Easton: Constellation
Source: Matthew Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary (1897) (Constellation) · external_aligned
A cluster of stars, or stars which appear to be near each other in the heavens, and which astronomers have reduced to certain figures (as the “Great Bear,” the “Bull,” etc.) for the sake of classification and of memory. In Isa. 13:10, where this word only occurs, it is the rendering of the Hebrew kesil, i.e., “fool.” This was the Hebrew name of the constellation Orion (Job 9:9; 38:31), a constellation which represented Nimrod, the symbol of folly and impiety. The word some interpret by “the giant” in this place, “some heaven-daring rebel who was chained to the sky for his impiety.”
Witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15)
- manuscript_tradition: Original 1897 publication — Thomas Nelson, London
- republication: Project Gutenberg — Easton's Bible Dictionary
- republication: Internet Archive — multiple scans
- republication: CCEL — Easton's Bible Dictionary
- republication: Blue Letter Bible — searchable Easton's