The geocentric cosmology of the hellenistic age was introduced into the scriptures in the 2nd century BC because of hellenistic influence. Events during the period of hellenization under Antiochus IV are described in Daniel's prophecies. In Daniel 8:10-12, the horn of the goat grows up to heaven and casts stars, the host of heaven, the place of God's sanctuary, and the truth to the ground, and raises the 'continual' on high. The prophecy pictures the corruption of the cosmology of the Old Testament that was initiated by Antiochus IV. Part of his hellenization policy involved the systematic redefinition of the 'raqia' as heaven in Genesis 1:8 and other scriptures. Before, the 'raqia' referred to the earth's crust that was formed in the midst of the waters. The earth's subterranean waters are referred to in Exodus 20:4, Psalm 24:2, Psalm 136:6 etc. The phrase 'and God called the firmament Heaven' was added in Genesis 1:8 along with numerous other corruptions. The revision of the cosmology of the Old Testament was intended to support the hellenistic view of a rigid sky (identified with Zeus) that revolved around the earth. The diurnal rotation or 'continual' was assigned to heaven rather than the earth, and Antiochus stamped out the knowledge of the earth's rotation. This explains why the development of heliocentric theory in ancient astronomy ended with the reign of Antiochus IV.
Specific changes to the Bible's cosmology
Did God call the firmament Heaven?
- The phrase "God called the firmament Heaven" in Genesis 1:8 is not original scripture but was added in the 2nd century BC in order to redefine the meaning of the Hebrew word 'raqia', which originally referred to the earth. The assigning of divine names to "Day, Night, Heaven, Earth, and Sea" was intended to disguise the redefinition of the 'raqia'. There is no reference to it elsewhere in scripture.
- There is no declaration that the work of day 2 was good in the Hebrew text. But the LXX includes it. Perhaps it was removed to make room for the insertion of "And God called the firmament Heaven" in the ancient scroll from which our existing texts were derived.
- The phrase "firmament of heaven" (raqiya shamayim) in Genesis 1:14,
1:15, 1:17, and
1:20 is
redundant, and does not
occur anywhere else but in Genesis 1.
It was identified as
an interpolation by Morgenstern, who also suggested verses 16-18
are
interpolations.
[Reference: Morgenstern, Julian. 1920. The Sources of the Creation Story--Genesis 1:1-2:4. The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, Vol. 36, No. 3. (Apr., 1920), pp. 169-212.]
Heaven has windows?
Genesis 7:11 and 8:2 make reference to 'windows of heaven', but such 'windows' were unknown in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 7:2).
Did the Israelites see God?
The Exodus 24:10 story is contradicted by John's statement in John 1:18 & 4:12, 'No man hath seen God at any time'.
Did the sun and moon stand still?
The story in Joshua 12:10-12 is contradicted by Genesis 8:22, and by Jeremiah 33:20, & 33:25-26. Joshua addresses the sun, but the sun is not a god. If this story were genuine, why would Joshua not be included among the list of heroes of faith in Hebrews 11?
Immobile earth
1
Chronicles 16:30 says
'Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that
it be not
moved.'
Psalm 93:1
says, 'the world also is
stablished, that it cannot be moved.'
Psalm 96:10
says, 'the world also
shall be established that it shall not be moved.'
The idea that the earth is immobile and the heavens revolve around it
was introduced by
means of corruptions in the 2nd century BC.
The strong sky
Job 37:18
says 'Hast thou with him
spread out the sky, which is strong,
and as a molten looking glass?'
This is the only verse in which the word 'raqa' (spread) is used
in reference to the
sky. The verse was probably corrupted to support Homer's idea of strong
sky (Iliad
8:5-27).
Does the sun go around the earth?
Many scriptures contrast heaven and earth, and that is the case also
in Psalm 19:1.
Psalm 19:5
compares sun to a
bridegroom, and alludes to Apollo. The LXX has: "In the sun he set his
tabernacle",
suggesting God lives in the sun. The sun does not revolve around the
earth; this is a
corruption.
Waters above the heavens
Psalm 148:4, 'Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.' The reference to 'waters that be above the heavens' is a corruption.
God's power, 'raqa' and 'raqia'
- In Psalm 150:1 'the firmament of his power' is a reference to the earth as in Jeremiah 51:15, 'He hath made the EARTH by his power'.
- Isaiah 42:5 & 44:24 refer to God who created heaven and 'spread forth the earth'. The word 'raqa' is translated 'spread' or 'spreadeth'. This is the root of 'raqia' and here applies to the earth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun
Daniel 12:3
has "brightness of the
firmament". It is a corruption. Jesus quoted from this verse, but
changed it to "shine as
the sun", Matt 13:43.
Or rather, the text has
been changed.
Ezekiel 1
In Ezekiel's vision in chapter 1, the "wheels within wheels" are probably meant to portray the rigid heavenly firmament and revolving planetary heavenly spheres of the geocentric hellenistic cosmology, and the account is corrupted. A similar account is given in chapter 10.
Heaven and Earth
Many scriptures contrast heaven with earth, and summarize the creation account in Genesis. They include: Genesis 1:1, 2:4, Deuteronomy 10:14, 32:1, 1 Chronicles 16:31, 2 Chronicles 6:18, 6:33, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 8:1, 19:1, 57:5, 102:25, 115:16, 150:1, Proverbs 3:19, Isaiah 42:5, 44:24, 66:1, Jeremiah 51:15, Zechariah 12:1, Hebrews 1:10.
Scripture shows the Bible's cosmology was corrupted
- The prophecy Daniel 8:1-14 identifies Antiochus IV as the person who initiated the corruption of the cosmology of the OT.
- In Romans 1:25, Paul says, referring to the hellenists: 'they changed the truth into a lie'.
- The apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:5-6 describes the formation of the heavens and the earth's crust in water, and identifies subterranean waters as the primary cause of the flood.
Was the meaning of 'raqia' changed in the 2nd century BC?
- In one of the Thanksgiving Hymns of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1QH 3:31, 'raqia' refers to the earth. The composition of the hymn must have predated the change in the meaning of 'raqia'.
- Ps. Longinus in the 1st century AD work "On the Sublime" quotes the Genesis creation account, as a fine example of sublime writing: "God said, 'let there be light', and light was. 'Let there be earth', and earth was." In his sources the 'raqia' must have referred to the earth's crust that was formed on the second day.
- The Letter of Aristeas, a 2nd century BC fictional account of the making of the Greek Bible, suggests that the Hebrew Scriptures were 'not in their original form' and were in "need of correction" by the Greek court at Alexandria. This implies the Greek version did not accurately represent the Hebrew in some way, possibly in its cosmology. The "corrected" version was touted as superior to the original Hebrew. Below is the relevant text from Eusebeus:
Eusebius: Praeparatio Evangelica Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) -- Book 8:3
To THE GREAT KING FROM DEMETRIUS.
IN accordance with thy command, O king, that the books which were wanting to the completion of the library might be collected, and that the parts which had been damaged might be properly restored, I have very carefully given my attention to these matters, and now present my report to thee.
There are wanting the books of the Law of the Jews, together with some few others. For they are expressed in Hebrew characters and language, and are rather carelessly written, and not as they are in the original, according to the report of those who know best, since they have not had the benefit of the king's providence.
But it is right that thou shouldest possess these also thoroughly corrected, because this legislation, being divine, is very full of wisdom and sincerity. For which reason both prose-writers and poets and the multitude of historians have avoided the mention of the aforesaid books, and of the men who ordered their life according to them, because, as Hecataeus of Abdera says, the mode of thought therein is of a pure and venerable character.
If therefore it seems good, O king, there shall be a letter written to the High Priest in Jerusalem, to send elderly men who have lived the most honourable lives, and are experienced in matters of their own Law, six from each tribe, in order that we may test the agreement by a large number, and after receiving the exact interpretation, may give it a distinguished place, in a manner worthy both of the circumstances and of thy purpose. Good fortune be ever thine.
- Aristobulus was a Hellenistic, Jewish, Peripatetic philosopher of Alexandria in the mid 2nd century BC, a contemporary of Ptolemy Philometor. He was thoroughly acquainted with Greek philosophy. He wrote a commentary on the law of Moses, and attempted to reconcile and identify Greek philosophical conceptions with Jewish beliefs. According to some accounts (e.g. Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, vii. 32, 16) he was involved in the production of the LXX. Aristobulus claimed that Plato and Pythagorus 'imitated' some of the concepts in the law of Moses, which would explain the presence of cosmological concepts of the Greeks in the Genesis creation account (Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica 13.12.1-2). And not only philosophers, but many of the poets borrowed from Moses, he said (Ibid., 8.10.4).
- 1 Maccabees says that during the hellenization campaign
of Antiochus IV,
the hellenists introduced likenesses of pagan deities into the
scriptures.
1 Maccabees 3:46-48
Wherefore the Israelites assembled themselves together, and came to
Maspha, over against
Jerusalem; for in Maspha was the place where they prayed aforetime in
Israel.
Then they fasted that day, and put on sackcloth, and cast ashes upon
their heads, and
rent their clothes,
And laid open the book of the law, wherein the heathen had sought to paint the likeness of their images.
After the reign of Antiochus IV, Jewish scholars were influenced by,
and imitated Hellenistic scholars of Alexandria, only instead of
studying Homer, they studied the Biblical text.
Elias J. Bickerman wrote:
Around 150 B.C.E. the first use of the word grammatikos ('a scholar who studies books') appears in Jewish sources. This means that at that date there were already sopherim busy correcting the biblical text." [Elias J. Bickerman, The Jews in the Greek Age, Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1988, p. 171.]
Cited in: John Van Seters, The edited Bible: the curious history of the
"editor" in biblical criticism. Eisenbrauns, 2006. p. 78.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=NN5-AKqBzsQC
Van Seters says:
This observation is important beacuse it means that we can expect to see the beginnings of the kind of "editorial" activity that is reflected in the Alexandrian scholars, who were also called grammatikoi, in their studies of Homer, imitated by the sopherim's study of the scriptures. This is a kind of study of the Law quite different from what one would expect from the priests and rabbis; it represents the beginnings of biblical scholarship as it relates to the text of the Hebrew Bible. Of course, whether or not the sopherim were "busy correcting the biblical text," as Bickerman suggests, may be based on a misunderstanding of the activity of the Alexandrian scholars and exactly what is meant by "correcting" texts.
- The Foreword to the Wisdom book of Sirach by Jesus, son of Eleazar, son of Sirach, writing in 132 BC, refers to the existing Greek translations of the law, the prophets and other writings. He indicates there were notable differences between the Greek versions and their Hebrew originals, very possibly referring to cosmological differences. He wrote: "For words spoken originally in Hebrew are not as effective when they are translated into another language. That is true not only of this book but of the law itself, the prophets and the rest of the books, which differ no little when they are read in the original."
- Josephus, in a summary of the events of creation, (Antiq. 1:1) says 'Evening' and 'Morning' were given divine names. Did his version of Genesis include that, or was he making it up? Apparently some translations included other cosmological changes besides those incorporated into the official versions of the scriptures. It is evidence some corruptions were dropped in the MT.
- Philo of Alexandria in his On the Life of Moses, Bk. II, 38-41 claimed that the translators who produced the LXX were 'not mere interpreters' but prophets who wrote 'with the most pure spirit of Moses'. This statement implies that he considered the Greek text of the law to be divinely inspired.
What really happened on the 2nd day?
The 'raqia' that was made on day 2 was the earth's crust formed in the midst of the primeval waters of the earth. Many scriptures describe it, preserving the information in the creation account before its corruption in the hellenistic age. The biblical references showing this are presented below.
Genesis 7:11 says the flood was caused by "the fountains of the great deep" being broken up. The reference to "fountains" was understood from the original creation account in which subterranean waters could give rise to fountains. Possible examples of these 'fountains' are the hydrothermal vents on the ocean floors.
One of the 10 commandments includes a reference to subterranean waters:
Exodus 20:4
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the
earth.
The crust of the earth or 'raqia' encloses or 'compasses' the waters of the earth's interior.
Job 26:10
He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come
to an end.
The following scripture indicates pressurized subterranean waters were the source of the flood waters.
Job 38:8
Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had
issued out of the
womb?
This one may refer to the earth's rocky crust which hides the waters of the earth's interior.
Job 38:30
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
The Psalmist says that the earth was 'founded upon the seas'.
Psalm 24:1-2
The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they
that dwell
therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the
floods.
The waters of the earth's interior are held in 'treasure houses'.
Psalm 33:7
He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up
the depth in
storehouses.
The phrase 'set a compass' below may refer to the crust of the earth enclosing the interior waters.
Proverbs 8:27
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon
the face of the
depth:
The Babylonian account of creation
In the Babylonian creation myths there are two bodies of water, called Tiamat and Apsu. These are the saltwater ocean and the subterranean abyss. The "deep" (Hebrew tehom) of Genesis 1:2 derives from 'Tiamat'. Encyclopedia Mythica says:
In Babylonian myths, Tiamat is a huge, bloated female dragon that personifies the saltwater ocean, the water of Chaos. She is also the primordial mother of all that exists, including the gods themselves. Her consort is Apsu, the personification of the freshwater abyss that lies beneath the Earth. From their union, saltwater with freshwater, the first pair of gods were born. They are Lachmu and Lachamu, parents of Ansar and Kisar, grandparents of Anu and Ea.
The ancient Babylonian Creation-Series tablet corresponding to the creation account in the first chapter of Genesis defines two water bodies from which the earth (Ki) and its creatures were formed. The following translation is by W. Muss-Arnolt.
Time was when what is above was not yet called heaven, the below, earth was not yet named -- the ocean, the primeval, their progenitor [and] mumu Tiamat, the bearer of them all, their waters [still] were gathered together [i.e, there was one mass of water]; field was not yet harvested, yea not even dry-land was to be seen. Time was when none of the gods shone forth, nor yet was any name called on [in worship], nor yet did any one determine the destiny. [At last] were created the gods... Lahmu and Lahamu then shone forth [were recognized and worshiped]. And they brought forth (generated)... AN-SAR (and) AN-KISAR were created... A long time elapsed... [ere] god Anu [Bel and Ea were made].
Reference:
Muss-Arnolt, W. 1893. A Comparative Study on the Translations of the Babylonian Creation Tablets with Special Reference to Jensen's Kosmologie and Barton's Tiamat. Hebraica, Vol. 9, No. 1/2. (Oct., 1892 - Jan., 1893), pp. 6-23. (See especially p. 15)
For another translation go here.
For more information:
Bible
Cosmology Revisited
Report on the
Firmament
Links to sites which identify 'raqia' with the earth
- Dr. Walter Brown has a web page suggesting that 'raqia' may refer to the earth at: http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/FAQ36.html
- There is a critique of it here: http://lordibelieve.org/wbrown.doc
- Emperors Without Clothes, a response to Dr. Denis Lamoureux of the University of Alberta by Mike Biehler http://emperorswithoutclothes.com/errors.html
- The accuracy of the Genesis creation account, by Wayne Mckellips http://www.trustbible.com/creation.htm