light," in conjunction with which it was to serve "for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for year.s," while its special office was "to rule the day" (Gen. i, ll-l()j. The "signs" referred to were probably such extraordinary phenomena as eclipses, which were re- garded as conveying premonitions of coming events (Jer. X, '2; Matt, xxiv, 21), with Lidie xxi, 2o). The joint inffuence assigned to the sun and moon in de- ciding the "seasons," both for agricultural operations and for religious festivals, and also in regulating the length and subdivisions of the "years," correctly de- scribes the combination of the lunar and solar year, which i)revailed, at all events, subsecpiently to the Mo- saic period — the moon being the iiicasunr {kcit t^o- X>lt') of the la])se of time by the subdivisions of months and weeks, while the sun was the ultimate reyuhitor of the length of the year by means of the recurrence of the feast of Pentecost at a fi.\ed agricultural season, viz. when the corn became ripe. The sun "ruled the tl,\v" alone, sharing the dominion of the skies with the moon, the brilliancy and utility of which for journeys and other purposes enhances its value in Eastern coun- tries. It " ruled the day," not oidy in reference to its powerful influences, but also as deciding the length of the day and supplying the means of calculating its progress. Sinirise and sunset are the only defined points of time, in the aijsence of artificial contrivances for telling the hour of the day; and, as these points are less variable in the latitude of Palestine than in many countries, they served the purpose of marking the com- mencement and conclusion of the working-day. Be- tween these two points the Jews recognised three pe- riods, viz. when the sun became hot, about 9 A.M. (1 Sam. xi, 9. Neh.vii,3); the double light, or noon (Gen. xliii, 1(5 ; 2 Sam. iv, 5) ; and " the cool of the day," short- ly before sunset ((ien. iii, 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 (Isa. xlv, 6; Psa. 1, 1), the dark quarter (Gen. xiii, 14; Joel ii, 20), and the brill- iant quarter (Dent, xxxiii, 23; Job xxxvii, 17; Ezek. xl,24); or otherwise by their position relative to a per- son facing the rising sun — before, behind, on the left hand, and on the right hand (Job xxiii, 8, 9). The apparent motion of the sun is frequently referred to in terms that would imply its reality (.Josh, x, 13; 2 Kings XX, 11; Psa. xix, 6; Eccles. i, 5; Hab. iii, 11). The ordinary name for the %vM,sheinesh, is, supposed to refer to the extreme brilliancy of its rays, producing stupor or astonishment m the mind of the beholder; the poeti- cal names n53ri, chammdh (Job xxx, 28 ; Cant, vi, 10; Isa. xxx, 2G), and D"in, cheres (Judg. xiv, 18; Job ix, 7) have reference to its heat, the beneficial effects of which are duly commemorated (Dent, xxxiii, 14; Psa. xix, G) as well as its bancfid influence when in excess (Psa. cxxi, 0; Isa. xlix, 10; .Jonah iv, 8; Ecclus. xliii, 3, 4). The vigor with which the sun traverses the heavens is compared to that of a " bridegroom coming out of his chamber," and of a "giant rejoicing to run his course" (Psa. xix, 5). The speed with which the beams of the rising sun dart across the sky is expressed in the term "wings" applied to them (Psa. cxxxix, 9; Mai. iv, 2).
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 xxxi. 26, 27 ; .Strabo, xvi, 784), and this simple style of worship was probably familiar to the ancestors of the Jews in Chaldiea and Jlesopotamia. In Egj'pt the sun was worshipped under the title of Ke or Ka, and not, as was supposed by ancient writers, under the form of Osi- ris (Dioii. .Sic. i, 11 ; see Wilkinson, A nc. Egypt, iv, 289). The name came conspicuously forward as the title of the kings — Pharaoh, or rather Phra, meaning "the sirn"
SUN
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SUNDANESE VERSION