כִּֽי־כוֹכְבֵ֤י הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ וּכְסִ֣ילֵיהֶ֔ם לֹ֥א יָהֵ֖לּוּ אוֹרָ֑ם חָשַׁ֤ךְ הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בְּצֵאת֔וֹ וְיָרֵ֖חַ לֹֽא־יַגִּ֥יהַ אוֹרֽוֹ׃
Sebab bintang-bintang di langit dan gugusan-gugusan bintangnya tidak akan memancarkan cahayanya; matahari akan menjadi gelap ketika terbit, dan bulan tidak akan menyinarkan cahayanya.
Derush Chiddushei HaLevanah
Furthermore, one cannot say that because of its small size, the moon proceeds faster in its orbit, i.e., that a large entity is heavier and a small entity is lighter. This is not true for two reasons:
a) The scholars of natural science have determined that in the fifth type of being, from which the heavenly beings are comprised, does not possess natural characteristics as we know them.36Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim, Vol. 1, ch. 72), cites Greek thinkers who explain that in contrast to earthly existence that is made up of a combination of the four elements: fire, wind, water and earth, the heavenly beings are comprised of a fifth type of matter, hyli, that does not share the characteristics of these four elements. Thus, the concept of being heavier or lighter does not apply with regard to the heavenly beings.
b) Even if the heavenly beings would have natural characteristics and would be characterized by lightness or heaviness, those characteristics would not have an effect on the speed or slowness of their progress in their orbits. This is evident from the fact that the sun concludes its orbit in approximately 365 and ¼ days, yet its mass is larger than that of any one of the other heavenly bodies and their constellations,37Cf. Yeshayahu 13:10. as recorded in the list of the heavenly bodies in the text Yesod Olam,38Yesod Olam is a text on astronomy written by R. Yitzchak of Tulitula, one of the students of Rabbeinu Asher. Discourse 3, ch. 17. Shabbetai (Saturn) completes one cycle of its orbit in 30 years, while Tzedek (Jupiter) takes twelve years to complete one cycle of its orbit, and Ma’adim (Mars) takes slightly less than two years to complete one cycle of its orbit. Similarly, the size of Nogah (Venus) is greater than that of the moon, but not substantially greater. (For the moon is 1/39 and a quarter the size of the earth, and Nogah is 1/37th the size of the earth.) Nevertheless, the time it takes for Nogah to circle the earth is far longer than the time necessary for the moon to make its circuit. For Nogah makes one circuit in 300 days, which is approximately ten times longer than one of the moon’s circuits. Moreover, the planet called Kochav (Mercury) is very small, only 1/19,000 of the size of the earth, and yet it requires 336 days to complete the one circuit of its orbit. The above figures are taken from the works of the astronomers. In its commentary to the verse beginning Vay’chulu,39Bereishis 2:1. Midrash Rabbah to Parshas Bereishis40Bereishis Rabbah 10:4. offers different calculations, and in some texts of Midrash Rabbah those figures are questioned based on the words of the astronomers. Regardless of these details, from all the above, however, it is obvious that the size of a heavenly body is not the conclusive determinant in the speed of its orbit.
a) The scholars of natural science have determined that in the fifth type of being, from which the heavenly beings are comprised, does not possess natural characteristics as we know them.36Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim, Vol. 1, ch. 72), cites Greek thinkers who explain that in contrast to earthly existence that is made up of a combination of the four elements: fire, wind, water and earth, the heavenly beings are comprised of a fifth type of matter, hyli, that does not share the characteristics of these four elements. Thus, the concept of being heavier or lighter does not apply with regard to the heavenly beings.
b) Even if the heavenly beings would have natural characteristics and would be characterized by lightness or heaviness, those characteristics would not have an effect on the speed or slowness of their progress in their orbits. This is evident from the fact that the sun concludes its orbit in approximately 365 and ¼ days, yet its mass is larger than that of any one of the other heavenly bodies and their constellations,37Cf. Yeshayahu 13:10. as recorded in the list of the heavenly bodies in the text Yesod Olam,38Yesod Olam is a text on astronomy written by R. Yitzchak of Tulitula, one of the students of Rabbeinu Asher. Discourse 3, ch. 17. Shabbetai (Saturn) completes one cycle of its orbit in 30 years, while Tzedek (Jupiter) takes twelve years to complete one cycle of its orbit, and Ma’adim (Mars) takes slightly less than two years to complete one cycle of its orbit. Similarly, the size of Nogah (Venus) is greater than that of the moon, but not substantially greater. (For the moon is 1/39 and a quarter the size of the earth, and Nogah is 1/37th the size of the earth.) Nevertheless, the time it takes for Nogah to circle the earth is far longer than the time necessary for the moon to make its circuit. For Nogah makes one circuit in 300 days, which is approximately ten times longer than one of the moon’s circuits. Moreover, the planet called Kochav (Mercury) is very small, only 1/19,000 of the size of the earth, and yet it requires 336 days to complete the one circuit of its orbit. The above figures are taken from the works of the astronomers. In its commentary to the verse beginning Vay’chulu,39Bereishis 2:1. Midrash Rabbah to Parshas Bereishis40Bereishis Rabbah 10:4. offers different calculations, and in some texts of Midrash Rabbah those figures are questioned based on the words of the astronomers. Regardless of these details, from all the above, however, it is obvious that the size of a heavenly body is not the conclusive determinant in the speed of its orbit.
Guide for the Perplexed
Having spoken of the language of the prophets in general, I will now verify and prove my statement. When Isaiah received the divine mission to prophesy the destruction of the Babylonian empire, the death of Sennacherib and that of Nebuchadnezzar, who rose after the overthrow of Sennacherib, he commences in the following manner to describe their fall and the end of their dominion, their defeat, and such evils as are endured by all who are vanquished and compelled to flee before the victorious sword [of the enemy]: “For the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, shall not give their light: the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine” (xiii. 10); again, “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger” (xiii. 13). I do not think that any person is so foolish and blind, and so much in favour of the literal sense of figurative and oratorical phrases, as to assume that at the fall of the Babylonian kingdom a change took place in the nature of the stars of heaven, or in the light of the sun and moon, or that the earth moved away from its centre. For all this is merely the description of a country that has been defeated: the inhabitants undoubtedly find all light dark, and all sweet things bitter: the whole earth appears too narrow for them, and the heavens are changed in their eyes.