Reference: Astronomy
American
The science, which treats of the heavenly bodies, was much studied in Asia in ancient times. The Chaldeans excelled in it. The Hebrews do not appear to have made great proficiency in it, though their climate and mode of life invited to the contemplation of the heavens. Revelation had taught them who created and governed all the world, Ge 1:1; 1-31, and the infinite presence of the one living and true God filled the universe, to their minks, with a glory unknown to others, Ps 19.1-14; Isa 40:26; Am 5:8. The Bible does not aim to teach the science of astronomy, but speaks of the sun, moon, and stars in the familiar language of mankind in all ages. The following heavenly bodies are alluded to particularly in Scripture: Venus, the morning star, Isa 14:12; Re 2:28; Orion, and the Pleiades, Job 9:9; 38:31; Am 5:8; the Great Bear, called "Arcturus," Job 9:9; 38:32; Draco, "the crooked serpent" Job 26:13; and Gemini, "the twins," 2Ki 23:5; Ac 28:11. The planets Jupiter and Venus were worshipped under various names, as Baal and Ahtoreth, Gad and Meni, Isa 65:11. Mercury is named as Nebo; in Isa 46:1; Saturn as Chiun, in Am 5:26; and Mars as Nergal, in 2Ki 17:30. See IDOLATRY and STARS.
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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
And he put down the religious persons whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places round about Jerusalem; likewise, those that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
He who made Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the secret places of the south.
He who made Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the secret places of the south.
By his spirit he has adorned the heavens; his hand has formed the fleeing serpent.
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth the signs of the heavens in their season, or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst claim the Gentiles as an inheritance!
Lift up your eyes on high and behold who has created these things; he brings out his host by number; he calls them all by their names; none shall be lacking by the greatness of his might and by the strength of his power.
Bel bowed down; Nebo is fallen; their images were placed upon animals and upon beasts of burden that will carry you, laden with yourselves, burden of weariness.
But ye that forsake the LORD, that forget the mountain of my holiness, that prepare a table unto fortune, and that furnish the drink offering for destiny;
look unto him that makes the seven stars and Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night, that calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name;
look unto him that makes the seven stars and Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night, that calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name;
But ye have offered unto Sicut your king, and unto Chiun your idols, the star of your gods which ye made.
And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose ensign was Castor and Pollux.
And I will give him the morning star.
Easton
The Hebrews were devout students of the wonders of the starry firmanent (Am 5:8; Ps 19). In the Book of Job, which is the oldest book of the Bible in all probability, the constellations are distinguished and named. Mention is made of the "morning star" (Re 2:28; comp. Isa 14:12), the "seven stars" and "Pleiades," "Orion," "Arcturus," the "Great Bear" (Am 5:8; Job 9:9; 38:31), "the crooked serpent," Draco (Job 26:13), the Dioscuri, or Gemini, "Castor and Pollux" (Ac 28:11). The stars were called "the host of heaven" (Isa 40:26; Jer 33:22).
The oldest divisions of time were mainly based on the observation of the movements of the heavenly bodies, the "ordinances of heaven" (Ge 1:14-18; Job 38:33; Jer 31:35; 33:25). Such observations led to the division of the year into months and the mapping out of the appearances of the stars into twelve portions, which received from the Greeks the name of the "zodiac." The word "Mazzaroth" (Job 38:32) means, as the margin notes, "the twelve signs" of the zodiac. Astronomical observations were also necessary among the Jews in order to the fixing of the proper time for sacred ceremonies, the "new moons," the "passover," etc. Many allusions are found to the display of God's wisdom and power as seen in the starry heavens (Ps 8; 19:1-6; Isa 51:6, etc.)
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And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for appointed times and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth; and it was so. read more. And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
He who made Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the secret places of the south.
By his spirit he has adorned the heavens; his hand has formed the fleeing serpent.
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth the signs of the heavens in their season, or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? read more. Dost thou know the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou use its power in the earth?
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst claim the Gentiles as an inheritance!
Lift up your eyes on high and behold who has created these things; he brings out his host by number; he calls them all by their names; none shall be lacking by the greatness of his might and by the strength of his power.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and those that dwell therein shall perish in like manner; but my saving health shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall never perish.
Thus hath the LORD said, who gives the sun for light by day, and the laws of the moon and of the stars for light by night, who divides the sea and the waves thereof roar; The LORD of the hosts is his name;
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my slave and the Levites that minister unto me.
Thus hath the LORD said: If my covenant remains not with the day and the night, and if I have not appointed the laws of the heaven and the earth,
look unto him that makes the seven stars and Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night, that calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name;
look unto him that makes the seven stars and Orion and turns the shadow of death into the morning and makes the day dark with night, that calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name;
And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose ensign was Castor and Pollux.
And I will give him the morning star.