The poet, therefore, informs us, more poetically, and more correctly too, that the neighbour planets sang in concert, when a new planet was introduced among them; and the stars more remote, the fixed stars shouted for joy, in a general chorus. But, highly poetical as this passage is, it connects with the idea already suggested, that the animation of the Stars, by an Intelligence proper to each, is an extremely ancient doctrine in the East. It is not the brut matter of the Stars that is held responsible for performance of duty, but the animating Intelligence; and this is perfectly analogous to the view taken by the Chaldee paraphrast of another passage: "And there was (an appointed) day of severe judgment, a day of forgiveness of sins: and the hosts of Angels came and stood before the Lord; and Satan [rather, the Satan, w, so the LXX. '0 Atáßodos, the Devil; and Theodotion 'O 'AVTIKEμEεvos, the Adversary] came also, and stood in judgment before the Lord;" agreeably to the expression, chap. iv. 18:

Behold! he cannot (absolutely) confide in his servants;
And his Angels he chargeth with default.

Or, as Scott prefers to render it,

Lo he discerns, discerned by him alone,
Spots in the Sanctities around his throne.

"One of the Greek interpreters turns it, there is instability ('Aßeßavwres, Synim.) in his servants: his angelic ministers are not absolutely perfect. In his angels he observeth failure, LXX. σKoλiòv TI, something wrong [rather, aberration; obliquus, tortuosus, or inequality; what among the planets is called eccentricity]. Schultens proves from the Arabic, that it denotes slip or failure. The expression is much too faint for the crime of the angels who sinned and fell from their first estate. Nothing more seems to be meant than the imperfection of the most exalted spirits, in comparison with the infinite perfection of the Deity." Very true; and if, instead of supposing these inequalities to be "discerned by him alone," the ingenious writer had supposed that part of the office of THE Satan was, to detect and report such failures, he would have spoken precisely the language of the Oriental Mythology in the days of Job. Comp. SATAN, NO. CLIII. This import of the passage is confirmed by a just understanding of the first verse of the fifth chapter: "Call now (thy cause), there is one (the Chief himself) who will answer thee; but, to which of the saints, 7, wilt thou turn?" The whole of the heavenly host is so sensible, each of his own imperfections, that not one of them will step forward to plead against God, or to intercede in thy behalf; and this thou knowest right well:

Which Angel will espouse thy daring plea?

To which of the Saints wilt thou turn? This explanation of the question of Eliphaz to Job seems to be in direct opposition to the assertion of the patient sufferer, that he had never practised idolatry in the most simple manner, had never worshipped the heavenly bodies, chap. xxxi. 28:

If I beheld the Sun when it shined in its strength,

Or the Moon when increasing in brightness;

And my heart hath seduced itself to error,

Insomuch that my mouth hath kissed my hand:

Even this action were an iniquity for judicial inquiry ;

To that extent should I have failed (in duty) to the God who is above.

But, observe, that the question put by Eliphaz does not of necessity assert any misconduct in Job: it merely refers by allusion to a practice too well known at the time; nor does the declaration of Job go beyond his own exculpation; for it clearly admits that it was customary to salute the Sun and Moon: the Sun at sun-rise, the Moon, when beheld for the first time after her conjunction with the Sun, that is, the New Moon. And this is so natural, that it still maintains itself in the most Christian countries; as in Britain, for instance, nothing is more common than to hear the expression among rustics The New Moon; God bless her!" 66

And observe, again, that the original Sabiism, or worship of the Celestial Intelligences, was very different from the gross pollutions to which it eventually gave occasion. The crime was comparatively venial, of soliciting favour from one of the Kedeshim, the Saints: though that favour were to act as a Mediator. There are incalculable degrees between the obscene rites of Venus pandemos, and intreating the planet, Venus-that, she would ask her Father and Lord-to illuminate the soulto draw suppliants near unto him-to bless, and to purify worshippers to Everlasting of Everlasting. Similar prayers are addressed in the Desâtîr, to all the planets; but, we have selected this, partly in proof, that the planet Venus, being feminine, in the East, though she might be, and even must be, the Morning Star, yet she could not be "Lucifer, son of the morning." Compare LUCIFER in the Dictionary.

"O mighty and admirable Lady! Mistress of knowledge! and Lady of action!.. I ask of thee, O Most Blest in the two abodes [Heaven and Earth], that thou ask of thy Father and Lord, of the Cause of thy being, the free Intelligence-that he would ask of his Father and Lord, the Cause of his being, the Best of created beings, the Universal Intelligence, a wish suited to the Eternal World (which is), pure from alteration or change, that he would ask of the Prime of Time, the Self-existent, the Most Worthy to be adored by the worthy to be adored, the Stablisher of all, the Essence of Essences, that He would illuminate my Soul, and smooth my difficulties, that He would draw me near unto Him, that He would enlighten the Band of light and splendour, and bless them and us, and purify them and us, for ever, and to Everlasting of Everlasting."

From the residence of Job we turn to the more easterly empire of the Chaldeans ; we know that in their metropolis, Babylon, they had, from the earliest times, considerable establishments for the purpose of studying the motions of the heavenly bodies. Of this we shall adduce but one evidence at present; to be considered more fully hereafter, Isaiah xlvii. 12, 13: "Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels; let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators stand up, and save thee from what shall come upon thee." Certainly, this implies extensive and long continued studies in Babylon; and here we shall find the system of Celestial Intelligences in full prevalence. Nebuchadnezzar informs us (Dan iv. 7, et. seq.) that Daniel was called Belteshazzar, according to the name of my God (singular):-in whom is the spirit of the Holy Gods (plural); paba ....... "I saw a great tree in the midst of the earth.. and behold, a Watcher, even, 1, a Holy One (a saint, p), came down from the heavens (plural), HE cried aloud, and said, Hew down the tree, &c. . . according to the decree of the Watchers, and the dictate of the Holy Ones (the Saints, 7) on a petition presented to them :"-not, as it might be gathered from the public translation, "On a petition presented by them." If it be asked, who presented this petition the prophet Ezekiel may afford an

66

answer, who under the same similitude of a great tree alludes to the Assyrian, chap. xxxi. 3. et seq: "I made him fair by the multitude of his branches, so that all the trees of Eden, in the very garden of God, envied him ;"—and, of course, complained of his superiority. The reader will observe, that there is no necessity for taking, with our translation, the words "a Watcher AND a Saint," as importing two persons; for, then, the following phrase would have been "THEY cried aloud and they said;"not, as it is now, HE cried aloud and he said." This Watcher, this Holy One, in the Chaldean mythology, must be the Intelligence, or Guardian Genius, of the planet; unless, we rather choose to take it in reference to THE Satan, as minister of punishment, who had made his report, and here professes to be executing his orders and commission consequent on it. Now, this is precisely his character and occupation in Job, chap. i. 7: the Lord said unto THE Satan, Whence comest thou? He answered, From circumambulating the Earth;" and the Chaldee paraphrast adds for what purpose he thus roamed, (or goeth about, Teρitaré, 1 Peter v. 8.) "to examine into the works of the sons of men." Inasmuch, then, as the Satan found Job perfect, he found Nebuchadnezzar proud: inasmuch as he was commissioned to try the patriarch, he was commissioned to punish the potentate.

...On the whole, we conclude, that this System of Intelligences assigned to the heavenly Orbs, not only coincides with the Chaldaisms of the book of Daniel, but explains the allegorical and poetical personages of the book of Job-the Morning Stars-the Sons of God-the Saints, or Holy Ones. It is now time that we quit these Celestials,

Uriel, the Regent of the Sun, and held
The sharpest sighted spirit of all in heaven :-
(The same whom John saw also in the Sun)

and follow Satan, himself, in his descent to Earth; when he

Down from th' Ecliptic, sped with hoped success,
Throws his steep flight in many an airy wheel;
Nor staid, till on Niphates' top he 'lights.

Milton.

No. DIII. THE HEAVENLY BODIES OBJECTS OF WORSHIP. WHATEVER might be the conceptions of the learned and scientific among the Orientals, who studied the courses and properties of the Heavenly Bodies, their mutual relations, and their alleged powers and influences, when they became Objects of Worship among the multitude, they became also subject to their caprice, superstition, and ignorance, as well as their depravity. Not long could the simple Star remain the sole representative of a Celestial Intelligence; the idea of personality prevailed over every other, and with it combined the varied passions and dispositions which form the character and distinguish the persons of our species. But, most probably, the progress, though rapid, was not instantaneous; and though too fatal in the issue, it was not, at first, considered as absolutely unlawful or unbecoming. There was much to be said in favour of the doctrine, that the planetary bodies governed the seasons; that they produced, and consequently, that they bestowed abundant harvests, and plentiful supplies of the rich and important productions of the field, the vineyard, the orchard, and the garden. Nor did their operations terminate here: the increase of the fold was attributed to their agency; together with that of cities, tribes, and families. Precisely in this spirit is the argument of the Israelites who professed to ask counsel of Jeremiah, the prophet of the Lord, but who acted in direct opposition to it, when they not only determined to go into Egypt themselves, PART XVIII. Edit. 5.

C

but carried the remonstrating prophet along with them. Jer. xliv. What had been their practices we learn from chap. viii. :

Seest thou not what these are doing,

In the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

The sons gather wood,

And the fathers kindle the fire,

And the women knead the dough,

To make cakes for the Regency of the Heavens [Queen of Heaven],

And to pour out libations to strange gods.

This is Mr. Blayney's translation; who also reads, chap. xliv. in the following manner, "Then all the men, who knew that their wives had burned incense unto strange gods, and all the women who stood by, a great company, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will surely perform what is gone forth out of our mouth, in burning incense to the Regency of the Heavens [Queen of Heaven], and pouring out libations thereunto; like as we did, we, and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, when we had plenty of bread, and were prosperous, and saw no adversity. But from the time we left off to burn incense to the Regency of the Heavens, and to pour out libations thereunto, we have been in want of every thing, and have been consumed by the sword and by famine: and when we burned incense to the Regency of Heaven, pouring out also libations thereunto, did we, exclusively of our men, make cakes for it, worshipping it, and pouring out libations thereunto?"

From our little acquaintance with the idolatrous rite here described, this passage presents many difficulties. The first is, to establish the true reading; on which Mr. Blayney has a learned note. "The Regency of the Heavens." Our translators here render own nabs to the Queen of Heaven, after the Vulgate; by which no doubt they meant the Moon; but the other versions render," the Host of Heaven," or something to that effect, including at least all the principal of the heavenly bodies, the Sun, Moon, and Planets. And this sense may, we think, in some sort be applied to naba or m‍ba, supposing it to stand by a common metonymy, the office for those that bear it. For it is a term nearly synonymous to nb, which signifies, dominion, rule, or superiority of some kind; and this latter word is used concerning the chief luminaries in the heavens, which God is said to have made no to rule, or preside there, by day and by night, Gen. i. 16; Psalm cxxxvi. 8, 9. So that may not improperly be rendered the Regency or Hierarchy of the Heavens.-But, it must be noticed, also, that nineteen MSS. some of which are of the greatest antiquity, with two Editions, one of which is the first printed Bible, the other the celebrated Com

or מלאכה,properly signifies a delegated agent מלאכת and as ;למלאכת plutensian, read

may, by a like metonymy as before, denote the very same heavenly bodies, which, under the Divine commission, perform certain stated functions in the heavens. And this sense would perfectly correspond with the term frequently used to denote the Sun, Moon, and Stars, namely, the host of heaven, because they move regularly in their respective spheres, as a marshalled army, punctually obeying the orders of their Almighty Sovereign and Commander. The criticism is able; though the reason assigned in the conclusion be questionable.. But, before we proceed farther, we ought to observe, that our English margin, adopting the reading of the Complutensian, vii. 18. renders, the frame, or workmanship of heaven: the LXX. render, ri σrpariá, the

host of heaven; but, in chap. xliv. 17-19. they render rn Basilioon rov ovpavou, the Queen of Heaven. [Eng. marg. frame, or workmanship, in verse 17. Queen, in verses 18, 19. according to the Complutensian; which strangely varies the reading in these verses, though intending the same power.] These variations are sufficient proofs of confusion; and that arising from a cause of no modern date.

But, by the help of our second extract from the Desâtîr, we may, perhaps, be able to explain this. We there read that the planets, in succession, obtain first as associates, afterwards as principals, the office of King, each for a thousand years; and that the series ends with the Moon. It is evident, that when a feminine planet is King, whether as associate or as principal, she would be called Queen. Now the Moon is not feminine; but is addressed as "Lord of Moistures"-and is, in many languages, as well as in these ancient Persian prayers, of the masculine gender. It follows, that Venus is the only planet which can be, properly speaking, Queen of Heaven; and during her millenium she would be the counterpart of all the characters described in this passage;—a female Regent, enjoying dominion, rule, or superiority; a delegated agent; especially, in association with a slow-moving Star; and, in such association, not only one of the host of heaven, herself, but also, and especially, by her connection with her principal, according to the frame, workmanship, or organization of the Celestial Orbs in their courses, and mutual relations. [Is the personage we call Queen, strictly speaking, known in the East:]

We see now the reason why the women were principals in the idolatry so severely reproved by Jeremiah; they worshipped the female Regent in her grosser character of Venus Genetrix; and are, therefore, threatened, in opposition to her character, with the very annihilation of their desires: "I will pour out my fury-upon man-and upon beast-and upon the trees of the field-and upon the fruits of the ground: in short, on all the powers of increase, animal and vegetable." And this leads to a more correct, but not more decent, notion of the simulative cakes prepared in honour of this idol. They are called placentas by the Vulgate, flat cakes: but Jerom in his comment on Jer. viii. 20. calls them præparationes, whence it may be inferred, that he understood by the term something more than flat cakes: or, flat cakes prepared to receive something more. With this agrees the flippant reply of the women-The men were as bad as we were ;-" Did we, women, exclusively of our men, make those cakes?" But, what business had the men in making of dough? that was at all times the proper employment of the women. The rite was, apparently, a pooja, worship to the goddess of fecundity, in which both sexes joined: the women prepared the flat cake, and their husbands completed the compound emblem, by an addition, of which Tacitus, speaking of the Paphian Venus, has described the figure, though he did not conceive the reason: "Simulachrum Dea non effigie humana, continuus orbis latiore initio tenuem in ambitum metæ modo exsurgens. Et ratio in obscuro." Hist. lib. ii. [For a cake, or cakes, made of oatmeal, &c. of a different kind, but used for equally superstitious purposes, vide the Addition to the article BAAL, in the Dictionary.] The prophet, in continuation, charges all the people as parties to the idolatry practised in their country:

At that time, saith Jehovah, shall they cast forth

The bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of the princes,
And the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets,
And the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves;
And they shall spread them before the Sun and the Moon,

And all the Host of Heaven, which they have loved,

And which they have served, and after which they have gone,

And which they have served, and to which they have bowed down, &c.