Pleiades

Heb. kimah, “a cluster” (Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos 5:8, A.V., “seven stars;” R.V., “Pleiades”), a name given to the cluster of stars seen in the shoulder of the constellation Taurus.

The Hebrew word (cimah) so rendered occurs in (Job 9:9; 38:31; Amos 6:8) In the last passage our Authorized Version has "the seven stars," although the Geneva version translates the word "Pleiades" as in the other cases. The Pleiades are a group of stars situated on the shoulder of the constellation Taurus. The rendering "sweet influences" of the Authorized Version, (Job 38:31) is a relic of the lingering belief in the power which the stars exerted over human destiny. But Schaff thinks the phrase arose from the fact that the Pleiades appear about the middle of April, and hence are associated with the return of spring, the season of sweet influences .

pli'-a-dez, ple'-ya-dez, ple'-a-dez.

See ASTROLOGY, 10; ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 10.