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--
The men of Babylonia made Succoth Benoth; the men of Cush made Nergal; the men of Hamath made Ashima.
He removed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained [to] burn incense on the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem and who offered incense to, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
[He is the one] who made [the] Bear [and] Orion, [the] Pleiades and [the] constellations of [the] south.
[He is the one] who made [the] Bear [and] Orion, [the] Pleiades and [the] constellations of [the] south.
By his breath {the heavens were made clear}; his hand pierced [the] fleeing snake.
"Can you bind [the] chains of [the] Pleiades, or can you loosen [the] cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the southern constellations at their appointed time, or can you lead [the] Bear with its children?
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations!
Lift your eyes up [on] high, and see! Who created these? The one who brings out their host by number. He calls all them by name. Because [he is] great of power and mighty of power, no man is missing.
Bel bows down; Nebo [is] stooping. Their idols are {on} animals and {on} cattle; your {cargo} is carried [as] a burden {on} weary [animals].
But you {who forsake} Yahweh, forgetting {my holy mountain}, who set a table for Fortune, and who {pour out} a jug of mixed wine for Destiny,
The one who made the Pleiades and Orion and who turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens day [into] night, the one who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh [is] his name!
The one who made the Pleiades and Orion and who turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens day [into] night, the one who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh [is] his name!
And you will take up Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.
Now after three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian [one] {with the twin gods Castor and Pollux as its insignia}.
as I also have received from my Father, 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 vaulted dome of heaven {to separate day from night}, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, and they shall be as lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth." And it [was] so. read more. And God made two lights, the greater light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars. And God placed them in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night, and to {separate light from darkness}. And God saw that [it was] good.
[He is the one] who made [the] Bear [and] Orion, [the] Pleiades and [the] constellations of [the] south.
By his breath {the heavens were made clear}; his hand pierced [the] fleeing snake.
"Can you bind [the] chains of [the] Pleiades, or can you loosen [the] cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the southern constellations at their appointed time, or can you lead [the] Bear with its children? read more. Do you know heaven's statutes, or can you establish their rule on the earth?
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn! You are cut down to the ground, conqueror of nations!
Lift your eyes up [on] high, and see! Who created these? The one who brings out their host by number. He calls all them by name. Because [he is] great of power and mighty of power, no man is missing.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath, for [the] heavens will be torn to pieces like smoke, and the earth will be worn out like garment, and those who inhabit her will die like gnats. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be broken to pieces.
Thus says Yahweh, who gives [the] sun for light by day, the regulations of [the] moon and [the] stars for light [by] night, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar--Yahweh of hosts [is] his name.
As the host of heaven cannot be counted, and the sand of the sea cannot be measured, so I will make numerous the offspring of David my servant and the Levites [who] minister [to] me.'"
Thus says Yahweh: 'If my covenant [with] day and [with] night, [the] regulations of heaven and earth, I had not established,
The one who made the Pleiades and Orion and who turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens day [into] night, the one who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh [is] his name!
The one who made the Pleiades and Orion and who turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens day [into] night, the one who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, Yahweh [is] his name!
Now after three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian [one] {with the twin gods Castor and Pollux as its insignia}.
as I also have received from my Father, and I will give him the morning star.