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Much of what the Bible says concerning cosmology is couched in terminology whose definitions are uncertain and disputed by Hebrew scholars. Another difficulty in recognizing Biblical cosmology is that at times the Bible condemns as apostasy beliefs such as the worship of the sun, moon, planets and stars, cosmology derived from other religions and not from the Bible.
Some scholars claim that what is often taught as “Biblical Cosmology” is actually medieval cosmology, which was a bastardized mixture of Hebrew terminology and Greek philosophy. An example of that is the reference to the four elements listed below, which is nowhere taught in the Bible.
The material for the subject is meager, dependence for the most part having to be placed on ambiguous references chiefly in the poetical sections. As such, these poetic references could be taken as poetic exaggerations and the ancient writers had no intention that they should be understood as literal expressions of their cosmology.
The sky, the abode of the stars, is described as a "raqiya'" (rakia, Hebrew for a plate); that is, a rigid, broad, solid plate possessing a certain thickness. According to Genesis 1:14, this raqiya' was set in the midst of the waters, and it divided the waters above from those beneath. According to some readings, God made it of matter already existing at the time of Creation; that is, God did not "create" it at that time. The raqiya' representing the sky in Ezek. 1:22 resembled ice; therefore it is quite possible that the author of Genesis, like Ezekiel, regarded the sky as being composed of solidified water or ice. Such a sky, being transparent, would permit the stars, which are located above its vault, to be seen through it.
Other scholars believe that the sky (which is a plural noun in Hebrew) was made up of an expanse between the waters, and another above. Scholars differ on the definition of "raqiya'" (pronounced “raqiyya”): some say that it refers to a hard plate, others to an empty space or one filled with atmosphere.
The stars were supposed to be living creatures. If the difficult passage (Judges 5:20) may be regarded as other than a poetical figure, the stars "walk on the way"; they "come out" in the morning, and "go in" at night. By a miracle, sun and moon are made to stand suddenly still (Josh. 10:12). They fight from their courses like warriors on the march (Judges ib.); the poet perhaps thinks of falling stars. In later times the stars are spoken of as "the hosts of heaven." This conception is paralleled among the Assyrians, kinsmen of the Hebrews, who likewise conceive of the stars as soldiers serving the god of heaven, AnuIn Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (see also An) was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. It was believed that he had the power to, and probably also the somewhat similar god Ninib, whose abode was the planet SaturnSaturn is the sixth planet from the Sun. It is a gas giant, the second-largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter. It was named after the Roman god Saturn. Its symbol is a stylized representation of the god's sickle ( Unicode: ♄). Physical ch.
The stars stand in God's presence, to the right and the left of God's throne (I. Kings 22:19; II Chron. 18:18); they serve Him (Neh. 9:6; Ps. 103:21), and praise Him (Ps. 103:21), 148:2). Like the kings of earth, they may be consigned by God's judgment to the nether world (Isa. 24:21 et seq.); and God will in future execute judgment among them as among the nations of earth (Isa. 34:4 et seq.). Reverence is offered to the stars as living creatures (Jer. 8:2).
At the head of this starry host stands a "captain of the army" (Josh. 5:14; Dan. 8:11); according to the passage in the Book of DanielThe book of Daniel revolving around the Jewish prophet Daniel, is a book of the Tanakh, in the section known as the Ketuvim Hagiographa , the Christian Old Testament. While Christians consider Daniel a prophet, his book is not included by the Jews in the, he was the star highest in altitude as well. By this designation the planet Saturn was probably intended, the farthest removed from earth and therefore the highest in the heavens, and which is held by the Assyrians to be the "bellwether" of the flock.
This starry army belongs to God; hence the frequent expression "God of hosts" indicates that God is the actual leader of the heavenly array. According to a later view, however (Zech. 4:2, 10), the seven planets are evidently termed the "seven eyes of God", just as the planet Saturn was the eye of Anu, lord of heaven among the BabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient state in Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq), combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. Its capital was Babylon. The earliest mention of Babylon can be found in a tablet of the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd centurns. It would appear, therefore, that they were no longer considered independent beings, and of course the other stars likewise.
Yet this whole section is based on the presupposition that when the Bible talks about the “hosts” around God and in the heights above, that it is talking about the stars. But the hosts are not specifically mentioned as stars, hence “hosts” could refer to angels or other creatures.
Showing how far interpretation is taken, the passage in Zechariah 4:1–10 recounts a vision of a menorah (ancient Hebrew lampstand) with places for seven lamps. A vision is a visual parable, not necessarily a physical object. Secondly this vision does not mention stars. Therefore the interpretation that it refers to the seven planets is not obvious from the text. (A menorah with seven lamps was a temple decoration since the time of MosesSee also Exodus Moses or Moshe "Drawn", Standard Hebrew Moše Tiberian Hebrew Mošeh , son of Amram and his wife, Jochebed, a Levite. Legendary Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian. If he is a historical figure, he may have.)