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Queen of HeavenAid to Bible Understanding
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hold on the Jews is reflected by the fact that those who had fled down to Egypt after the murder of Governor Gedaliah attributed their calamity to their neglecting to make sacrificial smoke and drink offerings to the “queen of the heavens.” The prophet Jeremiah, though, forcefully pointed out the wrongness of their view.—Jer. 44:15-30.
The title “queen of the heavens” suggests that this goddess was a stellar deity. Although the Israelites, even before their entering the Promised Land, were explicitly warned against the worship of sun, moon and stars (Deut. 4:15, 19; 17:2-5), the veneration of heavenly bodies came to be practiced extensively by apostate Israelites, both in the ten-tribe kingdom and in the kingdom of Judah. (2 Ki. 17:16, 17; 21:3, 5; Jer. 8:1, 2; Ezek. 8:16) Likely the “queen of the heavens” was associated with one or more of these heavenly bodies.
The worship of heavenly bodies formed an integral part of the religion of Babylon. (Isa. 47:5, 12-15) Numerous authorities, in fact, suggest identifying the “queen of the heavens” with the Babylonian fertility goddess Ishtar, who is generally associated with the planet Venus. Others identify the “queen of the heavens” with the corresponding Canaanite fertility goddess Ashtoreth, who is likewise associated with the planet Venus by some ancient writers and with the moon by others. Scholars who identify Ashtoreth with the moon suggest that the sacrificial cakes offered to the “queen of the heavens” were in the form of a crescent or the full moon. Others view the phrase “to make an image of her” (the “queen of the heavens”) as indicating that the cakes made by apostate Israelite women possibly had the form of figurines. (Jer. 44:19) The historian Alexander Hislop, on page 141 of his book The Two Babylons, links the “queen of the heavens” with Semiramis, saying: “According to the Chaldean doctrine, Semiramis, the wife of Ninus or Nimrod, [was] exalted to divinity under the name of the Queen of Heaven.”—See ASHTORETH; BAAL No. 4.
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QuiriniusAid to Bible Understanding
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QUIRINIUS
(Qui·rinʹi·us).
Roman governor of Syria at the time of the “registration” ordered by Caesar Augustus that resulted in Jesus’ birth taking place in Bethlehem. (Luke 2:1, 2) His full name was Publius Sulpicius Quirinius.
In the Chronographus Anni CCCLIIII, a list of Roman consuls, the name of Quirinius appears in 12 B.C.E. along with that of Messala. Roman historian Tacitus briefly recounts Quirinius’ history, saying: “He was born at Lanuvium, a municipal town: he distinguished himself by his military services, had considerable talents for business, and was raised by Augustus to the honor of the consulship. Having afterwards stormed and taken the strongholds of the Homanadensians in Cilicia, he obtained triumphal honors. He attended Gaius Caesar in his expedition to Armenia.” (Annals, III, 48) His death took place in 21 C.E.
Not mentioned by Tacitus is Quirinius’ relationship to Syria. Jewish historian Josephus relates Quirinius’ assignment to Syria as governor in connection with the simultaneous assignment of Coponius as the Roman ruler of Judea. He states: “Now Cyrenius [Quirinius], a Roman senator, and one who had gone through other magistracies, and had passed through them till he had been consul, and one who, on other accounts, was of great dignity, came at this time into Syria, with a few others, being sent by Cæsar to be a judge of that nation, and to take an account of their substance. Coponius also, a man of the equestrian order, was sent together with him, to have the supreme power over the Jews.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, chap. I, par. 1) Josephus goes on to relate that Quirinius came into Judea, to which his authority was extended, and ordered a taxation there. This brought much resentment and an unsuccessful attempt at revolt, led by “Judas, a Gaulonite.” This is evidently the revolt referred to by Luke at Acts 5:37. According to Josephus’ account it took place in the year 6 C.E., “the thirty-seventh year of Caesar’s victory over Antony at Actium.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, chap. II, par. 1) Quirinius is generally held to have been governor of Syria during the years 6-7 C.E.
For long this was the only governorship of Syria by Quirinius for which secular history supplied confirmation. However, an inscription known as the Lapis Tiburtinus has been found in Rome, which, though not giving the name, contains information that most scholars acknowledge could apply only to Quirinius. It contains the statement that on going to Syria he became governor (or, “legate”) for ‘the second time.’ On the basis of inscriptions found in Antioch containing Quirinius’ name many authorities acknowledge that Quirinius was also governor of Syria in the B.C.E. period.
There is uncertainty on their part, however, as to where Quirinius fits among the secularly recorded governors of Syria. Josephus lists Varus (P. Quintilius Varus) as “president” or governor of Syria at the time of, and subsequent to, the death of Herod the Great. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVII, chap. V, par. 2; chap. IX, par. 3) Tacitus also refers to Varus as being governor at the time of Herod’s death. (History, V, 9) Josephus states that Varus’ predecessor was Saturninus (C. Sentius Saturninus).
Many scholars, in view of the evidence of an earlier governorship by Quirinius, suggest the years 3-2 B.C.E. for his governorship. While these dates would harmonize satisfactorily with the Biblical record, the basis on which these scholars select them is in error. That is, they list Quirinius as governor during those years because they place his rule after that of Varus and hence after the death of Herod the Great, for which they use the popular but erroneous date of 4 B.C.E. (See CHRONOLOGY, page 331; HEROD No. 1 [Date of His Death].) (For the same reason, that is, their use of the unproved date of 4 B.C.E. for Herod’s death, they give Varus’ governorship as from 6-4 B.C.E., the length of his rule, however, being conjectural, for Josephus does not specify the date of its beginning or its end.) The best evidence points to the date of 2 B.C.E. for the birth of Jesus. Hence Quirinius’ governorship must have included this year or part thereof.
Some scholars call attention to the fact that the term used by Luke, and usually translated “governor,” is he·ge·monʹ. This Greek term is used to describe Roman legates and procurators and proconsuls, and means, basically, a “leader” or “high executive officer.” Some, therefore, suggest that, at the time of what Luke refers to as the “first registration,” Quirinius served in Syria in the capacity of a special legate of the emperor exercising extraordinary powers. A factor that may also aid in understanding the matter is Josephus’ clear reference to a dual rulership of Syria, as twice in his account he speaks of two persons, Saturninus and Volumnius, serving simultaneously as “presidents of Syria.” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVI, chap. IX, par. 1; par. 8) Thus, if Josephus is correct in his listing of Saturninus and Varus as successive presidents of Syria, it is possible that Quirinius served simultaneously either with Saturnius (as Volumnius had done) or with Varus prior to Herod’s death (which likely occurred in 1 B.C.E. or even early 1 C.E.). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (Vol. IX, pp. 375, 376) presents this view: “Quirinius stood in exactly the same relation to Varus, the governor of Syria, as at a later time Vespasian did to Mucianus. Vespasian conducted the war in Palestine while Mucianus was governor of Syria; and Vespasian was legatus Augusti, holding precisely the same title and technical rank as Mucianus.”
An inscription found in Venice (Lapis Venetus) refers to a census conducted by Quirinius in Syria. However, it provides no means for determining whether this was in his earlier or his later governorship.
Luke’s proved accuracy in historical matters gives sound reason for accepting as factual his reference to Quirinius as governor of Syria around the time of Jesus’ birth. It may be remembered that Josephus, virtually the only other source of information, was not born until 37 C.E., hence nearly four decades after Jesus’ birth. Luke, on the other hand, may well have been living in 2 B.C.E. and most certainly was born before Josephus, inasmuch as Luke was already a physician traveling with the apostle Paul by about 49 C.E. when Josephus was but a boy of twelve. Of the two, Luke, even on ordinary grounds, is the more likely source for reliable information on the matter of the Syrian governorship just prior to Jesus’ birth. Early Christian writers, such as Justin Martyr, a Palestinian of the second century C.E., cite the Roman records as proof of Luke’s accuracy as regards Quirinius’ governorship at the time of Jesus’ birth. There is no evidence that Luke’s account, or the later references to it by these Christian writers, was ever challenged, even by early critics such as Celsus.
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QuiverAid to Bible Understanding
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QUIVER
See ARMS, ARMOR.
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RaamahAid to Bible Understanding
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RAAMAH
(Raʹa·mah).
A son of Ham’s firstborn, Cush, and brother of Nimrod. Raamah and his two sons Sheba and Dedan founded three of the seventy post-Flood families. (Gen. 10:6-8; 1 Chron. 1:9) Many centuries later the tribal descendants of Raamah, Dedan and Sheba all carried on trade with Tyre. (Ezek. 27:20, 22) Just where the tribe springing from Raamah resided is uncertain, but the city of Raamah near Maʽin in SW Arabia mentioned in a Minaean inscription is likely.
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RaamsesAid to Bible Understanding
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RAAMSES
(Ra·amʹses), Rameses (Ramʹe·ses) [Ra (the sun-god) has begotten him].
When Jacob’s family moved into Egypt they were assigned to live in “the land of Rameses.” (Gen. 47:11) Since elsewhere they are spoken of as residing in the land of Goshen, it appears that Rameses was either a district within Goshen or was another name for Goshen. (Gen. 47:6) Later, the Israelites were enslaved and put to building cities “as storage places for Pharaoh, namely, Pithom and Raamses [the vowel pointing here differs slightly from that of “Rameses”].” (Ex. 1:11) Many scholars suggest that Raamses was so named for the district of Rameses in which they assume it was located.
When the exodus from Egypt began, Rameses is given as the starting point. Most scholars assume that the city is here meant, perhaps being the rendezvous site where the Israelites gathered from various parts of Goshen. But Rameses may here refer to a district, and it may be that the Israelites pulled away from all parts of the district, converging on Succoth as the place of rendezvous.—Num. 33:3-5.
The exact location of this starting point, if a city rather than a district is meant, is very uncertain. Modern scholars identify Rameses with the city called Per-Ramses (House of Ramses) in Egyptian records, placed by some at San el-Hagar in the NE corner of the delta, and by others at Qantir, about eleven miles (c. 18 kilometers) to the S. But this identification rests on the theory that Ramses II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. This theory, in turn, is based on inscriptions of Ramses II giving his claim to having built the city bearing his name (Per-Ramses), using slave labor. There is little reason, however, to believe that Ramses II was the ruler at the time of the Exodus, since his rule is not likely to have been much earlier than the thirteenth century B.C.E., or some two hundred years after the Exodus (1513 B.C.E.). The Biblical Raamses began to be built before Moses’ birth, hence over eighty years before the Exodus. (Ex. 1:11, 15, 16, 22; 2:1-3) Furthermore, it is held that Per-Ramses was the capital city in the time of Ramses II, whereas the Biblical Raamses was only a ‘storage place.’ It is generally accepted that Ramses II was guilty of taking credit for certain achievements of his predecessors, and this raises the possibility that, at best, he only rebuilt or enlarged Per-Ramses. Finally, the name Rameses was clearly in use as far back as the time of Joseph (in the eighteenth century B.C.E.); so there is no reason to assume that its application (in the form Raamses) as the name of a city was exclusive with the time of Ramses II. (Gen. 47:11) Its very meaning, too, makes it likely that it was popular among the Egyptians from early times. By the reign of Ramses II there were a number of towns that bore that name. D. B. Redford says: “Biblical Raamses and the capital Pr Rʽ-ms-sw [Per-Ramses], apart from the personal name, seem to have nothing in common. In the complete lack of corroborative evidence it is absolutely essential to exercise caution in equating the two.”—Vetus Testamentum, Oct. 1963, p. 410.
Due to the lack of reliable information, it can only be said that Rameses was likely not far from the Egyptian capital of the time of the Exodus. This would allow for Moses to have been at Pharaoh’s palace on the night of the tenth plague and, before the next day’s end, to begin leading the people of Israel on their march out of Egypt. (Ex. 12:31-42; Num. 33:1-5) If the capital was then at Memphis, a city holding that position for many centuries, this would explain the Jewish tradition, expressed by the ancient historian Josephus, that the exodus march (with Rameses as its starting point) began from the neighborhood of Memphis.
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RabbahAid to Bible Understanding
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RABBAH
(Rabʹbah) [great].
1. A city in the SW extremity of the ancient kingdom of Ammon after its loss of territory to the Amorites. Rabbah (Rab·bathʹ benehʹ ʽAm·mohnʹ) is the only city of the Ammonite kingdom that is named in the Biblical record, so it is assumed to have been the capital. It lay about twenty-three miles (37 kilometers) E of the Jordan. The city was on the N bank of a tributary of the upper Jabbok, and was thus in position to benefit from the rich fertility of that region. Also, it was an important link in the trade route between Damascus and Arabia.
“Rabbah of the sons of Ammon” is first mentioned in the Bible as being the location of the iron bier of Og king of Bashan. (Deut. 3:11) When the Israelites came to the Promised Land, the tribe of Gad received Amorite land (formerly, it seems, held by Ammon) “as far as Aroer, which is in front of [perhaps to the NE of] Rabbah.”—Josh. 13:25.
Captured by David
The city is mentioned again in connection with the war resulting from the abuse of David’s messengers by King Hanun of Ammon. (2 Sam. 10:1-19; 1 Chron. 19:1-19) Joab and his troops fought Syrians hired by the Ammonites, while the Israelites under Abishai went up against the Ammonites “at the entrance of the city,” evidently Rabbah. When the Syrians were defeated, the Ammonites retreated into the city. The next spring Joab and his army besieged Rabbah. It was during this campaign that David in Jerusalem sinned with Bath-sheba. The king sent her husband Uriah the Hittite back to battle, and, according to David’s instructions, Uriah was put in the front lines. When some Ammonites sallied forth from Rabbah, the battle brought Uriah close enough to be killed by an archer on the wall.—2 Sam. 11:1-25; 1 Chron. 20:1.
In time Joab succeeded in his fight against Rabbah to the point of capturing “the city of the waters.” (2 Sam. 12:27) Since Joab then informed David of the situation so that the king would come and complete
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