moon

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

(measurer). Conjointly with the sun, appointed for signs, seasons, days, months and years. Regulator of religious festivals (Gen. 1:14-18¹⁴And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: ¹⁵And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. ¹⁶And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. ¹⁷And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, ¹⁸And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:14‑18)). Worship of, forbidden (Deut. 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)). Used largely figuratively (Isa. 13:10¹⁰For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. (Isaiah 13:10); Matt. 24:29²⁹Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (Matthew 24:29); Mark 13:24²⁴But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, (Mark 13:24)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

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At the creation the “lesser light” was to rule the night. Its brilliancy is seen much more in the east than in the west, and its light is more appreciated in the former, especially when the heat of the day necessitates traveling by night. The NEW MOON among the Israelites was a festival: it was watched for on the hills, and as soon as it was seen, it was ushered in by sound of trumpet (Num. 10:10¹⁰Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God. (Numbers 10:10); 1 Chron. 23:31³¹And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number, according to the order commanded unto them, continually before the Lord: (1 Chronicles 23:31); Psa. 81:3³Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. (Psalm 81:3); Ezek. 45:17¹⁷And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. (Ezekiel 45:17); Col. 2:16¹⁶Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: (Colossians 2:16); compare 1 Sam. 20:5,18,24⁵And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. (1 Samuel 20:5)
¹⁸Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. (1 Samuel 20:18)
²⁴So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. (1 Samuel 20:24)).

The Israelites were warned against worshipping the moon as well as the sun and stars (Deut. 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); Deut. 17:3³And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; (Deuteronomy 17:3); compare 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)). Of Israel, in the time of Hoshea and of Manasseh it is said they worshipped “all the host of heaven” (2 Kings 17:16¹⁶And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. (2 Kings 17:16); 2 Kings 21:3,5³For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. (2 Kings 21:3)
⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. (2 Kings 21:5)). Jeremiah also states that in Judah and Jerusalem cakes were made to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN, which is commonly supposed to refer to the moon, worshipped as Astarte. Then when the residue of the people had gone into Egypt, they declared that in spite of the prophet’s warning they would burn incense to the Queen of Heaven, and pour out drink offerings unto her (Jer. 7:18¹⁸The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. (Jeremiah 7:18); Jer. 44: 17-19,25).

There will be SIGNS IN THE MOON as well as in the sun when the time of God’s dire judgment has arrived (Joel 2:10, 31¹⁰The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: (Joel 2:10)
³¹The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. (Joel 2:31); Luke 21:25²⁵And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; (Luke 21:25); Rev. 6:12¹²And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; (Revelation 6:12)). As a symbol the moon is used in prophecy to signify derivative authority, the sun being the supreme source of heavenly rule.

Strong’s Dictionary of Greek Words:

Number:

4582 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)

Greek:

σελήνη

Transliteration:

selene

Phonic:

sel-ay’-nay

Meaning:

from σέλας (brilliancy; probably akin to the alternate of 138, through the idea of attractiveness); the moon

KJV Usage:

moon