whoisjobe

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Dostoyevsky inspires 3 mots du jour

seraphim

A celestial being having three pairs of wings.

seraphim Christianity. The first of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology.
mentioned in Isa. 6:2, 3, 6, 7. This word means fiery ones, in allusion, as issupposed, to their burning love. They are represented as "standing" above theKing as he sat upon his throne, ready at once to minister unto him. Their formappears to have been human, with the addition of wings

firmament

The vault or expanse of the heavens; the sky

from the Vulgate firmamentum, which is used as the translation of the Hebrew_raki'a_. This word means simply "expansion." It denotes the space or expanselike an arch appearing immediately above us. They who rendered _raki'a_ byfirmamentum regarded it as a solid body. The language of Scripture is notscientific but popular, and hence we read of the sun rising and setting, andalso here the use of this particular word. It is plain that it was used todenote solidity as well as expansion. It formed a division between the watersabove and the waters below (Gen. 1:7). The _raki'a_ supported the upperreservoir (Ps. 148:4). It was the support also of the heavenly bodies (Gen.1:14), and is spoken of as having "windows" and "doors" (Gen. 7:11; Isa. 24:18;Mal. 3:10) through which the rain and snow might descend.

empyrean

The highest reaches of heaven, believed by the ancients to be a realm of pure fire or light.

The abode of God and the angels; paradise.

The sky.

adj.
Of or relating to the empyrean of ancient belief
adj 1: of or relating to the sky or heavens; "the empyrean sphere" [syn: empyreal] 2: inspiring awe; "well-meaning ineptitude that rises to empyreal absurdity"- M.S.Dworkin; "empyrean aplomb"- Hamilton Basso; "the sublime beauty of the night" [syn: empyreal, sublime] n : the apparent surface of the imaginary sphere on which celestial bodies appear to be projected

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