Pleiades

Heb. kimah, "a cluster" ( Job 9:9 ; 38:31 ; Amos 5:8 , A.V., "seven stars;" RSV, "Pleiades"), a name given to the cluster of stars seen in the shoulder of the constellation Taurus.

A cluster of stars.

[God] which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and PLEIADES, and the chambers of the south. ( Job 9:8-9 )

The Hebrew word (cimah ) so rendered occurs in ( Job 9:9 ; 38:31 ; Amos 6:8 ) In the last passage our Authorized Version has "the seven stars," although the Geneva version translates the word "Pleiades" as in the other cases. The Pleiades are a group of stars situated on the shoulder of the constellation Taurus. The rendering "sweet influences" of the Authorized Version, ( Job 38:31 ) is a relic of the lingering belief in the power which the stars exerted over human destiny. But Schaff thinks the phrase arose from the fact that the Pleiades appear about the middle of April, and hence are associated with the return of spring, the season of sweet influences .

PLEIADES

pli'-a-dez, ple'-ya-dez, ple'-a-dez.

See ASTROLOGY, 10; ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 10.