Where Are the Waters Above the Skies?

Nathan asks: "Hello. We know there isn't an ocean of water above the skies, so what does the Torah mean when it tells us about upper waters? Is there a scientific explanation for this?"

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Peace and blessings, Nathan, and thank you for your question.

The Torah consists of Peshat (literal interpretation), Remez (hints), Drash (allegory), and Sod (secret). Our sages taught that the work of creation is hidden, containing many secrets grasped only by the few. Yet, I will offer you the literal interpretation of the verse "the waters above the firmament" as explained by the commentators and see how it aligns with our scientific knowledge.

Let's first see how the Torah presents the world at its beginning: "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of Hashem was moving over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2).

The words 'without form and void' teach us that the earth initially was empty and desolate, without any kind of living creatures or vegetation. This expression does not indicate chaos or lack of shape as is commonly thought, but rather desolation and emptiness, as Rashi explains. The phrase is akin to being 'wondering' and 'desolate', literally meaning: the earth was in a state of wonder and desolation. It describes a person wondering in a ruined, desolate land, not knowing where to look or go, staring into an empty void.

There is evidence from other verses for this understanding: "I beheld the earth, and lo, it was formless and void... the whole land shall be desolate” (Jeremiah 4:23), “And do not turn away, after vain things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are vain" (1 Samuel 12:21), and "He leads them through a waste without a path" (Psalms 107:40).

The phrase "darkness was upon the face of the deep" may teach that initially, the earth was covered by a deep sea, without continents or an atmosphere (air), and was in total darkness in the void of space. The Torah teaches of a deep abyss of waters that covered the primordial earth, as it is stated at the end of the verse: "over the face of the waters." The word "deep" in the Bible refers to a deep abyss of waters: "The depths cover them, they went down into the depths like a stone” (Exodus 15:5).

It then narrates: "And Hashem said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And Hashem made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. And Hashem called the firmament Heaven" (Genesis 1:6).

The term firmament in biblical language means an empty space or "air," as described by the Ibn Ezra. Today, it would be defined as the "atmosphere." Initially, we saw in verse two a description of the primeval earth in a state where it was flooded, with the earth located deep beneath the sea surface. Therefore, to allow the appearance of the continents, a vast amount of water needed to be removed from the earth, and simultaneously, create a new atmosphere for the planet. Rashi explains the creation of the firmament in this way: "The firmament should be strong, although the skies were created on the first day, they were still moist.”

In verse six, it describes the separation of "the waters above the firmament," and from its plain meaning, we can understand that Hashem vaporized vast amounts of water into outer space. Today, we know that water that exits the atmosphere freezes into glaciers and drifts. These verses can teach that Hashem took a vast amount of water beyond earth's atmosphere. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that the waters Hashem lifted above the firmament turned into glaciers (scientifically called "comets") and wandered into outer space. Our sages teach that Hashem preserved these waters outside of the earth's atmosphere and did not let them drift afar: "Rab said they were soft on the first day and on the second they solidified" (Genesis Rabbah 1:2), "Rabbi Tanhuma said: I speak the reason; if it said 'upon the firmament,' I would say 'upon the body of the firmament the waters are laid,' but when it says 'which are above the firmament,' the upper waters are suspended at a word."

In this way, the Malbim interprets: "And Hashem said, let the waters gather - before the establishment of the firmament, the waters could not gather, as the waters were vapor filled with the essence of the wind, and they were many times greater in volume than they are when simple, such that their height was twice the distance from earth to the clouds."

The story of the flood could also hint at the vast amount of rain that came from beyond the atmosphere: "the windows of the heavens were opened..." (Genesis 7:11).

We know today of a planet in a similar state: Saturn. The planet Saturn is surrounded by eight giant rings made up of countless small ice chunks. We could say there are currently "waters above the firmament" on the planet Saturn. The verses we have seen can testify that at some point our planet was very similar to Saturn.

Though today, we know there are no vast rings of ice encircling Earth. It is possible to explain that at a certain period, the ice that surrounded Earth drifted into outer space. Perhaps after the flood, the waters evaporated back beyond the atmosphere, wandering as comets into distant space. Today, thousands of massive comets, mostly made of ice, float in our solar system. Who knows if some of them were not, in their distant past, part of the abyss that covered primordial Earth? Approximately 5,200 periodic comets have been observed in our solar system so far.

Even after the creation of the firmament, the primordial land remained submerged under the sea, but now this land wasn't covered by a deep abyss, and it was enough to drain the waters into various oceans for the land to appear for the first time: "And Hashem said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so" (Genesis 1:9). The atmosphere was created, but the land was not revealed until the third day. Because the waters still covered the land and its rectification wasn’t complete, the expression "that it was good" was not mentioned on this day; instead, it appears twice on the third day (Rashi on verse 6). From this we learn that the emergence of the land happened in two stages, the first by vaporizing much water from the sea into space while creating the atmosphere, and the second by forming the oceans so that the land would be revealed. The creation narrative in Genesis extraordinarily aligns with scientific knowledge, as can be learned from the plain meaning of the verses and the commentators' insights.