Sun

In the history of "greater light," of the creation the sun is described as "greater light," in contradistinction to the moon, the "lesser light," in conjunction with which it was to serve "for signs and for seasons, and for days, and for years," while its special office was "to rule the day." (Genesis 1:14-16) The "signs" referred to were probably such extraordinary phenomena as eclipses, which were regarded as conveying premonitions of coming events. (Jeremiah 10:2; Matthew 24:29) with Luke 21:25 The joint influence assigned to the sun and moon in deciding the "seasons," both for agricultural operations and for religious festivals, and also in regulating the length and subdivisions of the years "correctly describes the combination of the lunar and solar year which prevailed at all events subsequent to the Mosaic period. Sunrise and sunset are the only defined points of time in the absence of artificial contrivances for telling the hour of the day. Between these two points the Jews recognized three periods, viz., when the sun became hot, about 9 A.M. (1 Samuel 11:9; Nehemiah 7:3) the double light, or noon. (Genesis 43:16; 2 Samuel 4:5) and "the cool of the day," shortly before sunset. (Genesis 3:8) The sun also served to fix the quarters of the hemisphere, east, west north and south, which were represented respectively by the rising sun, the setting sun, (Isaiah 45:6; Psalms 50:1) the dark quarter, (Genesis 13:14; Joel 2:20) and the brilliant quarter, (33:23; Job 37:17; Ezekiel 40:24) or otherwise by their position relative to a person facing the rising sun--before, behind, on the left hand and on the right hand. (Job 23:8,9) The worship of the sun, as the most prominent and powerful agent in the kingdom of nature, was widely diffused throughout the countries adjacent to Palestine. The Arabians appear to have paid direct worship to it without the intervention of any statue or symbol, (Job 31:26,27) and this simple style of worship was probably familiar to the ancestors of the Jews in Chaldaea and Mesopotamia. The Hebrews must have been well acquainted with the idolatrous worship of the sun during the captivity in Egypt, both from the contiguity of On, the chief seat of the worship of the sun, as implied in the name itself (On being the equivalent of the Hebrew Bethshemesh, "house of the sun") (Jeremiah 43:13) and also from the connection between Joseph and Potipherah("he who belongs to Ela") the priest of On, (Genesis 41:45) After their removal to Canaan, the Hebrews came in contact with various forms of idolatry which originated in the worship of the sun; such as the Baal of the Phoenicians, the Molech or Milcom of the Ammonites, and the Hadad of the Syrians. The importance attached to the worship of the sun by the Jewish kings may be inferred from the fact that the horses sacred to the sun were stalled within the precincts of the temple. (2 Kings 23:11) In the metaphorical language of Scripture the sun is emblematic of the law of God, (Psalms 19:7) of the cheering presence of God, (Psalms 84:11) of the person of the Saviour, (John 1:9; Malachi 4:2) and of the glory and purity of heavenly beings. (Revelation 1:16; 10:1)

Sun

The great luminary of day, which furnishes so many similitudes to the Hebrew poets, as well as those of all nations, Jud 5:31 Psalm 84:11 Proverbs 4:18 Luke 1:78,79 John 8:12. For the idolatrous worship of the sun, see BAAL.

CHARIOTS OF THE SUN

(markebhoth ha-shemesh): These, together with "horses of the sun," are mentioned in 2 Kings 23:11. They are said to have stood in the temple, a gift of the kings of Judah. Josiah removed the horses from the precincts of the temple and burned the chariots. Among the Greeks, Helios was endowed with horses and chariots. Thus the course of the sun as he sped across the skies was understood by the mythological mind of antiquity. The Babylonian god Shamash (= Hebrew Shemesh) likewise had his chariot and horses as well as his charioteer. The cult of the sun and other heavenly bodies which was particularly in vogue during the latter days of the Judean monarchy (compare 2 Kings 23:5 Ezekiel 8:16; Deuteronomy 17:3 Jeremiah 8:2) seems to have constituted an element of the Canaanitish religion (compare the names of localities like Beth-shemesh and the like). The chariots of the sun are also referred to in Enoch 72:5, 37; 75:4, and Greek Apocrypha of Baruch 6.

Max L. Margolis

HORSES OF THE SUN

(2 Kings 23:11): In connection with the sun-worship practiced by idolatrous kings in the temple at Jerusalem (2 Kings 23:5; compare Ezekiel 8:16), horses dedicated to the sun, with chariots, had been placed at the entrance of the sacred edifice. These Josiah, in his great reformation, "took away," and burned the chariots with fire. Horses sacred to the sun were common among oriental peoples (Bochart, Heiroz., I, 2, 10).

SUN (2)

(Figurative): Poetical conceptions for the sun are frequently found in the Scriptures, though the strictly figurative expressions are not common. Undoubtedly the Jewish festivals, religious as well as agricultural, were determined by the sun's movements, and this fact, together with the poetical nature of the Hebrews and their lack of scientific knowledge, had a tendency. to multiply spiritual and metaphorical expressions concerning the "greater light" of the heavens. Some of these poetical conceptions are very beautiful, such as the sun having a habitation (Habakkuk 3:11), a tabernacle (Psalm 19:4 f) set for him by Yahweh, out of which he comes as a bridegroom from his chamber, rejoicing as a strong man to run a race. The sun is also given as the emblem of constancy (Psalm 72:5, 17), of beauty (Songs 6:10), of the law of God (Psalm 19:7), of the purity of heavenly beings (Revelation 1:16; Revelation 12:1), and of the presence and person of God (Psalm 84:11). The ancient world given to personifying the sun did not refrain from sun-worship, and even the Hebrew in the time of the kings came perilously near this idolatry (2 Kings 23:11).

See SUN-WORSHIP.

C. E. Schenk

SUN, SMITING BY

smit'-ing: Exposure of the uncovered head to the heat of the sun is likely to produce either of two conditions; the commoner is heat exhaustion with faintness, the rarer is heatstroke with fever and paralysis of the heat-regulating apparatus of the nervous system. This condition is described as siriasis. The two fatal instances recorded were probably of the latter kind. One, the case of the Shunammite's son (2 Kings 4:19), was apparently very acute, like some of the cases described by Manson and Sambon. Of the other case, that of Manasseh, Judith's husband, we have no particulars (Judith 8:3), except that it was likewise brought on by exposure in the harvest field, and occurred at the time of barley harvest, that is, early in May. Jonah's attack was one of heat syncope, as he fainted from the heat (Jonah 4:8). According both to psalmist (Psalm 121:6) and to prophet (Isaiah 49:10), the people of God are protected from the stroke of the sun as well as from that of the moon. The latter was supposed to cause lunacy (hence, the name), and epilepsy, so in Matthew 4:24 the word rendered "lunatic" (the King James Version) for "epileptic" (Revised Version) is seleniazomenous, literally, "moon struck."

See MOON.

Alexander Macalister

SMITING BY THE SUN

See SUN, SMITING BY.

SUN (1)

See ASTRONOMY, sec. I, 2.

SUN GATE

See EAST GATE.

SUN, CHARIOTS OF THE

See HORSES OF THE SUN.

SUN, HORSES OF THE

See HORSES OF THE SUN.

(Hebrews shemesh), first mentioned along with the moon as the two great luminaries of heaven (Genesis 1:14-18). By their motions and influence they were intended to Mark and divide times and seasons. The worship of the sun was one of the oldest forms of false religion (Job 31:26, 27), and was common among the Egyptians and Chaldeans and other pagan nations. The Jews were warned against this form of idolatry (Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3; Comp. 2 Kings 23:11; Jeremiah 19:13).

1. (n.) See Sunn.

2. (n.) The luminous orb, the light of which constitutes day, and its absence night; the central body round which the earth and planets revolve, by which they are held in their orbits, and from which they receive light and heat. Its mean distance from the earth is about 92,500,000 miles, and its diameter about 860,000.

3. (n.) Any heavenly body which forms the center of a system of orbs.

4. (n.) The direct light or warmth of the sun; sunshine.

5. (n.) That which resembles the sun, as in splendor or importance; any source of light, warmth, or animation.

6. (v. t.) To expose to the sun's rays; to warm or dry in the sun; as, to sun cloth; to sun grain.

8121. shemesh -- sun
... << 8120, 8121. shemesh. 8122 >>. sun. Transliteration: shemesh Phonetic Spelling:
(sheh'-mesh) Short Definition: sun. Word Origin from ...
/hebrew/8121.htm - 6k

2535. chammah -- heat, sun
... << 2534, 2535. chammah. 2536 >>. heat, sun. Transliteration: chammah Phonetic
Spelling: (kham-maw') Short Definition: sun. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/2535.htm - 6k

8122. shemash -- sun
... shemash. 8123 >>. sun. Transliteration: shemash Phonetic Spelling: (sheh'-mesh)
Short Definition: sunset. ... sun. (Aramaic) corresponding to shemesh; the sun -- sun ...
/hebrew/8122.htm - 6k

2775a. cheres -- the sun
... cheres. 2775b >>. the sun. Transliteration: cheres Short Definition: sun. Word Origin
of uncertain derivation Definition the sun NASB Word Usage sun (2). ...
/hebrew/2775a.htm - 5k

2775. cherec -- the sun
... << 2774, 2775. cherec. 2775a >>. the sun. Transliteration: cherec Phonetic
Spelling: (kheh'-res) Short Definition: itch. itch, sun Or ...
/hebrew/2775.htm - 5k

5885. En Shemesh -- "spring of (the) sun," a place on the border ...
... En Shemesh. 5886 >>. "spring of (the) sun," a place on the ... En-shemesh. From ayin
and shemesh; fountain of the sun; En-Shemesh, a place in Palestine -- En-shemesh ...
/hebrew/5885.htm - 6k

2553. chamman -- a sun pillar
... chamman. 2554 >>. a sun pillar. Transliteration: chamman Phonetic Spelling:
(kham-mawn') Short Definition: altars. ... From chammah; a sun-pillar -- idol, image. ...
/hebrew/2553.htm - 6k

5905. Ir Shemesh -- "city of the sun," a city in Dan
... << 5904, 5905. Ir Shemesh. 5906 >>. "city of the sun," a city in Dan. Transliteration:
Ir Shemesh Phonetic Spelling: (eer sheh'-mesh) Short Definition: Ir-shemesh ...
/hebrew/5905.htm - 6k

1053. Beth Shemesh -- "sun temple," three places in Palestine ...
... "sun ... Word Origin from bayith and shemesh Definition "sun temple," three places in
Pal., also a place in Eg. NASB Word Usage Beth-shemesh (20), Heliopolis (1). ...
/hebrew/1053.htm - 6k

8556. Timnath Cherec -- "territory of the sun," a village in the ...
Timnath Cherec. << 8555, 8556. Timnath Cherec. 8556a >>. "territory of the sun,"
a village in the hill country of Ephraim. Transliteration: Timnath Cherec Phonetic ...
/hebrew/8556.htm - 6k