What is the firmament? What does Scripture mean by “waters above the heavens”? St. Ambrose expounds upon the Scriptural testimony and raises our minds and hearts both to God’s creation and God Himself. As he asks rhetorically, "When you hear this, why do you marvel if, by the operation of such majesty, water can be held suspended above the celestial firmament?"

📖 "Hexaemeron" by St. Ambrose of Milan
https://www.scribd.com/doc/46349268/Hexaemeron-of-Saint-Ambrose-of-Milan
🎧 The Firmament and the Waters Above - St. John Chrysostom
https://youtu.be/ZMCuHkVA-lo
📖 "Hexaemeron" by St. Basil the Great
https://stanthonysmonastery.org/products/hexaemeron
⛪ FIND an Orthodox parish and monastery near you:
https://orthodox-world.org/
https://orthodoxyinamerica.org/
_______

St. Ambrose teaches:

We follow the tradition of the Scriptures and we value the work by our esteem of the Author [Moses], as to what was said, who said it, and to whom it was said. ‘Let there be a firmament made,’ He said, ‘amidst the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters’ (Genesis 1:6). From this I learn that the firmament is made by a command by which the water was to be separated and the water above be divided from the water below. What is clearer than this? He who commanded the waters to be separated by the interposition of the firmament lying between them provided also the manner of them remaining in position, once they were divided and separated. The word of God gives nature its power and an enduring quality to its matter, as long as He who established it wishes it to be so, as it is written: ‘He hath established them forever and for ages of ages. He hath made a decree and it shall not pass away’ (Psalm 148:6). And that you may know that He said this concerning these *waters which you say cannot exist in the higher parts of the heavens,* listen to the words which precede: ‘Praise Him, ye heaven of heavens, and let all the waters above the heavens praise the name of the Lord’ (Psalm 148:4).... *When you hear this, why do you marvel if, by the operation of such majesty, water can be held suspended above the celestial firmament?* -Hexaemeron, p. 53-54

This firmament cannot be broken, you see, without a noise. *It also is called a firmament because it is not weak nor without resistance.* Hence, in dealing with thunderbolts, which give forth a tremendous crash when currents of air on the point of arising in the midst of the clouds meet together in collision, the Scripture speaks of strengthening the thunderbolt. Therefore, *the firmament is called because of its firmness or because it has been made firm by divine power,* just as Scripture teaches us, saying: "Praise ye him in the firmament of his power" (Psalm 150:1).
And I am not unaware that some refer "the heaven of heavens" to the intelligible powers, the firmament to the efficient powers and that the heavens praise and "shine forth the glory of God and the firmament declareth it"—yet, as we have said above, they declare them not as spiritual powers, but as things of the world. Others also interpret the waters to mean the purificatory powers. We accept this interpretation as a simple adornment to our treatise. To us, however, it does not appear to be inappropriate nor absurd, if we are to understand these to be *real waters* for the reasons given above. According to the hymn of the Prophet, dew, frost, cold and heat bless the Lord, the earth, too, blesses Him. Furthermore, we do not understand the stars to be unseen powers of nature, but as having real existence. Even dragons give praise to the Lord, because their nature and aspect, if one examines them closely, are not without presenting a certain modicum of beauty and design. -Hexaemeron, p. 62
_______

Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!