Posted on behalf of Peter Eyland: GEORGE ATHAS Dean of Research, Moore Theological College (moore.edu.au) Sydney, Australia
========= The sky does have its own physical radiance. The blue light of the sky is due to polarisation by scattering - if you use polarising sunglasses you can pick up a darker area of blue sky at right angles to the direction of the Sun. The photovoltaic panels on my roof can directly measure the irradiance of the sky when the Sun is not directly shining on them - I haven’t paid a cent in electricity bill for over two years. If the sky did not glow then we could see the stars in the daytime, etc. In ancient times I believe that it was also obvious that the sky glowed, but it was not taken as due to the Sun, either because it was a god in itself or (Jewish) it glowed with the light (kavod) that comes from G-d. Ps 19:2 הַשָּׁמַיִם, מְסַפְּרִים כְּבוֹד-אֵל (hope that comes out in Hebrew script) basically the sky tells of the kavod (the radiance) that comes from G-d. "Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography" translated by Wayne Horowitz. NBC 11108, p138 1. When Anu(?), the lord, made heaven shine(?), made earth dark, [set the] eye toward the underworld 2. In the deep, water was not libated, bread was not set in place, in the broad earth, … service was not done; 3. [the c]hief purification priest of Enlil did not exist, the holy hand-washing ceremony was not performed; 4. [the .] .. of Anu was not performed, [judgi]ng(?) [was not] judged. 5. [Heaven and ea]rth, he held together as one. 6. … was not sought for … 7. Day did not shine; in night, heaven stretched forth. 8. (Then), heaven, in its entirety, splendidly, shone forth. 9. (but) earth, bringing forth plant life did not glow on its own. Horowitz wrote (p.139): "In line 7 there is perpetual night, apparently because the heavens do not yet shine … [t]hen … heaven shines but earth does not glow on its own, apparently because the earth's surface is covered by plant life … as in Genesis, where day exists before the creation of the sun, moon and stars, the heavens are conceived to have their own glow, irrespectively of the presence of luminaries". The Exaltation of Ishtar: 27. for the Moon-god and Sun-god, night was created evenly with day. This doesn't say the Sun creates day, but that day was created for the Sun. This suggests "day" was thought to have existed independently of the Sun. It is similar to the idea in Genesis 1 that the Sun is to "rule" the day. S. Aalen's article on light (“or”) in The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament vol. I, 147–167. He argues that the sky's light during day is distinct from the sun. He concludes that "[w]e must keep in mind that the light of day is considered to be separate from the light of the sun everywhere in OT thought" (p. 151–152). The sun and moon have similar roles as light sources in Genesis 1 (even though the Moon appears in the daytime as well as the night). They also have the same apparent size. However the moon does not make the whole of the sky radiant at night. Why should it then be concluded (in ancient thinking) that the sun lights up the sky in a different way? Especially when the day appears to have its own source of illumination - the sky is bright before the Sun appears and also after it sets. The particular emphasis of the Sun is brightness and heat rather than light. Haven’t thought this through yet, but the plural form of “skies” may have originally distinguished day-sky and night-sky as in Greek mythology with Ouranos and Ourania (the muse of Astronomy). Cheers Pete
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