“And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.”
And lest you lift up your eyes unto heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD your God has allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven; -- the celestial bodies (sun, moon, stars, 'the host of heaven') must not be worshipped. The phrase 'which the LORD your God has allotted unto all the peoples' is crucial: the heavenly bodies are given to all nations for utility (light, seasons), not worship. They are tools, not deities. The allotment (challaq, to divide) frames the cosmic order: God has distributed the creation, and all creation is servant, not master.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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