Bible Dictionary
BODY OF HEAVEN
An older rendering of the Hebrew expression meaning the very heaven or the clear sky. It describes the unclouded expanse seen in Moses' vision beneath God's feet.
Definition
“Body of heaven” is an older rendering of an expression meaning the very heaven or the clear, unclouded sky. It describes the substance or expanse of the blue heavens.
Biblical Usage
The expression occurs in the account of Moses’ vision beneath the feet of the God of Israel.
Historical Background
The underlying Hebrew word literally means “bone” and can idiomatically signify strength, substance, or the thing itself; hence the sense “the very heaven.”
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>The King James Version translates the Hebrew idiom, etsem ha-shamayim, by "the body of heaven" (Ex 24:10). A more correct rendering is given in the Revised Version (British and American), "the very heaven," taking the word `etsem in its idiomatic use as an intensive, which is derived from its literal meaning, "bone," as "strength," "substance," and then as "self" (compare Job 21:23); the substance of the blue, unclouded sky, hence, the clear sky itself.</p>