Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible Online

I. Name The expression har gabnunnîm in Ps. 68.16, literally ‘mountain of peaks’ and usually translated as ‘mighty mountain’ (RSV), is interpreted by del Olmo Lete (1988:54–55) as ‘mountain of the Gabnunnim’, the latter being a designation of underworld deities. II. Identity The reasoning that lies behind del Olmo Lete’s suggestion is based on the opposition in Ps. 68 of Mt. Sinai versus Mt. Bashan, the one being the holy mountain of Yahweh, the other the holy mountain of a group of Canaanite gods (vv 15–17). For his interpretation of Bashan as a dwe…

I. Name Gabriel appears in the Book of Daniel as the angel who explains the vision of the he-goat and the ram (8.16) and the prophecy of the seventy (weeks of) years (9.21). He is usually assumed to be also the revealing angel of Daniel. 10. In the New Testament, he is the angel of the Annunciation ( Luke 1.19, Luke 26) and is identified with ‘the angel of the Lord’. The name is usually understood as ‘man of God’, but is better taken as ‘God is my hero/warrior’ (Fitzmyer 1981: 328, who argues from the analogy of the first person plural suffix in the nameI Ré-i-na-d Adad, “Adad is our shepherd”, at E…

I. Name Gad is the name of a deity of good luck, equivalent to the Greek Tyche and Latin Fortuna. Gad is mentioned together with Meni in Isa. 65.11 as being worshipped in post-exilic Judah. The god is also attested in personal names (e.g. Gaddî, Num. 13.11; Gaddîʾēl, Num. 13.10; ʿAzgād, Ezra 2.12) and place names (e.g. Baʿal-gād, Josh. 11.17 etc.; Migdal-gād, Josh. 15.37), most probably in the sense of an appellative meaning ‘(good) fortune’ rather than as the name of a deity. As god of fortune, Gad is attested in texts from Canaan, Phoenicia (and the Punic world), Hauran and Arabia. II. I…

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Akk. Akkadian Ar. Arabic Aram. Aramaic bk. book c. century ca. circa chap(s). chapter(s) col(s). column(s) Copt. Coptic D. Deuteronomist DN divine name Dtr. Deuteronomistic redactor(s) E. Elohist Eg. Egyptian Eng. English Eth. Ethiopic fig(s). figure(s) FS Festschrift G. Greek (versions) Gk. Greek Heb. Hebrew Hit. Hittite Hurr. Hurrian IE Indo-European J. Yahwist Lat. Latin LXX Septuagint MB Middle Babylonian ms(s). manuscript(s) MT Masoretic Text n(n). note(s) no(s). number(s) NT New Testament obv. obverse OG Old Greek OL Old Latin OSA Old South Arabic OT Old Testament P. Priestly…

I. Name Gapnu, ‘the vine’, is well attested as a divine name in the Ugaritic mythological texts, always in the binomial gpn w ugr, ‘vine(yard) and field’ ( KTU 1.3 iii 37; 1.4 vii 54; 1.4 viii 47; 1.5 i 12). In spite of some dissenting opinions, this interpretation of the names is widely accepted today (Pardee 1989/1990). The Ugaritic name is etymologically connected with Heb. gepen, ‘vine’. II. Identity Ginsberg (1944) has established that, in spite of the lack of separate attestations of gpn and ugr, various accompanying forms in the texts show that the phrase gpn w ugr does not designate a…

I. Name Gatharu ( gṯr) is attested as a divine name in several genres of Ugaritic texts (vocabulary texts, rituals, a letter) and in sacrificial lists from Emar. The name is also attested as a theophoric element at Mari. It is plausibly derived from a root gṯr. It denotes ‘to be strong’, provided that the relationship with the Akkadian adjective gašru be accepted, where the strength denoted is particularly fierce and war-like. The god Gatharu has been tentatively connected with the bibilical anthroponym Gether ( Gen. 10.23). II. Identity The deity is most clearly at home in Syria…