💾 Archived View for librehacker.com › gemlog › starlog › 20230223-0.gmi captured on 2024-05-12 at 15:27:46. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Hebrew Planets and Astronomical Terms

Hebrew names of the planets (Zucker, Tel Aviv University)

I think it is a shame that the planets have been named after Roman gods, and I have wondered if there might be alternative Hebrew names available. One such list is given in the article linked above. I've condensed the list (removed the discussion) and reproduced it below. Now, not all of the terms are used in the Bible; some, e.g., have a Talmudic origin. There are also a few less common, or speculative, terms which are not reproduced below — see the article for details.

The list only deals with historical names, and therefore ends at Saturn. The other planets were (as far as I've heard) not known in the ancient world. Neptune and Pluto are not visible to the naked eye. Uranus is visible to the naked eye (mag. 5.83) but was not recognized as a planet due to its dimness and very slow movement across the sky (according to Wikipedia[1]).

I have included my own transliteration of the Hebrew words.

Hebrew כּוֹכׇב, kō-khov, star

Hebrew כּוֹכׇב לֶכֶת, kō-khov le-khet, planet, or "walking star"

Hebrew מַזׇּל, maz-zol, constellation (lit. "luck")

Hebrew אֶרֶץ, (ʾ)e-reṣ, Earth or land

Hebrew שֶׁמֶשׁ, she-mesh, Sun

Hebrew יָרַחַ, yā-ra-aḥ, Moon

Hebrew כּוֹכׇב חַמָּה, kō-khov ḥam-mā(h), Mercury (lit. "the Sun's star")

Hebrew נֹגַהּ, nō-gah, Venus (means "brightness" or "shine")

Hebrew מַאְדִּים, maʾ-dịm, Mars (means "reddening")

Hebrew צֶדֶק, ṣe-deq, Jupiter (lit. "justice" or "righteousness")

Hebrew שַׁבְּתַאי, shav-vᵉta-(ʾy?), Saturn, (allusion to Shabbat, the holy day of rest; means "Saturday's planet")

End Notes

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus, accessed February 23 2023. The reference given by Wikipedia states that Uranus was "unknown [to] all ancient civilizations" because it was "undistinguishable from a dim star". But that seems to me to be a rather sweeping statement to make, considering how many ancient civilizations were involved in astronomy and astrology, and the prevalence of dark skies in the past, and since its movement through constellations could be noticed by careful observers over the course of a few decades.