The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

376 The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12)appreciable influence on our atmosphere. Hence, he says, thoughthe constellations serve as the signals, they must not be regardedas the causes, of atmospheric changes; and he aptly illustrates thedistinction by a reference to beacon-fires, which are the signals,but not the causes, of war. 10601060 Geminus, Elementa Astronomiae, xvii. 10 sqq. If “the sweet influences ofthe Pleiades” in the Authorised Version of the English Bible were an exacttranslation of the corresponding Hebrew words in Job xxxviii. 31, we shouldnaturally explain the “sweet influences” by the belief that the autumnal settingof the constellation is the cause of rain. But the rendering of the words isdoubtful; it is not even certain that the constellation referred to is the Pleiades.See the commentaries of A. B. Davidson and Professor A. S. Peak on thepassage. The Revised English Version translates the words in question “thecluster of the Pleiades.” Compare H. Grimme, Das israelitische Pfingstfest undder Plejadenkult (Paderborn, 1907), pp. 61 sqq.