Orion

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The constellation ( Job 9:9;  Job 38:31-32;  Amos 5:8). Κecil , "a fool" or "wicked one." The Arabs represent Orion as a mighty man, the Assyrian Nimrod, who rebelled presumptuously against Jehovah, and was chained to the sky as a punishment; for its rising is at the stormy season. (See Nimrod .) Sabaism or worship of the heavenly hosts and hero worship were blended in his person. The three bright stars which form Orion's girdle never change their relative positions. "Canst thou loose the bands of Orion?" is God's challenge to self sufficient man; i.e., canst thou loose the bonds by which he is chained to the sky?

The language is adapted to the current conceptions (Just As We Use The Mythological Names Of Constellations Without Adopting The Myths) , but with this significant difference that whereas those pagan nations represented Orion glorified in the sky the Hebrew view him as a chained rebel, not with belt, but in "bands." Orion is visible longer and is 17 degrees higher in the Syrian sky than in ours. Rabbis Isaac, Israel, and Jonah identified Hebrew Kesil with Arabic Sohail, Sirius, or Canopus.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

 Job 9:9 , one of the brightest constellations of the Southern Hemisphere. The Hebrew chesil signifies, according to the best interpreters and the ancient versions, the constellation Orion, which, on account of its supposed connection with storms and tempests, Virgil calls "nimbosus Orion," stormy Orion. In  Job 38:31 , fetters are ascribed to him; and this coincides with the Greek fable of the giant Orion, bound in the heavens for an unsuccessful war against the gods.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Ori'on. (The Giant). A large and bright constellation of 80 stars, 17 large ones, crossed by the equinoctial line. It is named after a mythical personage of the Greeks, of gigantic stature, and "the handsomest man in the world." The Arabs called it" the giant," referring to Nimrod, the mighty hunter, who was fabled to have been bound, in the sky for his impiety.  Job 9:9. Also alluded to in  Job 38:31.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

kesil, 'strong.' Supposed to refer to the constellation now known by this name, which Orientals call 'the giant.'   Job 9:9;  Job 38:31;  Amos 5:8 . In  Isaiah 13:10 kesil is translated 'constellations.'

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Orion ( O-Rî'On ). A constellation of about 80 stars, south of Taurus, and, partly, of the equator.  Job 9:9. The constellation is also mentioned, in  Job 38:31 and  Amos 5:8.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Job 38:31  Job 9:9 Amos 5:8 Isaiah 13:10

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Job 9:9 38:31 Amos 5:8 Isaiah 13:10

King James Dictionary

ORI'ON, n. Gr. unfortunately accented by the poets on the second syllable.

A constellation in the southern hemisphere, containing seventy eight stars.

Webster's Dictionary

(n.) A large and bright constellation on the equator, between the stars Aldebaran and Sirius. It contains a remarkable nebula visible to the naked eye.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

One of the rich constellations in the south. ( Job 9:9)

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ORION. See Stars.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

occurs three times ( Job 9:9; Sept. ῞Εσπερος , Vulg . Orion; 38:31 , ᾿Ωρίων ; Arctuus;  Amos 5:8 , Μετασκευάζων Orion ) in the A.V. as the rendering of the Heb. כְּסַיל kesil from כָּסִל ; To Be Fat, and hence either to be strong or to be dull, languid. The last sense prevails in most derivatives, and thus כְּסַיל , Kesil, commonly means Fool or Impious Person (as  Psalms 49:10;  Ecclesiastes 2:14), but in  Job 9:9 (comp. 38:31;  Amos 8:5) is plainly applied to one of the greater constellations of the sky. It is here understood by most ancient interpreters to refer to the large and brilliant constellation Orion, or " The Giant, " situated in the southern hemisphere with respect to the ecliptic, but which is crossed near its middle by the equinoctial. It is known by the three bright stars in its belt. The "giant" of Oriental astronomy was Nimrod; the mighty hunter, who was fabled to have been bound in the sky for his impiety. The two dogs and the hare, which are among the constellations in the neighborhood of Orion, made his train complete. There is possibly an allusion to this belief in "the bands of kesil" ( Job 38:31), with which Gesenius ( Jes. 1:458) compares  Proverbs 7:22. It the Chronicon Paschale (p. 36) Nimrod is said to have been "a giant, the fouder of Babylon, who, the Persians say, was deified and placed among the stars of heaven, whom they call Orion" (comp. Cedrenus, p. 14) (See Nimrod). In  Isaiah 13:10 the word Kesilim is rendered "constellations," i.e. The Orions or giants of the sky, the greater constellations similar to Orion. Some Jewish writers, the rabbins Isaac Israel and Jonah among them, identified the Hebrew Kesil With the Arabic Sohail, By which was understood either Sirius Or Canopus. The words of R. Jonah: (Abulwalid), as quoted by Kilm'chi ( Lex. Heb. s.v.), are, "Kesil is the large star called in Arabic Sohail, and the stars combined with it are called after its name Kesilim. " The name Sohail, "foolish," was derived from the supposed influence of the star in causing folly in men, and was probably an additional reason for identifying it with kesil. See Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 701; Niebuhr, Descript. Arabice, p. 112; Ideler, Ueber Ursprung und Bedeuturng der Sternnamen, p. 240, 263; Michaelis, in Suppl. p. 1319 sq. (See Astronomy).

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

In the Greek mythology a handsome giant and hunter, was struck blind by Dionysos for attempting an outrage on Merope, but recovered his eyesight on exposing his eyeballs to the arrowy rays of Aurora, and became afterwards the companion of Artemis on the hunting-field, but he fell a victim to the jealousy of Apollo, the brother of Artemis, and was transformed by the latter into a constellation in the sky, where he figures as a giant wearing a lion's skin and a girdle or belt and wielding a club.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ṓ - rı̄´on  : A brilliant constellation dedicated to Nimrod or Merodach. See Astronomy , II, 11.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Ori´on [ASTRONOMY]