WHO IS THE “QUEEN OF HEAVEN”
IN JEREMIAH 7:18, 44:17-19, 44:25?
In the Litany of Loreto, the Blessed Virgin Mary is invoked under the title “Queen of Heaven.” During the Easter season, Roman Catholic Christians sing/recite the hymn/prayer Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) instead of the Angelus.
Because Catholics refer to Mary as “Queen of Heaven,” a Fundamentalist preacher[1] connected Mary with the one mentioned in Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17-19 and 44:25; hence, an abomination.
First, Mary as Queen of Heaven has nothing to do with Jeremiah 7:18; 44:17 and 44:25. Catholics fondly call Mary Queen of Heaven simply because her Son is the King of Kings whose kingdom is “not of this world” (Jn. 18:36). We see in the heavenly woman crowned with stars in Revelation 12:1 as representing, among others, Mary, the mother of the Messiah (cf. Rev. 12:5).[2]
So, who is Jeremiah’s “Queen of Heaven”?
Secular and biblical references agree that the “Queen of Heaven” mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah in 7:18; 44:17-19 and also in 44:25 refers to the goddess Ishtar or Astarte (or Ashtoreth, cf. 1 Kings 11:5), a near-Eastern goddess of fertility.
In the article Ishtar and Her Cult, author Judith Oschshorn writes:
“Ishtar’s name is etymologically identical with that of the West Semitic goddess Astarte, the South Arabian god ‘Athar or Astar, who in Ethiopia was the god of heaven, and who appears in Ugaritic or Canaanite myths as both the female Athtart and the male ‘Athar ‘Ariz. Perhaps her most significant designation is the Semitic version of Innana, “queen of heaven,” the multifaceted and most enduring of all the powerful Sumerian goddesses. In addition, the association of Ishtar with male as well as female deities reveals an important ingredient of Mesopotamian conceptions of the divine that spilled into cultic practices.”[3]
In addition to secular references such as the one cited above, scriptural reference materials identify the prophet Jeremiah’s “Queen of Heaven” with Ishtar. In the footnote to Jeremiah 7:14, The Living Bible comments that the Queen of Heaven is a “name by which Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, was called. After the fall of Jerusalem the refugees who fled to Egypt continued to worship her (chapter 44). A papyrus dating from the 5th century B.C., found in Hermopolis in Egypt, mentions the “Queen of Heaven” among the gods honored by the Jewish community.”[4]
The Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible edited by such eminent Protestant Bible scholars Herbert Lockyer, Sr., F.F. Bruce and R.K. Harrison, has this to say:
“QUEEN OF HEAVEN – a fertility goddess to whom the Israelites, especially the women, offered sacrifice and worship in the days before the fall of the southern kingdom of Judah (Jer. 7:18; 44:17, 19, 25). In the time of Jeremiah, many people in Jerusalem and other cities of Judah worshiped the queen of heaven. Their worship included burning incense and pouring out drink offerings to her (Jer. 44:17). This was obviously a form of idolatry, but it is not clear exactly which pagan god was worshiped.
The phrase queen of heaven may be a title for the goddess Ishtar (perhaps the same goddess as the biblical ASHTORETH); or it may refer to the Canaanite goddess Anat. Cakes were also baked in honor of the “queen of heaven” (Jer. 7:18). These cakes may have been in the shape of stars, crescent moons, or the female figure. The worship of the goddess was one of the evils that brought God’s judgment upon Judah (Jer. 7:20).”[5]
It is interesting to note that in 4th century Arabia, a cult composed primarily of women known as the Collyridians, worshiped Mary by sacrificing cakes to her in the same fashion that the prophet Jeremiah condemned in Jeremiah 44:19. Like the prophet Jeremiah of old, the Catholic Church condemned this practice and excommunicated the Collyridians. St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, writes in his Panarion:
“Certain women there in Arabia have introduced this absurd teaching from Thracia: how they offer up a sacrifice of bread rolls in the name of the ever-Virgin Mary, and all partake of this bread (Panarion 78:13) … It is not right to honor the saints beyond their due (ibid., 78:23) … Now the body of Mary was indeed holy, but it was not God; the Virgin was indeed a virgin and revered, but she was not given up to us for worship, but she herself worshiped him who was born in the flesh from her … Honor Mary, but let the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be worshiped, but let no one worship Mary … even though Mary is the most beautiful and holy and venerable, yet she is not to be worshiped (ibid., 79:1, 4).
In sum, Ishtar (Astarte or Ashtoreth), the so-called “Queen of Heaven,” a false goddess denounced by the prophet Jeremiah, was being worshiped (Jer. 44:17, 19) while the Blessed Virgin Mary, although sometimes lovingly invoked Catholics with the title “Queen of Heaven” (rightly understood), is not a goddess and is therefore not to be adored.
[1] The blogger has seen the episode on television which prompted him to do further research on who is the “queen of heaven” mentioned by the prophet Jeremiah in Jer. 7:18, 44:17-19 and 44:25.
[2] For an Evangelical view of the woman in Revelation 12:1, see: https://themarianblogger.wordpress.com/2019/07/12/the-woman-clothed-with-the-sun-according-to-the-evangelical-commentary-on-the-bible/?fbclid=IwAR1TwXrIek7rkY5jQoDZTGss6Syx9TUShlxVe1so7KjWXTQy62wC9gnnGQE
[3] Judith Ochshorn, “Ishtar and Her Cult,” The Book of the Goddess Past and Present, Carl Olson, ed. (New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing Co., 1994) 16-17.
[4] The Living Bible Paraphrased (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1971) 586.
[5] Herbert Lockyer, Sr., ed., Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986) 892.
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