Reference: Stars
Easton
The eleven stars (Ge 37:9); the seven (Am 5:8); wandering (Jude 1:13); seen in the east at the birth of Christ, probably some luminous meteors miraculously formed for this specific purpose (Mt 2:2-10); stars worshipped (De 4:19; 2Ki 17:16; 21:3; Jer 19:13); spoken of symbolically (Nu 24:17; Re 1:16,20; 12:1). (See Astrologer.)
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Then he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers. And he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream again, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star will go out from Jacob, and a scepter will rise from Israel; it will crush the foreheads of Moab and destroy all the children of Seth.
{And do this so that you do not lift} your eyes [toward] heaven and {observe} the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all [of] the peoples under all [of] the heaven.
And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be unclean like the place of Topheth, all the houses where they made smoke offerings upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and [where] they poured out libations to other gods." '"
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!
saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising and have come to worship him." And [when] King Herod heard [it], he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him, read more. and [after] calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired from them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet, 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for from you will go out a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men [and] determined precisely from them the time [when] the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem [and] said, "Go, inquire carefully concerning the child, and when you have found [him], report to me so that I also may come [and] worship him." [After] they listened to the king, they went out, and behold, the star which they had seen at its rising led them until it came [and] stood above [the place] where the child was. Now [when they] saw the star, they rejoiced [with] very great joy.
wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shameful deeds, wandering stars, for whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.
and [he] had in his right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face [was] like the sun shining in its strength.
[As for] the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands--the seven stars are [the] angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are [the] seven churches.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun and [with] the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars,
Hastings
The stars form part of the Divine creation in Ge 1. They are invisible in the sunlight, but begin to appear about sunset (Ne 4:21). In poetical passages hyperbolical expressions are used concerning them. At the creation 'the morning stars sang together' (Job 38:7); at the battle between Barak and Sisera 'the stars in their courses fought against Sisera' (Jg 5:20): in the former passage it may be that the angels are described as stars (cf. Re 1:20 'the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches'). The difference of magnitude in the stars is recognized by St. Paul: 'one star differeth from another star in glory' (1Co 15:41). The stars were looked upon as innumerable: 'tell the stars, if thou be able to tell them' (Ge 15:5). The appearance of a bright particular star was supposed to portend some great event. Thus Balaam prophesied 'There shall come forth a star out of Jacob' (Nu 24:17), and this was afterwards interpreted as applying to the Epiphany star (Mt 2:2; see Star of the Magi); and so in 2Pe 1:19 we read of the day-star arising in men's hearts. Caution is given against the worship of the stars, in the legislation of Deuteronomy (De 4:19), and the punishment of death assigned for the convicted worshipper (see Host of Heaven). In Apocalyptic literature (Re 22:16) our Lord describes Himself as 'the bright, the morning star'; whilst 'they that turn many to righteousness' are to shine 'as the stars for ever and ever' (Da 12:3). The day of the Lord is to be heralded by signs in the stars as well as in the sun and moon (Lu 21:25). The appearance of shooting stars, which come out of the darkness and go back into it, is alluded to in Jude 1:13 'wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved for ever.' Special numbers of stars are mentioned; in Rev (Re 1:16; 12:1), the seven stars and twelve stars illustrate a conventional use of those numbers common in apocalyptic literature. In the OT the seven stars of the AV of Am 5:8 are the Pleiades; and the 'eleven stars' which made obeisance to Joseph in his dream are simply a conventional number to correspond with that of his brethren.
Of individual stars or constellations, the Bear (AV Arcturus), Orion, and the Pleiades occur; all three in Job 9:9; 38:31-32, the last two also in Am 5:8. The mazzaroth (Job 38:32) are most probably the signs of the Zodiac (Revised Version margin; cf. 2Ki 23:5. margin). In 2Ki 23:5 the Heb. form of the word mazzaloth is different, and RV (text) renders it 'the planets.' The chambers of the south (Job 9:9) are probably the stars of the southern hemisphere.
Of worship connected with the stars we have two notable instances. That of 'the queen of heaven' was popular in Jerusalem (Jer 7:18) immediately before the Captivity, and to the neglect of it the captives in Egypt ascribed their disasters, in an address to Jeremiah (Jer 44:15-23) at Pathros. This worship consisted of the offering of incense and drink-offerings, and the making of cakes, with her figure, apparently, upon them. This Queen of Heaven seems to have been without doubt Venus, or Istar, whose star was considered the most beautiful in the heavens. This goddess is identical with Ashtoreth or Astarte. The second instance of star-worship is one that presents some difficulty. In Amos (Am 5:26) we meet with an image of Chiun, if the word be a proper name, who is called 'the star of your god.' This passage is quoted by St. Stephen (Ac 7:43), where the expression is rendered 'the star of the god Rephan.' There seems little reason to doubt that Chiun is the same as the Assyrian Kaiw
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And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star will go out from Jacob, and a scepter will rise from Israel; it will crush the foreheads of Moab and destroy all the children of Seth.
{And do this so that you do not lift} your eyes [toward] heaven and {observe} the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all [of] the peoples under all [of] the heaven.
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 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.
So we labored at the work, and half of them were holding the spears from dawn until the stars came out.
[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.
when [the] morning stars were singing together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
"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?
Can you lead forth the southern constellations at their appointed time, or can you lead [the] Bear with its children?
You struggle with your many consultations; let them stand, now, and save you-- those who see the stars, divide [the] {celestial sphere}, who inform by new moons-- from [those things] that are coming upon you.
The children [are] gathering wood, and the fathers [are] kindling the fire, and the women [are] kneading dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out libations to other gods for the sake of provoking me to anger.
Then all the men who knew that their wives [were] making smoke offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood [by], a great assembly, and all the people who lived in the land of Egypt in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, {saying}, "[Concerning] the word that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we [are] not going to listen to you! read more. But certainly we will do {everything} that went out from our mouths, to make smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out to her libations just as we did, we, and our ancestors, our kings, and our officials, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, [for] then {we had enough to eat}, and we were well-off, and we did not see disaster. But {since} we stopped making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything, and by the sword and by the famine we have perished. And indeed, [when] we [were] making smoke offerings to the queen of heaven and {pouring out} to her libations, [was it not] {with the consent of} our husbands [that] we made for her sacrificial cakes {marked with her image}, and we poured out to her libations?" Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and to the women, and to all the people who answered him a word, {saying}, "The offering that you made, smoke offerings in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you, and your ancestors, your kings, and your officials, and the people of the land, [did] not Yahweh remember them, and [did] it [not] come to his {mind}? And Yahweh was no longer able to bear [it], {because of} the evil of your deeds, {because of} the detestable things that you committed. Thus your land became as a site of ruins, and as a horror, and as a curse, {without} inhabitants, as [it is] this day. {Because of} [the fact] that you made smoke offerings, and that you sinned against Yahweh, and you did not listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you have not walked in his law, and in his statute, and in his legal provisions, {therefore} this disaster has happened to you, as [it is] this day."
But the [ones] having insight will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and [the ones] providing justice [for] the many [will be] like the stars {forever and ever}.
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] Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising and have come to worship him."
saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising and have come to worship him."
"And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity from the noise of the sea and [its] surging,
And you took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rephan, the images that you made, to worship them, and I will deport you beyond Babylon!'
[There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.
and we possess [as] more reliable the prophetic word, to which you do well [if you] pay attention to [it] as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shameful deeds, wandering stars, for whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.
and [he] had in his right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face [was] like the sun shining in its strength.
[As for] the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands--the seven stars are [the] angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are [the] seven churches.
And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun and [with] the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars,
"I, Jesus, sent my angel to testify to you about these [things] for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."