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246 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

Astronomy

and which is held by the Assyrians to be the "bellwether " of the flock. This starry army belongs to

YnwH; "Captain of

Army."

"

Yhwh

hence the frequent expression of hosts

(niX2S[n]

"

or "

God

of hosts

niK2¥[n]

'."6k.

'•>)

indi-

cates that He is the actual leader of the heavenly array. According to a later view, however (Zech. iv. 2, 10), the seven planets are evidently

termed the

"

seven eyes of

God

"

(Smend,

" Alttesta-

mentliche Religionsgesch. " p. 343, note), just as the planet Saturn was the eye of Anu, lord of heaven among the Babylonians. It would appear, therefore, that they were no longer considered independent beings, and of course the other stars likewise. This passage has probably no reference whatever to the seven-armed candlestick of the Temple and it has no connection with what the Hebrews may or may not have conceived concerning the planets. As regards the individual stars, current opinion holds to-day that four to six, perhaps seven, are named in the Old Testament. Such are: "Kesil"

Amos

(P'DD, Isa. xiii. 10;

v. 8;

Job

ix. 9, xxxviii.,

understood generally to be Orion; "Kimah" Job I.e.), identical with Sirius or (ilD'O, Amos I.e. the Pleiades; " Ash" or " Ayish" (t^y, Kty, Job ix. 9, xxxviii. 32), possibly the Great Bear, possibly the Hyades or Pleiades " Mazzarot " (miTD, Job xxxviii. 32), either the Pleiades or Hyades, or possibly the Northern and Southern Crown. Another is mentioned, "Hadre Teman " ((DTI mn, Job ix. 9) but it is doubtful whether or not a constella31),





Individual Stars.

is meant by this at all see G. Hoffmann, in " Zeitschr. Alttestament-

tion

liche Wissenschaft,"



ii.

107,

who

holds

that Kesil is Orion; Kimah, Sirius; Ayish, the Hyades; Mazzarot, the Pleiades; and that pTl 'Tin is to be amended to read j'oxn Tin ("chambers of the Twins," Gemini). According to this view, all the fixed stars and constellations mentioned in the Old Testament would lie in one region of the stellar hemisphere and according to Stern (Geiger's "Jtid. Zeit." iii. 258), these, and these only, are mentioned because they serve to indicate the seasons of the calendar. These identifications, however, admit of no positive proof for a disconnected tradition can hardly be considered a demonstration. The only case in which anything approaching proof can be adduced is that of Ash or 'Ayish by means of the Talmudic word tWTl " yuta" (mentioned with this star and perhaps etymologicin Syriac, HTWV in Arabic, JVJJ ally related to it) ("rain ") which would agree with the idea of the constellation of the Hyades, the "rain-stars." It should then be punctuated to read " 'ayush" (Hoff;

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mann). "Mazzarot," in Job xxxviii. 32, may perhaps, by comparison with Job xxxvii. 9, where "mezarim" (D'TD) is paralleled by "heder" (Tin, "chamber"), be explained as identical with " Hadre Teman" (chambers of the south) (Job ix. 9) or etymologically referred to the Assyrian " massartu" (Babylonian " mazzartu "), a place where something is watched. But it is just as likely to be, as tradition already has it, a variation of " mazzalot " (m^TD, II Kings xxiii. 5) a word also of uncertain meaning, varying as its explanations do between "planets," "constellations

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of the zodiac,"

246

and "stations of the moon."

If the

word were indisputably of Assyro-Babylonian origin and related to "manzaltu" or "mazaltu," either of the two latter significations would probably be the correct one, seeing that "manzaltu " means "stand " or "station,"

is

also applied to stars, and, like its

synonym, "manzazu," denotes probably some one or other of the zodiacal constellations.

remarkably enough, is found in the plural where " the stars of heaven and its [or This is commonly their] kesilim " are spoken of. translated "their Orions," and is explained as meaning " their larger constellations " but the plural of such a proper name is very hard to understand. One would hardly speak of " the Siriuses " or " the Greater Bears " of the heavens. It is probably to be understood as a generic term, not a proper name at all, and to be translated " stars " instead of " Orions." A corollary herefrom would be that " Ayish " and " Kimah " would then also be generic names and not proper fines, a supposition which their exclusive occurrence in the singular would not disprove (compare the generic singulars in Isa. xxx. 6). And when God, in Job xxxviii. 31 et seq., is said to bind Kimah, open Kesil, and lead Ayish, these proper names may well in reality mean nothing more than planets, meteors, or comets, and thus the word "Kesil " (fool) be a not inappropriate name for the vagrant comet, the roving planet, or the headlong meteor. It is true, however, " Kesil, "

in Isa.

xiii. 10,



that difficulties

would

Ayish

arise

when

considering the

and various other points in connection with these names; and altogether this "

children of

"

remarkable plural of Kesil in Isaiah, with its usual translation, must remain a bone of contention. That " nahash bariah " (nTJ CTIi, " flying serpent "), Isa. xxvii. 1

tion, as

Of

and Job xxvi.

13,

has been claimed, rests

denotes a constella-

upon no

evidence.

with any degree of certainty, only two are mentioned in the Old Testament: Saturn, called by his Assyrian name "Kevan" (p'3) in Amos v. 26; and "Meleket haShamayim" (D'DETl fD^O), "the queen of heaven," planets, as far as ascertainable

That the means Venus is shown by the cakes which are said to have been baked Jer. vii. 18, xliv. 17, 25, etc.

Planets, for her.

Among

the Assyro-Babylonians the cake" the bread of Ishtar " (Venus). usually claimed that by the word "Held"

offerings It is

latter

were called

PPT!), "son of the morning,'' in Isa. xiv. 12, the

Helel, Morning-, Son of the

morning star, or, more correctly, one of the two morning stars, is meant and the analogy with ^n ("to glit-

seems to favor the view. Closely considered, however, there is little foundation for the supposition, since Isaiah gives no intimation whatever that Helel is a star (Gunkel, ter ")

"Schopfung und Chaos," pp. 132 et seq.). The supposition that " Gad " ("n) in Isa. lxv. 11 means " Jupiter, " the god of Fortune, and that " Meni" ('3D), in the same verse, means " Venus " (if these readings be correct), rests upon mere hypothesis. " If it were not that the late-Hebrew name " Zedek

(pTS= "justice") for "Jupiter" betrays, not an Assyro-Babylonian origin, but rather a late Jewish one for among the Assyro-Babylonians Saturn is the star of justice it might be accepted as an early

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