Away from city lights on a moonless night, even without a telescope, Earth observers can see the arc of our Milky Way galaxy across the night sky as shown in the image above. It looks cloudy obscuring regions because looking through the plane of the galaxy side one there is a lot of dust blocking starlight coming from behind. Nevertheless from our solar system, approximately 28,000 light-years from the galactic centre, we can see a large slice of the galaxy. This reminds me of what King David was inspired to write in Psalms 19.
1 The heavens are recounting the glory of God, and the expanse is declaring His handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words where their voice is not heard. 4 Their measuring line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world; in them He has set up a dwelling-place for the sun, 5 and he comes forth like a bridegroom from his canopy. He rejoices like a hero to run a race; 6 his going forth from the end of the heavens, and his orbit to their ends; and nothing is hidden from his heat. Psalms 19:1-6 KJ3
The heavens are recounting or declaring the glory of God, and the expanse — the night sky — is declaring his handiwork (verse 1). These stars we see are located at distances of tens of thousands of light-years. If you consider those stars on the opposite side of the galaxy they are even farther, some more than 50,000 light-years distant.
King David wrote this Psalm in approximately 1,000 BC, which was 3,000 years (Masoretic) or 4,500 years (Septuagint, LXX) after creation depending on the chronology you use. But even if you choose the older chronology of the LXX and if you choose the incoming one-way speed of light to be the same as the two-way measured speed then David would not have been able to have seen more than 4,500 light-years distance in the galaxy.
In this Psalm verse 19:3 there are word insertions by the translator shown in italics. If you leave out the insertion of the word “where” the meaning of the sentence is reversed, saying “there is no speech or language; there voice is not heard.” But the preceding verses 1 and 2 set up for verse 3, declaring that the heavens, including the solar system, reveals God’s glory in His handiwork, i.e. in His creation.
At a minimum it is metaphorical. The stars and planets are not speaking a language of words but they are revealing knowledge of the creation in the daytime and the nighttime. And I suggest they reveal something about the biblical creation worldview.
When comparing these verses to the Septuagint, the English translation (LXXE) actually, there are no insertions in verse 3, and the line reads the same as the MT English translation in the KJV.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. 2 Day to day utters speech, and night to night proclaims knowledge. 3 There are no speeches or words, in which their voices are not heard. 4 Their voice is gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. 5 In the sun he has set his tabernacle; and he comes forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber: he will exult as a giant to run his course. 6 His going forth is from the extremity of heaven, and his circuit to the [other] end of heaven: and no one shall be hidden from his heat. Psalms 18:1-6 LXXE (from Psalm 9 onward the LXX chapters number by 1 less than the MT)
So I am going with the standard meaning that metaphorically the heavens “speak” the same thing to all Earth observers and have done so since creation. This is emphasised in verse 4.
The verse 5 and 6 described the circuit of the Sun rising (out of his chamber) and setting. The Sun runs its course and all are subject to its heat.
Looking back at verse 1. There are two parts, the heavens and the firmament or expanse. Verse 2, day time and night time are involved.
So just on the night time, it must have included the stars in the night sky, which means in our galaxy. The text speaks of the Sun in its circuit from sunrise to sunset. But the Sun’s path includes its annual passage across the sky moving approximately 4 minutes in every 24-hour day.
Viewed from the Sun the Earth revolves around the Sun in its yearly circuit. But as viewed from Earth the Sun appears to move around ecliptic, as the annual seasons pass. Does this give us the meaning of the untranslated Hebrew word Mazzaroth in Job 38?
32 Can you bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or can you guide Arcturus with his sons? Job 38:32 AKJV
32 Or wilt thou reveal Mazuroth in his season, and the evening star with his rays? Wilt thou guide them? Job 38:32 LXXE
The LXXE does not include the word “Arcturus” but instead translated the Greek word Έσπερον Esperon as “the evening star” but that has often been a reference to the planet Venus. However if it really meant light from a star that star is in a constellation. And those light rays must reach Earth to be seen.
The twelve traditional zodiac constellations are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, and Pisces. These constellations lie along the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the sky, through which the Sun passes over the course of a year.
The untranslated word Mazzaroth only occurs once in the Bible, in Job 38:32, where God rhetorically asks Job if he can bring forth what we call constellations in their proper season. Hence Mazzaroth is commonly interpreted as referring to the twelve signs (constellations) of the zodiac but sometimes a specific constellation. That is how the KJ3 translates it.
32 Can you bring out the constellations in their season; or can you guide the Bear with its sons? Job 38:32 KJ3
The constellation Arcturus is the Bear. It is a constellation seen from the northern hemisphere but not from the south. Because of this the Artic and the Antarctica are so named. The latter is the opposite to the constellation of the Bear, i.e. no Bear. Ironically there are bears in the Artic but not in the Antarctic.
However a similar Hebrew word mazzalah occurs in 2 Kings 23:5. Mickelson’s Enhanced Strong dictionary translates it as “constellation, i.e. a Zodiacal sign“.
5 And he caused to cease the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had given place to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem, and those burning incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to constellations, and to all the host of the heavens. 2 Kings 23: 5 KJ3
But the Geneva and the KJV translate the word as planets.
5 And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. 2 Kings 23:5 AKJV
The English translation of the Septuagint (LXXE) uses the same spelling of the Hebrew word as in Job 38:32 from the KJV as well as in its own rendering of Job 38:32.
5 And he burned the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Juda [had] appointed, (and they burned incense in the high places and in the cities of Juda, and the places around about Jerusalem); and them that burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to Mazuroth, and to all the host of heaven. 2 Kings 23:5 LXXE
Thus in Psalms 19:5 when the Psalmist writes that the Sun has a dwelling-place or a tabernacle it is a reference to the zodiacal constellations the Sun passes through on its annual circuit.
Those constellations are stars and generally they are relatively close to Earth. But if we include stars in the galactic plane some of which could have been seen by King David on a moonless night then we must conclude that the travel time of the light from those stars was much shorter than the time it would have taken travelling at the canonical speed c, the measured two-way or round-trip speed.
So no more than 4,500 years after creation of all stars in the universe, that is around 1,000 BC, King David recorded that the stars of heaven showed the glory and handiwork of God. That must include the stars of our galaxy because nearly all naked-eye visible stars are in the galaxy.
If the incoming one-way speed of light was limited to the measured two-way speed of 1 light-year per year (which is the definition of a light-year distance) then King David could not have seen very much of the galaxy at all. He would have only seen those stars within a 4,500 light-year distance in the galactic plane, which is a very sparse region compared to the galactic bulge at the centre of the galaxy.
King David extolled the wonders of God’s creation in the heavens. However Psalm 19 implies more than that. The language used in this Psalm implies instantaneous transmission of light rays from the most distant stars. This is consistent with the Genesis creation narrative when God made the stars on Day 4 of creation week less than 7,500 years ago.
Related Reading
- Pleiades and Orion: Bound, Unbound, or … ?
- How Fast Does Information Travel to Earth from the Outer Most Reaches of the Cosmos?
- Young Earth Creation vs. Modern Cosmology
- Do Distant Light Emissions Prove a Finite One-Way Speed of Light?
- Do Million-Light-Year-Long Galactic Jets Disprove the Bible on the Age of the Universe?
- The Effects of the Curse Visible in the Cosmos Present Another Biblical Creationist Starlight Travel-Time Problem
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