¹⁵ tn The verb means “to beat out; to flatten,” and the analogy in the next line will use molten metal. From this verb is derived the word for the “firmament” in Gen 1:6-8, that canopy-like pressure area separating water above and water below.

[38:22]  ¹⁶ sn Snow and ice are thought of as being in store, brought out by God for specific purposes, such as times of battle (see Josh 10:11; Exod 9:2ff.; Isa 28:17; Isa 30:30; and Ps 18:12 [13]).

[38:22]  ¹⁷ tn The same Hebrew term (אוֹצָר, ’otsar), has been translated “storehouse” in the first line and “armory” in the second. This has been done for stylistic variation, but also because “hail,” as one of God’s “weapons” (cf. the following verse) suggests military imagery; in this context the word refers to God’s “ammunition dump” where he stockpiles hail.

[38:23]  ¹⁸ sn The terms translated war and battle are different Hebrew words, but both may be translated “war” or “battle” depending on the context.

[38:24]  ¹⁹ tn Because the parallel with “light” and “east wind” is not tight, Hoffmann proposed ‘ed instead, “mist.” This has been adopted by many. G. R. Driver suggests “parching heat” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 91-92).

[38:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “on a land, no man.”

[38:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”

[19:1]  ²² sn Psalm 19. The psalmist praises God for his self-revelation in the heavens and in the Mosaic law. The psalmist concludes with a prayer, asking the Lord to keep him from sinning and to approve of his thoughts and words.

[19:1]  ²³ sn God’s glory refers here to his royal majesty and power.

[19:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and the work of his hands the sky declares.” The participles emphasize the ongoing testimony of the heavens/sky.

[33:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “word.”

[33:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and by the breath of his mouth all their host.” The words “were created” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons; they are understood by ellipsis (note “were made” in the preceding line). The description is consistent with Gen 1:16, which indicates that God spoke the heavenly luminaries into existence.

[33:9]  ²⁷ tn That is, “all the earth” in the first line of v. 8. The apparent antecedent of the masculine subject of the verbs in v. 9 (note וַיֶּהִי [vayyehiy] and וַיַּעֲמֹד [vayya’amod]) is “earth” or “world,” both of which are feminine nouns. However, כָּל (kol, “all”) may be the antecedent, or the apparent lack of agreement may be explained by the collective nature of the nouns involved here (see GKC 463 §145.e).

[33:9]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he commanded.”

[148:4]  ²⁹ sn The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. See also Ps 104:3. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 47.

[150:1]  ³⁰ sn Psalm 150. The Psalter concludes with a resounding call for praise from everything that has breath.

[150:1]  ³¹ tn Heb “the sky of his strength.”

[10:12]  ³² tn The words “The Lord is” are not in the text. They are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation here because of the possible confusion of who the subject is due to the parenthetical address to the people of Israel in v. 11. The first two verbs are participles and should not merely be translated as the narrative past. They are predicate nominatives of an implied copula intending to contrast the Lord as the one who made the earth with the idols which did not.

[10:13]  ³³ tn Heb “At the voice of his giving.” The idiom “to give the voice” is often used for thunder (cf. BDB 679 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.x).

[10:13]  ³⁴ tn Heb “from the ends of the earth.”

[10:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he brings out the winds from his storehouses.”

[51:15]  ³⁶ tn The participle here is intended to be connected with “Lord who rules over all” in the preceding verse. The passage is functioning to underline the Lord’s power to carry out what he has sworn in contrast to the impotence of their idols who will be put to shame and be dismayed (50:2).

[12:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “who forms the spirit of man within him” (so NIV).