8:28 the clouds. The word for “clouds” is also the word for “sky,” and means “thin vapor.” This seems to be a reference to the “waters above the firmament” in the original creation (Genesis 1:7), most likely an extensive canopy of water vapor.

8:28 fountains of the deep. A reference to the “fountains of the deep,” originally “strengthened” to provide firm conduits from the sub-terrestrial “deep” which provided water for the lands in the primeval hydrologic cycle.