The Shield and the Star
- Ben Burton
- 4 days ago
- 10 min read
For centuries, Jewish symbols have been misunderstood, misrepresented, and weaponized—especially by those seeking to delegitimize Israel and the Jewish people. One recurring accusation claims that the Star of David (the Magen David) is a pagan emblem, supposedly connected to the “Star of Remphan” mentioned in Acts 7. This latter claim is not only historically unfounded—it is exegetically irresponsible, theologically confused, and frequently functions as a vehicle for antisemitism and replacement theology.
The Star in History
The six-pointed star (or hexagram, from the Greek hexa meaning 'six', and gramma meaning 'line') is an ancient geometric motif that appears across many cultures long before it became associated distinctively with Judaism. Archaeologically, the shape is attested throughout the ancient Near East as early as the second millennium BCE, where it served primarily as a decorative design rather than a religious emblem. In the region of Israel, one of the earliest instances of the hexagram is found on a seal impression from around the sixth century BCE, during the late First Temple period:
"Ephraim Stern published stars of David (surrounding peacocks) engraved on jar handles at Gibeon, Israel, and dated them to the late period of the Israeli Kingdom of the First Temple, 6th century B.C.E." (Ze'ev Ve'ez, Gibeon, Star of David) ¹
As stated in the Encyclopedia Judaica,
"The oldest undisputed example is on a seal from the seventh century B.C.E. found in Sidon and belonging to one Joshua b. Asayahu." (Encyclopedia Judaica, Magen David, Volume 11, pg. 687, 1996 Edition)
Even here, however, it is best understood as an ornamental motif, not as a uniquely Jewish symbol. The hexagram appears alongside other common geometric patterns used throughout the ancient world.
In later centuries, hexagrams appear sporadically in Jewish contexts, including synagogue decorations from the Roman-Byzantine period. For example, at Capernaum in the Galilee, the hexagram is one architectural motif among many—alongside rosettes, interlacing circles, and other common designs.
There is no evidence that the six-pointed star was connected to David himself or functioned as an official emblem of Judaism in biblical or Second Temple times. Its widespread recognition as the “Magen David” and its emergence as a communal Jewish symbol belong primarily to the medieval and early modern periods, especially in Europe, where it gradually became a marker of Jewish identity. Thus, the archaeological record demonstrates that the hexagram’s early presence in Israel was decorative and non-idolatrous, and its later Jewish meaning developed within Jewish history rather than deriving from pagan worship.
It is also crucial to recognize that the hexagram was not solely associated with Judaism in premodern times; it also appeared in Christian art and architecture. During the medieval period, Christianity occasionally used the six-pointed star as a decorative geometric motif. Hexagrams are present in certain European churches, manuscripts, and heraldic designs, well before the symbol became widely identified as a distinctly Jewish emblem. But where does it come from? Is it from paganism? Or from God?
The Star in Paganism
The straightforward truth is that people of all beliefs, from devout followers of God to pagans, have utilized every conceivable shape in decorative and religious contexts. From circles, squares, crosses and triangles to pentagrams, hexagrams, decagrams, and beyond, the application of geometry is extensive and varied. Pagans have certainly used the hexagram in pagan contexts. However, if one bans a Jewish symbol because a pagan somewhere used a similar geometric form, then logical consistency would require banning:
Circles
Squares
Triangles
Stars
Crosses
Letters
Numbers
Wedding rings (circles)
Circular Calendars
Windows (squares)
The letter “O”
A shape is not an idol, and geometry itself does not imply idolatry. The significance of a symbol is determined by its context. An upright star is often associated with patriotism, while an inverted star may suggest demonic themes.
Consider the cross. For Christians, the cross is often cherished as a symbol of hope, redemption, and the resurrection of Jesus, representing God’s victory over sin and death. What was the ultimate symbol of death was transformed. For many Jews, however, the cross has also become a painful emblem of persecution, because throughout history it was frequently carried not only as a religious sign but as a banner under which Jews suffered forced conversions, expulsions, and violence at the hands of the Church. In that sense, Yeshua himself, as a first-century Jew persecuted by Rome along with his people, would have seen the cross first and foremost as an instrument of oppression and suffering, not a triumphant icon. Jews in the Second Temple would have seen it as the 'Electric Chair' of that generation. Adding further complexity, the cross is not unique to Christianity, as various pagan cultures also employed cross-like symbols long before and alongside its later Christian meaning. This highlights the complexity of meaning associated with geometric symbols.
What was the “Star of Remphan”?
What exactly was the "Star of Remphan"? In the Masoretic Text, it uses the word כִּיּוּן (Kiyyun) instead of Rephan (Ῥαιφάν), which is sometimes rendered "Remphan". Both are hapax legomena, a word or an expression that occurs only once within a context, making the word difficult to define. The central accusation often appeals to the speech of Stephen, quoted in this passage from the book of Acts:
“You took up the tent of Molech and the star of your god Remphan…" (Acts 7:43)
Stephen here is quoting Amos 5:26, where the prophet rebukes Israel for carrying astral idols during periods of apostasy.
וּנְשָׂאתֶ֗ם אֵ֚ת סִכּ֣וּת מַלְכְּכֶ֔ם וְאֵ֖ת כִּיּ֣וּן צַלְמֵיכֶ֑ם כּוֹכַב֙ אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר עֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם לָכֶֽם׃
“And you carried along Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves.” (Amos 5:26)
There are crucial facts that are often ignored when attempting to connect the six-pointed star to this passage:
Both Amos and Acts describe Israel “carrying” a shrine or a little hut of Molech and the star-shaped idol
Acts does not describe the shape or design of the “star”
Amos does not identify it as a hexagram
No archaeological evidence links Kiyyun/Remphan to the later Jewish Magen David
Judaism has no tradition of worshiping a six-pointed star as an idol
There is no historical continuity between Amos’s idol reference and medieval Jewish symbolism
There is simply no proof whatsoever that the “star of Remphan” was the Magen David. To equate the two is anachronistic and exegetically indefensible.
The “Star of Saturn”?
As the Greeks and Romans worshipped the planets, so did the ancient Near East. In Persian, the word Kaiwan was the name for Saturn. In Hebrew, the planet is named Shabtai. R' David Kimchi, makes an interesting observation:
"We have also explained that Kiyyun is the star Shabtai (Saturn), and it is called Kaiwān in the language of the Ishmaelites (Arabs) and Persians. And they made an image of it in order to worship it. That is to say: you made an image — a star-shaped idol — of your god. And this star is the one that they appointed over themselves as a deity, and they made an image of the star in order to worship it.” (Radak on Amos 5:26)
According to Radak, Kiyyun does connect to Saturn, and referred to a star-shaped idol, perhaps a physical object people carried around and worshipped, representing the astral body in space. However, we have no evidence or connection that this was connected to the six-pointed star, as the Encyclopedia Judaica states,
"Theories interpreting it as a planetary sign of Saturn and connecting it with the holy stone in the pre-Davidic sanctuary are purely speculative." (Encyclopedia Judaica, Magen David, Volume 11, pg. 687, 1996 Edition)
Nevertheless, some proponents within the Hebrew Roots movement today have tried to associate the six-pointed star with the planet Saturn, drawing on a recent scientific discovery of a large hexagonal storm pattern at Saturn's north pole. Initially observed by Voyager in the 1980s, this phenomenon was later confirmed by the Cassini spacecraft between 2006 and 2017.
Theoretically, how would this hidden feature of Saturn influence the ancients to connect the Star of David to it? Some have suggested demonic influence. This misses a profound irony: Who placed the hexagon upon Saturn via the laws of physics and fluid dynamics in the first place? Demons did not design the geometry of the cosmos—God did. The same Creator who ordered the heavens also embedded fractal and hexagonal patterns throughout nature.
The Star in Science
The Star of David is essentially a hexagram formed by the interlocking of two equilateral triangles. This exemplifies a fascinating geometric form that has captured the interest of mathematicians and artists alike. Like the storm on Saturn, hexagonal symmetry resonates throughout nature in numerous ways. It appears in:
Snowflakes
Honeycombs
Crystal lattices
Botanical structures, such as flowers with sixfold symmetries
In the crowns of pomegranates
This illustrates how this shape is not only prevalent in human-made designs but also in the natural world, which was designed with the mathematics of the primordial Hebrew language. Modern mathematics has delved into the properties of hexagonal structures, recognizing that they represent one of the most efficient configurations found in nature. This efficiency is evident in various biological systems, where hexagons provide strength and stability while minimizing the use of materials. The arrangement of carbon atoms in graphite, the cellular structures of various organisms, and even the formation of certain minerals all showcase the natural tendency towards hexagonal patterns.
Snowflakes, for example, exhibit sixfold symmetry because of the molecular structure of water as it freezes. Again, this is not paganism—it is physics. It is a shape embedded in creation itself. There is a well-known Jewish principle,
אֵין מַיִם אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה
"There is no water but the Torah." (Bava Kamma 82a)
The rabbis then link this concept to the verse,
ה֤וֹי כּל־צָמֵא֙ לְכ֣וּ לַמַּ֔יִם
"Ho, all who are thirsty come for water." (Isaiah 55:1, Revised JPS)
Commenting on Yeshua's words to the Samaritan woman regarding 'mayim chayim' (living water), Professor Maureena Fritz writes,
"The Torah is living water . . . The text is frozen until someone encounters it, and in the encounter, the text unfreezes and flows as water." (Prof. Maureena Fritz, A Midrash on Jesus and the Samaritan Woman Bat Kol Institute)
Frozen water becoming a snowflake beautifully represents the concept of a fractal. A fractal is a complex pattern that repeats its shape at different scales, so the same structure appears similar whether you zoom in or zoom out. God used fractal mathematics throughout Creation and even in the Torah.
One example is the Koch snowflake, a classic geometric fractal formed by repeatedly adding smaller triangular “spikes” to the edges of a shape, creating an endlessly detailed snowflake-like pattern. With each iteration, the boundary becomes more intricate, producing a curve of infinite length while enclosing a finite area. It beautifully illustrates how simple mathematical rules can generate complex, self-similar structures at every scale.
As we explore the significance of the Star of David, we uncover layers of meaning that connect mathematics, spirituality, and the beauty of the natural world.
The Star in Judaism
The Magen David became, over time, a visual emblem of Jewish survival, identity, and sacred continuity—not an object of worship. Today, attacks on the Star of David are rarely neutral. In practice, they often emerge from movements promoting:
replacement theology
anti-Zionist politics and theology
conspiracy-based antisemitism
efforts to delegitimize Jewish covenantal identity
Within Jewish interpretive tradition, the Star of David has profound, not pagan, meaning.
The upward triangle represents ascent, heaven, the spiritual, the masculine, the Son (Zeir Anpin)
The downward triangle represents descent, earth, embodiment, the feminine, the Bride
Together they form unity: heaven and earth interwoven
This represents the Olam Haba
It symbolizes the harmonization of opposites, רוחניות and גשמיות (spiritual and physical). Thus, it reveals the purpose of Torah is the union of the upper and lower worlds. This is the tachlit, the goal, as the book of Revelation says,
"Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:2, NKJV)
The next chapter of Revelation says,
"And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17, NKJV)
Just as the Star of David is woven into the fabric of creation, above and below, so too, the Jewish people are woven into the fabric of creation by Divine covenant, never to be erased, replaced, or removed, as God says,
"Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of hosts is his name: “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” (Jeremiah 31:35-36, NKJV)
Star of David Timeline
Time | Context | Significance / Notes |
Creation | Science & Math | Exists in mathematics, snowflakes, crowns of pomegranates and six petalled flowers |
2nd–1st millennium BCE | Ancient Near East (Mesopotamia, Egypt, etc.) | Decorative motif; no religious exclusivity; appears in non-Jewish seals/art. |
6th century BCE | Israelite/Judean sites (e.g., Gibeon jar handles) | Ornamental (with peacocks); not tied to David or worship (Stern's publication). |
3rd–4th century CE | Synagogues (e.g., Capernaum frieze) | One motif among many (rosettes, etc.); decorative, not symbolic of faith. |
Medieval (12th–14th c.) | Kabbalistic amulets, European Jewish communities | Emerges as "Magen David" for protection; symbolic in mysticism (Scholem). |
14th century | Prague Jewish community | First official communal use (flag granted by Charles IV, 1354). |
17th–19th centuries | Widespread in Europe | Synagogues, gravestones, community seals; becomes primary Jewish identifier. |
19th–20th centuries | Zionist movement, State of Israel | National emblem on flag; represents identity/resilience. |
For Further Study
Ze'ev Ve'ez, Star of David, Gibeon
Kenneth G. Libbrecht, The Snowflake: Winter’s Secret Beauty (Voyageur Press, 2003). Hexagonal symmetry in snow crystals is a well-established phenomenon in physics.
F.F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts (NICNT; Eerdmans, 1988), commentary on Acts 7:43. See also discussions of astral deities and Saturn worship in Second Temple polemics.
Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Avodah Zarah 3–4; Judaism’s legal tradition strictly distinguishes between decorative symbols and forbidden objects of worship.
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Acts of the Apostles (Anchor Yale Bible, 1998), on Remphan as a Septuagint transliteration.
Hans Walter Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia; Fortress Press, 1977), on Amos 5:26 and Kiyyun.
Steven Fine, Art and Judaism in the Greco-Roman World (Cambridge University Press, 2005), on Jewish decorative motifs.
Gershom Scholem, “The Star of David: History of a Symbol,” in Kabbalah (Jerusalem: Keter, 1974).
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