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ZODIAQUE

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(Grec, zôdiakos, de zôdion =figure d'animal, constellation.) Zone céleste conventionnelle en forme de couronne, que l'ancienne astronomie divisait en douze secteurs renfermant chacun une constellation et correspondant aux douze mois de l'année : ce sont les 12 signes du zodiaque. Ce nom est aussi donné aux cadrans circulaires portant les figures ou les symboles de ces constellations ; de tels cadrans antiques ont été retrouvés (Dendérah en Egypte, Palmyre en Syrie, etc.). Il est probable que plusieurs passages de la Bible font allusion aux signes du zodiaque.

1.

C'est la traduction la plus généralement adoptée, dans l'énumération des faux dieux dont Josias fit supprimer les cultes : (2Ro 23:5) les prêtres païens « offraient de l'encens à Baal, au soleil, à la lune, aux mazzâlôth et à toute l'armée des cieux ». La place des mazzâlôth, entre nos deux luminaires et la poussière infinie des étoiles, peut désigner soit les constellations maîtresses de l'année astronomique, c'est-à-dire les signes du zodiaque (Vers. Syn., Sg., Cramp., Vulgate ; Lem. S. : les douze signes ; Reuss : les douze stations du soleil), soit les planètes (Bible angl.) ou les constellations en général, les astres (Ost., Mart.). De même, dans Job 38:32, les mazzârôth (équiv, de mazzâlôth), placées dans ce passage avec trois des plus remarquables constellations du ciel boréal (voir Pléiades, Orion, Ourse), peuvent représenter soit celles de la ceinture zodiacale, moins visibles mais réputées importantes pour leur correspondance avec la marche apparente du soleil : les signes du zodiaque (Vers. Syn., Sg., note de Cramp., Mart.), soit, en un sens général, les constellations (Reuss traduit ainsi, « à tout hasard » ; Vulgate : Lucifer [v. ce mot] ; Lem. S. : l'étoile du matin).

2.

Une autre expression de Job accompagnait déjà dans ce poème (Job 9:9) la même triade des grandes constellations ; mais elle est encore plus obscure ; khadré thémân, litt, les chambres du midi. L'hébreu khèdèr désigne une chambre intérieure, abritée, un trésor. Sous les traductions très diverses de nos versions, trois interprétations s'offrent.

(a) Les signes du zodiaque. Mais pour les Orientaux ces 12 constellations s'élèvent beaucoup plus haut que sous nos latitudes et ne seraient pas caractérisées par la direction du « midi ».

(b) Les astres du ciel austral, voisins du pôle sud, toujours invisibles en Palestine (explication de Renan, Reuss, Sg., probablement VS., etc.). Mais est-il probable qu'en célébrant la puissance du Dieu de la nature le poète croyant ait voulu faire allusion, en même temps qu'à nos plus magnifiques constellations, à des astres totalement inconnus ?

(c) Il peut donc être fait allusion ici aux constellations diverses, non pas nécessairement du zodiaque, qui à certaines époques apparaissaient assez bas sur l'horizon du sud (sans doute, dans l'antiquité, la Croix du Sud, le Navire, le Centaure) ; ainsi Lem. S. : les étoiles qui sont proches du midi. Du reste, le poète ne s'astreignait certainement pas à une précision rigoureuse dans le choix de ses termes.

3.

Les 12 pierres précieuses qui garnissaient le pectoral du grand-prêtre (Ex 28:15,21) ont été mises en rapport, par Josèphe (Ant., III, 7 7) et Philon (Vie de Moïse, 3:14), avec les 12 signes du zodiaque babylonien ; ce rapprochement est certainement sans valeur (Bbl. Cent.). Par contre, l'utilisation qu'à son tour fera l'Apocalypse de la collection des 12 gemmes, dans la description de la Jérusalem céleste (Ap 21:19,21), est une réaction fort élaborée contre les spéculations de l'astronomie païenne autour des signes du zodiaque (voir Pierres précieuses). D'autres passages du même livre chrétien transposent ces symboles païens. Les 24 vieillards (Ap 4:4) rappellent les 24 divinités astrales babyloniennes oui présidaient à 12 constellations au nord du zodiaque et à 12 au sud. Pour certains savants (Zimmern, Gunkel, etc.), les quatre animaux (Ap 4:6 et suivants), empruntés aux visions d'Ézéchiel (Eze 1 et Eze 10), correspondent aux 4 principaux signes du zodiaque, de même que correspondent aux 12 signes les 12 étoiles de la couronne de la femme (Eze 12:1). Pour les rapports des sauterelles-scorpions de Ap 9:3,11 avec certains signes du zodiaque, voir Scorpion. Le genre apocalyptique, qui, dans le bouillonnement d'une foi persécutée mais assurée de la victoire de Dieu, met en oeuvre toutes sortes d'éléments d'origines fort diverses, sans souci de cohérence ni d'harmonie, s'accommode facilement de mythes astronomiques et astrologiques, même peu assimilés, mais fondus dans le symbolisme religieux inspirateur des tableaux d'ensemble.

4.

A l'autre extrême des écrits bibliques, il se peut que les recherches modernes de mythologie comparée découvrent aussi dans les récits primitifs de la Genèse quelques traces des préoccupations astronomiques de la Caldée. Le zodiaque lui-même est mentionné dans l'épopée babylonienne de la Création (table V) : « Il (Mardouk) fit les stations pour les grands dieux ; il fixa les étoiles, leurs images, comme les étoiles du zodiaque. Il ordonna l'année et la divisa en sections ; pour les douze mois il fixa trois étoiles... » Ce qu'on a dit ailleurs de la parenté de pensée entre les anciens Hébreux et les Assyro-Babyloniens (voir Cosmogonie) expliquerait très naturellement de tels vestiges, assimilés par le strict monothéisme des écrivains de la révélation. Mais jusqu'à présent les rapprochements restent le plus souvent ou contestables ou fragmentaires. C'est ainsi qu'on a pu reconnaître certains rapports dans la Bénédiction de Jacob sur ses 12 fils : (Ge 49:1,27) la plupart des animaux cités comme termes de comparaison se trouvent dans des constellations du zodiaque ou assez voisines de lui pour en avoir fait partie autrefois (lion, âne, serpent, loup ; ajouter : deux frères comme les Gémeaux ; Ge 49:5,9,14,17,27). Mais ces assimilations sont approximatives et très incomplètes. Non seulement le poème a subi de nombreux changements et l'on ne peut reconstituer sa forme originale, mais surtout il ne pouvait pas être une simple production astro-mythique. Que des analogies observées aient été intégrées ici et là, cela se conçoit aisément ; mais il ne s'ensuit nullement que les douze fils de Jacob ne soient qu'une fiction astrale, projection sur terre des douze signes du zodiaque. Sans doute les explications zodiacales doivent être prises en considération dans l'étude de ce chap. 49, et probablement ailleurs encore ; mais le point de vue historique domine de haut toutes les interprétations accessoires. Même sur un terrain d'histoire aussi sûr que celui des évangiles, ne s'est-il pas trouvé des esprits capables d'attribuer aux douze signes du zodiaque l'origine « mythique » des douze apôtres de Jésus ? Cela ne saurait être pris au sérieux. CONSULTER. --Pour les problèmes des parag. 1 et 2, Ed de Perrot, la Bible et le ciel étoilé, Lausanne. Pour ceux des parag. 3 et 4, R.H. Charles, Révélation, 2 vol. ICC, 1920 : G Skinner, Genesis, ICC, 1912. Jn L.

Utilisé avec autorisation de Yves PETRAKIAN

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      Genèse 49

      1 Jacob called to his sons, and said: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.
      5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence.
      9 Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, as a lioness. Who will rouse him up?
      14 "Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the saddlebags.
      17 Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, That bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward.
      27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the spoil."

      Exode 28

      15 "You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, you shall make it.
      21 The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes.

      Job 9

      9 He makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, and the rooms of the south.

      Job 38

      32 Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs?

      Ezéchiel 1

      1 Now it happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God .
      2 In the fifth of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
      3 the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of Yahweh was there on him.
      4 I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire.
      5 Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.
      6 Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings.
      7 Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot; and they sparkled like burnished brass.
      8 They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and the four of them had their faces and their wings thus:
      9 their wings were joined one to another; they didn't turn when they went; each one went straight forward.
      10 As for the likeness of their faces, they had the face of a man; and the four of them had the face of a lion on the right side; and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side; the four of them also had the face of an eagle.
      11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Two wings of each one touched another, and two covered their bodies.
      12 Each one went straight forward: where the spirit was to go, they went; they didn't turn when they went.
      13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches: the fire went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
      14 The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
      15 Now as I saw the living creatures, behold, one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four faces of it.
      16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like a beryl: and the four of them had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.
      17 When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn when they went.
      18 As for their rims, they were high and dreadful; and the four of them had their rims full of eyes all around.
      19 When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
      20 Wherever the spirit was to go, they went; there was the spirit to go: and the wheels were lifted up beside them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
      21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
      22 Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth over their heads above.
      23 Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: each one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.
      24 When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army: when they stood, they let down their wings.
      25 There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their wings.
      26 Above the expanse that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and on the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man on it above.
      27 I saw as it were glowing metal, as the appearance of fire within it all around, from the appearance of his waist and upward; and from the appearance of his waist and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.
      28 As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.

      Ezéchiel 10

      1 Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
      2 He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched.
      3 Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
      4 The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory.
      5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.
      6 It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel.
      7 The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.
      8 There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under their wings.
      9 I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone.
      10 As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel.
      11 When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn't turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn't turn as they went.
      12 Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had.
      13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels.
      14 Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
      15 The cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar.
      16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn't turn from beside them.
      17 When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
      18 The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.
      19 The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
      20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim.
      21 Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
      22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

      Ezéchiel 12

      1 The word of Yahweh also came to me, saying,

      Apocalypse 4

      4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads.
      6 Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the midst of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind.

      Apocalypse 9

      3 Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
      11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is "Abaddon," but in Greek, he has the name "Apollyon."

      Apocalypse 21

      19 The foundations of the city's wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire ; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
      21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
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