out the heavens like a
curtain," and Isaiah gives the image in a fuller form,--"that stretcheth
out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell
in." The same expression of "stretching out the heavens" is repeatedly
used in Isaiah; it is indeed one of his typical phrases. Here, beyond
question, extension, spreading out, is the idea sought to be conveyed,
not that of solidity.

The prophet Amos uses yet another parallel. "It is He that buildeth His
stories in the heaven." While Isaiah speaks of the entire stellar
universe as the tent or pavilion of Jehovah, Amos likens the height of
the heavens as the steps up to His throne; the "stories" are the
"ascent," as Moses speaks of the "ascent of Akrabbim," and David makes
"the ascent" of the Mount of Olives. The Hebrews cannot have regarded
the heavens as, literally, both staircase and reservoir.

The firmament, _i. e._ the atmosphere, is spoken of as dividing between
the waters that are under the firmament, _i. e._ oceans, seas, rivers,
etc., from the waters that are above the firmament, _i. e._ the masses
of water vapour carried by the atmosphere, seen in the clouds, and
condensing from them as rain. We get the very same expression as this of
the "waters which were above" in the Psalm of Praise:--

"Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens,
And ye waters that be above the heavens;"

and again in the Song of the Three Children:--

"O all ye waters that be above the heaven, bless ye the Lord."

In the later books of the Bible the subject of the circulation of water
through the atmosphere is referred to much more fully. Twice over the
prophet Amos describes Jehovah as "He that calleth for the waters of the
sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth." This is not
merely a reference to the tides, for the Preacher in the book of
Ecclesiastes expressly points out that "all the rivers run into the sea,
yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come,
thither they return again"; and Isaiah seems to employ something of the
same thought:

"For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it
bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower and bread to
the eater."

Schiaparelli indeed argues that this very passage from Isaiah "expressly
excludes any idea of an atmospheric circulation of waters"[41:1] on the
ground that the water s