The "Star of David"

[Rehmat]

Jews insists that the so-called “Star of David” is a “Jewish Star” – but historically, it has no reference to either prophet David (as) or Judaism. It is not mentioned in rabbinic literature nor a single archeological proof exists as yet concerning the use of this symbol in the Holy Land in ancient times, even after King David.

It was in the middle of 12th century, when it was mentioned in Jewish literature.

The shape of the star is an example of the hexagram, a symbol, which has significance for other belief systems. The hexagram pre-dates its use by Jews. Its most prevalent usage outside of Judaism was and is the occult.

Some researchers have theorized that the Star of David represents the astrological chart at the time of David's birth or anointing as king. The Star of David is also known as the "King's Star" in astrological circles, and was undoubtedly an important astrological symbol in Zoroastrianism.

In 1269, in French King Louis X decreed that "both men and women were to wear badges on the outer garment, both front and back, round pieces of yellow felt or linen, a palm long and four fingers wide.

The Great Seal of the United States contains an image of a Star of David, consisting of 13 smaller American Stars symbolizing the 13 original colonies, above the eagle's head. This was in gratitude for the financial contributions of a rich Jew by the name Haym Solomon to the American Revolution and American War of Independence of 1776, who designed the great seal himself.

The Star of David (often yellow-colored) was used by the Nazis, as a method of identifying Jews. The requirement to wear the Star of David with the word "Jude" (German for Jew) inscribed, was extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas on September 6, 1941. In occupied Poland Jews were forced to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David on it, as well as a patch on the front and back of their clothing.

Currently, the flag of Zionist state of Israel carries it.

[CoolockRepublican]

The exact origins of the symbol's relation to Jewish identity are unknown. Several theories were put forward. According to one hypothesis[citation needed], the Star of David comprises two of the three letters in the name David. In its Hebrew spelling (דוד), it contains only three characters, two of which are "D" (or "Dalet", in Hebrew). In ancient times, this letter was written in a form much like a triangle, similar to the Greek letter Delta (Δ), with which it shares a sound and the same (4th) position in their respective alphabets, as it does with Latin. The symbol may have been a simple family crest formed by flipping and juxtaposing the two most prominent letters in the name.

A popular folk etymology has it that the Star of David is literally modeled after the shield of the young Israelite warrior David, who would later become King David. In order to save metal, the shield was not made of metal but of leather spanned across the simplest metal frame that would hold the round shield: two interlocking triangles. No reliable historical evidence for this etymology exists.


[edit] Use in Kabbalah
According to some Judaic sources, the Star or Shield of David signifies the number seven: that is, the six points plus the center. The earliest known Jewish text to mention the symbol is Eshkol Ha-Kofer by the Karaite Judah Hadassi, in the mid-12th century CE:

"Seven names of angels precede the mezuzah: Michael, Gabriel, etc. ... Tetragrammaton protect you! And likewise the sign, called the 'Shield of David', is placed beside the name of each angel."[2]


The Menorah on the Arch of Titus: notice the three stems on each side plus the central stem, totaling sevenThe number seven has religious significance in Judaism, e.g., the six days of Creation plus the seventh day of rest, the six working days in the week plus Shabbat, the Seven Spirits of God, as well as the Menorah in the ancient Temple, whose seven oil lamps rest on three stems branching from each side of a central pole. Perhaps, the Star of David came to be used as a standard symbol in synagogues because its organization into 3+3+1 corresponds to the Temple's Menorah, which was the more traditional symbol for Judaism in ancient times. There are also six words in the Shema, the most important prayer in Judaism, and it is not uncommon to find the Shema written around a Star of David.

"Practical" Kabbalah uses the symbol by arranging the Ten Sephiroth (sefirot, spheres) in it, and placing it on amulets.

However, reference to the symbol is nowhere to be found in classical kabbalistic texts themselves, such as the Zohar and the like. Therefore, its use as a sefirotic diagram in amulets is more likely a reinterpretation of a preexisting magical symbol.

According to G.S. Oegema -

"Isaac Luria provided the Shield of David with a further mystical meaning. In his book Etz Chayim he teaches that the elements of the plate for the Seder evening have to be placed in the order of the hexagram: above the three sefirot "Crown", "Wisdom", and "Insight", below the other seven". [3]

M. Costa wrote that M. Gudemann and other researchers in the 1920s claimed that Isaac Luria was influential in turning the Star of David into a national Jewish emblem by teaching that the elements of the plate for the Seder evening have to be placed in the order of the hexagram, but Gershom Scholem proved that Isaac Luria talked about parallel triangles one beneath the other and not about the hexagram. [4]

Kabbalistically, the Star of David symbolizes the six directions of space plus the center, under the influence of the description of space found in the Sefer Yetsira: Up, Down, East, West, South, North, and Center. Congruently, under the influence of the Zohar, it represents the Six Sefirot of the Male (Zeir Anpin) united with the Seventh Sefirot of the Female (Nekuva).


[edit] Shield form
The Shield of David is not mentioned in ancient rabbinic literature. A supposed Shield of David however has recently been noted on a Jewish tombstone at Taranto, in Southern Italy, which may date as early as the third century CE. Likewise, a stone bearing the Shield from the arch of a 3-4th century synagogue in the Galilee was found. [5]

The earliest Jewish literary source which mentions the "Shield of David" is the Eshkol Ha-Kofer by Judah Hadassi from the middle of the 12th century CE, where seven Shields are used in an amulet for a mezuzah. It appears to have been in use as part of amulets before it was in use in formal Jewish contexts. A manuscript Tanakh dated 1307 and belonging to Rabbi Yosef bar Yehuda ben Marvas from Toledo, Spain, was decorated with a Shield of David. In the synagogues, perhaps, it was associated with the mezuzah. Originally, the hexagram may have been employed as an architectural ornament on synagogues, as it is, for example, on the cathedrals of Brandenburg and Stendal, and on the Marktkirche at Hanover. A pentagram in this form is found on the ancient synagogue at Tell Hum.



Because of its geometric symmetry, the hexagram has been a popular symbol in many cultures from earliest times. Anthropologists claim that the triangle pointing downward represents female sexuality, and the triangle pointing upward, male sexuality; thus, their combination symbolizes unity and harmony. In alchemy, the two triangles symbolize *"fire" and *"water"; together, they represent the reconciliation of opposites. Some medieval alchemists even borrowed the talmudic pun - ish mayim, fiery water, and shamayim , heaven - to demonstrate the interpenetration of the two realms. 1 Because if this symbolism, the hexagram was even used occasionally as the emblem displayed above a brandy shop.

The earliest known Jewish use of the hexagram was as a seal in ancient Israel (6th century B.C.E.) and then eight centuries later in a *synagogue frieze in Capernaum. But these early hexagrams may have been only ornamental designs; ironically, a swastika, another popular ancient motif, appears alongside the hexagram on the Capernaum synagogue wall. In the Middle Ages, hexagrams appear frequently on churches, but rarely in synagogues or on Jewish ritual objects. It was the *menorah that served as the primary Jewish symbol from antiquity until the post-Renaissance period, not the " Jewish star."

Although scholars have attempted to trace the Star of David back to King David himself; to Rabbi Akiva and the Bar Kokhba ("son of the star") rebellion (135 C.E.); or to *kabbalists, especially Rabbi Isaac Luria (16th century), no Jewish literature or artifacts document this claim. Rather, all evidence suggests that the early use of the hexagram was limited to "practical Kabbalah," that is, Jewish magic, probably dating back to the 6th century C.E. Legends connect this symbol with the "Seal of Solomon," the magical signet signet *ring used by King Solomon to control demons and spirits. 2 Although the original ring was inscribed with the Tetragrammaton, the sacred Four-Letter *Name of God, medieval *amulets imitating this ring substituted the hexagram or pentagram (five-pointed stare), often accompanied by rampant *lions, for the sacred Name. The star inscribed on these rings was usually called the "Seal of Solomon."

In addition to such legends about Solomon's ring, medieval Jewish magical texts spoke of a magic shield possessed by King David which protected him from his enemies. According to these texts, the shield was inscribed with the seventy-two letter name of God, or with Shaddai (Almighty) or *angelic names, and was eventually passed down to *Judah Maccabee. The 15th-century kabbalist, Isaac Arama, claimed that Psalm 67, later known as the "Menorah Psalm" because of its *seven verses (plus an introductory verse), was engraved on David's shield in the form of a menorah. Another tradition suggests that Isaiah 11:2, enumerating the six aspects of the divine spirit, was inscribed on the shield in the outer six triangles of the hexagram. 3 In time, the hexagram replaced this menorah in popular legends about David's shield, while the five-pointed pentagram became identified with the Seal of Solomon.

The hexagram was also widely regarded as a messianic symbol, because of its legendary connection with David, ancestor of the *Messiah. On Sabbath eve, German Jews would light a star-shaped brass *oil *lamp called a Judenstern (Jewish star), emblematic of the idea that Shabbat was a foretaste of the Messianic Age. The hexagram was also popular among the followers of Shabbatai Tzevi, the false messiah of the 17th century, because of its messianic associations.

Among Jewish mystics and wonderworkers, the hexagram was most commonly used as a magical protection
against demons, often inscribed on the outside of *mezuzot and on amulets.

Another use of the hexagram in medieval times was as a Jewish printer's mark or heraldic emblem, especially in Prague and among members of the Jewish Foa family, who lived in Italy and Holland. In 1354, Emperor Charles IV of Prague granted the Jews of his city the privilege of displaying their own *flag on state occasions. Their flag displayed a large six-pointed star in its center. A similar flag remains to this day in the Altneuschul, the oldest synagogue in Prague. From Prague, the "Magen David" spread to the Jewish communities of Moravia and Bohemia, and then eventually to Eastern Europe. In 17th-century Vienna, the Jewish quarter was separated from the Christian quarter by a boundary stone inscribed with a hexagram on one side and a cross on the other, the first instance of the six-pointed star being used to represent Judaism as a whole, rather than an individual community.

With Jewish emancipation following the French Revolution, Jews began to look for a symbol to represent themselves comparable to the cross used by their Christian neighbors. They settled upon the six-pointed star, principally because of its heraldic associations. Its geometric design and architectural features greatly appealed to synagogue architects, most of whom were non-Jews. Ironically, the religious Jews of Europe and the Orient, already accustomed to seeing hexagrams on kabbalistic amulets, accepted this secularized emblem of the enlightened Jews as a legitimate Jewish symbol, even though it had no religious content or scriptural basis.

When Theodor Herzl looked for a symbol for the new Zionist movement, he chose the Star of David because it was so well known and also because it had no religious associations. In time, it appeared in the center of the flag of the new Jewish state of Israel and has become associated with national redemption.

During the Holocaust, the Nazis chose the *yellow star as an identifying badge required on the garments of all Jews. After the war, Jews turned this symbol of humiliation and death into a badge of honor.

Today, the Star of David is the most popular and universally recognized symbol of the Jewish People. In his seminal work entitled the Star of Redemption (1912), Franz Rosenzweig framed his philosophy of Judaism around the image of the Jewish star, composed of two conceptual "triads," which together form the basis of Jewish belief: Creation, Revelation, and Redemption; God, Israel, and World. On the popular level, Jews continue to use the Jewish star as it was used for centuries: as a magical amulet of good luck and as a secularized symbol of Jewish identity.

[Rehmat]

That was as much a big Jewish crap as the so-called "Six Million Died".

The "sixconed' star is a symbol of freemasonry and has nothing to do with the religion used to be known "Judaism" - before it was converted into racism by the Khazarian thugs in 10th century.

[Gareth]

That was as much a big Jewish crap as the so-called "Six Million Died".

The "sixconed' star is a symbol of freemasonry and has nothing to do with the religion used to be known "Judaism" - before it was converted into racism by the Khazarian thugs in 10th century.

your anti-Semitism sickens me.

[ciaranxavier]

your anti-Semitism sickens me.

he doesnt come here anymore dont worry about him.:cool:

[BlackBaron]

Greetings Fr. Tikhon,

Yes, I saw your post on the "666". The book you mentioned sounds
interesting. It would be wonderful if you would translate that book
or at least relevant portions for us.


FT: He says, the three six's is contrasted to the three 7's, the
symbol of completeness, fulfillment, perfection and indivisibility
(integrity). Number seven is very frequently occurring in the Holy
Writ, more often than not symbolically, to signify the above
attributes.


Cyprian: I would agree that it is very useful to contrast 6 with 7
and 666 with 777 and (600 + 60 + 6) with (700 + 70 + 7).

I would also agree that the number seven signifies "completeness,
fulfillment, perfection and indivisibility (integrity)."

I would also agree that the "number seven is very frequently
occurring in the Holy Writ".

In fact, the number seven is found more times in the book of
Revelation than in the rest of the entire New Testament combined.
One would think that this would merit a careful consideration and
investigation to the mystical import of the number seven.

I would also agree that the number six falls short of the perfection
or completeness of seven, and is also a number which can be divided,
as opposed to seven which cannot.

Let's not overlook the way Revelation 13:18 was originally expressed
in the Greek manuscripts. Of course they did not express 666 the
same way we do today. Some manuscripts have hexakosioi hexekonta
hex spelled out which we would translate something like six
hundred sixty-six. But the earliest extant manuscript (P47) from
the 3rd century containing this passage has [chi] [xi] [stigma], as
does the Textus Receptus and some other Byzantine manuscripts. To
signifiy that these should be read as numbers instead of letters
there would usually be placed a horizontal line above them.

Back in that time they used a Greek alphabetic numeral system:
alpha = 1 beta = 2, gamma = 3 etc. Using letters from the
alphabet to symbolize numbers posed a minor problem. There are 24
letters in the Greek alphabet and to get up to 999 you need three
sets of nines. 1-9 = nine letters 10-90 = nine letters 100-900
= nine letters. So according to the system which they chose, they
needed 27 letters but there were only 24 in the alphabet. Hence it
was necessary to introduce three obsolete letters. digamma = 6
koppa = 90 sampi = 900. Let's not worry about the 90 and the 900
right now. Let's just focus on the 6. digamma obviously means "two
gamma" and gamma represents three, so obviously digamma or two gamma
equals six. Note that 'digamma' looks similar to the letter F, since
if you note carefully the letter F looks like a gamma with a smaller
gamma inside it, hence digamma or two gamma. Now the graphical form
of the letter digamma later evolved into the stigma, which is a
ligature of the letters sigma and tau. All this is highly
complicated, and if someone can explain this better than I, by all
means please enlighten us. My knowledge of Greek is weak.

chi + xi + stigma = 600 + 60 + 6

Not coincidentally, stigma means "mark" in Greek, as when St. Paul
says:

"From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the
marks of the Lord Jesus." (Galatians 6.17)

The Greek word here for marks is "stigmata".

Of course we in English borrow the words stigma and stigmatize from
the Greek.

stigma n. 1. a mark of disgrace or reproach 2. a spot on the skin,
esp. one that bleeds in certain nervous tensions. 3. [pl.] marks
resembling the Crucifixion wounds of Jesus. 4. the upper tip of the
style of a flower, receiving the pollen.

stigmatize vt. 1. to brand with a stigma. 2. to mark as disgraceful

Of course in Greek the word for six is hex, as in a hexagon which has
six sides. This is why some manuscripts have six hundred sixty-six
in Greek as (hex)akosioi, (hex)ekonta, (hex)

We borrow the word hex from the Greek in our English as well.

hex n. something supposed to bring bad luck. --vt. to cause to
have bad luck

It is also interesting to note, that in German the word hexe
means "witch".

People in English might speak of a witch placing a hex or a curse on
someone. Whenever I hear this it calls to my mind the notion of
placing a six on someone.

My two copper mites or two cents. Although technically the U.S.
government wanted to save money so our pennies these days are mostly
zinc with only a copper coating.


Cyprian



I think if we are to engage in discussion of a topic of such gravity
as the mark of the beast we ought to be as precise as possible in our
language, and not make light of the topic.

Arabic numbers such as 6 were not adopted until several centuries
after the time the Apocalypse was written.

Now at the time that St. John wrote the Apocalypse, the Greek letter
that represented 6 was stigma, a ligature of sigma and tau that had
evolved from the obsolete letter digamma. Now digamma means "two
gamma", and if alpha = 1, beta = 2, then gamma = 3. Digamma or "two
gamma" then will equal 6.

Our English alphabetic equivalent to digamma would be F. For does
not an F look similar to "two gamma" or a digamma? F looks like two
gammas stacked on top of one another. We find confirmation of this
when we discover that F (digamma) is the sixth letter of our alphabet.

But of course our modern alphabet derives from the Greek, since the
word "alphabet" comes from the first two Greek letters alpha-beta.

The Greek ultimately derives from the Hebrew alphabet, i.e. aleph =
alpha beth = beta gimmel = gamma daleth = delta and so forth.

So in John's Apocalypse the mark of Antichrist is represented not by
the Arabic numerals 666, but the Greek numerals --> Chi = 600 Xi
= 60 Stigma = 6 (Sigma/Tau ligature that evolved from digamma and
supplanted it).

While we are on the subject of alpha-numerals, it is interesting to
note that if you total the Roman numerals from 500 down to 1, you get
666.

D + C + L + X + V + I = (600 + 60 + 6)

D + C = 500 + 100 = 600
L + X = 50 + 10 = 60
V + I = 5 + 1 = 6

Of course Cyprian has six letters, but the Greek ya-yas used to call
me Kyprianos, which has eight. Of course Christ also has 6 letters
and Christos has eight as well. But not in the Greek. XPICTOC has
seven, that is, unless you take the fourth and fifth letters, the
Sigma (C) together with the Tau (T), and form the ligature Stigma
-- then you are back to six.

Of course Jesus in the Greek is Yiota, Ita, Sigma, Omikron, Upsilon,
Sigma = 10 + 8 + 200 + 70 + 400 + 200 = 888

Now Jesus is 888, but His holy Cross is 777!

Stauros (Greek for cross) = Stigma (Sigma/Tau ligature), Alpha,
Upsilon, Rho, Omikron, Sigma = 6 + 1 + 400 + 100 + 70 + 200 = 777

It is also worthy of note that Christ (XPICTOS) and His holy Cross
(STAUROS) both contain an ST in them, the sigma/tau ligatures known
as stigma in them.

This is interesting because stigma is the Greek word for "mark", in
the sense of marking or branding for ownership a slave. It also has
a connotation of a mark of reproach, such as to stigmatize someone.
We are called to humbly bear the reproaches or stigmatization by our
enemies who mock us for our acceptance of the humiliating Cross,
which of course for us is a trophy, not a humiliation.

So we are marked by the "stigma" of Christ and His Cross, as St. Paul
informs us:

From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the
marks (stigmata) of the Lord Jesus. (Gal 6.17)

Tou loipou kopous moi medeis parecheto, ego garta STIGMATA tou Kuriou
Iesou en to somati mou bastazo.

We should note that Hitler intended to humiliate or stigmatize a
people marked for destruction not with the Cross but with the
hexagram, (and a number tatooed or branded on their hand, I might
add).

Today, in imitation of Christianity, the spiritual descendants of
these people treat the hexagram symbol no longer as a reproach, but
proudly display it as a trophy of victory.

The sign of the Cross which St. Constantine the Great saw in the
heavens was the Chi (600) + Rho (100), which totals 700.

Now of course the Chi-rho or XP that St. Constantine saw is made up
of two Greek characters that intersect one another. X (Chi)
intersected by P (Rho). Note of course that they are both standing
upright!

He had the chi-rho inscribed on the shields of his soldiers and won a
great victory in battle with the sign of the Cross going before him.

Now "unless the devil see what to imitate, or against whom to plot,
he neither attempts, nor knows how" (St. John Chrysostom)

Now these two Greek letter initials XP which of course are the
initials of XPICTOC, or Christ, are called the monogram of Christ.

So we have the hexagram of Antichrist imitating the monogram of
Christ.

The monogram of Christ has two Greek letters intersecting one
another, and the hexagram of Antichrist has two Greek letters
intersecting each other as well. Two deltas or triangles.

Now at this point we would do well to take note of the Greek word
used to denote "mark" in the mark of the beast of St. John's
Apocalypse.

The Greek word is xapayma, i.e. charagma. I am not that skilled with
the Greek language, but immediately I notice that the beginning of
this word has char or chara in it, which would lead one to believe
that it is related to the English word character.

St. Jerome confirms my suspicion, for in his Latin Vulgate he renders
the Greek word charagma as 'caracter'.

Of course the word charagma has the ending -gma, which is the same
ending we find in sti-gma. Perhaps they are related.

This is where some of the members of this list who exhibit a deep
knowledge of Greek could be helpful, explaining to us the
etymology of the world "charagma."

The two intersecting initials XP, make the NUMBER 700, but they also
represent the initials of the NAME of Christ. (XP for XPICTOC)

Now the mark of the beast is the NUMBER of his NAME as well.

Now the two intersecting triangles, the Greek characters delta (one
pointing upwards, the other downwards) are also the first and last
initials of a name as well -- DAUID.

And that is what the servants of Antichrist (falsely) speculate that
king David inscribed on his shields, and they claim by that sign (the
hexagram) he did conquer in battle. A more plausible explanation is
that another David, the false Messiah David-al-Roy, is the one who
inscribed this hexagram symbol on his shields in the 12th century.

Consequently the servants of Antichrist are looking for their
Mashiach ben David, who will conquer, not with the initials of Chirst
and his Cross IC XC NIKA, but with the initials of their hexagram,
standing for the initials of David.

For the hexagram is not only called the "star of David", but it is
called the "magen David" in the Hebrew or, "shield of David".

But this "shield" or "magen" David is more properly "magen Saul".

"for there the shield (magen) of the mighty is vilely cast away, the
shield (magen) of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
(2 Sam 1.21)

Of course there are three Sauls listed in the Old Testament.

Saul the sixth king of the Edomites (Gen 36.37), Bela, Jobab, Husham,
Hada, Samlah listed before him.

And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and
Zohar, and Saul the son of a Canaanitish woman. (Gen 46.10)

Notice that Saul is listed as the sixth son of Simeon the son of
Jacob, and he is specifically singled out as the son of a Canaanitish
woman.

And then of course is the Saul of the tribe of Benjamin that the
elders of Israel demanded to have as a king over them. For Saul
means "demanding".

Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of
Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a
Benjamite, a mighty man of power. And he had a son, whose name was
Saul, (1 Sam 9.1-2)

So let's enumerate them in order.

1) Aphiah
2) Bechorath
3) Zeror
4) Abiel
5) Kish
6) Saul

So magen Saul, the "shield of Saul" that is vilely cast away is
the "magen" 666, for king Saul was the third Saul enumerated as a six.

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six
hundred threescore and six talents of gold (1 Kings 10.14)

Now what did Solomon do with these 666 talents of gold?

And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred
shekels of gold went to one target. And he made three hundred
shields [HSN 4043] of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one
shield: [HSN 4043] and the king put them in the house of the forest
of Lebanon. (1 Kings 10.16-17)

Now HSN 4043 (Hebrew Strong's Number) is "magen" meaning "shield" as
in magen Saul or magen David.

So once again we have the Hebrew word "magen" or "shield" associated
(in this instance) with six hundred, sixty and six.

Just something to keep in mind...