“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?”
Job 38:31-32 ESV
Through the Bible: Job 38-39
When God speaks to Job out of the whirlwind in Job 38, His questions move from the foundations of the earth to the boundaries of the sea—and then suddenly, to the stars.
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the cords of Orion?
Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season…?”
For many modern readers, that moment raises a quiet but real question: aren’t Pleiades and Orion Greek names? Does this mean the book of Job is borrowing from Greek mythology?
It’s a good question. And the answer opens a surprisingly beautiful window into how Scripture works.
The short answer
No—Job is not borrowing Greek mythology. Those aren’t the names that are in the Hebrew text. Let’s slow down and look at what’s actually happening.
Long before the Greeks told stories about Orion the hunter or the seven sisters of the Pleiades, people across the ancient world were already watching the night sky. In every culture, careful observers noticed repeating star patterns, and used them to mark seasons for planting, harvesting, and travel
Some star groupings were simply impossible to miss. Orion’s belt, for example, is one of the most recognizable features in the sky. Once you see it, you always know where you are.
These patterns didn’t belong to one culture or religion. They belonged to the shared human experience of living under the same heavens.
What the Hebrew Says
Job was written in Hebrew. The ancient Jews had their own names for the constellations. So in the original language, Job refers to:
- Kimah — a tightly bound cluster of stars
- Kesil — a powerful, imposing figure in the sky
Those terms made perfect sense to ancient readers. They referred to familiar celestial features.
Around 250 BC, Jewish scholars in the Greek-speaking world began translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, the common language of the day. According to later tradition, this work was associated with seventy translators, which is why the translation came to be known as the Septuagint.
These faithful translators faced a challenge: how would they help new readers recognize what the original audience already understood?
So translators used the closest, clearest equivalents available:
- Kimah became Pleiades
- Kesil became Orion
Not because the ancient writer of Job knew the Greek names, but because those names helped Greek speaking Bible readers recognize the stars he was pointing to. Language had moved forward, and the translators moved with it.
Why one name stays untranslated
Right after Pleiades and Orion, God asks:
“Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in their season?”
Mazzaroth isn’t a single constellation. It refers to the cycle of stars that mark the seasons—similar to what we call the zodiac.
In this instance, translators chose to leave the word as it was, rather than force a modern label onto an ancient idea. The point of the text was not the name of the star chart, but the movement of the seasons.
Why this matters
A helpful contrast here is the difference between Christianity and Islam when it comes to translation. In classical Islamic belief, the Qur’an is considered the Word of God only in its original Arabic. Translations can help explain its meaning, but they are not regarded as the Qur’an itself. As a result, learning Arabic has always been central to Islamic teaching and devotion.
Christianity, by contrast, has always been a translated faith. From its earliest days, the gospel moved from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek, then into Latin, and eventually into the languages of ordinary people.
Christian missions has never been about preserving a sacred language, but about proclaiming Christ to people of every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9). Bible translation is not a modern concession—it is woven into the very fabric of the Christian story.
There is a lot of talk today about how modern translations “change the Bible.” Some of that concern comes from a sincere desire to protect God’s Word—but some of it drifts into conspiracy theory territory: that secular publishers have hidden agendas, or that translation committees are quietly corrupting the text. I have even heard people say we should never buy Bibles printed in certain countries, because “you never know what they might do to God’s Word.”
Job 38:31–32 reminds us what faithful translation actually is. God’s Word itself does not change—but language does. The work of translators is not to rewrite Scripture, but to help each generation hear it clearly, using words and images they can recognize. When ancient Hebrew star names become “Pleiades” and “Orion,” nothing is being smuggled in; something is being made understandable.
And for that, we can be deeply grateful. God has always guided His Word from one language, culture, and people group to another—so that when we “tell of His glory to the next generation” (Psalm 78:4), they truly know what we are talking about.
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