1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Remphan

REMPHAN, the Authorized Version’s rendering of the Greek word variously appearing in Acts vii. 48 as Ῥομφά, Ῥεμφάν, Ῥεμφάμ, Ῥαιφάν, Ῥεφάν. It is part of a quotation from Amos v. 26, where the Septuagint Ῥαιφάν or Ῥεφάν stands for the Hebrew בּ‬׳ק Chuin or Kewan. The Greek forms are probably simple mistakes for the Hebrew, k (כ) having been replaced by r (ד) and ph (φ) substituted for v (י). Kewan is probably the old Babylonian Ka(y)awanu, the planet Saturn, another (the Akkadian) name for which is Sakkut, which appears as Siccuth in the earlier part of the verse.