The Floodgates of Heaven — Genesis 7 Daily Word

Ancient Hebrews understood the heavens as having a three-tiered structure. The first heaven contained celestial storehouses holding rain, hail, and snow, and they believed that God would send water down to the earth through the windows of heaven. The Flood of Noah is interpreted as an event in which these windows were opened all at once.

The Windows of Heaven(the floodgates of the heavens)

This refers to the ‘floodgates opened in the sky.’ Through these gates, torrential rain (and flood waters) pours down upon the earth [11] In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. [12] And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (Gen 7:11-12, ESV). The expression ‘windows of heaven’ reflects the ancient Hebrew cosmological worldview, in which the Hebrews envisioned the sky as consisting of three heavens. That is, the heavens above the earth (the expanse) were thought to be composed of three distinct layers. Among these, the visible atmospheric sky that humans can perceive with the naked eye was considered the ‘first heaven,’ understood as the realm where all manner of meteorological phenomena experienced by humans take place. In this first heaven, there was a celestial storehouse — what might be called the ‘waters above the expanse’ [7] And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. (Gen 1:7, ESV) — holding vast reserves of rain, hail, and snow. It was believed that God, in His own timing, would release rain, hail, and snow from this heavenly storehouse through the windows of heaven down to the earth [10] Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? (Isa 51:10, ESV). At the time of Noah’s great flood, it can be understood that all these windows of heaven were opened simultaneously, causing an enormous volume of water to pour down upon the earth.

In particular, looking at several Hebrew words translated as ‘expanse’ (expanse, sky, firmament) in Scripture:

1. Raqia

Its basic meaning is ‘to beat out broadly with a hammer’ or ‘to spread out firmly,’ reflecting the ancient Hebrew cosmological view that the sky was composed of a solid, widely stretched metallic plate. [1] He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (Ps 91:1, ESV)

2. Shachaq

Meaning ‘clouds,’ it refers to ‘the sky where clouds are found.’ [26] “There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. (Deut 33:26, ESV)

3. Aguddah

‘cluster’ or ‘band’ — referring to the sky as a vast expanse where the sun, moon, and stars gather in bands, spreading out in abundance (Amos 9:6).

4. Hug

Derived from the words meaning ’round’ or ‘to draw a circle,’ this expression originates from the ancient conception of the sky as a dome — like an overturned bowl placed over the earth (Prov 8:27).

The Highest Heavens 8

Source: Dictionary of Biblical Cultural Backgrounds

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