Cultural unit blue in the Old Testament

1.1 The method

The method is Linguo-semiotic. It includes the basic color terms (BCT blue, white, black, red, etc.); the prototype terms (PT). According to Rosch (1972, 1973 and Wierzbicka (1990), the prototypes of colors are light, darkness, sun at noon, fire, blood, sky, sea, all plants. The rival terms of prototype (RT linen, cherry, duckling, ruby, sapphire, etc.), and terms for the basic features of the prototypes (TBFP clean, pure for light; hot, warm for fire; fresh for plants etc.).

BCT, PT, RT and TBFP are the verbal colors. They are part of a cultural unit, in the sense of Eco (1996 [1985]). Cultural unit color includes verbal colors and visual colors (Almalech 1996, 2011, 2021).

Important element of the method is the development of Berlin and Kay (B&K) tradition for BCT (Berlin and Kay 1969; Kay and Maffi 1999), World Color Survey. The visual part of their method are Munsell’ (2008 [1905]) color chips and color tree.^[1] Translation as a criterion and semiotic value, Interlanguage symmetry, asymmetry and dissymmetry. Biblical colors are a text within a text (Lotman 1994). Statistics for different color words have semantic and semiotic values. Some additional approaches are given in Almalech 2017a, 2021.

The structuralist thinking and semiotics serve for a better understanding of the object therefore their application has hermeneutical significance.

Contrastive linguistics serves two significant types of studies: 1. Identification of universal and unique phenomena (well-known structuralist and semiotic case); 2. The survey of worldview woven into Hebrew, Bulgarian, and other Indo-European languages according to the original terms and concepts of Humboldt (1971 [1836], 1999 [1836]), and (Underhill 2009).

1.2 Unique parameters of the cultural unit blue

The cultural unit blue has several unique parameters compared to other colors in the Old Testament. Hebrew BCT for blue is תְכֵלֶת [tehèlet]. The term covers all shades of blue – from light to dark blue in Biblical Hebrew. The frequency of תְכֵלֶת [tehèlet] is the highest among all BCTs in the Old Testament. The total uses of תְכֵלֶת [tehèlet] are 50, Hartley (2011) points out 49. BCT blue is used within color compounds much more often than alone. It is used alone, in groups of two, three (Ex 39:1), or of four colors. Since many of the uses (23 times) are together with three other colors in Sacred synergy, they should be considered the tetrad color. God instructed Moses to use four colors blue תְכֵלֶת [tehèlet], purple אַרְגָמָן [argamàn], scarlet תוֹלַעַת שָׁני [tolàat shanì], and white as fine linen שֵׁשׁ [shesh] for the clothes of the High Priest and the curtains in the Tabernacle. The tetrad comprises three BCTs and one rival term to prototype (RT linen). These instructions have the statute of commandments pertain to the temple (Ex 25:3-4). The color tetrad is used also in 2Chr 2:6[H7]; 13[H14]; 3:14. The books of Chronicles are a later text written in the post-exilic period as a synoptic to the books of Samuel and Kings. Blue [tehèlet] and purple [argamàn] remain unchanged while scarlet תוֹלַעַת שָׁני [tolàat shanì] and fine linen שֵׁשׁ [shesh] have been replaced for crimson כַּרמִיל [karmìl], and בּוּץ [butz] in 2Chr.

The tetrad synergy cannot be understood without the linguistic and cultural aspects of all members of the compound: “four continuously reoccurring colors in an important passage of the so-called Priestly Code in the Torah” (Scholem 1979–1980: 92). Blue and purple are obtained from the same source using the same technology:

The Royal Purple אַרְגָמָן [argamàn] and the Biblical (or Ritual) Blue תְכֵלֶת [tehèlet] were two of the most important colors in the culture of ancient Israel. The Royal (or Tyrian) Purple was also important in the cultures of non-Jewish civilizations. These two dyes were made from marine snails and were important not only for the economy of maritime civilizations but had social, religious and even political implications as well. (Spanier and Ron 1987: 9)

In Ancient Rome (Rupublic and Monarch periods), purple אַרְגָמָן [argamàn] became a code for the aristocracy, patricians and the emperor. There is a vast scholarly literature on the symbolism and technology of mining the biblical blue and purple.^[2] They will be considered in color compounds. A special phenomenon is that during the construction of the Second Temple in the 6th century BC, the prophet Ezekiel abolished the color tetrad of the Priestly Code and replaced it with white linen (Eze 44:17). The color tetrad of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen was ritually invisible in the following centuries but evolved as the cornerstone of the symbolism of the Priestly Code during Tabernacle and First Temple. The rich symbolism of color tetrad remained an important element in interpretations of Judaism.

The Rival terms for the prototype (RT) are sapphire סַפִּיר [sapìr] and badgers’/dolphins’ skins עֺרֺת תְחׇשׁםים [oròt tehashìm]. They are significant in a different way. The sapphire סַפִּיר [sapìr] is an important element of the mystical Throne of God (Ex 24:10; Eze 1; 10). The dark blue badgers’ skins cover the tent of the Tabernacle.

2.1 Individual uses

The individual uses of [tehèlet] are found in the descriptions of the Priestly Code: “You shall make loops of blue on the outer edge of the last curtain in the first set, and likewise in the second set.” (Ex 26:4), It remains an enigma how the former slaves could collect blue and purple fabrics worth more than gold in the midst of the Jewish desert. All seven individual uses of BCT blue (Ex 22; 26:4; 28:28; 31; 36:11; 39:21) serve the Priestly Code when the tabernacle is raised.

2.2 Color duads

2.3 The color tetrad – the Priestly Code and sacral four-color synergism

The color tertad contains blue תְכֵלֶת [tehèlet], purple אַרְגָמָן [argamàn], scarlet תוֹלַעַת שָׁני [tolàat shanì] and fine linen שֵׁשׁ [shesh]. The four colors are together in the Tabernacle and in the First Temple but for the Second Temple (after the VI^th BC) they were canceled by “the hand of the LORD” (Eze 40:13). Prophet Ezekiel announced the cancelation of the four colors replacing them with the whiteness of the linen: “When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple. They are to wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them perspire.” (: 44:17–18)

As mentioned above, the synergy in the tetrad cannot be understood without the linguistic and cultural aspects of the other three members of the compound. Scholem points out that blue תְכֵלֶת [tehèlet] and purple אַרְגָמָן [argamàn] “have the same meaning” (Scholem 1979–1980: 67).

The word אַרְגָמָן [argamàn] is translated purple in English, πορφίρα [porfìra] in Greek, and purpura in Latin. Gesenius accepts India origin of argamàn, from Sanskrit râgaman, râgavan, literally “tinged with red” where râga means “red” (Gesenius 1996: 83–84). Hartley (2011: 200) mentioned the hypothesis of the Indo-European origin of argamàn, without binding with Sanskrit, but rejects this view as less likely. In the vast literature on the royal purple (purple of Tyre) it is widely accepted that blue tehèlet and purple argàman are obtained from marine mollusk, Murex snails (Jensen 1963). Guckelsberger (2013: 3–4) indicates several marine shellfish families for obtaining Tyrian or Royal Purple. Murex snails inhabits the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean – present-day Lebanon, Cyprus, and Crete. The Hebrew word for Cyprus (Elisa) accompanies argamàn in Eze 27:7 specifying the place of production of that color.

In Biblical and Modern Hebrew, שֵׁשׁ [shesh] means Numeral six. Only for Biblical Hebrew there are meanings fine linen and white marble. In the Talmud, it is explained that shesh is flax, twisted six times (Soncino Babylonian Talmud 1935–1948: Yoma 35b). Scholars are unanimous that this term in OT is borrowed from ancient Egyptian. Two other words for flax appear before Shesh in the structure of the Old Testament text. Moses held a symbolic chain 3BCTs + 1RT = 4 elements by introducing a loan word for fine linen meaning Hebrew six + BCTs for the other three tetrad colors.

Tolàat shanì is Hebrew noun phrase. Tolàat is a case form of the word worm תוֹלֵעָה [toleà]. Gesenius (1996) believes that tolàat shanì is close to pink and is extracted from a specific insect: “Kermez, Coccus Ilicis, which adheres with its eggs to the twigs of a species of oak, and is related to the cochineal or coccus cadi” (: 1093). Miklosich (1852–1865: 1120) pointed out the same logic in forming the basic term red in Slavic languages. Red is derived from the Pra-Slavic *čīrvlįenŭ, derived from the word “worm”, root *čīrŭī, Old-Bulgarian чръвь [chruv]. The original terms of Humboldt (1836 [1971], 1836 [1999]), Weltansicht (language as the capacity to coin concepts) and the inner form of the word, are key for explaining international naming through the technology for production. Jews and Slavs have the same inner form for crimson, червен (“red”). If we try to rename the worm’s qualities in the field of symbolism in sacred space, the following semantic features are obtained: ‘softness’, ‘movement in tunnels’, and ‘spiral movement’. We must attribute these semantic features to the horizontal and vertical movement of God’s commandments into human space. For shanì Gesenius distinguishes two roots that are homonyms, Shin-Nun-He שׁנה root II, as Gesenius (1996) marked it, produces crimson, rose color, crimson garments. Root I brings forth numeral: the second, second, secondary, of a second rank or order (: 1093). The noun phrase occurs in two versions תוֹלַעַת שָׁני [tolàat shanì] and שְׁנֵי תוֹלַעַת [shnèi tolàat] meaning crimson color, and crimson cloth.

In Judaism, the transcendence of God cannot be presented in artifacts. Scholem (1979–1980: 85–88) recalls the monotheistic doctrine of the unpictorial God and the “colorful world of the Creation is differentiated in the Bible so decidedly from the realm of the Creator”. However, Scholem points to three exceptions in the Old Testament. These are the rainbow (Gen 9:12), the blue in the ritual fringes (tassels) (Num 15:38), and “the four basic colors in the setting up of the tabernacle, and of the priestly cult”. (Scholem 1979–1980: 88). Scholem defines the color tetrad “enigma” and “cryptic”. Thus, the semiotic decoding color symbolism turns into hermeneutics and theology.

Acording to Hartley, tehèlet is a loan word. The choice of Moses to use foreign words is significant. This is to indicate the special status of these colors as sacred and for foreign words to serve easier committing to memory. Gesenius’s point of view for Hebrew source of terminology gives other optics and inner forms as a Hebrew worldview.

Brenner (1982) avoids root and etymology analysis of tehèlet, argamàn and tolàat shanì and does not include them into her classifications. She postulates them as “they are considered color terms of a unique type”. On the one hand, she placed them below in the field hierarchy of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Terms, “because of their restricted applicability and specific nature” (: 46). On the other hand, quite rightly, she treats them as BCT “the primary, general nature of adòm”, of red (: 76). Finally, “[…] because non-linguistic evidence suggests that their references may be included in primary color terms […] these lexemes will be internally arranged under the adòm […].” (Brenner 1982: 46). The Slavic and Hebrew worldviews (in terms of Humboldt’s Weltansicht (language as the capacity to coin concepts) are identical for the formation of a basic term of червен (“red”) and scarlet תוֹלַעַת שָׁני [tolàat shanì], but are radically different if we compare the inner form of Slavic red (червен) and Hebrew red אָדֺם [adòm]. The term tolàat shanì is translated into Bulgarian with red (червен), very rarely as vermilion (червячено червено “wormy red”) and never as scarlet (ален).

From a symbolic point of view, the cancellation by prophet Ezekiel (44:17-18) of the Mosaic color tetrad is significant. Revocation refers to clothing in the Second Temple (after the VI^th BC), and the replacement with one, white-linen color. Ezekiel used another type of white linen, phishtím, compared to shesh by the time of Moses and butz by Solomon. These changes of flax terms is intentional and symbolic. The linen in Moses’s Tabernacle is שֵׁשׁ [shesh], 2Chr 3:13-14 replaced it with בּוּץ [butz], and Ezekiel used linen type-פִּשׁתִים [pishtìm]. The inner form of the three terms is different, and this is a sign of different content that takes the Hebrew language consciousness into different logical and theological paradigms.

3.1 Sky, Heaven: [shamàim], [rakìa], [rekià shamàim], and [shеhakìm]

Here we will examine at the Hebrew names of sky/heaven in the biblical text given the possibility of the presence of blue. The non-color (secondary) meanings of sky and sea are the norm for word associations: freedom, cleanliness, space, flight in the norm (Almalech 2001, 2011). The sky and the sea are statistically most clearly reflected as prototypes: the sky and the sea are indicated by about 70% of respondents as a response to the word stimulus BCT blue. With this frequency, they are the most often indicated prototypes in the norm. At the center of the norm for free word-associations,^[5] non-color meanings present an universal meanings associated with blue: freedom, cleanliness, space, flight, dream, cheerful, tenderness, joy, tradition, youth, volition, tranquility, carelessness, ease, spaciousness, vastness.

Genesis 1 describes the creation of the world. A few lexemes enclose the sky: heaven, sky, firmament/expanse/dome for the Hebrew terms שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim], רׇקִיעַ [rakìa], and רְקִיעַ הַשׇׁמׇים [rekià ha-shamàim]. This raises the question ‘How many skies are there in Genesis 1?’ Data for comparative analysis are drawn from the classical translations: the 70 Jewish priests for the Septuagint (LXX), St. Jerome for the Vulgate (VUL) St. Constantine-Cyril Philosopher for the Old Bulgarian, the numerous contributors in King James Version for English (KJV), Martin Luther for German (LUT). Other languages are involved for comparison.

The first appearance of one of the terms for the sky is in Gen 1:1. It is שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim] always pluralia tantum.^[6] All English translations use heaven. Septuagint’s choice is οὐρανός [uranòs], and caelum in Vulgate.

Genesis 1:1

ἐν ἀρχῂ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ γῆν (LXX)

in principio creavit Deus caelum et terram (VUL)

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (KJV)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (ASV)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (NIV)

The second appearance of one of the terms for the sky is in Gen 1:6: רׇקִיעַ [rakìa].

The third appearance is in Gen 1:7, and it is the same as in Gen 1:6 רׇקִיעַ [rakìa]. In Genesis 1:7, there are three uses of the term [rakìa]. English translations differ: firmament (KJV, ASV, RSV, NKJ, RWB, WEB), expanse (NIV, NIB, NAS, NAU, DBY). The most interesting is NRS where the word dome is the choice. Septuagint’s choice is στερέωμα [sterèoma], and firmamentum in Vulgate.

Genesis 1:6

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. (ASV)

καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός γενηθήτω στερέωμα ἐν μέσῳ τοῡ ὔδατος καὶ ἒστω διαχρίζον ἀνὰ μέσον ὔδατος καὶ ὔδατος καὶ ἐγένετο οὔτος (LXX)

dixit quoque Deus fiat firmamentum in medio aquarum et dividat aquas ab aquis (VUL)

TDOT (vol. 13: 647) gives the root Reish-Kuf-Ayn רקע a general meaning of “a thin, narrow area” calling it a “cosmological term” and the verb “to stamp” (vol. 15: 209) and finds many Semitic corresponding meanings. TWOT pointed out ‘spreading out’ or “stretching forth”. BDB (: 956) “an expansion of plates”, i.e. “broad plates, beaten out”.

Piperov (1961–1962) is aware of the semantics of the word רׇקִיעַ [rakìa]:

[…] rakìa (Gen 1:8) is a word in the Hebrew language from the verb rakà: 1) extended surface (solid), expanse, firmament 1a) expanse (flat as a base, waters above) 1b1) considered by Hebrews as solid and supporting ‘waters’ above; 2. to hammer; to flatten something with a hammer; to make a thin metal flat plate. Rakìa (firmament) is understood as the giant celestial hemispherical lid that carried the celestial ocean and formed a vault above the Earth’s circle. […] It seems that rakìa would have been a cosmological, technical expression by which the essence of the sky is pointed to something solid that spread over the earth, while shamaim was a cultic expression adopted from the common people’s speech. (: 286)

The semantics of the root do not indicate an association with the blue color.

Genesis 1:8; 20 introduce the noun phrase רְקִיעַ הַשׇׁמׇים [rekià ha-shamàim]. English translators use firmament heaven (KJV, NKJ, ASV, WEB, RWB, RSV), expanse heaven/s (NAS, NAU, DBY), expanse sky (NIB, NIV). With the word dome in “God called the dome Sky”, NRS remains bound with the idea of a dome, which is good retransmission of the Hebrew root of רׇקִיעַ [rakìa]. Septuagint, οὐρανòν στερέωμα [uranòn sterèoma] and Vulgate firmamentum and caelum.

Genesis 1:8

God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. (NRS)

καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ θεός τὸ στερέωμα οὐρανόν καὶ εἶδεν ὁ θεός ὃτι καλόν καὶ ἐγένετο ἐσπέρα καὶ ἐγένετο πρωί ἡμέρα Δευτέρα (LXX)

vocavitque Deus firmamentum caelum et factum est vespere et mane dies secundus (VUL)

English translations has definitely distinguished between [shamàim], [rakìa] and [rekià ha-shamàim] – albeit in a different way. Where shamàim is used, all translations introduce the term heavens. For rakìa, English translations differ: firmament expanse and dome. For the noun phrase (verse 8) rekià ha-shamàim, see the quote above.

The other languages keep to similar translation strategies.

In Gen 1:1; 8, שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim] is heaven or sky but the Hebrew text cause us to make a difference between the different kinds of shamàim. For the simple reason that the term shamàim should be understood as different things – once in verse 1 this is shamàim-1, and for the verse 8 shamàim-2. Shamàim-1 is the first thing that has been created (Gen 1:1). Shamàim-2 is probably a better candidate for an association with blue color, being closer to the physical heavens because shamàim-1 is rather tagged the direction ‘up’ in the opposition ‘up-down’ after the Big-Bang as today we call the beginning of the universe in physics. Shamàim-1 appears when “the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (verse 2), and the light is not yet created. In Genesis 1, shammaim-1 signifies up and down as space and directions, not color.

Piperov pointed to the etymology of shamàim: “The etymology of the Hebrew name for heaven (shamàim) is still unclear for now. The explanations are given so far that shamàim means a covering; height; a place for water, etc., can only be considered as experiments and assumptions.” (Piperov 1961–1962: 285–286). Water in Hebrew is מׇים [màim]. Water is always pluralia tantum, as well as the heavens presented by the term שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim]. In Jewish culture, the word water encodes information about the chemical formula of water – twice hydrogen and once oxygen – H₂O or H-O-H = מימ or מים. One of the possible etymologies of shamàim, marked by Piperov, is “a place for water”. It is the clearest and most popular of all meanings of שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim], as Piperov emphasizes.

Lack of color association for the lexeme רׇקִיעַ [rakìa] (first use in verse 6) is confirmed by the root semantics. This term refers to “chamfer”, “creating” as an engineering activity rather than a color. Verbs and nouns of Kuf-Reish-Ayn רקע suggest a similar semantics.

Piperov pointed to the complexity of the notions of sky in ancient Jewish writers:

[…] the sky is stretched out like a thin canvas stretched crosswise as a tent (Isa 40:20; 44:24, Jer 10:12; 51:12, Rev 12:1); it has openings (windows and doors) that can be opened and closed (Gen 7:11; 28:18; 2Ki 7:2, 19; Mal 3:10; 23); it is propped up on pillars that can be shaken (Job 26:11); lies on the bases that are turbulent (2Sam 22:8); can be divided (Isa 63:19), etc. (: 286)

In Genesis 1-3, there is a vertical movement of Creation, where every cosmic concept is first named, and thereafter a more private concept referring to the earthly dimension.

To the two above-mentioned meanings of shamàim can be added a third that comes into use after Gen 1. This third meaning is a substitute for the Tetragrammaton YHWH to avoid mention of the sacred name. In view of the chronology of occurrence in Gen 1, the first is shamaim-1, second is rakìa, third is the compound rekià-shamaim. Shamaim-3 is the name of God (a substitute of the God’s proper name the Tetragrammaton) remains outside of the other languages in translations, since it is typically Hebrew only.

As a hypothesis, the extended semantics of the root Reish-Kuf-Ayn רקע can be compared to the theory of relativity. If we look at the structure of time-space in contemporary theoretical physics, we will be astonished to find “unfolding” or re-creating the whole word-forming paradigm of the root Reish-Kuf-Ayn רקע in Einstein’s theory of relativity and space-time. In the word rakìa we can find encoded the idea for the structure of the universe in the process of the Creation, reminiscent of the “elastic fabric”, but not an association or information about blue color.

The discoveries of modern science, especially physics and chemistry, are some times astonishing because it turns out that some of the latest achievements of natural sciences are encoded in the word-forming structure of biblical and modern Hebrew.

3.2 The gift of Moses [shеhakìm]

Moses used the noun שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm], translated as sky/skies in English, for the first time in the Old Testament in Deut 33:26. It is an introduction of the new lexeme for heaven. Deut 31–34 are the personal message and blessing of Moses known as “The Song of Moses”. It comes after the terms of the Creation from Gen 1 (shamàim, rakìa, rekià shamàim). We must be very careful when we say that this is a new lexeme because Biblical Hebrew is not the spoken Hebrew. We must assume that שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] is a lexeme that has long been present in the language system, but in the lexicon stocks of the Pentateuch it is indeed a new sky invented by Moses.

Deuteronomy 33:26

There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven [שׇׁמַיִם] in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky [שְׁחַקִים]. (KJV)

There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun, Who rideth upon the heavens for thy help, And in his excellency on the skies. (ASV)

οὐκ ἒστιν ᾣσπερ ὁ θεός τοῦ ἠγαπημένου ὁ ἐπιβαίνων ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανόν βοηθός σου καὶ ὁμεγαλοπρεπὴς τοῦ στρεώματος (LXX)

non est alius ut Deus rectissimi ascensor caeli auxiliator tuus magnificentia eius discurrunt nubes (VUL)

The basic meaning of noun is dust, cloud שַׁחַק [shahàk]. Biblical Hebrew has few different terms for cloud: עָנָן [anàn], נְחִיל [nehìl], כֶּתֶם [kètem], צֵל [tzel], עִרפּוּל [irpùl], which means that Moses used a word for cloud, inserting new meaning – sky. The שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] is plural, perhaps by analogy with shamaim. The root Shin-Het-Kuf שׁחק is found a few books before Deuteronomy in Ex 30:36 as the verb beat (Septuagint to break up, cut up). English translations are unanimous in the translation of שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] as heavens and skies for שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim] from the same verse. Septuagint gives respectively οὐρανός [uranòs] for שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim], στερέωμα [sterèoma] for שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm]. Vulgate uses caeli for שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim] and nubes (”clouds”) for שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm]. After the first use of [shеhakìm] (Deut 33:26) it becomes usual term for heavens, skies Job 35:5; Ps 18:12, etc. The other meanings of the noun, dust and cloud, are present in Job 38:37; 36:28. The lexeme שַׁחַק [shahàk] can be seen as a gift from Moses to the Jews because it is used for the first time by Moses in Deut 33:26.

Where is the place of the “new” sky on the vertical of the Creation? The paradigm of the root Shin-Het-Kuf שׁחק gives us the answer to this question and its location in the text: the fact of Moses’s first use of this new term for heaven, and the later clarification of the prophets. As usually, Gesenius (1996: 1051) is brilliantly accurate:

• שַׁחַק [shahàk] I

  1. to rub or beat in pieces, to pound fine (Ex 30: 36); trop. of enemies, Ps 18: 43. Also, to wear away as water stones Job 14:19.

  2. to expand by rubbing or beating, to stretch out. Hence שָׁחַק no. II

• שָׁחַק [shahàk] II

  1. Poetic word dust, fine dust, so called from rubbing, trending, Isa 40:15.

  2. Rarely sing. שַׁחַק [shahàk] Ps 89:7; 38. Often plur. שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] sky, the heavens, so called from their expanse, like רׇקִיעַ [rakìa]. A thin cloud, Prov 8:28. As the seat of God and the angels, Ps 89:7; 38; 68; 35. Often parallel with שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim], Deut 33:26; Job 35:5; Ps 36:6; 57:11; 108:5; Jer 51:9. But שַׁחַק [shahàk] and שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] denote the sky or heavens both as serene or clouded; e.g. as serene Job 37:18 Hast thou with him spread out the sky [shеhakìm], which is firm, and, as a molten looking glass? Or as covered with clouds, Job 37:21; whence descend the rain and dew, Job 36:28; Prov 3:20; also the manna Ps 78:23 compare Isa 45:8; and whence the thunder is heard, Ps 77:18. עָבֵי שְׁחַקִים [avèi shеhakìm] clouds of the heavens Ps 18:12; 2Sam 22:12. Also, put for the clouds themselves Job 38:37, parall. נִבְלֵי שׇׁמַיִם [nivlèi shamàim] bottles of the heavens.

The noun pharse עָבֵי שְׁחַקִים [avèi shеhakìm] means darkness of clouds as Gesenius (1996: 738) pointed out at the article for עׇב [av], Ex 19:9; Ps 18:12. He pointed on the same page data on the regular use of עׇב [av] meaning cloud. Gesenius adds the obsolete root Ayn-Vet-Vet עבב meaning to cover. It is one more example of intentionality and the knot of meanings that intertwine in the Biblical Hebrew worldview, where עָבֵי שְׁחַקִים [avèi shеhakìm] has the semantic features of firmament רׇקִיעַ [rakìa]. The difference is that עָבֵי שְׁחַקִים [avèi shеhakìm] probably comprises color association, dark clouds.

The various meanings of the paradigm of the verb שַׁחַק [shahàk] contain the overall style and structure of the Deuteronomy: if the monotheism is not honored, the Jews will be “beaten in pieces”, “crushed”, “pulverized”. The gift of Moses שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] is a term for the sky that has no color association but the engineering content of creation. The phrase [avèi shеhakìm] is an exception, but the color association was not for blue color, but for dark clouds.

3.3 Hierarchy of the heavens

The problem of association with the blue color of different names for heaven naturally led us to the question of the place in the hierarchy of the Creation of these different types of heaven. Here I will not use the mystical (the book of Enoch, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite) meditations, nor the folklore presets, e.g. the Jewish Agada. The topics and opinion of Talmud are reviewed in detail by Rappoport (1995 vol. 1: 19–23). The basis of the analysis is the biblical text and linguistic facts.

Prophet Jeremiah give his answer to where in the hierarchy are the “skies” שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] as a species of heaven:

Jeremiah 51:9 [LXX 28:9]

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven [shamàim], and is lifted up even to the skies [shehakìm] (ASV)

We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to his own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies [shamàim], it rises as high as the clouds [shehakìm]. (NIB)

Wir wollten Babel heilen; aber es wollte nicht geheilt werden. So laßt es fahren und laßt uns ein jeder in sein Land ziehen! Denn seine Strafe reicht bis an den Himmel [„sky“ shamaìm], und langt hinauf bis an die Wolken [„clouds” shehakìm] (LUT)

Most of the English versions translate שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] with skies, only NIV and NIB follow VUL (nubes “clouds” but also a “cover”) with clouds. Septuagint stands on an entirely different position translating [shehakìm] with star, constellation ᾂστρον [àstron], i.e. higher than the blue sky of earth. Regardless of the translations, Jer 51:9 situates shehakìm above the blue heaven/sky shamàim-2. This reaffirms Gesenius’s (see above) view that this type of heavens is of the rakìa type.

All terms for sky and heaven should have one additional meaning for the earth’s blue sky, which is different from the words used for the Creation of the world.

Hypothesis:

1. Shamàim-1 (Gen 1:1), the highest sky is meaning directions above-below, heaven, οὐρανòς [uranòs], caelum. No color.

2. Rakìa (Gen 1:6) marks the structure of the universe, firmament, στερέωμα [sterèoma] meaning solid body, foundation, caelum “1. mainstay; basis 2. а) bulwark; support b) general proof.” (Войнов и Милев 1990: 265). No color.

3. Rekìa shamàim (Gen 1:8) firmament heaven, expanse sky, dome sky, οὐρανòν στερέωμα [uranòn sterèoma]: firmamentum and caelum. No color.

4. Shamàim-2 (Gen 1:9), this is not the telluric blue sky but the appearance of colors in the Big Bang Creation level. Interestingly, the Zohar’s meditation on the creation of non-telluric colors corresponds to the scientific cosmological model of the Big Bang:

Within the most hidden recess a dark flame issued from the mystery of Eyn sof, the Infinite, like a fog forming in unformed – enclosed in the ring of that sphere, neither white nor black, neither red, nor green, of no color whatsoever. Only after this flame began to assume size and dimension, did it produce radiant colors. From the innermost center of the flame sprang forth a well out of which colors issued and spread upon everything beneath, hidden in mysterious hiddenness of Eyn sof [“without end”, Infinite]. (Barnstone ed. 1984: 707)

1. Shamàim-3 (Gen 14–15) is the telluric blue sky. Bible informs that the sun and the moon (“two great lights”,) are presented after shamàim, rakìa, and shamàim rakìa.

2. Shehakim appears last (Deut 33:26) meaning dust, cloud, sky, the heavens, “so called from their expanse, like rakìa”. Often it a serene or clouded sky. Jer 51:9 pointed the shamàim, the blue sky of the earth, below the stars shehakim. For telluric sky shamàim – Blue; for shehakim – no color.

3. Shamaim as a substitute of the God’s proper name, the Tetragrammaton YHWH is out of this Hierarchy of the heavens. It is higher than anything created and transcendental. No color.

3.4 Summary

All terms in Gen 1 should not be associated with the blue color because the light available to the human anatomy appears after verses 14–15 when “God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” (v. 16). On the other hand, the prototype sky is of the highest incidence compared to other prototypes in the Free Word-Association Norm. This means that at the appearance of the prototype sky even in Gen 1, there is inertia to associate the cosmic sky, firmament with the blue color.

It is difficult to judge what kind of metaphor is due to this stability, given that “metaphor is not just a decorative aspect of language, but a basic schema that people conceptualize the world and their own activities” (Gibbs 2008a: 3), whether it is related to the conceptual metaphor or to primary or complex metaphors (Gibbs 2008a: 6). The most frequent association to BCT blue is the abstract concept of freedom in the Norm for Free Word-Associations. Visual experience from childhood links the blue sky with qualities such as infinitely, wide. Language and culture supplement notions as abstract systems inherent to the social person. The test of Free Word-Associations reveals our linguistic consciousness and unconsciousness. Test results allow us to flesh out the hidden relations ‘prototype-salient color-most typical feature of the prototype-secondary meanings of color in text and visual culture’.

All kinds of metaphors contribute to our understanding of abstract concepts and to the giant Bible cultural area, where blue skies are many things. Hebrew worldview uses conceptual metaphors presented both by different terms for sky and by their root semantics. Hebrew readers develop and use a conscious and subconscious linguistic knowledge of these metaphors through the extended semantics of the roots of the various sky terms. Lakoff confirms this view: “[…] conceptual metaphors are part of the cognitive unconscious and are learned and used automatically without awareness.” (2008: 25). He emphasizes the linguistic aspects of this system of metaphors “grounded via correlations in embodied experience”, and system “exists physically in our brains” (Lakoff 2008: 24). As Gibbs reminds “conceptual metaphors may be best characterized as extended structure-mappings between domains” (Gibbs 2008b: 7).

Behind every metaphor is a comparison and finding similarity. The general metaphor is an intellectual mechanism inverse to the opposition which is a contrast. The infinity and height of Heaven are suitable for the divine, so the basic feature of the prototype (TBFP) is an understandable symbol of the divine and even a substitute. TWOT in BW indicates the theological aspects of the shamàim, related both to meanings ‘above’, and ‘high’ of Gen 1:1-8 and to the qualities available to our perceptions as ‘infinite’ and blue:

Heaven is […] the abode of God (Deut 26:15; 1Ki 8:30), and it is from there that he reaches down to do his will on earth. As the heavens are infinitely high above the earth, so are God’s thoughts and ways infinitely above man’s ability to comprehend (Isa 55:8-9). […] Isa (57:15) states that though God dwells in the high and lofty place, he will also dwell with those of a contrite and humble spirit. The heavens tell of the glory of God (Ps 19:1[H2]) […] Though the heavens are his throne, they will one day vanish like smoke (Isa 51:6) and be rolled up like a scroll (Isa 34:4). (TWOT in BW)

No one of the Hebrew words for sky/heaven provokes a straight association with blue. Given the high recognizability of the sky as a prototype in the test for free words-associations, the sky is loaded with metaphors and symbolism on the low-high axis. Heaven is the territory of the highest gods in many cultures. In Judaism, low-high axis is in symbiosis with water màim-shamàim derivative link leading to the substitute (shamàim) of the proper name of the God, the Tetragrammaton. The hierarchy of heavens is a topic of interest to Jews and non-Jews. About shеhakìm there are different opinions regarding the hierarchy of the heavens. Another layer is Moses’ relationship with the Israelites and the introduction of a sky that lacks water at the expense of sand (shеhakìm) producing dark (sandy) clouds [avèi shеhakìm] in climate conditions of the Middle East.

The interpretative aspect of the translations of the Hebrew terms reveals the relativism Greek and Latin terms οὐρανòς [uranòs] and caelum insert Greek and Roman mythology gods of sky in the Bible. Interpreters are forced to translate the Hebrew cosmological term rakìa with the Greek στερέωμα [sterèoma] (from στερεός [stereòs]) and firmamentum “firm, solid”. This gives emphasis to the Hebrew inner form of the term rakìa as a, usually translated as the firmament. These metaphors of the night and day sky present the Basic Features of the prototype (BFPT) for blue – infinity, expanse, vastness, boundless, and the Hebrew substitute for God’s name YHWH, shamàim.

Inner forms of Hebrew words for skies are in opposition: שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim] is associated with liquids, water מׇים [màim], while רׇקִיעַ [rakìa] firmament. The שְׁחַקִים [shеhakìm] is related to both the solids שָׁחַק [shahàk] I dust and the basic feature of the prototype (TBFP) שָׁחַק [shahàk] II to expand by rubbing or beating, to stretch out.

4.1 Badgers’ skins participate in color duad on the exterior of the Tabernacle

At the tent of the Tabernacle badgers’ skins עֹרֹת תְחָשׁים [oròt tehashìm] are located over the dyed red ram’s skins מְאָדָמִים [meadamìm], Ex 26:14:

You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above. (NAU)

And you shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins. (RSV)

You shall make for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and an outer covering of fine leather. (NRS)

You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of badger skins above that. (NKJ)

Badgers’ skins are translated differently as far as the word תַחַשׁ [tahàsh] has no clear meaning. The differences affect not only the type of skin but also the color of the skin. For עֹרֹת תְחָשׁים [oròt tehashìm] in Ex 25:5 English versions differ: badgers’ skins (KJV and NKJ), sea cows (NIV), sealskins (ASV), porpoise skins (NAS and NAU), goatskins (RSV), fine leather (NRS), violet skins (DRA), peaux de dauphins (TOB). Bulgarian Synodal version (BUL2) prefers сини кожи (“blue skins”), the Protestant versions (BUL 1, BUL3, BUL4) язовешки кожи or делфинова кожа (“badgers’ skins” or “dolphin’s skin”). Russian RST кожи синие (“blue skins”). Orthodox translations follow Septuagint’s choice ὑακίνθι hyacinthine for oròt tehashìm. Vulgate prefers pelles ianthinas (“sealskins”). German LUT avoids color term – Dachsfelle (“badgers’ skins”) as Spanish pieles finas (“fine skins”), and NRS; French LSG and TOB – peaux de dauphin (“dolphin skins”), Italian NRV – pelli di delfino (“dolphin skins”).

From now on, I will use blue skins because I accept that the Jewish priests who translated the text into Greek, three centuries BC, are closest to the real vision of עוֹר תָחַש [or tahàsh] pl. עֹרֹת תְחָשׁים [oròt tehashìm]. The analysis of sacral color synergy at the Tabernacle continues with rival term (RT) blue skins עֹרֹת תְחָשׁים [oròt tehashìm].

4.2 The Pure Sapphire and the Throne of the Lord

We must add the presence of mega-light blue to the mega-light presences – white and red – in the description of the Throne of the Lord, coming from the sapphire that was mentioned only in three places in the Old Testament – Ex 24:10; Eze 1, 10. The place of blue light in the Old Testament is too specific. It is important because sapphire is an essential element and code for one of the most mystical objects – the Throne of the Lord, also called the Chariot of the Lord. Blue light is associated with sapphire, both in word and in color vision.

The “definitions” of the sapphire of the Throne of the Lord are in Ex 24:10 (“pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself”, “a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness”), and in Ezekiel, 1:26; 10:1 (“the likeness of a throne, as a sapphire stone”). In Ex 24, we witness 74 people (“Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel”) saw the God of Israel, “and under His feet appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself”. This episode is important because earlier only Moses was called to Mount Sinai to receive the stone tablets with the law and commandments.

Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel saw the God of Israel, and under his feet, there is a sapphire floor: “Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone and as it were the very heaven for clearness.” (Ex 24:9-10 ASV)

In Ezekiel, the Sapphire of the Throne of the Lord is part of the prophetic vision, which describes the Chariot of the Lord in many details. The description is in the first and the tenth chapters. It is a canonical mystical part in the Old Testament. The vision includes many mystical elements: the archangel of Ophnaim (“wheels”), the living creatures, the throne, and ‘the awesome crystal, stretched out over’ the heads of the living creatures. In 1:26, it appears that the above the ‘awesome crystal’ there is throne which is ‘as the appearance of a sapphire stone‏’.‏

Ezekiel 1:22

The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. (ASV)

And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature {was} as the color of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. (WEB)

Ezekiel 1:26

And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above. (ASV)

And above the firmament that {was} over their heads {was} the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne {was} the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. (WEB)

In chapter ten, the prophet confirms that the throne is like a sapphire (Eze 10:1) but not the pavement ‘under His feet’ (Exo 10:24): “Then I looked, and behold, in the firmament that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.” (Eze 10:1 ASV). In the first chapter, the firmament is above the heads of the living creatures, and in the tenth, the firmament is above the head of the cherubim. Ezekiel uses the word firmament רׇקִיעַ [rakìa] both in chapters one and ten. As mentioned above, [rakìa] is the first ‘cosmological term’ for the sky in the Bible connected by derivative links with ‘to stamp’, ‘spreading out’ or ‘stretching forth’, ‘an expansion of plates’, i.e. ‘broad plates, beaten out’. In Exodus 24:10, the word is heavens שׇׁמַיִם [shamàim] connected with water מׇים [màim]. For Ex 24:10 some English translations prefer sky (NIV, NIB, NAS, NAU) but more frequently use heaven (KJV, NKJ, ASV, RSV, NRS, WEB, RWB). An interesting detail is the term “clearness” which defines the sky in Ex 24:10. The Hebrew word used is one of ‘ritual purity’ טָה וֹ ר [tahòr], used for the gold in the Holy of Holies. In other words, the prototype of blue color, the sky, is defined as a ritual clean blue.

The word sapphire is at the heart of the Kabbalistic term Sephira. The idea is that the primordial substance Sephiroth refract and radiate light at the same time. It is incorrect to derive the term Sephirah from the Greek word sphere though it is done often.