Today we will discuss two passages that are well known and difficult to understand. They concern the movement of the stars and the orbit of the Sun around the Earth. Here is the first one:
פסחים צד,ב
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן, חַכְמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹמְרִים: גַּלְגַּל קָבוּעַ, וּמַזָּלוֹת חוֹזְרִין. וְחַכְמֵי אוּמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם אוֹמְרִים: גַּלְגַּל חוֹזֵר, וּמַזָּלוֹת קְבוּעִין. אָמַר רַבִּי: תְּשׁוּבָה לְדִבְרֵיהֶם — מֵעוֹלָם לֹא מָצִינוּ עֲגָלָה בַּדָּרוֹם וְעַקְרָב בַּצָּפוֹן
The Sages taught: The Jewish Sages say the celestial sphere [גלגל] of the zodiac is stationary, and the constellations revolve in their place within the sphere; and the sages of the nations of the world say the entire celestial sphere revolves, and the constellations are stationary within the sphere. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: A refutation of their opinion [that the entire sphere moves] can be derived from the fact that we have never found the constellation of Ursa Major in the South or Scorpio in the North. [This indicates that it is the stars themselves that revolve in place and not the celestial sphere as a whole, because otherwise it would be impossible for Ursa Major to remain in the North and Scorpio to remain in the South].
The meaning of this passage is unclear, and as the late Isidore Twersky pointed out, it “has a long history of interpretation, reflecting various moods: embarrassment, perplexity, satisfaction, with some attempts at harmonization or reinterpretation or restricting the significance of the report.”
What could this passage mean?
Many different interpretations have been offered. One is that the galgal refers to the Sun, and the mazzalot refer to the planets; in this understanding, the sages of the Talmud anticipated the Copernican heliocentric system. However, this explanation must be rejected because in the very next line of the discussion, the Talmud makes it clear that the mazzalot contain the constellations Eglah (Taurus) and Akrav (Scorpio). It is therefore apparent that the mazzalot in this rabbinic passage are not to be identified with any of the planets. It is also clear that the system being described is not the Ptolemaic one in which the stars and planets revolve around the Earth, because the Earth is never referred to as galgal. The most likely explanation of this passage is that the galgal refers to a sphere and that, according to the Gentile sages, the constellations are fixed within a revolving sphere. The Jewish sages believed the sky to be both solid and immovable; according to them, the constellations—which are clearly seen to revolve, do so independently of the fixed heavens beneath them.
“We have never found Ursa Major in the SoutH”
According to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the constellation known as Agalah is always found in the southern sky, and that known as Akrav is always found in the north. These two constellations should be easy to identify. Let’s start with the second one mentioned. The word Akrav עַקְרָב means a scorpion, and Scorpio is one of the twelve signs of the zodiac. Good. But what about the first constellation eglah or agalah (there is a big difference)? To what constellation might this refer? Agalah - עֲגָלָה means either a “wagon” or, when the same letters are vocalized as eglah, a “calf.” And then things really get interesting. So interesting that we did an entire post just on this topic. You can read it here.
Where does the sun go at night?
And now the second passage. Incidentally, it is also the text seen in the header on the landing page of Talmudology. It is from a manuscript of the Talmud held at the Jewish Theological Seminary MS Rab. 1623.
פסחים צד, ב
חכמי ישראל אומרים ביום חמה מהלכת למטה מן הרקיע ובלילה למעלה מן הרקיע וחכמי אומות העולם אומרים ביום חמה מהלכת למטה מן הרקיע ובלילה למטה מן הקרקע א"ר ונראין דבריהן מדברינו שביום מעינות צוננין ובלילה רותחין
The wise men of Israel say that during the day the Sun travels under the rakia, and at night it travels above the rakia. And Gentile wise men say: during the day the Sun travels under the rakia and at night under the Earth. Rabbi [Yehudah Hanasi] said: their view is more logical than ours for during the day springs are cold and at night they are warm.
The Path of the Sun, per the Talmud
In the talmudic view, the sky is completely opaque. As the Sun passes over the top of the sky at night, it is not in the slightest way visible. The rabbis of the Talmud also believed that the Earth was a flat disc, and that above the sky was an opaque covering called the rakia. During the day the Sun was visible under the rakia, and then at night it zipped back from where it set in the west to where it would rise again in the east by traveling over the rakia. Something like this:
