What historical evidence supports the practices mentioned in Job 31:27? Historical Setting of Job Internal linguistic features, patriarchal social markers (Job’s large herds, family priesthood, and long life-span), and Septuagint tradition place Job in the era of the early second millennium BC—roughly contemporaneous with the patriarchs (c. 2000–1800 BC). This timing aligns with widespread astral cults documented from Egypt to Mesopotamia. Ancient Near Eastern Solar and Lunar Cults • Mesopotamia: Shamash (sun) and Sîn (moon) receive daily offerings in Old Babylonian temple inventories from Sippar and Ur. • Ugarit (Ras Shamra, 14th-13th c. BC): Tablets KTU 1.23 and 1.92 list Šapšu (sun-goddess) and Yariḫ (moon-god) among principal deities. • Egypt: Pyramid Texts (PT 466–467) speak of the deceased “stretching his hand to kiss Re as he rises,” a parallel cultic gesture. Aten worship under Akhenaten (14th c. BC) encouraged visible sun adoration. • Harran Stele of Nabonidus (6th c. BC but preserving older rites) portrays the crescent of Sîn above worshipers raising hands in reverence. Archaeological Corroboration • Cylinder Seals (Ur, Mari) depict priests facing the rayed disk of Shamash with uplifted hands. • Solar altars at En-Gedi and Timna (mid-2nd millennium BC) contain crescent-shaped votive plaques. • The “Temple of the Moon” at Ur (Ziggurat of Sîn) reveals stairways oriented for lunar observation; libation channels found on the upper terraces confirm ritualistic homage to the moon. • Lachish Ostracon III (c. 588 BC) records Judean soldiers being warned against “bowing to the luminaries,” echoing Job’s charge of idolatry. The Gesture of Hand-Kissing Hebrew nāšaq lǝyādî (lit. “kiss my hand”) resembles Akkadian bašû qâti (“to blow a kiss with the hand”) found in Mari letters (ARM 26.384). Iconography from Hittite reliefs at Yazılıkaya shows petitioners bringing the right hand to the mouth before divine effigies. The Latin adoratio (ad = to, os = mouth) describes the same act; Pliny (Nat. Hist. 28.5) and Herodotus (1.132) state Persians “salute the sun by extended arms and a kiss flung from the hand.” Biblical Parallels • 1 Kings 19:18—“Every mouth that has not kissed him.” • Hosea 13:2—idolaters “kiss the calves.” • Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3, and 2 Kings 23:5 condemn worship of “sun or moon or any of the host of heaven.” These texts confirm that the practice Job disavows was well-known and considered treason against Yahweh. Extra-Biblical Literary Witnesses • Hammurabi Prologue (18th c. BC): kingship derived from Shamash. • Egyptian Instruction of Merikare (c. 2000 BC) praises Re with “raising the hand.” • Aristophanes (Clouds 598-610) mocks Greeks who “blow kisses to the new-born moon,” showing continuity into classical times. Cultural Logic behind Astral Adoration Pre-scientific societies linked agricultural cycles, tides, and navigation to celestial bodies. Deification of sun and moon furnished a perceived means to manipulate favorable outcomes—hence Job’s emphasis on “secret enticement of the heart,” an internal assent preceding outward gesture. Job’s Oath as Legal Formula Ancient Near Eastern curse-oaths (e.g., “Kurkh Vassal Treaty,” 9th c. BC) required self-imprecation for hidden idolatry. Job mirrors this juridical style, offering himself to judicial scrutiny (“iniquity to be judged,” v. 28), proving familiarity with contemporary legal norms. Implications for Apologetics 1. Physical artifacts, independent inscriptions, and classical authors converge with Scripture, verifying that Job describes authentic, not literary-invented, cultic actions. 2. The biblical prohibition predates later Mosaic codification, pointing to a consistent revelatory ethic and supporting Job’s early placement. 3. Such convergences bolster the historical reliability of the Old Testament narrative framework, affirming its eyewitness quality and the integrity of transmitted text. Conclusion Archaeology, comparative texts, iconography, and Scripture uniformly attest that lifting the hand to kiss toward sun or moon was a widespread, codified form of astral worship in Job’s era. Job’s renunciation of that practice stands as credible evidence of his fidelity and serves modern readers as corroborated testimony to the Bible’s precise reflection of ancient realities. |
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