Astral Projection
The sun will not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. Psalm 121:6 NASB
Smite – I understand the connection to the sun. The Hebrew verb, nākâ (strike, hit, slay, beat, kill) makes perfect sense when you’re wandering the desert. But how does this apply to the moon? Never have I thought that the moon was out to kill me. In fact, in our Western paradigm, the moon is typically associated with love or romance, not a hostile force in the night sky.
We can’t avoid the issue in spite of the fact that nākâ is not always about fatal blows. As Marvin Wilson points out:
In a large number of passages nākâ means to “slay,” “kill,” “strike dead” (cf. av “slay,” some ninety times). It is used of murdering another man (Ex 21:12; Josh 10:26 et al.) whether intentionally (II Sam 2:23) or unintentionally (Deut 19:4); of a man killing a lion (I Sam 17:35); of a lion killing a man (I Kgs 20:36); and of a worm attacking a plant so as to kill it (Jon 4:7). Another large group of passages uses the root in the sense of “attack” and/or “destroy,” the object being a group of people (Gen 32:8 [H 9], 11 [H 12]; Josh 8:21), a house (Amos 3:15), and a city (Josh 10:28 et al.).[1]
So what’s with the moon? yareah has an interesting history. First we should note that the idea that the moon was a possible evil force is clearly part of the Psalmist’s worldview. David asserts that the moon cannot harm a follower of YHVH, but the fact that he says this indicates that the fear existed. Furthermore, the moon god was the main god of many ancient cultures, including Ur in Mesopotamia. “The movements of the moon were carefully observed and various omens were given by its relationship to the sun, its son. An eclipse was an ill omen, and special rituals were performed to avert any disaster. Thus the moon-god had a profound effect on ancient Near Eastern life. Such worship, however, was strictly forbidden in Israel (Deut 4:19). Any who were so attracted were under the penalty of stoning (Deut 17:3ff.). Job, to proclaim his innocence, asserted that he had never been allured by any of these heavenly bodies, including the moon (Job 31:26ff.).”[2] Given this information, you may find it quite odd that Israel used the moon cycles for its calendar. And perhaps you’ll have a much greater appreciation for the text of the fourth day of creation.
But we aren’t moon worshippers and we don’t believe that the moon has spiritual or behavioral influence on us, so what can we learn from this outdated ancient “mistake”? Can I suggest that we have learned this: first, the Bible is a book written in its own culture and time. It reflects the thinking of the authors and audiences. It is not a universal, timeless document. Second, when we read about these ancient people in the Bible, we must always understand them from their point of view before we start down the application road. They lived inside their own assumptions about the world, and if we want to learn from them, we must discover their way of thinking. And finally, every time we read something that reminds us of the ancient world of biblical thinkers, we need to apply that insight to other texts (like Genesis 1). This helps us grasp how deeply-seated paradigm assumptions really are, and maybe we will reflect just a little on the possibility that our paradigm assumptions are just as deeply-seated. We just are aware of them because “it’s just the way the world is.”
Topical Index: smite, nākâ, moon, yareah, Psalm 121:6
[1] Wilson, M. R. (1999). 1364 נָכָה. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 578). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] Hartley, J. E. (1999). 913 ירח. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 406). Chicago: Moody Press.
