Arcturus

Arcturus appears twice in the book of Job as part of a list of star formations cited in God's speech from the whirlwind (Job 9:9; 38:32). The Hebrew term rendered “Arcturus” in the King James Version ('ash or 'ayish) is now more commonly translated “the Bear” by modern versions, identifying the constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear, or the Plough). Arcturus itself is the brightest star in the constellation Bootes, adjacent to Ursa Major, and ancient translators associated the Hebrew term with this conspicuous star.

The context of both Job passages is God's challenge to Job's understanding of the created order: “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the belt of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?” (Job 38:31–32). The rhetorical questions invoke the predictable but humanly uncontrollable movements of the stars as evidence of divine power and wisdom that far exceeds human comprehension, one of the most sustained passages in Scripture on the theological significance of the cosmos.