What does רָקִיעַ (rāqiyʿa) mean in the Bible?
רָקִיעַ (rāqiyʿa): Hammered-out vault of sky: God's cosmic architecture separating waters, establishing creation's visible order.
Hebrew · H7549
רָקִיעַ
Properly, an expanse , i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky
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רָקִיעַ H7549
Pronunciation rāqiyʿa
What does רָקִיעַ (rāqiyʿa) mean in the Bible?
רָקִיעַ (rāqiyʿa): Hammered-out vault of sky: God's cosmic architecture separating waters, establishing creation's visible order.
Full entry for רָקִיעַ (H7549) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H7549?
The BSB source-word alignment has 17 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the expanse (6), in the expanse (3), expanse (2), - (1), [it] (1).
Where does רָקִיעַ (rāqiyʿa) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 1:6. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (9), Ezekiel (5), Psalms (2), Daniel (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It the expanse 6× Genesis 1:7, Genesis 1:8, Ezekiel 1:23, Ezekiel 1:25
in the expanse 3× Genesis 1:14, Genesis 1:15, Genesis 1:17
expanse 2× Genesis 1:20, Ezekiel 1:22
- 1× Genesis 1:7
[it] 1× Genesis 1:7
an expanse 1× Genesis 1:6
heavens 1× Psalms 150:1
of the heavens 1× Daniel 12:3
the skies 1× Psalms 19:1
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 1:6 רָקִ֖יעַ to an expanse Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:7 הָרָקִיעַ֒ to the expanse Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:7 לָרָקִ֔יעַ to [it] Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:7 לָרָקִ֑יעַ to - Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:8 לָֽרָקִ֖יעַ to the expanse Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 1:14 בִּרְקִ֣יעַ to in the expanse Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct Genesis 1:15 בִּרְקִ֣יעַ to in the expanse Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct Genesis 1:17 בִּרְקִ֣יעַ to in the expanse Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct Genesis 1:20 רְקִ֥יעַ to expanse Noun - masculine singular construct Psalms 19:1 הָרָקִֽיעַ׃ to the skies Article | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 1:6
Aligned rows 17
Books represented 4
Genesis 9 Psalms 2 Ezekiel 5 Daniel 1
Source forms
בִּרְקִ֣יעַ 3x bir·qî·a‘ Genesis 1:14, Genesis 1:15, Genesis 1:17
בִּרְקִ֥יעַ 1x bir·qî·a‘ Psalms 150:1
הָרָקִיעַ֒ 1x hā·rā·qî·a‘ Genesis 1:7
הָרָקִ֔יעַ 1x hā·rā·qî·a‘ Ezekiel 1:23
הָרָקִ֙יעַ֙ 1x hā·rā·qî·a‘ Ezekiel 10:1
הָרָקִ֑יעַ 1x hā·rā·qî·a‘ Daniel 12:3
הָרָקִֽיעַ׃ 1x hā·rā·qî·a‘ Psalms 19:1
לָרָקִ֔יעַ 1x lā·rā·qî·a‘ Genesis 1:7
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - masculine singular 5x Genesis 1:7, Psalms 19:1, Ezekiel 1:23, Ezekiel 10:1
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular 5x Genesis 1:7, Genesis 1:8, Ezekiel 1:25, Ezekiel 1:26
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct 4x Genesis 1:14, Genesis 1:15, Genesis 1:17, Psalms 150:1
Noun - masculine singular 2x Genesis 1:6, Ezekiel 1:22
Noun - masculine singular construct 1x Genesis 1:20
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Hammered-out vault of sky: God's cosmic architecture separating waters, establishing creation's visible order.
Source Gloss
properly, an expanse , i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Hammered-out vault of sky: God's cosmic architecture separating waters, establishing creation's visible order.
properly, an expanse, i.e. the firmament or (apparently) visible arch of the sky BDB: extended surface Usage: firmament.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
The expanse created to divide waters, establishing the visible sky structure
The extended surface where celestial bodies are placed to govern day and night
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 17 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain