Messyanic

We have all seen the sun move across the sky at some point or another.

From our vantage point, it appears that the sun rises up over the horizon in the east, travels in an upward motion in the sky overhead until it reaches its peak and then descends the rest of the way as it sets in the west. That’s what it looks like. But is that what is really happening?

We’ve been taught from early childhood, that what we see concerning the sun is actually a result of the globe earth rotating on its own tilted axis in the face of a relatively still sun. However, there is no physical evidence of either a spinning globe earth or a relatively still sun. What we observe is that the sun moves while the earth we stand on does not.

The question is how exactly is the sun moving? This is something I’ve been paying quite a bit of attention to the past two years. Scripture tells us the sun travels a circuit:

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language; Their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course. His going forth is from the end of the heavens, And his circuit (H8622) unto the ends of it; And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. (Psa 19:1-6 ASV)

The Hebrew word translated here as “circuit” is “tequphah” (H8622) and is defined as “coming round, circuit of time or space, a turning, circuit” by Brown-Driver-Briggs.

If the sun is “coming round” or traveling a “circuit”, can it be determined if it is orbiting around a globe “earth” or could it be simply circling above the land and seas?

According to the Bible, most English translations reference the sun as rising and setting, clearly indicating that it moves but also suggesting it is ascending and descending. However, in my studies of the sun I believe some clues as to what exactly the sun is doing (and not doing) in its movement has been lost in translation.  Continue reading →

In my studies of the sun, I have found that although most English translations refer to the sun setting or going down, the Hebrew tells a different story.

(Genesis 15:12 ESV) As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.

(Genesis 15:17 ESV) When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

(Genesis 28:11 ESV) And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.

The Hebrew word translated in these passages as “going down”, “gone down” and “set” is “bo” (H935). According to Brown Driver Briggs it is a primitive root that means, “to go in, enter, come, go, come in”. Notice this definition makes no mention of a downward direction.

“Bo” is used over 2,500 times in the Tanakh/OT, and in only about 23 verses particularly in conjunction with the sun (H8121 “shemesh”). In all the verses where it is used directly with “shemesh” it is typically translated in the ESV as one of the three ways shown above.

(See Exodus 17:12; 22:26; Leviticus 22:7; Deuteronomy 16:6; 23:11; 24:13,15; Joshua 8:29; 10:27; Judges 14:18; 19:14; 2 Samuel 2:24; 3:35; 1 Kings 22:36; 2 Chronicles 18:34; Isaiah 60:20; Jeremiah 15:9; Amos 8:9; Micah 3:6)

However, when looking at the use of the word in all of the other verses (over 2,200 of them), I don’t see it ever translated as that. Here is just a sampling of the many uses of the word elsewhere:  Continue reading →