"Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?" Job 38:31
The context is God "taunting" Job by pointing out an enormous list of things He has done that Job cannot. Here, God claims to have bound the Pleiades and the cord--that is, the stars comprising the belt--of Orion. He is stating they are gravitationally bound to one another, not merely appearing to be close together, as when a brighter star that is farther away appears near a star that is intrinsically dimmer, but are actually close enough to be grabbed by one another.
That is a claim that could not be tested until the 20th Century, when telescopes finally became powerful enough to determine the truth of that claim. They verified it. As such, it stands as a powerful proof, though far, far from unique, of the Bible's thorough accuracy.
True, about the scientific side of this, but I rather doubt, to an ancient like Job, this is what it meant to him. Nor to God either, who, in scripture, defers to the times people live.
To the ancients, the “girding” of the loins meant, in our modern lingo, “lock and load.” Orion the warrior with his loins girded for battle. His cords, or belt, conveyed that thought to the ancients. God who formed the constellations, has Orion pictured thusly, the question is put to Job, can he change this? can he loose those cords?
Likewise, the Pleiades.
> The three stars in the belt are Mintaka, Alnilam and Alnitak. According to an astronomer with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Ronald Maddlaena, these are the meanings of the three stars: Mintaka (on the west) means “belt”, Alnilam (in center) means “belt of pearls” and Altnitak (right) means “girdle.” The three range between 800 and 1,000 light-years from Earth.
http://www.universetoday.com/85736/orions-belt-stars/
IOW, there is no actual connection, as the three stars of Orion’s belt are 100s of light years apart; furthermore, until telescopic astronomy came along and developed, the companions to each star were unknown.
I am familiar with this passage. Thank you for again stating this powerful argument for the authority of the Bible.