Remphan

{{Short description|Assyrian-Babylonian god for the planet Saturn}} {{For|the genus of beetles|Prioninae}} {{Primary sources|date=October 2021}} [[File:Star of Rephan.jpg|thumb|The Star of Remphan in a pantheon of Samaritan idols, from Athanasius Kircher's ''Oedipus Aegyptiacus'' (1652)]] '''Remphan''' (also spelled ''Rephan''; {{Langx|grc-x-koine|Ῥαιφάν}}) is a term used by Stephen at the time of his martyrdom in the Book of Acts {{bibleverse-nb|Acts|7:43|KJV}} in the New Testament, in reference to a specific object of idolatrous worship:

{{blockquote|''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)}}

According to some Biblical scholars, the name refers to the Hebrew '''Kiyyun''' or '''Chiun''' ({{Langx|he|כִּיּוּן}}), mentioned in Amos {{bibleverse-nb|Amos|5:26|HE}}.<ref name="horne">{{cite book|last=Horne|first=Thomas Hartwell|title=An Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures|volume=2|pages=410ff}}</ref><ref name="Wolff">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_1rukBxEQjeAC/page/n3/mode/2up|title=Chiun et Remphan|first=Christian Gottlieb|last=Wolff|date=1741|publisher=litteris Takkianis|language=la}}</ref> Since the words "Kiyyun" ("Chiun") and "Remphan" are each ''hapax legomena'', there is debate whether they are meant as common or proper nouns.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-first=Andrew B.|editor1-last=Perrin|editor2-first=Kyung S.|editor2-last=Baek|editor3-first=Daniel K.|editor3-last=Falk|title=Reading the Bible in Ancient Traditions and Modern Editions|publication-place=Atlanta| isbn=978-0-88414-253-9|publisher=SBL Press|date=2017|page=309}}</ref> It is generally presumed that both ''remphan'' and ''chiun'' refer to the planet Saturn.<ref>' ''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.</ref>

== In the Bible == In the Acts of the Apostles, the deacon Stephen condemns Jewish idolatry in the following verse: "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."<ref name=acts>{{bibleverse|Acts|7:43|KJV}}</ref> In the Greek of the New Testament, it is a mostly word-for-word quotation<ref>LXX Amos 5:26 and NT Acts 7:43: ...καὶ ἀνελάβετε τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ Μολοχ καὶ τὸ ἄστρον τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν '''Ραιφαν''', τοὺς τύπους αὐτῶν, οὓς ἐποιήσατε [LXX: ἑαυτοῖς/NT: προσκυνεῖν αὐτοῖς]. καὶ μετοικιῶ ὑμᾶς ἐπέκεινα [LXX: Δαμασκοῦ/NT: Βαβυλῶνος]...</ref> of the 3rd century BC Septuagint translation of Amos 5:26–27: "Ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and '''Chiun''' your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. <small>(27)</small> Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lᴏʀᴅ, whose name is The God of Hosts."<ref name=amos>{{bibleverse|Amos|5:26|HE}}</ref>

The context for the admonition is that Amos had been sent to the northern Kingdom of Samaria, where Judaism had become syncretic with foreign idolatry, which he declares unacceptable.<ref name="Bangor">{{cite journal|last=Denio|first=F. B.|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/469782|title=The Interpretation of Amos V|journal=The Old Testament Student|date=April 1886|volume=5|issue=8|pages=25–26|publisher=Bangor Theological Seminary|doi=10.1086/469782|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It is seen{{by whom|date=October 2021}} as a prophetic reference to Shalmaneser V's later capture of the Israelites and taking them into the cities of the Medes.<ref name="horne" />

== Etymology == Remphan{{notetag|Also transliterated as Romphan, Rempham, Rephan, or Raiphan.{{r|acts}}}} is a rendering of the Ancient Greek, {{lang|grc|ρεμφαν}}. Various manuscripts offer other transliterations of this pronunciation, including {{lang|grc|Ῥομφά, Ῥεμφάν, Ῥεμφάμ, and Ῥεφάν}}.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}} It is likely in reference to "Kiyyun" ("Chiun") mentioned in Amos {{bibleverse-nb|Amos|5:26|KJV}},{{notetag|Also transliterated as Chiun, Kewan, Kaiwan, Kiyuwn, or Kijun.}} which the Septuagint renders as "Raiphan" (Ῥαιφάν) or "Rephan".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Philip |first1=Schaff |title=New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. IX: Petri - Reuchlin |url=https://ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc09/encyc09.html?term=Remphan |website=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |access-date=20 November 2025}}</ref> Kiyyun is generally assumed to be the god Saturn,{{r|steyn}} the Assyrian name of which was "Kayvân" ("Kēwān").{{r|JE}}

== Christian analysis == In ''Moses and Aaron'' (1625), Thomas Godwyn claimed Kiyyun and the Star of Remphan should be held as separate entities; the first is a reference to the deity Heracles, and the latter is a reference to a painted mark on the forehead of Molech.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/GodwynTMosesAndAaronCivilAndEcclesiasticalRitesUsedByTheAncientHebrews1678/page/n165/mode/2up|title=Moses and Aaron: Civil And Ecclesiastical Rites, Used by the Ancient Hebrews|pages=148–151|last=Godwyn|first=Thomas|date=1678|location=London}}</ref>

In the 18th century, Christian Gottlieb Wolff referenced the belief that the name actually came from Ancient Egypt, by way of the Ammonites, tying his worship into the period that Diodorus Siculus' history references the king "Remphis", possibly Ramses III, beginning a seven-generation decline of Egyptian civilization.<ref name="Wolff" />

The August 1862 edition of ''The Quiver'' noted, "'The star of your god Remphan' is an expression which causes some difficulty. The star is probably the representation of the star Remphan, which Stephen with cutting reproach calls 'your god'. But who or what was Remphan? […] The fact is, we know but little respecting the false gods worshipped in Syria and Palestine at different times, although the names of many of them have come down to us."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hsFAAAAQAAJ|title=The Quiver|date=August 1862}}</ref>

== References == {{EB1911 |wstitle=Remphan |volume=23 |page=82}} <references>

<ref name=JE>{{Jewish Encyclopedia|article=Chiun|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4345 |first1=Morris Jr.|last1=Jastrow|first2=George A.|last2=Barton|volume=4|page=39|no-prescript=1}}</ref> <ref name=steyn>{{cite journal|title=Trajectories of scripture transmission: The case of Amos 5:25–27 in Acts 7:42–43|first=Gert J.|last=Steyn|journal=HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies|volume=69|number=1|date=2006|doi=10.4102/hts.v69i1.2006|url=https://hts.org.za/index.php/HTS/article/view/2006|doi-access=free|hdl=2263/32530|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

</references>

== Notes == {{reflist|group=note}}

Category:Deities in the Hebrew Bible Category:Saturnian deities