Jeremiah, Josiah, Barker, and Me (7)

7. The Host of Heaven

Deuteronomy is explicit in its condemnation of worshipping the “host of heaven” (ṣebāʾ ha-šāmayim) who are equated with “the sun and the moon and the stars.”

And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven (ṣebāʾ ha-šāmayim), and you be drawn away and worshipped (heštaḥǎwîtā) them and serve (ʿǎbadtām) them, things that YHWH your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (Deut. 4:19)

And [if any among Israel] has gone and served (yaʿǎbōd) other gods and worshipped (yištaḥû) to them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven (ṣebāʾ ha-šāmayim), which I have forbidden, … you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. (Deut. 17:3, 5b)

These are the only two references to the host of heaven in Deuteronomy.  Note, first, that these passages do not deny the existence of the host of heaven; rather they assume they exist and are the stars and sun and moon.  These passages forbid two things.  First, the Israelites must not “serve” (ʿbd) the host of heaven–meaning they perform liturgical rites for them.  Second, they must not “worship” or “bow down” (štḥ) to them, meaning ritual acts of prostration and prayer.  For the Israelites these ritual acts are reserved only for YHWH, though God permits all other peoples to “bow down” to and “serve” the host of heaven.  This distinction is important to bear in mind.

Jeremiah agrees precisely with Deuteronomy on these points.

And they [corpses of apostate Israelites] shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven (ṣebāʾ ha-šāmayim), which they have loved and served (ʿǎbādûm), which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped (hištaḥǎwû). And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. (Jer. 8:2)

Notice in this passage that Jeremiah uses precisely the language of Deuteronomy to describe Israel’s apostasy:  they “serve” (ʿbd) and “worship/bow down” (štḥ) the “host of heaven” (ṣebāʾ ha-šāmayim), meaning veneration of the sun, moon, and stars.  The curse is that the corpses of those who worshipped the host of heaven–meaning worshipping by ritual prostration on their faces before the sun, moon and stars–will lie prostrate and rotting under the sun and moon, which they had worshipped, but which could not save them.

The other passage in Jeremiah discussing this matter gives some details of what is meant by serving and worshipping.

The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Topheth—all the houses on whose roofs offerings have been offered to all the host of heaven (ṣebāʾ ha-šāmayim), and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods. (Jer. 19:13)

What is described here is the people of Jerusalem worshipping on the roofs of their houses (presumably including the royal palace and temple, “the houses of the kings of Judah.”  There they made offerings to the sun, moon and stars–the “host of heaven.”  These “offerings” (qṭr) refer to something that makes smoke that ascends to God, either incense or burning meat.  The “drink offerings” (nsk) are a libation, where wine or some other liquid is poured out for the god.  These are ritual forms of “serving” and “worshipping” which are condemned in Deuteronomy 4:19 and 17:3, and Jeremiah 8:2.  Notice also that the worshipping of “other gods” (ʾelōhîm ʾǎḥerîm) is condemned in both Deuteronomy 17:3 and again here in Jeremiah 19:13.  In other words, the veneration of the host of heaven is a form of worshipping “other gods.”  Jeremiah is thus in complete agreement with Deuteronomy on this issue.