Remphan

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

CHIUN. Amos 5:26-27, "ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god which ye made to yourselves." Acts 7:42-43 from the Septuagint of Amos, "ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them." Instead of "Chiun your images" Pusey, deriving Chiun from chun "to fix firmly," translated Amos, "ye did bear the (portable) shrine of your idol king, and the pedestal of your images," etc. Israel secretly carried on idolatry in the wilderness, with a small shrine escaping Moses' observation (Ezekiel 20:7-8; Ezekiel 20:39; Ezekiel 23:3; Joshua 24:14).

Ken and Rempu were foreign gods worshipped jointly in Egypt; they became seemingly interchangeable names, so that Chiun in Amos answers to Remphan in Acts; and this god in turn is but another phase of Moloch or Saturn, the "star god". A star was put on the head of the images of the idol representing Saturn; hence "images" answer to "star" in parallelism. The Egyptians represented Rempu as an Asiatic with full board and face of the type given on the monuments to nations E. of Egypt. Ken was represented naked, holding grain in both hands, and standing on a lion; answering to the Syrian goddess or Venus, called also Ketesh (Hebrew qideeshaah "consecrated".) Ken is related to Khem, the Egyptian god of productiveness, Remphan and Chiun answer to the Phoenician Baal and Astarte or Ashtoreth (Mylitta of Babylon).

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

We nowhere meet with the name of this idol in the sacred Scriptures but in one place, and that is in Stephen's address before the Sanhedrim. (Acts 7:43) And in this very passage which Stephen is quoting, it is from the writings of the prophet Amos 5:25-26 -but it is remarkable that Stephen doth not quote it as the original is, or even the translation, but in the place of Chiun substitutes Remphan. However it is very evident, from the name of Moloch, and the days of Amos's ministry what species of idolatry it was to which the whole referred. If the reader will look at a passage much about the same period, 2 Kings 17:29-30, he will find that the fashion of the day respecting idolatry was at the height. "Every nation, (we are told,) made gods of their own." The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth; and the men of Cush made Nergal; and the men of Hamath made Ashima; and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech, and Anammalach, the gods of Sepharvaim. It is probable that Adram, and Anam, or On, were the ancient idols of Egypt: Potipherah was the priest of the latter. (Genesis 41:45) What an awful portrait of human depravity doth the whole afford! See Succothbenoth. See Moloch.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Rem'phan. Acts 7:43. Remphan and Chiun, Amos 5:26, have been supposed to be names of an idol, worshipped secretly by the Israelites in the wilderness, difficulty has been occasioned, by this corresponding occurrence of two names, so wholly different in sound. The most reasonable opinion seems to be that Chiun was a Hebrew or Semitic name, and Remphan was an Egyptian equivalent, substituted by the Septuagint (LXX). This idol corresponded, probably, to Saturn or Molech. The mention of Chiun or Remphan as worshipped in the desert, shows that this idolatry was, in part, at least, that of foreigners, and, no doubt, of those settled in lower Egypt. See Chiun.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

כיון ‘Ρεμφα , signifies an idol, according to the Septuagint. Amos 5:26 , upbraids the Hebrews with having carried, during their wanderings in the wilderness, the tabernacle of their Moloch and Chiun, their images, the star of their god, which they made to themselves, according to our version of the Bible. St. Stephen, quoting this passage of Amos, says, "Ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan," Acts 7:43 , which has given occasion to a variety of conjectures. Grotius thinks it to have been some deity, as Rimmon; and Capellus and Hammond take this Remphan to be a king of Egypt, deified by his subjects; a late writer is of opinion, that God here refers to the idolatries to which in succeeding ages the Jews were gradually given up, after having begun to revolt in the wilderness by the sin of the golden calf.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The name of a god in Acts 7:43 , which Israel had worshipped (but some of the Greek MSS read REPHAN). Stephen was quoting Amos 5:25,26 from the LXX, which has RAEPHAN. In the Hebrew the name of the god is CHIUN, but why the translators changed the name is not known. There have been found among the foreign gods in Egypt one named RENPU, and a goddess KEN, which may have been those referred to.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Remphan (rĕn'fan). Acts 7:43, and quoted from Amos 5:26, where the word in Hebrew is "Chiun." It is probable, therefore, that they are names for a god worshipped secretly by the Israelites in Egypt and in the wilderness, answering, probably, to Saturn or Moloch, the star-god.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

An idol, the same as Chiun. Compare Amos 5:26 Acts 7:43 . See Chiun .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Acts 7:43Amos 5:26

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

REMPHAN . See Rephan.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Rem´phan, or Rephan, a name quoted in , from . But according to the received pointing, the passage would better read, 'Ye bore the tabernacle of your king (idol), and the statue (or statues) of your idols, the star of your god, which ye make to yourselves.' According to this reading, the name of the idol so worshipped by the Israelites is in fact not given, although the mention of a star still suggests that some planet is intended. The reference is probably to Saturn, who was worshipped by the Semitic nations along with Mars as an evil demon to be propitiated with sacrifices.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography InformationMcClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Remphan'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/r/remphan.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.