The Star of David
Is the star of David biblical?
Most people, whether they are believers or not know the star of David, even if they do not know that they know it as they may not know it by it’s name. This is because it proudly adorns the centre of the flag of the nation of Israel. This star is widely used throughout Israel.
However there are those, even amongst the Jews themselves, who reject the use of this star. There are many, again even amongst the Jews, who say that this star has nothing to do with King David but rather it is a pagan icon. It is claimed that far from being a symbol of Israel it is in fact the image of the star of the pagan god associated with the planet Saturn. This pagan god was worshipped in ancient Sumaria and Babylon and was later incorporated by the Jews who simply took on the gods and their images from the pagan nations.
Let’s look at the star in question as it appears on the Israel flag.
The star itself is a 6 pointed star. This is also known as a hexagram (Hexa is the Greek for 6) It is comprised of two interlocking triangles one facing up and the other facing down. In the middle of the star is a hexagon.
It is referred to as the shield of David or Magen David
What are the origins of the star of David? Are they Biblical or does the star have more sinister origins.
The first fact, and I believe most important fact that needs to be addressed regarding the claims, either for or against the image of the star, is that the star of David is NEVER mentioned anywhere in scripture. There is no biblical attestation of a star ever being associated with King David either in the Old Testament, the Jewish Tanakh or the New testament.
Therefore this means that any connection between David and his supposed star comes from extra biblical sources. Normally when a Jewish person appeals to something that is not found in the Tanakh or they believe needs to be expounded upon further then they will almost certainly go to the Talmud or other Rabbanic literature.
However when we look at extra biblical Jewish literature and the Talmud, surprisingly there simply is no mention of the Star of David . There simply is no attestation to David and a star before the 12 century AD.
The earliest source is the Eshkol ha-Kofer of the Karaite Judah Hadassi which dates to the middle of the 12th century.
in ch. 242: “Seven names of angels precede the mezuzah: Michael, Gabriel, etc. . . . Tetragrammaton protect thee! And likewise the sign called ‘David’s shield’ is placed beside the name of each angel.” It was, therefore, at this time a sign on amulets.
The image of the Hexagram however was found in a synagogue in Capernaum dating from the 2nd or 3rd century AD.
This is one of, if not the oldest attestations of the star being associated with Israel.
So we know that the image of the star was being used , at least by some Jews, around 1800 years ago, about 200 years after Jesus. This however is a long long time after King David and it is important to state that the star was found alongside images of the Pentagram and even the Swastika on a frieze.
There simply is nothing to identify the image as being anything more than simply decorative and we must note that there is no identification of the star/hexagram as being the star of David.
The image of the star can be found in the oldest complete Hebrew Bible, the Leningrad Codex, which dates to around 1008/9 AD.
The star was accepted by the Zionist movement in 1897 as its emblem. In 1948 the star was chosen to be incorporated into the flag of the new state of Israel.
Its modern usage amongst the Jewish community has been attributed to the want, by the Jews, of a symbol that represented Judaism in the same way that the cross represents Christianity. However this claim is debated and even if true is not something that I personally will assert as it just does not have enough support to do so.
The star symbol then, while it certainly has a history with Israel and is closely associated with modern Israel, cannot be linked back to King David.
However although there are no biblical attestations to the star being associated to David, there are biblical attestations to Israel having used an image of a star in their worship of false gods.
In chapter 7 of the book of Acts we are told that Stephen addressed the Sanhedrin.
Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
Stephen very clearly states that Israel had a star image of a god , Remphan, and they used that image in their worship.
Stephen, in chapter 7 of the book of acts, goes on a near chapter long rant against the practices of the religious leaders, a rant that ultimately leads to him being stoned to death.
Within this rant Stephen refers to the golden calf that Israel had made to worship in the wilderness
Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Stephen then further states that God gave them up to worship the host of heaven.
Acts 7:42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Stephen almost certainly referring to the celestial bodies. The Israelites were very clearly worshipping the bodies in the heaven, the sun, moon, stars and planets. God himself states they worshipped the sun, moon and all the host of heaven.
Jeremiah 8:1 At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: 2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth
We know for a fact that the pagans such as the Sumarians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Grecians and Romans all worshipped gods associated with the heavenly bodies, including Saturn .
Israel was warned about following the pagans and the way in which they worshipped their gods.
Deuteronomy 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
But we also know that Israel did in fact not keep this commandment. They did follow the ways of the pagans many times.
It is then that Stephen refers to the image of the star of the god Remphan.
Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
So as already stated Stephen says that Israel had adopted a god called Ramphan and used the image of a star in their worship of that god. Ramphan was a god that was possibly linked with Saturn.
Stephen in this verse is actually referring back to the old testament reference of the image of the star being made to the god Chiun which is found in the book of Amos.
Amos 5:25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name isThe God of hosts.
Chiun is the Hebrew כִּיּוּן Kiyyun which was a heathen/pagan god who had links to the planet saturn
It must be noted that God stated that because of the use of this image and the worship of this god he would send them into captivity. The punishment for using this image in their worship of their god was captivity. The use of this star image was obviously something that was most seriously condemned by God.
In acts God is stated as having said “and I will remove you beyond Babylon”. It could be this is a reference to the fact that Israel had removed (taken with them) the star god that was worshipped in Babylon?
Verse 43 does state you took up the greek word here is ἀναλαμβάνω analambanó and it can have the meaning to carry off, lead away.
The word translated as “you have borne” n Amos 5-26 is the Hebrew נָשָׂא nasa which means to lift off, to carry away. Just as the Greek of Acts 7-43
So it would seem that the Bible attests to the fact that the Israelites had taken unto themselves pagan gods and the images to those gods and so because of this God would send them beyond Babylon into captivity.
So we can see that the Bible clearly refers to the condemnation of the Israelites use of the image of a star.
HOWEVER it CANNOT be 100% asserted that the star in reference in the Bible’s portrayal of the Israelites worship of the star image is the 6 pointed star or star of David. This point cannot go unmentioned or be ignored when studying this subject.
We simply DO NOT KNOW if the star image that they used was a 6 pointed star (Hexagram). It could have been a star of any number of points. The Bible does not say.
BUT what we CAN positively assert is that the 6 pointed star that is used by modern Israel is not unique to Judaism and HAS been and STILL IS used by other religions
The following is a basic study of the usage of the Hexagram ( a more detailed study will be available soon).
It has been used by Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam where it is known as the seal of Solomon. Khātem Sulaymān خاتم سليمان
The Hexagram most certainly was used in the worship of the Sumarian gods
The earliest use of this image comes from ancient Sumeria.
Sumarian cylinder seal VA-243 depicts a celestial body in the centre of a 6 pointed star. Many Sumerianologists believe that this celestial body represents the planet Saturn.
This image is then surrounded by 11 other stars or planets or the host of heaven.
The seal dates to around the 3rd millennium BC that’s around 2500-3000 years before Jesus and about 4500-5000 years old. This is also a long long long time before Israel had even became a nation.
The Sumarian empire later became the Babylonian empire (both ruled in the region of Mesopotamia)
The north pole on Saturn is a permanent storm that makes a hexagon
You can see this even at Wikipedia
Saturn’s hexagon – Wikipedia
Interestingly geometrically the Hexagon, the shape inside the centre of the Hexagram makes a cube.
The cube is also a symbolic representation of Saturn. ( Amore detailed study of the Black cube of Saturn is needed)
It cannot go without mentioning that the Hexagram is used in the occult and occultic rituals.
Just as the Pentagram, the Hexagram is used for conjuring spirits It is often attributed to the 7 old planets outlined in astrology.
In the book The History and Practice of Magic, Vol. 2, the six-pointed star is called the talisman of Saturn and it is also referred to as the Seal of Solomon. (Seal of Solomon is attribited to Islam)
In the occult to put a “hex” on a person is to put a curse upon them.
The Hexagram is very prominent in Jewish Kabbalah
The following amulet includes a magic square
While it also has the image of the Hexagram the magic square is comprised of 36 smaller squares. Adding the numbers of any column, horizontal, vertical or diagonal equals 111. So the 6 columns either vertical or horizontal add up to the total 666….
Biblically the man that is linked to the number 666 is King Solomon
1 Kings 10:14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,
As we already saw the Islam associates the Hexegram with Solomon (the seal of)
The Hexagram is also very prominent in freemasonry.
This image clearly depicting the Hexagram, amongst other freemason imagery is found in the Freemason lodge in London.
“The interlacing triangles or deltas symbolize the union of the two principles or forces, the active and passive, male and female, pervading the universe … The two triangles, one white and the other black, interlacing, typify the mingling of apparent opposites in nature, darkness and light, error and truth, ignorance and wisdom, evil and good, throughout human life.” – Albert G. Mackey: Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
The symbol below is taken from the American $1 bill
Very clearly if you overlap the image with a Hexagram the letters contained within the points are an anagram of Mason…coincidence…maybe. Notice there is also the eye of Horus or the all seeing eye at the top.
On the seal of America the 13 stars make up a hexagram.
The image of the Hexagram is also found upon one of the hats of the Pope. Here it is as worn by Pope Benedict xvi
So although we cannot categorically say that the image of the star of David was what was used by Israel in their worship of false gods, and anyone that states that it 100% was is in fact making an assertion that cannot be substantiated beyond the assertion (even though it may be a valid assertion), what is very clear is that there is no biblical or Jewish attestation to the image or in fact the star of David by name being linked to David.
What can be proved is that the Hexagram most certainly has been used and is used by other religions and has connections to ancient pagan god worship, the occult and freemasonry.
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