Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible Online

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I. Name Kaiwan occurs under the form Kiyyûn in Amos 5.26, after Sikkût (Sakkuth). The Masoretic vocalisation is that for idols Abominations. The real pronunciation must have been Kaiwān, cf. Syr. Keywân (and variants), the name of the planet Saturn. Both go back to the Babylonian name for Saturn, Kajjamānu, “The Steady One”. The Hebrew text used by LXX was already corrupted in having an initial r instead of k resulting in Rayphan (and variants); in Acts 7.43 Rompha. CD VII 15 mistook the name as a word meaning “base”, cf. Heb. kēn (Borger 1988:78–9). II. Identity In Assyrian/Babylonia…

I. Name In the Amarna letters the name of the Judean town of Keila ( Josh. 15.44; 1 Sam. 23; 1 Chr. 4.29; Neh. 3.17–18) is written uru Qi-il-te/tu, probably to be pronounced /Qiʿiltu/ ( EA 279:12; 280:11, 17; 287:11; 289:28; 290:10.18). Jirku related the name to a god whose name he read as d Ki-el-ti (1930). II. Identity The text in which Jirku found the god Kelti mentioned is KUB 17 no. 20 ii, part of a ritual for the ‘olden gods’ (for a transcription and translation see H. T. Bossert, MIO 4 [1956] 202–203). Line 7 of column ii mentions dKi-el-tidumu dA.A as one of the recipients of the offering…

I. Name In genealogical lists of the antediluvian heroes, the son of Enosh is called qênān/Kenan ( Gen. 5.9–14; 1 Chr. 1.2; cf. Luke 3.37 Kainam). Etymologically the name can be interpreted as derived from the noun or name qayinCain with a diminutive ending -ān. The name can mean either ‘smith; javelin’ ( HALAT 1026) or ‘little Cain’ (Hess 1993). The name has been compared to a Southarabian deity Qaynān (Robertson Smith 1894:43 n. 4; Westermann 1974:483). II. Identity From Himyaritic inscriptions a Sabaean deity Qaynān is known (CIH 2, 232). He was especially worshipped by …

I. Name The Hebrew word keseʾ ‘full moon’ (?) occurs in two Bible passages ( Ps. 81.4; Prov. 7.20), and possibly in a third as well ( Job 26.9). The word is also known in other West-Semitic languages. J.-M. Durand identifies a Mesopotamian divinity Kisa with West-Semitic keseʾ, attested in a Ugaritic god list under the form ksa (1997: 279). II. Identity In an Old Babylonian augury text (divination by birds), some omens are interpreted to signify ‘presence of Kisa’ ( ma(- an) -za-az ki-sa). The fact that the term manzaz/ mazzaz is normally followed by the name of a deity in divinatory …

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