Day two of creation : why is the r?qîa' (firmament) not pronounced good?
The absence of the evaluative formula on the second day of creation in the Genesis 1:1-2:4a creation narrative necessitates the question: Why is the r?qia' not pronounced good? In this paper, it is argued that the r?qia' is not pronounced good due to its function as a separator between heaven and earth - God's dwelling being heaven, and humanity's dwelling being earth. This is particularly so taking into consideration that the Genesis 1:1-2:4a creation narrative depicts creation as a temple. From this perspective, the temple is a microcosm of creation and therefore the parallelism between temple and creation is the key to understanding why the r?qia' is not pronounced good. The r?qia' correlates with the parōket, the inner veil of the temple, which functioned as the barrier of the Most Holy Place, Yahweh's dwelling. Thus, the establishment of the r?qia' anticipated a dualism of creation, which, from a canonical perspective, has to be overcome.