Orion and Pleiades
In my study I have an astronomical telescope on a tripod. I rarely look through it, although I have purchased some books to help me understand astronomy. I have stared at the surface of the moon on the night of the full moon and marveled at the beauty, but I get lost trying to find named star clusters and constellations in the sky.
But the other night I almost got out of bed in order to search. In our nightly Bible reading and study my wife Beverley and I were reading Job 38. The Book of Job, which is really a play, is a dialogue between a number of players who discuss Job’s terrible misfortunes in life and who present Job with all kinds of answers to the problem of his suffering. Many of these opinions are the same as people still give today. Job will not accept these answers because they mostly leave God out of the picture.
Job’s problem is that he is a good man who trusts God, yet every kind of misfortune falls upon him. He still wants to believe in God and trust Him, but why does he suffer so? Then with daring, the unknown Jewish authors of this play have God suddenly interrupting the dialogue and putting His points of view.
In Job 38-42 God speaks from the centre of a whirlwind. He does not answer Job’s question about whether or not Job is a good man or why he is suffering. Instead He speaks about his own might and power over all natural phenomena, all creatures, the might of nature to bring floods and droughts, the clouds and the stars. And behind all of this, Job is assured that no matter what, the Mighty creator is also a God of loving kindness. Job can trust in God’s justice no matter what.
No science is so calculated to show man his insignificance as astronomy. So God questions Job on his ability to control the stars and constellations, or keep them in their orbits, or determine their influence over the earth. In light of modern man’s supposedly great control over nature through science, I remember reading Spurgeon’s words as a healthful counterbalance: (Spurgeon, C.H., “The Pleiades and Orion,” #818, MTP 14.361-372.)
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?”—(Job 38:31 based on the KJV text of verse 31)
“If we are inclined to boast of our abilities, the grandeur of nature may soon show us how puny we are. We cannot move the least of all the twinkling stars, or quench so much as one of the beams of the morning. We speak of power, but the heavens laugh us to scorn. When the Pleiades shine forth in spring with vernal joy we cannot restrain their influences, and when Orion reigns aloft, and the year is bound in winter’s fetters, we cannot relax the icy bands. The seasons revolve according to the divine appointment; neither can the whole race of men effect a change therein. Lord, what is man?”
“Seeing the constellation of Pleiades is a sure announcement of spring, and Orion a sure harbinger of winter, I wondered, “but what if we live in the Southern Hemisphere? Our Seasons are reversed, and would not the constellations appear upside down to what they appear in the Northern sky?”
I know the early navigators were often deeply confused when they crossed the Equator. It was not until the 1700’s before the constellations were properly described on maps and on spheres for the Southern Hemisphere.
In Greek Mythology, the companions of Artemis were the seven daughters of the titan Atlas. The name Pleiades comes from the Greek word “to sail”, because the Pleiades star cluster is visible in the Mediterranean at night during the summer, from the middle of May until the beginning of November, which coincided with the sailing season in antiquity. Hence the Pleiades was a sign of coming spring and summer, and growth and warmth.
In Sydney the Pleiades is an open star cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. The Pleiades is a prominent sight in winter in the Northern Hemisphere and in summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and has been known since antiquity to cultures all around the world, including the Maori and the Australian Aborigines.
Some Greek astronomers considered it to be a distinct constellation, and it is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. It is also mentioned three times in the Bible (Job 9:9 and 38:31, as well as Amos 5:8). The Pleiades is particularly revered in Hindu mythology and some scholars of Islam suggested that the Pleiades is the Star mentioned in the Quran.
I remember from classical Greek that Orion was a giant huntsman of Greek mythology whom Zeus placed among the stars as the constellation of Orion. (This was a clue to the Sydney Morning Herald’s Cross Word on 30/6/2009) In Greek literature he first appears as a great hunter in Homer’s epic the Odyssey. He ascended into the sky where his shape with belt and bow and arrow can be traced in the stars.
The constellation of Orion is impressive in the night sky. From Sydney it is best seen in the summer, when it dominates our northern skies. He is upside down and is dominant in our summer not in winter as the King James Version has it. Three bright stars mark his belt and others his legs and shoulder. This group of stars within Orion is commonly known as ‘the saucepan’, as they form the base of the saucepan. Above these are the stars of the sword of Orion, which mark the handle of the saucepan.
Some Christians would be surprised to find the Scriptures bearing record to ancient Greek myths and religions of many ancient peoples in the Old Testament. Some Christians who have a fetish for the King James Version would be surprised to see the records of summer and winter reversed for us in the Southern Hemisphere.
It is not surprising as the meaning is the same. Furthermore, it is thrilling to see the Scripture use the cultures and myths of the day to emphasise important points concerning God’s power over all creation that is mixed with his love and justice for each of us.
Now you can understand why I was so excited as we read this passage from Job, and how I wanted to find the answer to whether the seasons would be back to front in the Southern Hemisphere contrary to Scripture and if the ancient constellations would be viewed upside down? The Jews who wrote the Old Testament were captive to their understanding, not just about the suffering Job encountered, but also of what they wrote God said about the Heavens and the Earth.
Rev The Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C., M.L.C.