sider the
"firmament" a solid structure are, first, that the word does not
necessarily convey that meaning; next, that the attitude of the Hebrew
mind towards nature was not such as to require this idea. The question,
"What holds up the waters above the firmament?" would not have troubled
them. It would have been sufficient for them, as for the writer to the
Hebrews, to consider that God was "upholding all things by the word of
His power," and they would not have troubled about the machinery. But
besides this, there are many passages in Scripture, some occurring in
the earliest books, which expressly speak of the clouds as carrying the
water; so that the expressions placing waters "above the firmament," or
"above the heavens," can mean no more than "in the clouds." Indeed, as
we shall see, quite a clear account is given of the atmospheric
circulation, such as could hardly be mended by a modern poet.

It is true that David sang that "the _foundations_ of heaven moved and
shook, because He was wroth," and Job says that "the _pillars_ of heaven
tremble and are astonished at His reproof." But not only are the
references to foundations and pillars evidently intended merely as
poetic imagery, but they are also used much more frequently of the
earth, and yet at the same time Job expressly points out that God
"stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth
upon nothing." The Hebrew formed no ideas like those of the Hindus, who
thought the earth supported by elephants, the elephants by a tortoise,
the tortoise by a snake.

In Scripture, in most cases the word "earth" (_eretz_) does not mean the
solid mass of this our planet, but only its surface; the "dry land" as
opposed to the "seas"; the countries, the dwelling place of man and
beast. The "pillars" or "foundations" of the earth in this sense are the
great systems of the rocks, and these were conceived of as directly
supported by the power of God, without any need of intermediary
structures. The Hebrew clearly recognized that it is the will of God
alone that keeps the whole secure.

Thus Hannah sang--

"The pillars of the earth are the Lord's,
And He hath set the world upon them."

And Asaph represents the Lord as saying:--

"The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved:
I bear up the pillars of it."

Yet again, just as we speak of "the celestial canopy," so Psalm civ.
describes the Lord as He "who stretchest