Sky

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

SKY. —In the two places ( Matthew 16:2,  Luke 12:56) where this word occurs in the Authorized Version of the Gospels, the term ‘heaven’ is substituted in Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885. There is no doubt that this tends towards consistency of rendering, as heaven is the translation of the Greek word (οὐρανός) elsewhere (see Redness of Sky). Where ‘sky’ is referred to in the Gospels it is the usual sense of cloud region or aerial expanse that is intended. This was the primary sense, indeed, of οὐρανός—the firmament, the vault above the earth. There is nothing in the two passages above to differentiate the ‘sky’ from the ‘heaven’ of  Matthew 24:31. The word is the representative of the Hebrew שִׁמַיִם the upper regions. It reflects the old supposition that the firmament was an actual canopy above the earth. Still the figurative use of the term is indispensable even in scientific treatises (like, for instance, Tyndall’s Fragments of Science ). In both passages the immediate reference is to the meteorological interpretations of the colour of the sky.

W. S. Kerr.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To throw towards the sky; as, to sky a ball at cricket.

(2): ( n.) A cloud.

(3): ( n.) Hence, a shadow.

(4): ( n.) The apparent arch, or vault, of heaven, which in a clear day is of a blue color; the heavens; the firmament; - sometimes in the plural.

(5): ( n.) The wheather; the climate.

(6): ( v. t.) To hang (a picture on exhibition) near the top of a wall, where it can not be well seen.

King James Dictionary

SKY, n.

1. The aerial region which surrounds the earth the apparent arch or vault of heaven, which in a clear day is of a blue color. 2. The heavens. 3. The weather the climate. 4. A cloud a shadow.

Holman Bible Dictionary

Heaven

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

He

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

stands in the A.V. as the rendering only of שִׁחִק . Shachak ( Deuteronomy 33:26;  2 Samuel 22:12;  Psalms 18:11;  Psalms 77:17;  Isaiah 45:8;  Jeremiah 51:9), the thick black Clouds (as elsewhere rendered) spread over the whole firmament; and thrice ( Matthew 16:2-3;  Hebrews 11:12) of Οὐρανός , the visible expanse of air (elsewhere "heaven"). In Scripture phraseology the heavens ( שָׁמִיַ ם ), as the opposite of the earth ( Genesis 1:8;  Genesis 1:10), constitute with it the world ( Genesis 1:1;  Genesis 2:1;  Deuteronomy 30:19;  Psalms 1:4), for which idea the Heb. had no other proper expression. According to the Mosaic cosmogony, the sky seems to have been regarded as physical, being a space between the upper and lower waters, or rather as a fixed expanse ( רָקַיעִ , "firmament") which separates these ( Genesis 1:6;  Genesis 1:8;  Psalms 104:3;  Psalms 148:4). Through this oceanic heaven were poured upon the earth rains, dews, snow, and hail ( Job 38:2) by means of openings, which were under the divine control, and which are sometimes called windows ( אִרְבּוֹת ,  Genesis 7:11;  Genesis 8:2;  2 Kings 7:2;  2 Kings 7:19) or doors ( דְּלָתִיַ ם ,  Psalms 78:23). In the sky hung the sun, moon, and stars as lights for the inhabitants of the earth ( Genesis 1:14 sq.), and above it sat Jehovah as on a throne ( Psalms 10:3; comp. 29:3;  Ezekiel 1:26). These, however, were rather poetical than literal representations (comp.  Exodus 24:10;  Daniel 12:3;  Job 37:18;  Ezekiel 1:22;  Revelation 4:6), for there are not wanting evidences of a truer conception of the cosmical universe ( Job 26:7;  Job 36:7). (See Earth).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

skı̄ ( שׁחק , shaḥaḳ , "fine dust" or "cloud," apparently from the root שׁחק , shāḥaḳ , "to rub," "to pulverize"; Samaritan: שׁחקיּה , sheḥaḳayyāh instead of Hebrew שׁמים , shāmayim  ; saḥḳ = "cloud," "small dust"):

The Revised Version (British and American) has "skies" for the King James Version "clouds" in  Job 35:5;  Job 36:28;  Job 37:21;  Psalm 36:5;  Psalm 57:10;  Psalm 68:34;  Psalm 78:23;  Psalm 108:4;  Proverbs 3:20;  Proverbs 8:28 , in which passages BDB supports the rendering of King James Version. In   Psalm 89:6 ,  Psalm 89:37 Revised Version (British and American) has "sky" for King James Version "heaven." English Versions has "sky" in   Deuteronomy 33:26;  2 Samuel 22:12;  Job 37:18;  Psalm 18:11;  Psalm 77:1;  Isaiah 45:8;  Jeremiah 51:9 . The word occurs mainly in poetical passages.

In the New Testament οὐρανός , ouranós , is translated "heaven" (the King James Version "sky") in connection with the weather in   Matthew 16:2 ,  Matthew 16:3;  Luke 12:56 . In  Hebrews 11:12 we find "the stars of heaven" ("the sky") as a figure of multitude. The conception, however, that the visible "sky" is but the dome-like floor of a higher world often makes it hard to tell whether "heaven" in certain passages may or may not be identified with the sky. See Heaven; Cosmogony .