Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Winter Sky IV
“He is the Maker of the [Bear] and Kesil, Kemah and the constellations of the south.” (Job 9:9)
“Can you bind the beautiful* Kemah? Can you loose the cords of Kesil? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs.” (Job 38:30-31)
*: Or the twinkling Kemah or the chains of the Kemah.
“…he who made the Kemah and Kesil, who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land—the LORD is his name …” (Amos 5:8)
Due to the difficulty in associating proper names of stars and constellations in various cultures, no one knows for sure what Kesil and Kemah stand for. However, Kesil is closely related to the word for fool. With this meaning and the mention of cords makes most theologians and historians believe Kesil is referring to Orion. Ancient societies commonly referred to Orion as a giant, and in many cases a fool.
Kemah is associated with the Arabic word to accumulate or the Assyrian word to bind. Therefore, Job 38:30 might read “can you bind the chains of the bound?” Here the bound probably refer to the star cluster we now call the Pleiades. Therefore, God might be asking Job, can you separate this star cluster. If you have ever seen the Pleiades, this question would make sense.
The picture below shows a close up of this star cluster. In the previous post picture, the blue spot to the upper right of Aldebaran (star labeled 6) is the Pleiades. On a clear winter night, you can see the Pleiades with your naked eyes. However, they usually appear clearer if you gaze slightly to the right or left of the cluster. Because of the Earth’s rotation, they lead Aldebaran across the night sky. For this reason, star 6 is called Aldebaran which means to follow.
“Can you bind the beautiful* Kemah? Can you loose the cords of Kesil? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs.” (Job 38:30-31)
*: Or the twinkling Kemah or the chains of the Kemah.
“…he who made the Kemah and Kesil, who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land—the LORD is his name …” (Amos 5:8)
Due to the difficulty in associating proper names of stars and constellations in various cultures, no one knows for sure what Kesil and Kemah stand for. However, Kesil is closely related to the word for fool. With this meaning and the mention of cords makes most theologians and historians believe Kesil is referring to Orion. Ancient societies commonly referred to Orion as a giant, and in many cases a fool.
Kemah is associated with the Arabic word to accumulate or the Assyrian word to bind. Therefore, Job 38:30 might read “can you bind the chains of the bound?” Here the bound probably refer to the star cluster we now call the Pleiades. Therefore, God might be asking Job, can you separate this star cluster. If you have ever seen the Pleiades, this question would make sense.
The picture below shows a close up of this star cluster. In the previous post picture, the blue spot to the upper right of Aldebaran (star labeled 6) is the Pleiades. On a clear winter night, you can see the Pleiades with your naked eyes. However, they usually appear clearer if you gaze slightly to the right or left of the cluster. Because of the Earth’s rotation, they lead Aldebaran across the night sky. For this reason, star 6 is called Aldebaran which means to follow.
# posted by Wesley Son of Cornelius @ 11:08 PM 
