Saturday, December 11, 2021

Michael S. Heiser on the "Woman" in Revelation 12 being a Constellation

  

The idea that the woman is a constellation is made plausible when one looks closely at the text. The description that the woman was “clothed” with the sun is stock astronomical language for the sun being in the midst of a constellation. While the sun is in the woman, the moon is at her feet. For this situation to occur, the constellation of the woman must be, in astronomical language, on the ecliptic, the imaginary line in the sky that the sun and moon follow in their journey through the zodiac constellations (While the symbolism discussed herein is consistent with Paul’s quotation of Psalm 19:4 from the Septuagint [“their voice goes out”], the Masoretic Text reading of Psalm 19:4 actually aligns much better with the notion of a constellation following the ecliptic. The Masoretic Text of Psalm 19:4 reads: “their line goes out”]. The stars communicating via a “line” that goes out in the heavens is quite descriptive of the astronomical notion of a path or ecliptic). Martin writes:

 

The apostle John saw the scene when the Sun was “clothing” or “adorning” the woman. This surely indicates that the position of the Sun in the vision was located somewhere mid-bodied to the woman, between the neck and the knees. The sun could hardly be said to clothe her if it were situated in her face or nr ear her feet. The only time in the year that the Sun could be in a position to “clothe” the celestial woman called Virgo (that is, to be mid-bodied to her, in the region where a pregnant woman carries a child) is when the Sun is located between about 150 and 170 degrees along the ecliptic. This “clothing” of the woman by the Sun occurs for a 20-day period each year. This 20-degree spread could indicate the general time when Jesus was born. (Martin, chapter 5, cited from the text at https://www.askelm.com/star/star006.htm)

 

The constellation of the Virgin giving birth to the Messiah could, of course, have been viewed as quite coherent by the Magi, especially if they knew about Isaiah 7:14. But even if they were ignorant of this prophecy, this Astro-theological linkage would still make sense to them since the sign we know as Virgo has strong associations with other ancient “mother goddess” figures who would produce divine kings (See Malina, 155-160, for a brief sketch of those mother goddess figures).

 

The detail that the moon was located under the feet of the woman (Virgo) must not be forgotten in all this. The sun must be in the Virgin constellation while the moon is simultaneously at her feet for John’s vision to be accurately interpreted astronomically. Because of the moon’s “behavior” relative to the ecliptic and Virgo in any given year, the twenty-day window narrows to a roughly ninety-minute period in which to astronomically pinpoint the birth of the child. (Michael S. Heiser, The Old Testament in Revelation: Notes from The Naked Bible Podcast [Naked Bible Press, 2021], 209-11)

 

Further Reading

 

Bruce J. Malina, On the Genre and Message of Revelation: Star Visions and Sky Journeys (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1995)