Mazzaroth

Helios-zodiac cycle, 6th-century mosaic in the Beth Alpha Synagogue, Israel

Mazzaroth (Hebrew Transliteration: מַזָּרוֹת Mazzārōṯ, LXX Μαζουρωθ, Mazourōth) is a Biblical Hebrew word found in the Book of Job (Job 38:32) whose precise meaning is uncertain. Its context is that of astronomical constellations, and some judge it to mean a specific constellation, while it is often interpreted as a term for the zodiac or the constellations thereof.[1][2] The similar word mazalot (מַּזָּלוֹת) in 2 Kings 23:3–5 may be related.

According to 10th-century biblical exegete Saadia Gaon, it literally means "constellations," [3] while others interpret the word as naming various concrete astronomic bodies - Saturn, the seven planets, the Hyades, the Northern and Southern Crowns, the Southern Ship (Argo Navis?) or Sirius.[1]

The word itself is a hapax legomenon (i.e., a word appearing only once in a text) of the Hebrew Bible. In Yiddish, the term mazalot came to be used in the sense of "astrology" in general, surviving in the expression "mazel tov," meaning "good fortune."[4]

  1. ^ a b Jewish Encyclopedia: Constellations, accessed 2010-02-13. Norman C. Habel, The Book of Job: A Commentary, Westminster John Knox Press, 1985, p. 523, ISBN 0-664-22218-8
  2. ^ Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job, Volume 2, T. & T. Clark, 1866, p. 324.
  3. ^ Saadia (1973). Yosef Qafih (ed.). Job, with a Translation and Commentary of Rabbi Saadia ben Yosef Fayyumi (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Committee for the publication of Rabbi Saadia Gaon's books, in affiliation with the American Academy of Jewish Studies. p. 189. OCLC 967039286., s.v. Job 38:32
  4. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Astrology, accessed 2010-02-13.