Thanks for the explanation!
However, it is not yet fully satisfying. Your concordance translates "raqiya" with:
Quote:
1) extended surface (solid), expanse, firmament
a) expanse (flat as base, support)
b) firmament (of vault of heaven supporting waters above)
1) considered by Hebrews as solid and supporting 'waters' above
which is obviously its usual meaning taken from the bible; so the concordance sounds a little like circular reasoning. More interesting would be the meaning of that word outside the bible.
Anyway: I don't fully understand your explanation "God brought water up above to the clouds where the clouds hold the water". I suppose you mean that God evaporated water into clouds. But this is hardly a creation act, nor is it written in the bible. It even contradicts it: the Hebrews certainly knew that clouds are below the sky, not above it; whatever "raqiya" means, all meanings in your concordance agree that it is solid and supporting, so it's not air or clouds; and if it were the "lower atmosphere", then where is the water above it, and why has God made only the lower and not the upper atmosphere?
