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Here in Genesis 1:15, we see God give light on the earth. Now we’re at roughly the midpoint of the first chapter. Let’s get down to the verse that is the subject for our post!

We start at the top left of this verse with our favorite pictogram, God. He speaks of the lights he proposed in 1:14. In the last verse, we learned that these lights were intended to help people keep track of the passage of time. Here we see the lights serving a more straight-forward purpose.

We see God speaking of his creation. Accordingly, in the speech bubble, we see the pictogram for the vault of heaven (firmament!). The lights are hung up in the vault. A cone stretches down from the lights in the vault. It represents the light shining down from the vault of heaven. The pictogram for earth sits at its base.

As is typically of these early verses, we see God speak all of this. Furthermore, God’s words connect to a reiteration of the same constellation of pictograms. This shows that what God has spoken becomes the real state of the universe.

God Made the Vault to Give Light on the Earth…

And we keep at this project to cast a different light on the bible. We hope you find our work useful. Next verse we put us firmly past the first half of the first chapter of the Bible. We’re really excited to see what’s next, and we hope you are too!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles.  Or maybe check us out on Pinterest.

Whew! This was a tough one! This verse contained a lot of very abstract concepts that were difficult to translate into pictograms. “Sacred times” was a particularly big challenge. So, let’s take a look at the verse!

Our pictogram start again with God and a speech bubble. God suggests the existence of lights in the vault of the sky (firmament). He then goes on to state several use cases for these lights. The first of which is to separate the day from the night. The pictograms used to depict this are the ones we have used before for day and night. They are shown with a double headed arrow between them to show the separation.

Things Get Tricky with “Sacred Times”

A “+” joins this first constellation of pictograms with the next three individual pictograms. The first in the series shows a clock face with a human figure praying as the time the clock indicates. We struggled a great deal with depicting this concept. The pictogram we landed on here is not one we use without some concern. We are not sure about the universality of the clock face.

The next pictogram indicates that the lights in the sky mark the days. This pictogram is similar to ones we have used in the as to indicate the passage of days, and we are far more confident about it then we are about the previous one. The last pictogram of the set depicts the way in which the lights in the sky mark the years. The lines represent the sun’s ecliptic, which moves back and forth across the sky as the year progresses. This is another pictogram that may be a little bit hard for people to understand, but it is the only way we can currently come up with to express the idea.

More Challenges Await!

And we’ll be back at it soon with more pictographic bible verses!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles.  Or maybe check us out on Twitter!

We’ll be breaking from our usual habit of covering only one verse at time. Genesis 1:12 is mostly the same as Genesis 1:11. The land carries out what God ordered in the previous verse, and there are no new pictograms. Genesis 1:13 is very short and repeats a pictogram we’ve used before with only one minor variation. So let’s get down to it, and see how the plants were made according to their kinds!

In Genesis 1:13, we see the land produce plants bearing seeds. The 8-pointed starburst depicting this act of creation indicates that it is not divine creation. The earth does it at God’s direction. We created pictograms for seeds containing identical plants to indicate that the plants are bearing seeds according to their kind. Here again, we are treated to a smiling god, indicating that this subsidiary act of creation was good.

Genesis 1:13 depicts the third day. We reuse the pictogram we’ve used for this concept before. The only alteration is that there are now three tally marks indicating the count of the days. We’d like to go on, but there’s really not much more to say.

Translating Bible Verse According To Their Kind

We’ll be back with more Bible verses soon! Indeed we’re almost halfway through the first chapter of Gensis now. If you’re on Twitter, would you kindly give our account a follow? It would really help us spread the pictograhic good word!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles. 

As we see God let the land produce vegetation, we get a few new pictograms, and see the use of our new pictogram that shows land, seas and sky in context. Let’s get to the verse!

As we so often have in Genesis, we start with God and his speech bubble. Here we see Him suggesting that the land produce vegetation. Land is depicted by the land/sea/sky pictogram with the land portion shaded. An arrow leads us to another new pictogram, although one that should look familiar. We used a similar starburst to represent creation previously. The difference is subtle, but if you look at the two together, you’ll see that divine creation as carried out directly by God has more points on the starburst. This is intended to indicate the difference between creation that is directly carried out by God, and creation that occurs secondarily.

In that secondary act of creation, we see plants that with seeds, and a tree bearing fruit. A cutaway version of one of these fruits depicts the seeds contained inside. God commands the land to produce these two categories of vegetation.

Next we see a “+” sign, indicating the close connection between the first and second part of the verse. This time we see the land pictogram outside of the suggestion bubble. The land carries out the process of creation as commanded by God.

He Let the Land Produce Vegetation…

And we’re continuing to work on our translation! We’ll be back soon with the next installment. Until then, be well!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles.  Or maybe check us out on Pinterest.

In our current verse, we see when God gathered the waters. From a pictogram standpoint, we also have something very important. We created a new pictogram to represent water, land and sky in juxtaposition. This has some implications for the project that we’ll discuss at the end of the article. For now, let’s look at the verse.

This verse starts with God naming the dry ground and the gathered waters. We see the pictogram for God, and the speech bubble. These are two pictograms you’ve become very familiar with over the last few verses. What’s next is something new.

At the top left of God’s speech bubble, we see part of the pictogram that was used to show dry ground arising from the gathered waters. This pictogram fragment stands on it’s own, equated to a new pictogram. This new pictogram depicts water, land and sky in juxtaposition. We focus on the highlighted ground/land section of the pictogram. The other two are present because dry land is only comprehensible in the context of it’s relationship to the other two.

God’s statement equates the dry ground to land, and then the gathered water to the seas. God looks upon what he has created. It’s a treat to see the smiling God pictogram again. I think we can all agree with Him, this creation is good!

Gathered Waters and Gathered Thoughts

We considered the creation of the new pictogram that shows land, sky and sea for a long time. It seemed to be duplicative in some ways, and it probably is. We have three different pictograms for large bodies of water. Why? At first we thought we would need to go back and revise our earlier works.

Upon further reflection, though, we are in fact discussing three different things. Clearly, the primal waters are not the same as the waters that were divided above and below the firmament (vault!). Likewise, the waters that were gathered to become the sea are a different entity as well. In conclusion, we think the different pictograms for each are justified. We’ll keep an eye on it as we work to bring your our next verse!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles.  Or maybe check us out on Twitter!

Up next, God gathers the water under the sky to let dry ground appear. Welcome back! We get one new pictogram in this verse. So, let’s get down to it:

We start again with our current most-used pictogram, that of God. God speaks again, proposing that the waters be gathered into one place. We see the pictogram for sky with the pictogram for water. Here we use the pictogram specifically for the water under the sky, as differentiated from the pictogram for primal waters.

The pictogram for water is show with arrows pointing inward from each cardinal direction. By God’s suggestion, the water gathers into one place. Our plus sign returns showing the connection between the gathering of the water, and our new pictogram. This new pictogram depicts the first appearance of dry land. As we move through the next few verses, we will see the continued transformation of this pictogram into a more complicated conformation that shows land in context.

The final part of the pictogram reiterates what God has said, showing the word of God made manifest. Indeed, this reiteration is shown joined to the first half of the verse by the plus sign again. This indicates the important connection between the two separate pictographic phrases.

He Let Dry Ground Appear!

And we still have a lot mor work to do before we have even one third of the first chapter of Genesis “pictographized”. The size of this project reflects the importance of the work. So we’re gonna stop wasting time blogging and get back to it. Until we see you again, be well!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles.  Or maybe check us out on Pinterest.

We get a new pictogram in today’s posting. God called the vault sky, and we styled the sky as you’ll see below.

The pictogram for God returns again in our pictographic depiction of this verse. He calls the vault (firmament?) “sky” which we represent by connecting the pictogram for the vault with our new pictogram for sky with an equal sign.

The pictogram for sky does it’s best to relate the idea of sky simply and clearly. The box of the pictogram contains the pictograms for cloud and sky we’ve seen before. We also included a representation for birds or other flying creatures.

This first set of pictograms is connected to the second set of pictograms. This constellation of pictograms is the same one we’ve seen before, indicating a day/night cycle. This is the second one ever. We indicate it is such with two hashmarks in the middle of the cycle.

God Called the Vault Sky, and We Have a Near-Collision

We knew we needed to differentiate the pictogram for skyfrom pictograms for similar concepts. For example, “morning” and “evening”. We accomplished this by excluding the horizontal line that indicated the horizon in those pictograms. We know we’re going to have to keep an eye on these pictograms in the future so that we can ensure they do not become indistinguishable from each other.

We’ll be back soon with another verse of the bible. We’ll also be gradually filling out the pictogram glossary, so keep an eye on it as well! There are 31,102 verses in the bible. Maybe when we get a little closer, we’ll put up a progress bar. Be well!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles.  Or maybe check us out on Pinterest.

Ok, so we admit it. Last time we dipped out of the NIV and into the King James Version. We like “firmament” better than we like “vault”. We’re back on track now though, and we’ll try to keep from getting mixed up again. God made a vault…

Our most used pictorgram, God returns, continuing on with his acts of creation. He creates the firmam…<cough>…vault that he proposed in the last verse. The dome of the vault is then used to separate the primordial waters, so there are waters above the vault, and waters below the vault.

And it was so. All of these separate constellations of pictograms are joined by plus signs, clearly indicating the importance of their juxtaposition.

God Made a Vault!

And we’ll continue to make pictographic interpretations of the Bible. We’re expanding out to and trying to spread the good word a little further, so you can find us on Twitter and Instagram! If you like what we’re doing here, head over there and give us a follow to help us share it with everyone.

There are 31 verses in the first chapter of Genesis, so we’re not even one third of the way there! We hope you’ll stick with us, because Genesis 1:8 is on the way! In bible time, we’ll have only completed the second day by the end of the next post. We’re really excited because we get another new pictogram! We won’t spoil the surprise, so you just have to come back and see it when we post!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles.  Or maybe check us out on Pinterest.

Fun fact to start us off today. A firmament, as it is translated from the Hebrew, refers to something that has been stretched, spread or hammered out like a metal. Apologetics press has an interesting article on the topic here. Below is our pictographic version of Genesis 1:6 in it, you can see the firmament depicted as a dome.

The pictogram for the primal waters makes a another appearance here. God proposes the existence of an object to separate the primal water into two spaces, one above and one below. A plus sign connects the suggestion of the proposition and usage. This is intended, again, to show that the two are intrinsically connected. The ideas are important separately. They must also be important in juxtaposition.

Controversy Over a Firmament

We do a substantial amount of research for each verse we translate. We don’t view it as our place, here at IKEABIBLE, to question the meaning of the bible as we translate it into pictograms. However there does seem to be substantial controversy about the firmament. It seems to be dependent on how literally one interprets the bible, and how reliant one is one science.

The original Hebrew word does not refer to a specific physical object, but rather a means of creating the thing. Also, as noted in our previous discussion of the primal water pictogram, the water described here may not be exactly the same as what we experience today.

We hope we’ll see you back for the next installment!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles. 

In Genesis 1:5, God creates the first day. He called the light day and the darkness night, and the day/night cycle began. Let’s break down the verse in pictograms in a little more detail.

We again see our pictogram for god with his speech bubbles. He is making two separate statements. We see the pictogram for light that was created previously, connected with an “equals” sign, equating light to the new pictogram for day. The second statement made by god works the same, but this time with our pictogram representing the darkness to a new pictogram for night. The stars in this pictogram don’t exist yet. We feel that it is fair to include them here for clarity’s sake.

These two statements by God are joined to the next set of pictograms by the “+” sign, representing the close connection between the two ideas. We get three new pictograms in this section. One for evening, showing the sung going down. A second for morning, showing the sun rising. A circle joins these two pictograms, with arrows showing the cycle. We think it’s likely that we’ll be seeing more of these pictograms soon…

He Called the Light “Day”, and We’re Calling This Blog Post Over!

But we’ll be back soon with our next installment of the IKEABIBLE! Ite feels like we’ve covered so much ground already, but were not even 20% of the way through the first chapter! We hope to see you back soon. Stay safe and well!

In the meantime, you could take a look at the whole IKEABIBLE, or check out some of our other blog articles. Or, maybe take a look at Patheos? Either way, take care, and we’ll be back with more soon!