189. Zabaism

From: Manners and Customs of the Bible By: James M. Freeman

• 3 min. read • grade level: 9

Deuteronomy 4:19¹⁹And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:19). Lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them.

The worship of the heavenly bodies is the most ancient and widely spread form of idolatry, and frequent allusions are made to it in the Scriptures. Its chief promoters were called Sabians and sometimes Zabians; and the idolatry itself is known as Sabaism or Zabaism: probably from the Hebrew tsaba, a host. Thus in the name of the system the objects of worship are indicated: the “hosts of heaven.”

It is supposed that many of the precepts in the Mosaic law were directed against Zabaism in its various corrupt forms. The text is an illustration. Besides the direct reference to this superstition in this and in other passages, occasional allusion to it may be found elsewhere. The many texts in which the expression “the Lord of hosts” occurs, seem to be directly leveled at Zabaism; teaching that there is a being superior to the hosts the Zabians worshiped, and to all hosts, whether of heaven or earth. Thus we read in Genesis 2:1¹Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. (Genesis 2:1): “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the hosts of them,” and in Job 9:7-9⁷Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. ⁸Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. ⁹Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. (Job 9:7‑9), “Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars; which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea; which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.” In these and similar passages God is declared to be the Creator of the heavenly bodies, and therefore far above them. There is also an allusion to Zabaism in Job 31:26-28²⁶If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; ²⁷And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: ²⁸This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. (Job 31:26‑28): “If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; and my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand; this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” Kissing the hand was a mark of respect to superiors, and was also an ancient idolatrous rite (1 Kings 19:18¹⁸Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18)), may also refer to this custom, as well as to that of actually kissing the idol. An old writer, speaking of these two texts, says: “These places refer to the Gentiles’ mode of adoring the sun by lifting the right hand to their mouth; of which there is frequent mention among Pagan writers” (Gale's Court of the Gentiles, vol.1, book 2, chap. 8). Mollerus quaintly suggests that as “men could not attain to kiss the sun and moon with their mouth, they extended their hand to those celestial bodies, and thence moving it back to their mouth, they kissed it in token of homage and worship.”

According to Maimonides the Zabians made images of the sun in gold and of the moon in silver. They built chapels and placed these images in them, believing that the power of the stars flowed into them. They offered to the sun at certain times “seven bats, seven mice, and seven reptiles, together with certain other matters.”