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Re: raqia, Genesis 1
>Raqia comes from a verb which means to stamp as with
a foot. see Ezek 25:6 and II Sam 22:43.<
In context, yes. But the basic sense is not related to the foot, but to
the act of stamping something out in the sense that a metalworker hammers
out metal into shapes. *Raqia'* is something that God *metaporically*
"hammered out" that blue dome shape that we see, as an "overlay" above the
earth. (Apparently metal-workers do something called overlaying when they
stamp things out, since the verb also has the meaning of "to overlay."
In modern Hebrew the noun *reqa'* is used in the meaning of "background" or
"backdrop" -- for the obvious reason that when one looks around in an area
with unimpeded views of the horizon, one sees the "heavens" (i.e., in the
basic meaning of *shamayim*, "skies") as backdrop in all directions.
But I don't think we should deduce that God created the heavens by stamping
his foot!!!
Judith Romney Wegner
Providence, RI