Under the name of stars, the Hebrew comprehended all the constellations, planets, and heavenly luminaries, except the sun and moon. The psalmist, to exalt the power and omniscience of God, says, "He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names," Ps 147:4; God being described as a king taking a review of his army, and knowing the name of every one of his soldiers. Christ is called "the Morning Star," which is the brightest of the heavenly train, and ushers in the day, Re 22:16. Compare Nu 24:17. To express increase and multiplication, Scripture uses the similitude of the stars of heaven, or of the sands of the sea, Ge 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; Ex 32:13. In times of disgrace and public calamity, it is said the stars withhold their light; they fall from heaven, and disappear. These figurative and emphatic expressions, which refer to the governing powers of nations, are only weakened and enervated by being explained.

In the pure atmosphere of Judea and the East the stars shine with peculiar brilliancy, and seem as if hanging midway in the heavenly canopy, while the eye penetrates the ether far beyond them. The beauty and splendor that men observed in the stars; the great advantages they derived from them; the wonderful order apparent in their return, in the production and preservation of animals, fruits, plants, and minerals, have induced almost all heathen nations to impute to them life, knowledge, power, and to pay them a sovereign worship and adoration. The Israelites also needed to be warned against this sin. "Learn not the way of the heathen," says God, "and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them," Jer 10:2. See IDOLATRY.

STAR IN THE EAST. It is a fact of great interest, that when the Savior appeared, not only were the Jews eagerly expecting the Messiah, but many in various heathen lands were cherishing similar hopes: in part through the diffusion of the Hebrew prophecies; in part through the felt need of a Savior; and in part perhaps through direct divine intimations. The eastern magi apparently were not only apprized of the coming birth of a royal and divine being in Judea, but were miraculously guided to Bethlehem by a meteoric light, appearing in the right direction for their course, Mt 2:9. The fanciful theory of the distinguished astronomer Kepler, that the conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn six years before the common Christian era may have constituted the "star in the east," does not appear to meet the terms of the inspired narrative. See MAGI.

STAR, in Hebrew, ????. Under the name of stars, the ancient Hebrews comprehended all the heavenly bodies, constellations, and planets; in a word, all the luminaries, the sun and moon excepted. The number of the stars was looked upon as infinite. And the Psalmist, to exalt the power and magnificence of God, says, that he numbers the stars and calls them by their names; and so are they put to express a vast multitude, Ge 15:5; 22:17; Ex 33:13.