.144 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 



months after those dates, i.e., in the autumn of 28 a.d. and in 

 the spring of 30 a.d. The former of these periods may well 

 have contained the commencement of the Lord's ministry, and 

 the latter the second passover, which is generally thought to 

 be indicated in John v, 1. As the Crucifixion was at the 

 fourth passover, its date would thus be 32 a.d. or 29 a.d. It 

 must be confessed that this is not strong evidence but only a 

 possible inference. 



The planet Venus as morning star is much better known by 

 Eastern peoples at the present time than by us. Some farmers 

 in India and others in the East notice its appearance in broad 

 daylight. We may think a figure derived from the planet as 

 far-fetched, but it was doubtless very familiar to the ancient 

 Jews. 



(2) The rising and setting stars. — The second region contains 

 the rising and setting stars ; practical use was made of them 

 because when some of them rose with or just before the sun, 

 the seasons of the year for various agricultural operations were 

 indicated. According to Dr. Takakusu, Professor of Sanscrit, 

 Tokio, the farmers ol* parts of China and Japan, where 

 almanacs are not so plentiful as with us, still make use of them 

 for these purposes. Some 600 B.C. Hesiod wrote of the 

 Pleiades, " begin harvesting at their heliacal risings, but 

 plowing when they set."* 



The practical value of the Pleiades to the farmer due to its 

 position in the heavens probably explains the references to the 

 cluster in Job ix, 9, xxxviii, 31, and Amos v, 8, R.V. Orion, 

 the most brilliant of the constellations, is also mentioned in the 

 same three passages, probably as representing all the rest. In 

 Is. xiii, 10, the same Hebrew word is used, but it is there 

 translated " constellations ' : instead of Orions in both our 

 A.Y. and E.Y. 



This second region of the heavens contains the baud of stars 

 called the Signs of the Zodiac, which is described as the 

 tabernacle of the sun (Ps. xix, 4). The signs of the zodiac are 

 surely referred to in n Kings xxiii, 5, and in Job xxxviii, 32, as 

 is indicated in the marginal readings of both A.V. and RV. 

 The texts of both the versions, however, are not helpful, the 

 Hebrew word Mazzaroth or Mazzaloth only occurs in these two 

 places, but is translated " planets " in one case, and simply 

 Mazzaroth is given us in the other. No doubt, apparently, 



* Agricultural operations in Egypt and Persia are still regulated by 

 the heliacal risings. 



