The Astronomy of the Bible

moon of ble

eep-blue gloom w

lintered crags t

es of sil

hter, as she recalled the days of her mournin

their condition when she was absent. In sub-tropical countries like Palestine, twilight is short, and, the sun once set, deep darkness soon covers everything. Suc

how very different was th

hinks, is but th

ittle paler:

ay is when th

eed not be interrupted. But of all men, the shepherd would most rejoice at this season; all his toils, all his dangers were immeasurably lig

the stars a

, when all the

ht comes out,

nd the immeas

heir highest, a

Shepherd gladde

r appears to be the literal meaning, though there can be no question, as is seen by a comparison with the Syriac, that the period of the full moon is referred to. No doubt it was because travelling was so much more safe and easy than in the moonless nights, that the two great spring and autumn festivals of the Jews were held at the full moon. Indeed, the latter feast, when the Israelites "camped out" for a week "in booths," was held at the time of the "harvest moon." The phenomenon of the "harvest moon" may be briefly explained as follows. At the autumnal equinox, when the sun is crossing from the

s under the Plantagenets. A very few are astronomers, professional and amateur, and know immeasurably more than our forefathers did of the science. Then there is a large, more or less cultured, public that know something of the science at secondhand through books. But the great majority know nothing of the heavenly bodies except of the sun; they n

h gives of the "City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of

ally "month") withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine ev

e moon, being near conjunction with the sun, is absent from the sky during the greater part or whole of the night hours, and has but a small portion of her dis

This is the Hebrew word used in the Deluge story in the seventh chapter of Genesis; and in all references to feasts depending on a day in the month. As when the Lord spake to Moses, saying, "Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with your trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings." And again in the Psalm of Asaph

of the crescent moon, or where "month" is used in any precise way. This is the word for "month"

form, or when a month is mentioned as a somewhat indefinite period of time, then the Hebrew wo

2, where the Lord says that they shall bring out the bones of the kings, princes, priests, prophets, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, "and they shall spread them before the sun, and

eed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven." And again: "The moon and st

goodly child; by Moses, in his prophecy for Joseph, of "Blessed of the Lord be his land . . . for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the months." Such a "full month of days" did Shallum the son of Jabesh reign in Samaria in the nine and thirtieth year of Uzziah, king of Judah. Such also were the twelve months of warning given to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, before his madness fell upon him. The same word is once used for a true lunar m

express the moon. This is lebanah, which has the mea

rning, fair as the moon, clear as the su

h als

ed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion,

yet

of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the L

the moon is denominated by its name of whiteness or purity, looks forward prop

s the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunde

ur to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is

rrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for t

ament is the moon personified, and in only one instance is it used figuratively to represent a pe

nd, behold, the sun and the moon and t

quickly rebuk

all I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed c

n, the moon-god, was held to be a male god, high indeed among the deities at that time, and superior even to Samas, the sun-god. Terah, the fath

an iniquity to worship the moon or the moon-god. In his final defence to his friends, when the "thre

the sun whe

walking in

hath been sec

h hath kiss

iniquity to be pun

ve lied to God

and disobeyed the commandment both early and late in their history. When Moses spake unto all Isr

similitude; only ye heard a voice. . . . Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no

d lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven

first a rayed star or disc, later a figure, rayed and winged. That of the moon was a crescent, one lying on its back, like a bowl or cup, the actual attitude of the new moon at the beginning of the new year. J

the horns which gave the distinctive title to this shrine of Ashtoreth owed their origin to the horns of the animal merged in the goddess, or to the horns of the crescent moon, with which she was to some extent identified. Possibly there was always a confusion between the two in the minds of her worshippers. The cult of Ashtoreth was spread not only among the Hebrews, but throughout the whole plain of Mesopotamia. In the times of the Judges, and in the days of Samuel, we find continually the statement that the people "served Baalim and Ashtaroth"-the plurals of Baal and Ashtoreth-these represen

kindle the fire, and the women knead their

lem, but the Jews carried the cult with them even when the

and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But sinc

e varying phases of the moon. But it must be remembered that, though Ashtoreth or I?tar might be the queen of heaven, the moon was not necessarily the only aspect in which her worshippers recognized her. In

at already quoted from Isaiah (xxx. 26). The word here used for moon is the poetic one, lebanah. Of course no argument can be founded on the parallelism employed so as to lead t

mation of the supposition that their months were truly lunar, for then the moon is fully lighted, and rides the sky the whole night long from sunset to sunrise. It is clear, therefore, that the Hebrews, not only noticed the phases of the moon, but made regular use of them. Yet, if we adopted the argument

m forming a chain which curves through the upper hemisphere. Of the bright parts of the moon, some shine out with greater lustre than others, particularly one spot in the lower left-hand quadrant, no

ng race, nor are the tides on the coast of Palestine pronounced enough to draw much attention. One i

ll not smite

moon b

the moon seems to refer to its supposed influence

, is to regulate the calendar, and mark out the times for

ointed the mo

oweth his

darkness, an

easts of the fore

ons roar aft

their mea

eth, they ge

em down in

forth un

abour until

manifold a

ast Thou ma

s full of T

OF THE

otographed by Dr. Max Wo

TNO

ildren must have revelle

nt in the Light of the Historical Rec