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)