Genesis 1:1 - in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth Psalm 8:3 - When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 1 Corinthians 15:40 - heavenly bodies and earthly bodies
Definitions. The phrase "heaven and earth" is used to indicate the whole universe (Genesis 1:1; Jeremiah 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens,
(A) The firmament, as "fowls of the heaven" (Genesis 2:19; 7:3,23; Psalms 8:8, etc.), "the eagles of heaven" (Lamentations 4:19), etc.
(B) The starry heavens (Deuteronomy 17:3; Jeremiah 8:2; Matthew 24:29).
(C) "The heaven of heavens," or "the third heaven" (Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; Psalms 115:16; 148:4; 2co 12:2).
Meaning of words in the original,
(A) The usual Hebrew word for "heavens" is Shamayim, a plural form meaning "heights," "elevations" (Genesis 1:1; 2:1).
(B) The Hebrew word Marom is also used (Psalms 68:18; 93:4; 102:19, etc.) as equivalent to Shamayim, "high places," "heights."
(C) Heb. galgal, literally a "wheel," is rendered "heaven" in Psalms 77:18 (RSV, "whirlwind").
(E) Heb. rakia is closely connected with (D), and is rendered "firmamentum" in the Vulgate, whence our "firmament" (Genesis 1:6; Deuteronomy 33:26, etc.), regarded as a solid expanse.
Metaphorical meaning of term.
Isaiah 14:13,14; "doors of heaven" (Psalms 78:23);
heaven "shut" (1 Kings 8:35);
"opened" (Ezekiel 1:1). (See 1 Chronicles 21:16.)
Spiritual meaning. The place of the everlasting blessedness of the righteous; the abode of departed spirits.
(A) Christ calls it his "Father's house" (John 14:2).
(B) It is called "paradise" (Luke 23:43; 2co 12:4; Revelation 2:7).
(D) The "kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 25:1; James 2:5).
(E) The "eternal kingdom" (2 Peter 1:11).
(F) The "eternal inheritance" (1 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 9:15).
(G) The "better country" (Hebrews 11:14,16).
(H) The blessed are said to "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and to be "in Abraham's bosom" (Luke 16:22; Matthew 8:11); to "reign with Christ" (2 Timothy 2:12); and to enjoy "rest" (Hebrews 4:10,11).
In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of
"life everlasting,"
"an eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17),
an exemption from all sufferings for ever,
a deliverance from all evils (2 Corinthians 5:1,2) and from the society of the wicked (2 Timothy 4:18),
bliss without termination,
the "fulness of joy" for ever (Luke 20:36; 2 Corinthians 4:16,18; 1 Peter 1:4; 5:10; 1 John 3:2).
The believer's heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness, but also a "place", a place "prepared" for them (John 14:2).
2. Shamayim. This is the word used in the expression "the heaven and the earth," or "the upper and lower regions." (Genesis 1:1)
3. Marom, used for heaven in (Psalms 18:16; Isaiah 24:18; Jeremiah 25:30). Properly speaking it means a mountain as in (Psalms 102:19; Ezekiel 17:23)
4. Shechakim, "expanses," with reference to the extent of heaven. ( 33:26; Job 35:5) St. Paul’s expression "third heaven," (2 Corinthians 12:2) had led to much conjecture. Grotius said that the Jews divided the heaven into three parts, viz.,
5. The air or atmosphere, where clouds gather;
6. The firmament, in which the sun, moon and stars are fixed;
7. The upper heaven, the abode of God and his angels, the invisible realm of holiness and happiness the home of the children of God.
HEAVEN [ISBE] plus the awareness and study of the sky (i.e., astronomy)