King David used the Star of David

[1]In his reply he correctly explained that the "u" sound in Paleo-Hebrew was drawn to look like "Y. " I previously misunderstood him to mean the opposite - that the shape for the "Y" sound looks like our "U", based on his statement: “The Y shape is the same as our letter U. "Rather than justify my misunderstanding, which he clarified, I wish to draw attention to the fact that his overall view relies on there being a "Y" in the hexagram. Since David ruled about 1000 BC, the Y would look like the two letters on the far left below, both of which I have seen associated with David's era[2]: Unfortunately, it is difficult to see how either fits inside a hexagram. Although one might can see a distorted, tiny-forked y on the right end of the star, a y is not a symmetrical Y. The next major issue is that the association between David and the sign unfortunately relies so much on chance. Thus White says: "it is most likely they carried. .. the seal", and "Archaeology is mostly guesswork". I agree with the Proverb on approaching problems with an open mind. However, an open-minded approach would consider the possibilities and thus notice the unlikelihood. The approximately 2000 years between David and the rabbinical writing's association with him and the star makes the story very uncertain. It would have to be passed through so many generations that, as in a game of telephone, the final message loses reliability. Lacking a serious basis in tradition, one is left to consider the many possibilities of the symbol David used for himself. The Bible notes his use of a harp and shepherd's staff, and anointing from a horn. (1 Sam 16:13) It associates Judah with a lion (Gen 49:9), a date palm, and an olive tree (Jer. 11:16). If David chose a star symbol despite any discouraging tendencies from Ex. 20:4, a hexagram would be one of many possibilities, eg. lines radiating from a point: * Some claim that the Star represents a constellation from an important time in David's life, like his birth or anointing. While astronomers may even be able to identify constellations from those periods, the exact way those stars should be connected, like tracing dots on a page, belongs to chance. Further, unfortunately it does not seem to be known whether there was a specific constellation that the ancients traced in this pattern. Thus, when one considers all the patterns David with which could have associated, any one by itself appears random and unlikely when lacking direct support in ancient traditions. If one is forced to associate a star with David, it would be the morning star, Venus, whose sign apparently is not a hexagram. David's Psalm 22 says it is to be played on the "Morning Star", perhaps referring to a melody or instrument. Rev. 22:16 portrays Jesus, the Messianic son of David, as being the "morning star. " Some websites conclude that the morning star's sign was a hexagram, but this appears based on a pre-existing assumption that David's star was a hexagon. [3]In fact, in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Venus' sign is an ankh. This is noteworthy, because the ankh slightly resembles a cross. Among ancient Middle Easterners, Venus was associated with the pagan deity Astarte, whose star sign resembled an octagram. Thus, based on the Bible's references to the morning star, it is not apparently the most likely sign. Some propose that the hexagram came from pagan cultures. This is possible as people used it across Asia centuries before David's time. Hinduism calls it the anahata or shatkona. White considers it anachronistic to associate it with paganism. In fact, the sign does include a nonpagan meaning, as Fr. Gumerov considers it purely decorative. However, a warning about "anachronisms" cuts both ways: One might consider it anachronistic to associate the sign with David, and instead propose that the association developed much later. In his opening essay, White mentioned the apostle Stephen's opposition to Israelites using the star image of Kiyun, which in turn refers to a complaint about this by Amos (Am. 5). I am doubtful whether this star image referred to the hexagram, and White denies it. Those who make the association often propose that it was Saturn's sign, but I was unable to confirm that this was the case. There are modern photos of a hexagon on Saturn, but that does not mean the ancients were aware of this or made that its sign. I sympathize with White's opposition to intolerance. He relates one of the objections to the hexagram to anti-Semitism, which he says those like Egyptians and Church fathers held. In fact, they had a mix of attitudes: Pharoah's daughter married David's son Solomon and the Church fathers loved the prophets. On the other hand, ancient Israel and Egypt occasionally battled, and the writings of Church fathers and Rabbis echoed polemics in the Bible. What is remarkable for our debate is that the Church fathers did not reject the sign, and the Church actually used it as a decoration. The desire to understand the star's meaning comes from an appreciation of ancient Israel, and its approval as a decoration is not harmful. At most, one could advocate that people only approve of its correct meanings. This in turn could only be a benefit to those who use it. The view that it is not David's star is no more intolerant than White's position that it is not "a symbol of religion. " That some think the design came from paganism does not mean they do so out of intolerance, as they may instead have concluded this based on shared elements and contacts across cultures. In conclusion, the Star of David is an ancient decoration used in occasional, valuable artifacts in the Holy Land. However, the epic King David most likely did not associate himself with it, and as White notes, this has "yet [to] be proven. " Nor was it an important symbol of his inspiring religion in his time, as White notes that it "is not in any way a symbol of religion". The second commandment, against images of things in the heavens, was likely not absolute, but it served to discourage making star images. The first Israelite hexagrams found date about 400 years or more after David's time, and the earliest known writing associating him with it dates about 2000 years after his era, creating much doubt about it. Numerous Christian and Jewish scholars highly doubt a connection. While the two Deltas of David's name interestingly fit inside the sign, the second letter Y does not without severe alteration (a tiny-forked y). Without a direct association minimally close in time with David, it is left to chance. And considering the many objects and variations that David might identify with, the chance this great, epic king chose this one becomes unlikely.1. aronbengilad. blogspot. com/2011_08_01_archive. html2. ancient-hebrew. org/3_waw. html3. thehebrewcornerstone. blogspot. com/2011/01/morning-star-is-star-of-david. html