Major Concepts of Heaven from the Hebrew Bible

For the ancient Israelite, the cosmos consisted of heaven, earth, and the lower waters (Exod 20:4). In the Hebrew Bible, heaven is the location of the clouds, the atmosphere (Job 35:5), and the area across which the stars journey in their paths (Jer 8:2). Various passages state that the heavens were created by the Lord (Gen 1:1; Isa 45:12) and that they could be opened at His bidding to bring rain (Gen 7:12). The Israelites believed there was a vast body of water in the heavens that was the source of the rain (Jer 51:16; Psa 148:4). They thought there were vessels in heaven for the storage of the rainwater (Deut 28:12; Job 38:37). The word “heaven” may come from an Akkadian phrase meaning “place of the waters” (Wright, Early History of Heaven, 55). However, it is also possible that the term originates from an Ancient Near Eastern root meaning a hollow and high place (Pennington, Heaven and Earth, 39).

The word “heaven” in the Old Testament usually designates the place of God’s habitation (Psa 14:2; 1 Kgs 8:30, 39). To differentiate between the visible heaven and the dwelling place of God, biblical authors often referred to Yahweh’s abode as the heaven of heavens or the highest heaven (Deut 10:14; 1 Kgs 8:27; Psa 148:4; Neh 9:6). Certain attributes of God—such as His justice—are said to exist in heaven (e.g., Isa 34:5). God was not alone in the heavens—the celestial beings also inhabited it (Gen 28:12; 1 Kgs 22:19).

Some biblical authors provided physical descriptions of heaven. Job 26:11 says that the heavens are secured by pillars. Genesis 8:2 speaks of the windows of heaven, which can be fastened to restrain the rain. The poetic passages of the Bible which speak of heaven may not be literal descriptions.