Ove Posted April 8, 2012 #1 Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore." ~ Genesis 22:17 Now, how does this 6th or 5th century BC writer know that the stars are as numerous as the sand on the seashore ? How many stars could be seen in the 6th or 5th century BC night sky ? Why does he compare the sand on the seashore with the stars in the night sky ? Today we know that there are as many stars in space as there are sand on the seashore. How did he know ? Edited April 8, 2012 by Ove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted April 8, 2012 #2 Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore." ~ Genesis 22:17 Now, how does this 6th or 5th century BC writer know that the stars are as numerous as the sand on the seashore ? How many stars could be seen in the 6th or 5th century BC night sky ? Why does he compare the sand on the seashore with the stars in the night sky ? Today we know that there are as many stars in space as there are sand on the seashore. How did he know ? The answer is simple: the writer didn't know, but s/he had eyes in his/her head. Just look up to the skies during a moonless night in some forest or desert, far away from city lights, and you will know why/she said what s/he said. . Edited April 8, 2012 by Abramelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+and-then Posted April 8, 2012 #3 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Since the speaker of those words was God Himself, He would know since He created them all. But I think the accepted meaning of that phrase is just a Hebraism to indicate a number too great to count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted April 8, 2012 #4 Share Posted April 8, 2012 How did he know ? You live in a city, don't you? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted April 8, 2012 #5 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Since the speaker of those words was God Himself, He would know since He created them all. But I think the accepted meaning of that phrase is just a Hebraism to indicate a number too great to count. It was a human being who wrote it all down. It's nothing but faith that tells us s/he was inspired by a god. If you are willing to believe that, then believe me when I say I am inspired by a god while posting here, lol. The name of that god: "Allah Gho Holla". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiloh17 Posted April 8, 2012 #6 Share Posted April 8, 2012 "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore." ~ Genesis 22:17 Now, how does this 6th or 5th century BC writer know that the stars are as numerous as the sand on the seashore ? How many stars could be seen in the 6th or 5th century BC night sky ? Why does he compare the sand on the seashore with the stars in the night sky ? Today we know that there are as many stars in space as there are sand on the seashore. How did he know ? The same way he knew dust had DNA in it. Gen_2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. It was the Almighty talking to Abraham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted April 8, 2012 #7 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The same way he knew dust had DNA in it. Gen_2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. It was the Almighty talking to Abraham. It was "Allah Gho Holla", I tell ya, the most inspiring god of all gods. Maybe assisted by "Amanita Muscaria", another great god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Puzzler Posted April 8, 2012 #8 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The answer is simple: the writer didn't know, but s/he had eyes in his/her head. . lol you said it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ove Posted April 8, 2012 Author #9 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The answer is simple: the writer didn't know, but s/he had eyes in his/her head. Just look up to the skies during a moonless night in some forest or desert, far away from city lights, and you will know why/she said what s/he said. ??? There are about 2500 stars visible to the naked eye at any one point at any one time on the Earth. There is more than 2500 grains of sand on the seashore ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Puzzler Posted April 8, 2012 #10 Share Posted April 8, 2012 ??? There are about 2500 stars visible to the naked eye at any one point at any one time on the Earth. There is more than 2500 grains of sand on the seashore ! I think it's just simple observation - there is lots and lots of stars comparable to lots and lots of grains of sand...nothing too mysterious and I'm pretty sure they would have realised this comparison it in the 5th century BC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted April 8, 2012 #11 Share Posted April 8, 2012 ??? There are about 2500 stars visible to the naked eye at any one point at any one time on the Earth. There is more than 2500 grains of sand on the seashore ! So whats your point?? S/He could have used some proverb about ants. We all know ants are more numerous than us humans, and they knew it back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ove Posted April 8, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I think it's just simple observation - there is lots and lots of stars comparable to lots and lots of grains of sand...nothing too mysterious and I'm pretty sure they would have realised this comparison it in the 5th century BC. Or someone had the knowledge of the true number of stars in space ? Stars visible to the naked eye and grains of sand visible on the seashore, are absolutely not comparable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted April 8, 2012 #13 Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) Or someone had the knowledge of the true number of stars in space ? Stars visible to the naked eye and grains of sand visible on the seashore, are absolutely not comparable. Right... last time you counted the stars was? Edited April 8, 2012 by ShadowSot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaptn k Posted April 8, 2012 #14 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Anyone can take any text and say it was written by 'god'. These observation you quoted is an obvious one...............nothing biblical about it. Here's another, the stars are as numerous as the fish in the oceans............is that a 'god' written observation or just an obvious observation based on common scense? But if it makes you feel better you can believe only 'god' has that kind of insight. Us mortals can't possibly have the ability to figure such things out on our own unless it's written in some 'holy' book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiloh17 Posted April 8, 2012 #15 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The question was a biblical one, and a scientific one relatively. Two of us just answered with no mal intent. It was you and a few others that came back with ridicule. But consider this: The ultra deep field photo shows 10,000 galaxies in one picture. That was estimated to be around 1/200 millionth of the sky photographed. and galaxies contain anywhere from 10,000,000 stars to 100,000,000,000,000 stars. So, 10,000 x 200,000,000 x even the smallest 10,000,000 star galaxies = 20,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. About like the sand on the seashores I'd say. Even more than the fish in the ocean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ove Posted April 8, 2012 Author #16 Share Posted April 8, 2012 It was the Almighty talking to Abraham. My question was not of a religious nature. But in another place it says "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name" http://niv.scripturetext.com/psalms/147.htm So, again there's a reference to the number of the stars ? To me, they seemed to know that there are innumerable stars in space, like there are innumerable grains of sand on the seashore. I find that unexplainable since there are only about 2500 stars visible to the naked eye at any one point at any one time on the Earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted April 8, 2012 #17 Share Posted April 8, 2012 You must get real confused when someone's called cute as a button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmccr8 Posted April 8, 2012 #18 Share Posted April 8, 2012 My question was not of a religious nature. But in another place it says "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name" http://niv.scripturetext.com/psalms/147.htm So, again there's a reference to the number of the stars ? To me, they seemed to know that there are innumerable stars in space, like there are innumerable grains of sand on the seashore. I find that unexplainable since there are only about 2500 stars visible to the naked eye at any one point at any one time on the Earth. Hello Ove, You have asked a question from a religious source,in reality it has no significance from a scientific stand point in that no one in the scientific community cares how many star or grains of sand there are.I would suspect that its significance in the religious community would be similar.It is a descriptor and not meant to be taken literally.Something like the words of a song"I have more money than a dog has hair",could the amount of money actually be determined by counting a dogs hairs?Would a bigger dog have more hair,would the length of the dogs hair be indicitive of larger bill denominations,is curly hair relative to rolls of cash.One can go on and on with such avenues of thought but for what purpose unless of course you know that it will be a question on Jepordy.jmccr8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Cox Posted April 10, 2012 #19 Share Posted April 10, 2012 It was used to imply LOTS, as in many. I don't think it carry's any weight in scientific terms. thanks Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMan375032 Posted April 10, 2012 #20 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Maybe the person who wrote it really knew this to be true. Who's to say ET didn't take him on a joy ride before he wrote this. I think aliens and the bible go hand in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Spartan Posted April 10, 2012 #21 Share Posted April 10, 2012 today i was travelling from Abu Dhabi to Dubai in UAE. i swa lots of sand dunes on the way. i was wondering - how many grains of sands are there in these dunes. i was wondering how objective is the essence of the original post. Whoever wrote the verse meant it as a metaphor only. "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore." ~ Genesis 22:17 To understand the Holy Bible, one should understand the authorship. A good example would be the book How the Bible became a Book. The same book is available at amazon at How the Bible became a Book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted April 10, 2012 #22 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Maybe the person who wrote it really knew this to be true. Who's to say ET didn't take him on a joy ride before he wrote this. I think aliens and the bible go hand in hand. The Bible was no doubt written by mere humans. They may have been in some 'spiritual state of consciousness' (dreaming, alcohol, shrooms, meditation, simply lying/fabricating, and so on). Anyway, all people do have an active imagination, only some of them write/talk about whatever they imagined. And to make their thoughts a bit more impressive, they claim to have had a personal talk with a god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erudite Celt Posted May 19, 2012 #23 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Many astronomers will tell you that the average person can see in the region of 2000 to 3000 stars in the night sky. This is not so. If you look at the arm of the Milky Way stretching across the sky on a summer night you are looking at billions of stars. There are also dozens of naked eye galaxy's. The Large Magellanic Cloud is ten billion times bigger than the whole Milky Way. The mind cannot comprehend such vast numbers, but to give some perspective the Large Magellanic Cloud has more stars than there are grains of sand on the earth!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowSot Posted May 19, 2012 #24 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Many astronomers will tell you that the average person can see in the region of 2000 to 3000 stars in the night sky. This is not so. They're refering to stars we can actually see. With the proper tools we can see many more, but the number of stars actually viewable without a telescope are fewer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erudite Celt Posted May 19, 2012 #25 Share Posted May 19, 2012 They're refering to stars we can actually see. With the proper tools we can see many more, but the number of stars actually viewable without a telescope are fewer. When you step onto a beach or desert how many grains of sand can you see? Just those you can count or those that you see? The Milky way is a field of stars, when you look at it you are looking at stars. All of that light hitting your retina is the accumulation of innumerable individual stars. We perceive billions of stars as we perceive billions of sand grains on the shore.Below is a photo of the Milky Way from perfect naked eye seeing conditions in the light pollution free Reunion Islands. No Photo-shopping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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