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Genesis 1:14-19 DAY 4
The Stars Also
Sons of God
In the ANE the stars were considered gods, and later in time angels. In Job 38:7 it says, "while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" Here the "morning stars" are parallel with "angels."
The stars were also called "sons of God" as in Ugaritic (see above). There was a great assembly of the gods or a heavenly court as in Psalm 82 and Job 1:6-12. In Job 1:6 the Hebrew has "sons of God" while the LXX has "angels." No doubt an interpretation of the phrase "sons of God." Deuteronomy 32:8 says, "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel" (NIV). The Dead Sea Scrolls and the LXX have "sons of God" rather than "sons of Israel." Psalm 29:1 literally refers to "sons of the gods."
Genesis 6:2 tells about the "sons of God" marrying the "daughter of men." Jude 6-7 interpret the "sons of God" as angels as does most Jewish literature. Others interpret this as the line of Seth, or referring to royalty like kings and princes. In ancient times the king was considered the son of a god.
Judges 5:4,20-21 says, "the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept them away" (NIV). It seems that the stars of heaven helped by pouring down rain and causing a flood (See also Psalm 68:8). In Ugarit they believed rain and dew came from the heavenly ocean. In the Baal Cycle it says, rbb nskh kbkbm, meaning "showers that the stars did pour upon her" (Herdner 1963, CTA 3:ii,41; see also Craige 1977, 33-49; 1978, 374-81). It seems logical that the stars were seen as gods that pour water down from the heavenly ocean to earth when it rained.
Astrology and the worship of stars were strictly forbidden in the Old Testament (Jer.10:2). In Ugaritic there is an incantation against sorcery (KTU 1.96) which says, "Then (Horon) shall expel the sorcerer-accuser—Horon, the magician, and Galmu, the familiar" (COS, 302). So other nations had some similar restrictions.
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Bibliography