LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 1 29 



lent among the nations surrounding the Israelites in Old Testa- 

 ment times. The attention of readers of the Eevised Version is 

 more markedly drawn to this fact by the use of the correct 

 term " Sun images " in the text instead of " images " only for 

 the Hebrew word " Chammanim " in the text of the Authorised 

 Version (Lev. xxvi, 30, Is. xvii, 8, etc.). A little further search 

 into the meanings of some proper names (e.g., Beth-shemesh, 

 Potiphera, Tammuz, Ashteroth-Karnaini, Sennacherib, etc., of 

 which the first three refer to the sun and the last two to the 

 moon in different languages) show us that this form of false 

 worship was very widespread indeed. Modern discoveries tell 

 us the same thing, and numbers of temples have been found 

 dedicated to one or other of the orbs of heaven ; not only in 

 Egypt, Assyria, Asia Minor and Greece, but as far west as our 

 own country, in which we have Stonehenge, and as far east as 

 China, where there are remains of ancient Sun temples. 

 Emblems of the divinity in the form of solar discs with wings 

 have been found in large numbers. (See fig. 1.) We thus 

 find a close agreement between Scripture and the old 

 monuments. 



We find stern denunciations in the Bible of all false worship, 

 particularly of that of the host of heaven, " Take heed 

 . . . lest . . . when thou seest the sun . . . thou 

 be drawn away and worship " (Deut. iv, 19). " Worshipped 

 . . the sun . . . which I have not commanded," 

 (Deut. xvii, 3) " Manasseh .... built altars for all 

 the host of heaven . . . wrought much evil in the sight of 

 the Lord " (ir Kings xxi, 5, 6). " If I beheld the sun when it 

 shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath 

 been secretly enticed " (Job xxxi, 26, 27), and in the second 

 commandment (Ex. xx, 4), the first forbidden image is that of 

 anything in the heaven above. 



In Ezek. viii, 16, we read of men who committed abomina- 

 tion " their faces towards the East and they worshipped the 

 sun towards the East." 



Sun worship still has many votaries among the Parsis ; the 

 Hindus also still worship the orb of day to a very large 

 extent; and many remains of moon worship survive in the 

 East both among Hindus and Mahommedans. 



Max Muller tells us that the temples of Babylonia and 

 Egypt were well provided with towers, for the double purpose 

 of offering up sacrifices and for observation of the heavens. 

 The temple at Jerusalem had no such towers ; but we find at 

 times when the Jews disobeyed the Lord they followed heathen 



