Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible Online

I. Name The name Michael appears as a personal name in the Bible: Num. 13.13; Ezra 8.8; 7 times in 1 Chr and 2 Chr. 21.2. It is commonly interpreted as ‘who is like God?’ The guardian of Israel referred to in Dan. 10.13, Dan. 21; Dan. 12.1 is without doubt a heavenly figure. II. Identity Given the prominence of this angel in ancient Judaism, it has been supposed that the origins of his name and functions should be seen in the Canaanite deity Mikal, explaining the name as deriving from the root ykʾl, to be able etc. The ‘aleph’ would then be a later addition in order to bring this name i…

I. Name The Midday Demon is found in the Septuagint version of Ps. 91.6 (LXX Ps. 90.6). In Ps. 91.5–6, the Hebrew psalmist declares that the one who takes refuge in the Almighty will not fear: “The Terror of the night nor the Arrow that flies by day, nor the Pestilence ( Deber) that stalks in darkness nor the Destruction ( Qeṭeb) that wastes at noonday”. The parallelism of the verses twice balances a night and a daytime Evil, each of which was understood by rabbinic interpreters to refer to a demonic spirit: the day-time Qeteb is balanced by the night demon, Pestilence, Deber. In Deut. 32.24 the ‘…

I. Name ‘The mighty one of Jacob’ was interpreted as a divine name by Alt (1929). He classified it as a designation of one of the anonymous gods ‘of the father’. The only place where it may occur as a proper name is Gen. 49.24; elsewhere it is always an epithet of Yahweh ( Isa. 49.26; Isa. 60.16; Ps. 132.2–5; cf. Sir. 51.12; see also ʾăbîr yiśrāʾēl as a parallel to ʾădōn and yhwh ṣĕbāʾōt in Isa. 1.24). It is doubtful whether ʾăbîr Yaʿăqōb may be translated as “Bull of Jacob” (Cross 1973:4). The only possible evidence for this could be found in Ugaritic texts. II. Identity In KTU 1.12 ii…

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I. Name The deity of the Ammonites, Milcom, occurs three times in the MT: 1 Kgs. 11.5, 1 Kgs. 33; 2 Kgs. 23.13. The Greek translators of the Septuagint or/and other Greek recensions and versions (Syrian, Latin) have read Milcom (Μελχομ, Μελχολ, Μολχομ, Μολχολ, possible confusion of Μ and Λ in uncial writing) in seven other instances: 2 Sam. 12.30; 1 Chr. 20.2; Amos 1.15; Jer. 49(=30).1, Jer. 3; Zeph. 1.5; 1 Kgs. 11.7. In a number of cases, the Greek translations show how difficult the reading of the Hebrew prototype mlkm was; it could be vocalised and understood as Milcom or as “their king” ( malkā…

I. Name Min is an Egyptian god of procreation and creation. It has been speculated that his name occurs in the place name Thakemeina (1 Kgs. 11.19–20 LXX; MT Tahpenes), which Albright analyses as * Tʒ-kʒi-(n.t)-mn, “The Female Attendant (or the like) of Min” (1955:32), presumably the name of an Egyptian queen. The suggestion is implausible, however. II. Identity Min is the Greek form of Eg. mnw or mn, the local god of Akhmin and later Coptos. In the iconography Min is represented anthropomorphically as an ithyphallic figure carrying two feathers as his headgear.…

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I. Name Like Hebrew mîšôr, Ugaritic mšr derives from yšr, ‘to be upright’; similarly, Akkadian mı̄šaru is a derivative of ešēru, ‘to straighten up’. Evidence for mîšôr as a deity in Hebrew tradition is only indirect. II. Identity The name of the Babylonian male deity mı̄šaru occurs together with kittu, ‘Justice’, and either or both have the epithets āšib maḫri Šamaš, ‘seated in front of Shamash’ or sukkallu ša imitti, ‘vizier of the right hand’ (for references to d Mı̄šaru see CAD M/2, 118–119). The alphabetic and syllabic texts from Ugarit show that mšr did occur th…

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I. Name The name of the Indo-Iranian deity Mithra occurs as a theophoric element in the Iranian proper name Mithredath, Heb. מתרדת, Ezra 1.8; Ezra 4.7, Gk. Μιθριδάτης, 1 Esdr. 2.8 and Μιθραδάτης, 1 Esdr. 2.12. The different orthography points to two different persons. The first one was treasurer of the Achaemenid king Cyrus II (559–530 bce), who ordered the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The second was a high functionary (a satrap?) in the Persian administration in Juda during the reign of king Arthaxerxes I (465–424 bce), when the temple was actually rebuilt. The name me…