Cutting to the chase: Not all the ancient Hebrews believed that the literal stars in the sky were literally gods.
One really nasty habit some people have is that even as they hold the Bible to be inspired, they throw the Bible authors and speakers under the bus on some topics as ignorant ancients, stubbornly assuming that those people were wrong about this or that without giving them a fair hearing. For example, I cannot count how many times I have been told that the ancients believed that the literal stars we all see in the sky were literally gods or angels. But this has never set well with me—the idea that the Bible authors/speakers were simply wrong about things that are written into the record as fact. Indeed, if somebody’s in error, why couldn’t it be us? Shouldn’t we exhaust that possibility before we assume that they were wrong?
Indeed, when we call Harrison Ford a “star”, none of us believes he is a literal star. So why do we, upon seeing that angels are sometimes called “stars” in the Bible, assume that they thought it was literally so? Are they not allowed the same habit we practice ourselves, as I have recently been searching Bible topics across a few hundred of the ancient extrabiblical works from the same culture that produced the Bible books.
Here’s the passage from Wisdom of Solomon that I came across yesterday. (Wisdom of Solomon, or Book of Wisdom, is in the Apocrypha, a set of books included in the Catholic Bible, but not in most protestant Bibles. It dates at the latest to the late 1st Century BCE or early 1st Century CE, though I am not convinced that it was not written by Solomon himself. According to Wikipedia:
“The Book of Wisdom was listed as canonical by the Council of Rome (382 AD),[15] the Synod of Hippo (393),[16] the Council of Carthage (397) and the Council of Carthage (419),[17][18] the Council of Florence (in 1442)[19] and the Council of Trent (in 1546).[20]“
Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Wisdom
So here’s the passage I found:
Wisdom of Solomon 13: [1] For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature;
and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists, nor did they recognize the craftsman while paying heed to his works;
[2] but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air, or the circle of the stars, or turbulent water, or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world.
[3] If through delight in the beauty of these things men assumed them to be gods, let them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created them.
[4] And if men were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them
how much more powerful is he who formed them.
I had long been asking people to show me any evidence that the ancients believed that the literal stars were also literally gods. And no one has come forward, while some have gone so far as to harrumph at me, as if this is just exceedingly obvious, and as though one ought not be troubled to show a fellow human any actual evidence of it. (People like this are a huge part of our collective ignorance in this world!)
Well, this passage provides the proof I was seeking—that at least some of the ancients did believe that the literal stars were gods. But it also provides proof that the learned author of Wisdom of Solomon did not!
And I did some further research, upon which I discovered the following passage in the Apocalypse of Abraham, which is commonly dated from 70-150 CE. It’s a discussion of whether the author would call the sun, moon, stars, or earth gods.
Apocalypse of Abraham 7:1 This I say: 7:2 Fire is the noblest [element] in the image [of the world], since even the things which are [otherwise] unsubdued are subdued in it, and [since] it mocks with its flames the things which perish easily. 7:3 But I would not call it a god either, since it is subjugated to water. 7:4 Water is indeed nobler, since it overcomes fire and soaks the earth. 7:5 But I would not call it a god, since it is subjugated to the earth, running underneath it. 7:6 I would rather call the earth the noblest, since it overcomes the substance and abundance of water. 7:7 But neither would I call it gods, since it is dried up by the sun [and since it is] made for men to plow. 7:8 [So] I would call the sun nobler than the earth, since with its rays it illumines the inhabited world and the various airs. 7:9 But I would not make it into a god either, since its course is obscured [both] at night [and] by the clouds. 7:10 Nor, again, would I call the moon and the stars gods, since they too in their times at night can darken their light.
These two passages, then, crack open the door to the possibility that none of the Bible authors or speakers believed that the literal stars were also literal gods. And I will continue to assert that as fact until somebody can show me differently.
Searches that might lead to this page:
Did the ancients believe the stars were gods?
Did the ancients believe the literal stars were gods?
Are the stars in the sky gods?
Deuteronomy 4:19
Did the Bible writers believe the stars were gods?
Understanding stars in ancient cosmology
