Global InformationRemphan information
 | This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (October 2021) |
Remphan (also spelled Rephan; Koinē Greek: Ῥαιφάν) is a word mentioned by Stephen at the time of his death in the Book of Acts 7:43 in the New Testament referring to an object of idolatrous worship:
Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. (Acts 7:43)
It is generally agreed by Biblical scholars to be the same as the Hebrew Kiyyun or Chiun (Hebrew: כִּיּוּן), mentioned in Amos 5:26.[1][2] Since the words "Kiyyun" ("Chiun") and "Remphan" are each hapax legomenon, there is debate whether they are meant as common or proper nouns.[3] There is general agreement among bible scholars, however, that both remphan and chiun refer to the planet Saturn.[4]
- ^ Horne, Thomas Hartwell. An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Vol. 2. pp. 410ff.
- ^ Wolff, Christian Gottlieb (1741). Chiun et Remphan (in Latin). litteris Takkianis.
- ^ Perrin, Andrew B.; Baek, Kyung S.; Falk, Daniel K., eds. (2017). Reading the Bible in Ancient Traditions and Modern Editions. Atlanta: SBL Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-88414-253-9.
- ^ ' and the star of your god Remphan figures which ye made to worship them .' This clause differs widely from the Hebrew, which gives, “And Chiun your images, the star of your god which ye made to yourselves.” The LXX. seem to have read the words in a different order. Rephan, which is by them substituted for Chiun, is said to be the Egyptian name for Saturn (see Spencer, de Leg. Heb. p. 667), and may have been used by them as an equivalent for the other name which is found nowhere else but in Amos. The whole idea of the passage seems to be that the stars were being worshipped, and so it is an illustration suited for Stephen’s argument. “To worship them” is an addition not in the LXX.' from Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges.