3. “Heaven”
This word is the Hebrew shamayim which, like Elohim, is a plural noun, and can be translated either “heaven” or “heavens,” depending on the context and on whether it is associated with a singular or plural verb. It does not mean the stars of heaven, which were made only on the fourth day of Creation Week (Genesis 1:16), and which constitute the “host” of heaven, not heaven itself (Genesis 2:1).
There is a bare possibility that the Hebrew word may originally represent a compound of sham (“there”) and mayim (“waters”), thus reflecting the primeval association of water with the upper reaches of the atmosphere (Genesis 1:7).
It seems, however, that the essential meaning of the word corresponds to our modern term for space, such as when we speak of the universe, as a universe of space and time. Apparently there is no other Hebrew word used in this sense in the Bible, whereas the use of “heaven” is everywhere consistent with such a concept.
Understood in this way, it can also refer either to space in general or to a particular space, just as we may speak of “outer space,” “inner space,” “atmospheric space,” and so forth. In Genesis 1:1, the term refers to the component of space in the basic space-mass-time universe.
4. “Earth”
In like manner the term “earth” refers to the component of matter in the universe. At the time of the initial creation, there were no other planets, stars, or other material bodies in the universe; nor did any of them come into being until the fourth day. The earth itself originally had no form to it (Genesis 1:2); so this verse must speak essentially of the creation of the basic elements of matter, which thereafter were to be organized into the structured earth and later into other material bodies. The word is the Hebrew erets and is often also translated either “ground” or “land.” Somewhat similarly to the use of “heaven,” it can mean either a particular portion of earth (e.g., the “land of Canaan” – Genesis 12:5) or the earth material in general (e.g., “Let the earth bring forth grass” – Genesis 1:11).
