Orion (Hastings' Dictionary)

The common noun késil is of frequent occurrence in OT, especially in the Wisdom litera- ture, and is regularly tr‘ ‘fool’ or ‘foolish.’ At Am δ᾽, Job 9° 38% our Versions have correctly treated it as a proper noun, and rendered it by ‘Orion.’ At Is 13! the true tr® of the same word is ‘and the Orions thereof,’ i.e. the great constella- tions such as Orion. It has also been suggested that at Job 15” késil (Orion) should be substituted for kegel (flanks); but this is very doubtful.

Sa‘adya, Abulwalid, and others have thought that késil is Canopus in Argo, the second brightest star in our heavens [cf. Am 58). The evidence of the ancient VSS is strongly in favour of the identification with Orion. The LXX has ὁ Ὠρίων at Is 13%, Job 38%; Jerome, ‘Orion’ at Am 58, Job 99; the Targ. x53 (giant) at Is 13", Job 99 3851. the Pesh.

gabara (giant) at Am 5%, Job 99 3881, The devia- tions, such as Ἕσπερος (LXX, Job 99) and ‘ Are- turus’ (Jerome, Job 38%), do but illustrate the admitted fact that absolute certainty on these ints is unattainable. The literal meaning of the Heb. word falls in with the evidence just adduced, if késil=‘tleshy,’ ‘fat,’ and, as overloaded with fat, ‘foolish and arrogant.

’ It would therefore easily become the name of a giant who was sup- ies to have rebelled against God, and after his eath was punished by being chained in the heavens. Job 38%! seems to sanction this; the word méshékoth having, indeed, been rendered oe by Hitzig, but more probably meaning, i e the cognate Arabic word, ‘ bands’ or ‘ fetters.

’ On this interpretation the stars which we call the Belt are looked on as a chain which none but the Almighty can unloose, and the poet’s thought was that God alone can ‘release the earth from It must, however, be Winter’s sterile bands.’ admitted that there is no other proof of the Hebrews having conceived of this constellation as a chained figure. The attempt to show that Orion and Nimrod are identical must be pronounced a failure. The Chron. Pasch.

says that in Orion the Persians saw Nimrod. Josephus (Ant. I. v. 2) makes the latter a rebel against God [ef. Dante, Inferno, xxxi. 41-81, Purg. xii. 33-35]; the later Arabic writers speak of him as chained in heaven for haughtiness, But these witnesses are too late to be of much value. The Bab.

Talmud (Bera- choth 58b) refers to the visibility of Orion during the hot season,—our dog-days,—saying that but for the heat of Orion the world Benin not stand the cold of the Scorpion, and but for the cold of the Scorpion could not stand the heat of Orion. In this connexion it should be remembered that in Syria this constellation is visible during a greater part of the year than with us, and rises 17° higher above the horizon.

The mythological fancy of many nations has played around these brilliant stars. New Zea- anders called the Belt the Elbow of Maui or the Stern of Tamererete’s canoe. Norsemen saw in it Frigga’s Spindle. To the Esquimaux these stars were seal-hunters who lost their way home. In classic legend Orion is a handsome Beeotian giant and hunter. The Odyssey, xi. 309, 310, says of Otus and Ephialtes— οὖς δὴ μηχίς Opis ζείδωρος ἄρουρα pelle raphy ΠΝ Τα ΣΕΥ ΠΝ Again, xi.

572-575— Τὸν δὲ μετ᾽ "Opie πελώριον εἰσινόησαω θήρας ὁμοῦ εἰλεῦντα κατ᾽ ἀσφοδιλὸν λειμῶνα, τοὺς αὑτὸς χατιπιεῷνεν ἐν οἰοτόλοισιν δρέσσιν χερσὶν ἔχων ῥόπαλον ταγχάλχιον, ally ἀαγίς, In the Iliad, xviii. 486, the σθένος ᾿Ωρίωνος forms art of an enumeration of important star groups he Egyptians recognized in Orion (whom they called Sahu) the soul of Horus.

The constellation is represented in the round zodiac which was dis- covered at Denderah and in the astronomical drawings in the Ramesseum at Thebes. The most interesting mythology, so far as Orion is concerned, is that of the Euphrates valley. In the ancient star-maps of that land Orion is known as Duwuzi (=Tammuz, Ezk 814), and appears as a hunter accompanied by his dogs. In the earliest ages the sun was the great heavenly hunter; afterwards Orion took his place.

Hence the dogs of the latter hunt the hare (the moon). Aratus, in the Phenomena, writes— “And ceaselessly beneath Orion’s feet The hare is ever chased.” With respect to the name, Brown remarks : ‘ His name Urién- Aorién-Oarién-Orién would = an original Akkadian Uru-anna (“ Light of Heaven,” i.e. the sun), as the moon is Uru-ki(‘‘ Light of the earth”).’ Hommel says that the Sumerian name was shu-gi.