Page 149 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
128
128 COINCIDENCES IN THE BIBLE AND IN BIBLICAL HEBREW
8.3.5 Jupiter is Shachar 23
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, with a mass that is more than
twice that of all the other planets combined (the mass of Jupiter is 318 times that
of Earth). Jupiter is also the fourth brightest object in the sky after the sun, the
moon, and Venus. No wonder, therefore, that throughout history, planet Jupiter
has been assigned a unique status by various peoples. Thus, the Greeks and the
Romans named this planet after the most important deity in their pantheons
(Zeus and Jupiter, respectively).
Both Venus and Jupiter are sometimes also called morning stars. This is due to
the fact that both planets are often visible with the morning twilight. Thus, in the
year 2006, Venus may be seen in morning twilight from January 19 to September
19. Likewise, Jupiter may be seen in the period of January 1–May 4, and also in
most of December (December 5–31).
23
Shachar in modern Hebrew is “dawn.” This is also how this word is regu-
larly interpreted in English translations of the Bible. However, the correct biblical
23
translation is “morning twilight,” and this is indeed how shachar is regularly
interpreted by most Jewish scholars (observe, for example, Isa. 58:8, and how
23
shachar is interpreted therein by both Rashi and the Malbim).
The claim made here is that the planet Jupiter is referred to in the Bible as
23
Shachar. Furthermore, only in later years had the name of this planet evolved
into the nonbiblical Tzedek (also meaning, in Hebrew, “justice”), for a possible
reason that will be expounded shortly.
There are several arguments to support this claim. First, Jewish scholars occa-
23
sionally relate to shachar as the “morning star.” Thus, in Song of Songs, we have,
23
“Who is she that appears like the dawn [shachar ], fair as the moon, bright as the
sun, majestic as the stars in procession?” (Song of Songs 6:10). One can wonder
what “dawn” is doing amongst all these celestial objects. Indeed, “Metzudat
David” and “Metzudat Zion” (pseudonyms for the eighteenth-century famous
23
commentators Rabbi David Altschuler and his son Yechiel) interpret shachar
here as “morning star.” One can easily interpret this as referring to Jupiter.
Secondly, referring to the predicted fall of the king of Babylon, Isaiah refers to his
destiny thus: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O bright star [hillel], son of dawn
23
[shachar ]” (Isa. 14:11). While hillel obviously can be interpreted as a bright
celestial object, one wonders at the use of the phrase “son of dawn.” This hardly
makes sense. Conversely, if one believes that Isaiah is conveying the word of God,
then recalling that there are over sixty-three satellite moons orbiting Jupiter, then
calling the future fallen king as the son of planet Jupiter does make sense. Similar
23
analyses can be extended with regard to other uses of shachar where interpreting