![]() The traditional devices, like totems, shown on the four standards are said to have been a lion for Judah, a man and a river for Reuben, a bull for Ephraim, and an eagle and a serpent for Dan. The camp of Reuben was on the south, that of Ephraim on the west and that of Dan on the north, which brought up the rear. The camp of Judah was on the east, and the division of Judah led the march. Each division consisted of three tribes, and were known by the name of the principal tribe which formed it. The character of the devices are said to have been borne on the standards carried by the four divisions of the host in the march through the wilderness. “And for the twelve stones,” he states, “whether we understand by them the months, or whether we understand the like number of the signs of that circle which the Greeks call the Zodiac, we shall not be mistaken in their meaning.” The planets and constellations are first alluded to in the history of Joseph, where in the second dream, “he beheld the Sun and the Moon and the eleven stars which made obeisance to him.” There are also Jewish traditions assigning a constellation to each of the twelve tribes of Israel.Īccording to Josephus, each of the twelve precious stones that formed the High Priest’s breastplate bore the name of a tribe, connecting them with the signs of the zodiac. Among the Hebrews the Chaldeans were the chief astrologers mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, and what knowledge the Jews had of astrology doubtless came from that source. ![]()
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