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Kaiwan

KAIWAN kā’ ĭ wän (כִּיּ֣וּן). A star god worshiped by some in Israel (Amos 5:26; RSV). The KJV has tr. it “Chiun” and the ASV has tr. it “shrine,” following the Vul.

It is prob. the same as the Assyrian word καινἀνυ which means the planet Saturn. Kaiwan was regarded as a god and was originally pronounced כִּיּ֣וּן. LXX trs. the name ῥαιφάν. This is one of the Egyp. names for the god Seb (Saturn).

It has been suggested that since it is vocalized like שִׁקּוּץ, H9199, shiqqūts, “detested thing,” in the text, there was a deliberate changing of the pronunciation to suggest the idea of the detestation of this god on the part of the Lord and His people.

Still others suggest that the name comes from the Heb. root כון meaning “to establish” and refers to something on a pedestal or image stand.

The passage is quoted in the NT (Acts 7:42f.) where Stephen is preaching against the sins of Israel. Here Stephen follows the LXX and speaks of “the star of the god Rephan” (Gr. ̔Παιφάν) q.v.