Word

רָקִיעַ

râqîyaʻ · H7549 · Hebrew · 17 occurrences

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Meanings

firmament, dome, vault, expanse

Something like a rounded vault placed on top of the surface of the earth; separating the water on the earth from the water in the atmosphere; place where sun, moon, and stars are suspended; described in Ezekiel's vision as a structure borne by heavenly creatures, on top of which God's throne was located

Examples
Genesis 1:6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Genesis 1:7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were below the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse; and it was so.
Genesis 1:8 God called the expanse “heaven.” And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

How it’s used In 7 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

5 occurrences in 2 groups

שָׁמַיִםheaven, sky 4
עֹזstrength, might 1

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

3 occurrences in 1 groups

רֹאשׁhead, top, chief 3

What it doesIt is the subject

2 occurrences in 2 groups

הָיָהto be, to become 1
נָגַדto tell, to inform, to report 1

What is done to itIt is the object

1 occurrences in 1 groups

עָשָׂהto do, to make 1

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

1 occurrences in 1 groups

דְּמוּתlikeness 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

11 occurrences in 5 groups

בin/on/with 8
לto/for 6
אֵלto, toward 2
מִןfrom 1
תַּחַתunder, below, instead of 1

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

2 occurrences in 2 groups

זֹהַרbrightness 1
פָּנִיםface, presence, before 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Near synonyms 1 word

שָׁמַיִם shâmayim · H8064 · heaven, sky, heavenly beings: Both words denote the expanse or vault above the earth in Hebrew cosmology. רָקִיעַ is the firmament, the stretched-out vault, and שָׁמַיִם is heaven or sky; they refer to overlapping or closely related celestial regions and are substitutable in many contexts.

In the other Testament 1 word

στερέωμα steréōma · G4733 · firm position, being firm in, firmness: Greek στερέωμα is the direct LXX translation equivalent of Hebrew רָקִיעַ (both denoting the solid expanse/dome of heaven in Genesis 1), representing a literal morphological calque where Greek renders the Hebrew root רקע's sense of 'something beaten out/spread firm.'

Semantic domains 1 entry

Regions Above the Earth001001: Genesis 1:6-8 describes God making "the expanse" to separate the waters and calling it "heaven," and 1:14-15 describes "lights in the expanse of the heavens," richly and directly attesting the sense of the sky's vault.

Word family 3 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

רָקַע râqaʻ · H7554 · to stamp, to stamp (one's) feet · 11×רָקִיעַrâqîyaʻ · H7549רִקֻּעַ riqquaʻ · H7555 · hammered sheets · 1×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H7549. raqia רָקִיעַ noun masculineGen 1:6 extended surface, (solid) expanse (as if…

H7549. raqia
רָקִיעַ noun masculineGen 1:6 extended surface, (solid) expanse (as if beaten out; compare Job 37:18); — absolute ׳ר Eze 1:22 +, construct ׳רְ Gen 1:14 +; — ᵐ5 στερέωμα, ᵑ9 firmamentum, compare Syriac below √above; —
1 (flat) expanse (as if of ice, compare הַקֶּרַח כְּעֵין), as base, support (WklAltor. Forsch. iv. 347) Eze 1:22-23, Eze 1:25(gloss ? compare Co Toy), Eze 1:26 (supporting ׳י's throne). Hence (CoEze 1:22)
2 the vault of heaven, or 'firmament,' regarded by Hebrews as solid, and supporting 'waters' above it, Gen 1:6-7, (3 t. in verse); Gen 1:8 (called שָׁמַיַם; all P), Psa 19:2 (|| הַשָּׁמַיַם), הָר ׳זֹהַר Dan 12:3; also הַשָּׁמִיִם ׳ר Gen 1:14-15, Gen 1:17, ר ׳עַלמְּֿנֵי ׳הַשּׁ Gen 1:20 (all P). **עֻזּוֺ רְקִיעַ Psa 150:1 (suffix reference to ׳י).

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0