Hebrew Astronomy: Part 7 Hebrew Zodiac
In Genesis 48, we read how Jacob blessed Joseph’s two sons. He says to them:
Genesis 48 v 15-16
May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm, may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.”
But in Genesis 49, he gives very strange blessings to his own children.
For example, he scolds Reuben for ‘defiling’ his bed. He says that Levi and Simeon are weapons of war who have killed many people, and Jacob goes on to curse them.
He says Zebulun will be a harbour, and yet in the Promised Land, this tribe was land-locked.
These ‘blessings’ don’t make much sense. And if we read Biblical commentaries, they seem to inadequately explain what is meant by these verses.
They could have some prophetic element, but I don’t think this wholly explains what is going on.
Descendants Like The Stars
In Genesis 15, God promises Abraham that his descendants will be like the stars. In my previous posts, we have seen the metaphorical link between stars, angels and sons of God.
I believe, Jacob’s blessings are placing his children amongst the stars, as part of a Zodiac. This is why the blessings seem strange. They are linking his sons with constellations.
There has been some academic work to make this connection, however, they have tried to fit the blessings into the Greek constellations.
I think this the wrong approach. We see different Zodiacs and constellation names all over the World. Why couldn’t the Hebrews have their own names for the Zodiac constellations?
Our modern Zodiac comes from the Ancient Greeks. But other ancient cultures had different names for the same constellations and areas of the Zodiac.
If these Hebrew constellations are correct, they pre-date the ancient Greeks’ version of the Zodiac.
List Of Hebrew Zodiac Constellations
Below is a circle showing how each of Jacob’s sons fit into the Zodiac. I give the modern Zodiac name, the name of the corresponding son and what the Hebrew constellation name could be.
Over the next few posts, I will look at how each son relates to the zodiac constellations.