Astronomy in the Bible

Most Christians know about the three wise men that followed a star to Bethlehem. There are far more references to the stars in Scripture, including the classical names of well known constellations. Of course, most readers of the Good Book know that “The heavens proclaim the glory of God and the firmament shows forth the work of His hand (Psalm 19:1)”

Here is a peek into biblical verses that mention astronomical events:

7^th to 5^th Century BC

Job must have been an astronomer, huh?   

Job 26:7ff  He stretches out Zaphon (the North) over the void and suspends the earth over nothing at all . . . He holds back the appearance of the full moon by spreading clouds over it . . .He has marked out a circle on the surface of the deep as a boundary of light and darkness.

Hmm: Circle? You mean the horizon of the ancients proved the earth a sphere?

 In this passage, Job mentions constellations by name:

“He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.”

Planets are also mentioned in Scripture under the names of the pagan gods

Arabs, called Saturn Kaiwan, the corresponding terms in the Zoroastrian Bundahish being Kevan. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02029a.htm

10^th to 6^th Century, BC

2 Kings 17:30 mentions the Babylonian god Marduk, whose star was the planet Jupiter.

“The Babylonians made Sukkoth-Benot (the consort of the Babylonian
god, Marduk).” * Footnote of New American Bible *

[17:30] Sukkot-Benot: several of the divine names in vv. 30–31 are problematic or conjectural. Sukkot-Benot is unknown, but the name may have been corrupted from that of Sarpanitu, the consort of the Babylonian god Marduk.

8^th to 7^th Century

Isaiah mentions “the Morning Star” by name: Isaiah 14:12 (btw, that’s Venus)

Amos 5:26 "Yet you will carry away Sukuth (Sirius, per New American Bible) your king, and Kaiwan (Saturn, same NAB reference) your star image."

 

As you can tell, Biblical names are problematic, unless you know middle-eastern languages that name the planets and stars. You can find the translations in the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_names_of_stars

This current most accurate list of the names of stars in the bible (from the Catholic Encyclopedia website above) is based largely on Schiaparelli's authority. These are the best-warranted interpretations of biblical star-names:

• Kimah, the Pleiades;
• the Kesil, Orion;
• Ash, or Ayish, the Hyades;
• Mezarim, the Bears (Great and Little);
• Mazzaroth, Venus (Lucifer and Hesperus);
• Hadre theman — "the chambers of the south" — Canopus, the Southern Cross, and a-Centauri;
• Nachash, Draco.

Now, go find these stars, constellations, and planets in the night sky and realize that people have been seeing them for thousands of years.

So, what's in a name?  The constellations have classical Roman designations. The stars bear Arabic names.