A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis

I. 5, 6 21
sunset to sunset (Tu. Gu. Ben. etc.). The Jewish day may
have begun at sunset, but it did not end at sunrise ; <strong>and</strong> it
is impossible to take the words as meaning- that the evening
<strong>and</strong> morning formed the first (second, etc.) day. Moreover,
there could be no evening before the day on which light
was created. The sentence must refer to the close of the
first day with the first evening <strong>and</strong> the night that followed,
leading the mind forward to the advent of a new day, <strong>and</strong>
a new display of creative power (De. Di. Ho. al.). One
must not overlook the majestic simplicity of the statement.
The interpretation of DV as cson, a favourite resource of harmonists
of science <strong>and</strong> revelation, is opposed to the plain sense of the passage,
<strong>and</strong> has no warrant in Heb. usage (not even Ps. 90^). It is true that
the conception of successive creative periods, extending over vast spaces
of time, is found in other cosmogonies (De. 55) ; but it springs in part
from views of the world which are foreign to the OT. To introduce
that idea here not only destroys the analogy on which the sanction of
the sabbath rests, but misconceives the character of the Priestly Code.
If the writer had had aeons in his mind, he would hardly have missed
the opportunity of stating how many millenniums each embraced.
6-8. Second work : The firmament.—The second
fiat calls into existence a firmament^ whose function is to
divide the primaeval waters into an upper <strong>and</strong> lower ocean,
leaving a space between as the theatre of further creative
developments. The *' firmament" is the dome of heaven,
which to the ancients was no optical illusion, but a material
structure, sometimes compared to an "upper chamber"
(Ps. 104^^ Am. 9^) supported by *' pillars " (Jb. 26^^), <strong>and</strong>
resembling in its surface a ''molten mirror" (Jb. 37^^).
Above this are the heavenly waters, from which the rain
descends through '' windows "or '' doors " (Gn. 7^^ 8^, 2 Ki.
y2. i9j opened <strong>and</strong> shut by God at His pleasure (Ps. 78^^).
The general idea of a forcible separation of heaven <strong>and</strong> earth
6. ii"pl] (fflr (TTe/j^WjCta, 'S Jirmamentum) a word found only In Ezk., P,
Ps. \Q^ i5o\ Dn. 12^ The absence of art. shows that it is a descriptive
term, though the only parallels to such a use would be Ezk. i22f. 25f. jqI
(cf Phoen. ypnD='dish' [Blechschale] : CIS, i. 90^; see Lidzb. 370, 421).
The idea is solidity, not thinness or extension : the sense * beat thin
belongs to the Pi. (Ex. 39^ etc.) ; <strong>and</strong> this noun is formed from the Qal,
which means either (intrans.) to 'stamp with the foot' (Ezk. 6^^), or
'