1:8 - God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
[T]
This expanse is now given a proper name; it is 'sky.' In thus giving it a name God determines its place in His larger scheme of things.
The Hebrew word shamayim can mean "heaven" or "sky," two English words that, though sometimes synonymous, can carry different nuances. Here, "sky" is probably a better translation; it is the realm in which the birds would be set to fly (v20).
There is no report of God commenting that His work of the second day was good. This need not imply, as one commentator suggests (probably with tongue in cheek), that "Even God did not say that Mondays are good!"1 Nor should we, as many Jewish couples do, avoid getting married on that day. One explanation suggests that this absence is because the work of the second day was not completed until the third day. Thus Victor Hamilton opines, "The omission . . . may indicate that the author viewed the creation of the vault as only a preliminary state to the emergence of dry land in v.10, and thus he reserved the phrase ['and God saw that it was good'] until its most appropriate time."2
So little seems to have been accomplished on the first and second day. But they serve as the vital foundations upon which other things will emerge. Once in place events pick up speed and vitality. Isn't this the pattern of the disciplined life as well? The beginnings are always the toughest.
You may wish to read the following commentaries-expositions:
Low Chai Hok
©Alberith, 2016