the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Moon
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or MOON . The moon is ‘the lesser light to rule the night’ of the cosmogony of Genesis ( Genesis 1:16 ). Its importance was in part due to the recurrence of its phases, which formed a measure for time. Each new moon , as it appeared, marked the commencement of a new period, and so in Hebrew the word for ‘moon’ and ‘month’ is the same. Sun and moon occur side by side in passages of Scripture, and to the moon as well as to the sun is ascribed a fertilizing power over and above the gift of light which comes from them to the earth. Just as we have in Deuteronomy 33:14 ‘the precious things of the fruits of the sun,’ so we have there ‘the precious things of the growth of the moons.’ As a consequence of this, the re-appearance of the new moon was eagerly looked for, and trumpets were blown and sacrifices offered on the day of the new moon. We gather also from Psalms 81:3 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) that something of a similar kind took place at the full moon . The moon took its part with the sun in one of Joseph’s dreams when it ‘made obeisance’ to him ( Genesis 37:9 ); and it stood still, ‘in the valley of Aijalon,’ at the command of Joshua, at the battle of Gibeon ( Joshua 10:12-13; cf. Habakkuk 3:11 ). Language which must have been derived from the appearance of the moon during eclipses is used by the prophets. The moon is to be darkened or turned into blood ( Joel 2:10; Joel 2:31 ) before ‘the day of the Lord’; and similar language is used by our Lord ( e.g . Mark 13:24 ). We are told of the redeemed Zion that the light of the moon is to be as the light of the sun ( Isaiah 30:26 ), and that there is to be no need of the moon, because the glory of God is to be the light of His people ( Isaiah 60:19; cf. Revelation 21:23 ). Cautions against the worship of the moon, and punishment by death for the convicted worshippers, are to be found in Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:3; whilst a superstitious salutation of the moon by kissing the hand, not quite unheard of even in our own day, is mentioned in Job 31:26-27 . Moon-worship by the burning of incense was offered in Jerusalem, and put down by Josiah ( 2 Kings 23:5 ).
Mount Sinai is supposed to have derived its name from the moon-god Sin , to whom worship was paid there.
For the worship of the ‘ queen of heaven ,’ see under Stars.
In the OT we meet more than once with crescent-shaped ornaments (Judges 8:21 , Isaiah 3:18 ); whether these are an indication of the worship of the moon is uncertain.
It has been always considered baneful in the bright clear atmosphere of the warmer regions of the earth to sleep exposed to the rays of the moon (Psalms 121:6 ). The influence of the earth’s satellite has long been considered burtful. Our word ‘ lunatic ’ reproduces the idea of the Western world of our Lord’s time, that lunacy was due to the influence of the moon: the Greek word used in Matthew 4:24; Matthew 17:15 shows this. In the RV [Note: Revised Version.] the word is translated ‘epileptic.’ There are many still to be found who believe that the violence and recurrence of epileptic fits vary with the phases of the moon.
H. A. Redpath.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Moon'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/m/moon.html. 1909.
