The Vastness of the Universe: What Ancient Wisdom Knew All Along

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Some claim that modern astronomy has revealed to us a universe so vast that it redefines our human understanding, and that ancient peoples could not conceive of such magnitude. While this might be true for other civilizations, it certainly wasn't for Jewish tradition; without the aid of telescopes, ancient cultures could count no more than 6,000 stars in the night sky. However, our Torah isn't like any other—it carries the divine words of Hashem, whose understanding transcends all nations.

Let's start with the Torah's emphasis that the number of stars far exceeds any human count. This is evident from its metaphor of stars as representing countless numbers: "And He brought him outside and said, 'Look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your offspring be'" (Genesis 15:5). This analogy would be meaningless if it referred only to the roughly 6,000 stars visible to the Babylonian astronomer of yore.

Interestingly, the Torah also uses the example of the grains of sand, which number in billions rather than mere thousands: "That I will surely bless you and greatly multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore" (Genesis 22:17).

The stars and grains of sand both symbolize numbers so vast that no human can count them.

Rashi interprets, according to midrash, that Abraham, our forefather, was granted a vision of the stars beyond the firmament: "He brought him outside"—in its simple sense, outside his tent to see the stars, but in the midrashic sense, He brought him out of the world's dimension and lifted him above the stars, thus viewing them from above" (Genesis 15:5).

This interpretation reveals a prophetic insight—that the actual scale of the universe can only be appreciated beyond Earth's atmosphere, a fact only revealed first with the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hubble Space Telescope, launched into orbit in 1990, uncovered a universe far grander than humanity could ever imagine from Earth. Today, the stars are estimated to number in the billions upon billions, figures truly unimaginable to humans. Even Galileo, with a telescope gazing from Earth, could not have envisioned such a vast universe.

So, how many stars are there in the universe? Even conservatively estimated, there are about a billion trillion stars. This number looks like:

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

or 10 to the power of 21.

It's noteworthy that this number is only an educated guess, as we cannot truly see the content of galaxies and solar systems within them, nor can we fully comprehend the stars visible—which may just be the dying light of stars long gone.

The prophets of Israel knew that the number of stars was far greater than what the eye could perceive in the night sky. King David marveled at the notion that only Hashem could count the stars, due to their vast and enormous number: "He counts the number of the stars; to all of them He assigns names" (Psalms 147:4). Likewise, his son King Solomon, known as the wisest of all men, remarks that creation is far more extensive than the human eye can see: "Without man finding the work that Hashem has done from the beginning to the end" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

This statement implies that no person can count the stars—even if they could see them! Indeed, only sophisticated computers can process such astronomical numbers of galaxies and stars—by automatically examining pixels in images from satellites, where each tiny pixel contains billions of stars.

No individual can achieve such knowledge without advanced technology, and truthfully, even once acquired—these high numbers can be spoken but remain completely beyond the grasp of human thought.

It's a fact: Only Hashem can count the stars and name them all; even if every person in the world were to gather, time would run out before they'd manage to name them all...

This knowledge that the number of stars is larger than seen, unable to be counted due to sheer magnitude, is embedded in the Oral Torah tradition passed down by the Sages from generation to generation, as part of the wisdom of the Torah.

Take, for example, the star cluster called "Keema." Without a telescope, six stars can be counted here, which led ancient cultures to believe that the cluster contained only six stars. However, the Sages revealed that this cluster holds no fewer than a hundred stars (Berakhot 58b), and Rashi notes that this implies a number far greater than a hundred. But why did the Sages say there were so many stars, where the eye can see only six? This was not knowledge gained from physical observation or telescopes but was passed down through the wisdom of the Torah.

However, this is just the beginning of the marvel. We see clear verses in the Tanakh indicating that the number of stars cannot be counted by human hands, and only Hashem can number them due to their multitude.

This is an astonishing fact because, in ancient times, astronomers of various cultures numbered between 4,000 and 6,000 stars by sight, leaving no reason to estimate millions, let alone tens of thousands of stars.

It's also crucial to emphasize that the atmosphere limits observation into space. From the ground, it's impossible to view the numerous galaxies in the universe—even with telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope was a satellite sent into space in 1990, and it first allowed a view of distant galaxies, permitting NASA to propose an estimate of the stars in the observable universe:

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

or 10 to the power of 21.

(When writing 10 to the power of 21, it means 10 multiplied by 10 multiplied by 10... continuing for 21 times).

Could anyone think of a number this large, thousands of years ago?

In an ancient midrash over 1,500 years old, the Sages calculated the number of stars. The number presented is so large that it's shown in multiples, exceeding billions upon billions of stars (today, we use mathematical terms of 'powers' to denote such great numbers).

Let's take a look at the language of the Gemara (Berakhot 32b):

"Hashem said: My daughter, I created 12 constellations in the firmament, and for each constellation, I created 30 forces, and for each force, I created 30 legions, and for each legion, I created 30 divisions, and for each division, I created 30 hosts, and for each host, I created 365,000 myriads of stars corresponding to the days of the solar year, and all I created only for you, and you say I have abandoned you..."

The words "division," "host," "garrison" describe types of armies or systems, containing minute details (Rashi explains: "Leaders of troops, separated companies," and "titles of authority, like consul, governor, duke, and ruler"). In scientific language, we might see the term 'garrison' as an expression for a galaxy.

The Gemara provides us an estimate for the number of stars through a series of multiplications, calculable with a scientific calculator:

12 constellations multiplied by 30 forces are 360 forces.

360 forces multiplied by 30 legions are 10,800 legions.

10,800 legions multiplied by 30 divisions are 324,000 divisions.

324,000 divisions multiplied by 30 hosts are 9,720,000 hosts.

9,720,000 hosts multiplied by 30 garrisons are 291,600,000 garrisons.

The word "ten thousand" or myriad, in Hebrew means 10,000.

Thus, a thousand myriads are 10,000,000.

It's said that in every "garrison" there are 365,000 myriads of stars, meaning: 3,650,000,000 stars.

291,600,000 garrisons multiplied by 3,650,000,000 gives us the astronomical number:

1,064,340,000,000,000,000

or 10 to the power of 18 stars.

How could one think of such an enormous universe, of such a high number, on the scale of the Hubble Space Telescope, when the eye sees no more than a few thousand stars in the night sky?

NASA proposed the estimate: 10 to the power of 21 stars. But this number remains just a guess, as observation shows the distant galaxies, but does not allow us to see all the stars within them (calculations are made using assumptions about the average number of stars in galaxies, based on their size).

Could it be that the number of stars is even greater?

I came across a further nuance attributed to Rabbi Ben Zion Mutsafi, may he live long, who pointed out: The word "My daughter," at the start of the count relates to the concept of the Jewish congregation—numbering sixty myriads (600,000 souls who stood at Mount Sinai). This implies the final number must be multiplied by 600,000, since this statement was intended for every individual Jewish soul (as echoed in the Mishnah: "Therefore each person must say, the world was created for me"—Sanhedrin 4:5).

This results in an even higher number than NASA's estimate:

638,604,000,000,000,000,000,000

or 10 to the power of 23 stars.

The wonder grows exponentially when one notices the terms used in the midrash: legions, hosts, etc., which don't describe stars scattered randomly in space, but stars suspended within external and internal systems: "...and for each legion, I created thirty divisions, and for each division, I created thirty hosts, and for each host, I created thirty garrisons."

Our Sages were describing what we know today only through advanced methods: stars organized into systems within systems, recognized now as galaxies, star clusters, superclusters, and solar systems.

Isn't it peculiar, perhaps even impossible, to believe that the universe contains billions upon billions of stars, when only a few thousand are visible? And furthermore, to believe these stars are arranged within organized systems like galaxies, clusters, and so on.

It seems the Jewish people were the first in the world to know how truly vast the universe is, and how numerous the stars. The Torah declares: "For this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples" (Deuteronomy 4:6), and our Sages say that Israel holds knowledge of cycles and constellations that astound the nations (Shabbat 75a).

Moreover, there are difficult-to-understand statements in the words of our Sages, describing worlds that preceded our own: "That Hashem was creating worlds and destroying them, creating worlds and destroying them, until He created these" (Genesis Rabbah 3:7). Modern astronomy speaks of distant stars that have long since died, and only their light reaches us.

This celestial knowledge was passed down through tradition, and was referred to by the Sages as the mystical teachings transferred to a select few, because people in their time couldn't properly comprehend such high truths about their reality (Ḥagigah 11b).

These were the hidden aspects of the Torah, about which our Sages said in the Mishnah: "Do not expound on illicit relations with three people, nor on the story of creation with two, nor on the chariot with one, unless they're wise and understand on their own" (Ḥagigah, Chapter 2).

Our Sages knew that the universe is vast, filled with immense wisdom and many secrets, meant to be passed down only among wise mystics.

From all that's been said, we can confidently conclude that the Sages would not have been surprised by the modern astronomical revelations about the universe's size, the number of galaxies, and stars, knowledge that affirmed what they had received through a tradition spanning thousands of years; they knew that such a large number of stars represents the true grandeur of an infinite Creator.