Re: Firmament and the Water above was [asa] Re: Slug

Glenn wrote,
<<I have a question. I have read the Kabalah, and I have read parts of the
Zohar (another kabalistic writing) and the Legends of the Jews (a collection
of things from the Talmud and Haggada). The thought has formed that the
interpretation of the meaning of the word raqiya may very well have been
influenced by Ptolemy.>>

If Ptolemy is c. 350 BC, I can't think of any Jewish writings except the OT
which are earlier. He may have reinforced Jewish views about the solidity of
the firmament, but that the Jewish view was taken from the OT is evident in
that they held on to the ocean above the firmament, which Ptolemy did not
accept.

From my paper on the waters above the firmament:
 Thus in the Jewish Song of the Three Holy Children, "the waters that be
above the heavens" are called upon to bless the Lord (v. 38). Then later in
the song, as one is brought closer to the things of earth (v. 51), the
clouds are called upon to bless the Lord. Similarly according to 2 Enoch
3:3ff, Enoch was taken up from the earth and first placed on a cloud. He was
then taken up higher above the first heaven and shown "a very great Sea,
greater than the earthly Sea." So also in the Testament of Adam 1.5-6 (2d or
3d century AD) Adam tells how in Eden the "waters that are above the heaven
[mighty waves]" praised God in the fifth hour, but the clouds (of earth) are
distinguished from these waters by being constructed in the sixth hour.

In the rabbinical commentary Genesis Rabbah the rabbis discussed the water
above the firmament, clearly indicating that they understood it to be a body
of water (4.5.2 E) above a solid firmament (4.5.2 A-D). Clouds, on the other
hand, were below the firmament and rose up to it in order to be filled with
water from the water above the firmament (b. Taàan 1.9b). This concept of a
solid firmament with a body of water above it is also set forth in b. Sanh.
109a where the builders of the tower of Babel are described as trying to
"ascend to heaven, and cleave it with axes so that its waters might gush
forth."

Paul

 
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Received on Sat, 17 Jun 2006 15:37:40 -0700