Mazzaroth ( Hebrew Transliteration: מַזָּרוֹת Mazzārōṯ, LXX Μαζουρωθ, Mazourōth) is a Biblical Hebrew Word found in the Book of Job (38:32) and literally meaning "constellations," according to 10th-century biblical exegete Saadia Gaon, [1] while others interpret the word as Garland of Crowns, [2] but its context is that of Astronomical Constellations, and it is often interpreted as a term for the Zodiac or the Constellations thereof. [3] ( Job 38:31–32). The similar word mazalot (מַּזָּלוֹת) in 2 Kings 23:3–5 may be related.
The word itself is a hapax legomenon (i.e., a word appearing only once in a text) of the Hebrew Bible. In Yiddish, the term mazalot came to be used in the sense of "astrology" in general, surviving in the expression " mazel tov," meaning "good fortune." [4]
The appearance of the word in the Book of Job appears in the context of various astronomical phenomena:
The related word mazalot (מַּזָּלוֹת) in 2 Kings may have a different meaning, and is often translated differently, with the linkage of this word to the planets or the zodiac being more widely held (in Kabbalistic astrology, mazalot was also used for astrology in general, [6] and the word may be related to the Assyrian manzaltu, "station" [7]):
The Septuagint, however, uses the transliteration mazzaroth (μαζουρωθ) again at this point. [9]
The word is traditionally (following LXX) left untranslated (ABC, ACV, AKJ, ASV, BBE, BIB, ESV, GNV, HNV, JPS, K21, KJG, KJR, KJV, NAB, NKJ, NRS, NWT, RSV, RWB, TMB, TNK, UPD, WEB, YLT, LXE, ZIK), but some modern English Bible translations render it as "zodiac" (AMP, CJB, EMP, LEE); others have "constellations" (CJB, CSB, DBY, NET, ERV, GWN, LEE, LIT, MKJ, NAS, NAU, NIB, NIV, TNV, WEV) or "stars" (CEV, NCB, NIR, NLV, TEV).
But as the Latin Vulgate renders the word as "luciferum", there are alternative English translations as "morning star" (CVB, TRC, furthermore Luther's 1545 German translation as Morgenstern also means "morning star"; (DRA); "Venus" (MSG); "Crown season" (NJB); "sequence of seasons" (NLT); "Lucifer, 'that is, dai sterre (day star)" ( Wycliffe's Bible). WES[ clarification needed] gives "stars in the southern signs".
Translators' Notes given in individual translations are:
The Targum renders the translation as "guards of the mazalot". [10]
Rashi clarifies mazzarot as "all the gates of the mazalot". [11]
Mazzaroth ( Hebrew Transliteration: מַזָּרוֹת Mazzārōṯ, LXX Μαζουρωθ, Mazourōth) is a Biblical Hebrew Word found in the Book of Job (38:32) and literally meaning "constellations," according to 10th-century biblical exegete Saadia Gaon, [1] while others interpret the word as Garland of Crowns, [2] but its context is that of Astronomical Constellations, and it is often interpreted as a term for the Zodiac or the Constellations thereof. [3] ( Job 38:31–32). The similar word mazalot (מַּזָּלוֹת) in 2 Kings 23:3–5 may be related.
The word itself is a hapax legomenon (i.e., a word appearing only once in a text) of the Hebrew Bible. In Yiddish, the term mazalot came to be used in the sense of "astrology" in general, surviving in the expression " mazel tov," meaning "good fortune." [4]
The appearance of the word in the Book of Job appears in the context of various astronomical phenomena:
The related word mazalot (מַּזָּלוֹת) in 2 Kings may have a different meaning, and is often translated differently, with the linkage of this word to the planets or the zodiac being more widely held (in Kabbalistic astrology, mazalot was also used for astrology in general, [6] and the word may be related to the Assyrian manzaltu, "station" [7]):
The Septuagint, however, uses the transliteration mazzaroth (μαζουρωθ) again at this point. [9]
The word is traditionally (following LXX) left untranslated (ABC, ACV, AKJ, ASV, BBE, BIB, ESV, GNV, HNV, JPS, K21, KJG, KJR, KJV, NAB, NKJ, NRS, NWT, RSV, RWB, TMB, TNK, UPD, WEB, YLT, LXE, ZIK), but some modern English Bible translations render it as "zodiac" (AMP, CJB, EMP, LEE); others have "constellations" (CJB, CSB, DBY, NET, ERV, GWN, LEE, LIT, MKJ, NAS, NAU, NIB, NIV, TNV, WEV) or "stars" (CEV, NCB, NIR, NLV, TEV).
But as the Latin Vulgate renders the word as "luciferum", there are alternative English translations as "morning star" (CVB, TRC, furthermore Luther's 1545 German translation as Morgenstern also means "morning star"; (DRA); "Venus" (MSG); "Crown season" (NJB); "sequence of seasons" (NLT); "Lucifer, 'that is, dai sterre (day star)" ( Wycliffe's Bible). WES[ clarification needed] gives "stars in the southern signs".
Translators' Notes given in individual translations are:
The Targum renders the translation as "guards of the mazalot". [10]
Rashi clarifies mazzarot as "all the gates of the mazalot". [11]