Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible Online

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I. Name In the strict sense the Gigantes in Greek mythology were the serpent-footed giants who were born from the blood-drops of the castration of Uranus (Heaven) that had fallen on Earth (Hesiod Theogony 183–186). The term gigantes occurs about 40 times in the LXX and refers there respectively to: a) the giant offspring of ‘the sons of God’ and ‘the daughters of mankind’ ( Gen. 6.1–4; Bar. 3.26–28; Sir. 16.7); b) strong and mighty men, like Nimrod ( Gen. 10.8–9); c) several pre-Israelite peoples of tall stature in Canaan and Transjordania. The etymology of the name, which…

I. Name The ‘warriors that were of old’ ( gibbôrîm ʾāšer mēʿôlām) mentioned in Gen. 6.4 and identified with a special class of superhuman beings (the Nephilim) in the antediluvian period are clearly a race apart from David’s champions (gibbôrîm) listed in 2 Sam. 23.8–39 (= 1 Chr. 11.10–47). The further definition mēʿôlām is important here because it locates the activities of the gibbôrîm in the primeval period and not in the recent historical past. The first named gibbôr on earth was Nimrod and the meaning of this epithet, like the Akk. gabbāru ‘strong’ and Ar. al-jabbār ‘…

I. Name Within the context of OT anti-iconic polemics the designation of deities and/or their images as gillûlîm occurs 48 times (39 in Ezek). The etymology of the noun is a subject of discussion. Many scholars follow Baudissin (1904) in deriving Biblical Heb. gillûlîm from a hypothetical singular noun * galol ‘stela’, whose vocalization has been deliberately modified by the Israelite prophets to correspond to the vowel pattern of the word šiqqûṣîm‘abominations’. This interpretation rests on an observation in the Aramaic-Greek bilingual Palmyrene inscription CIS 147, wh…

I. Name The identity of ‘the Girl’ in the phrase “A man and his father go to the girl” ( Amos 2.7) is most probably solved when interpreted as a depreciative designation of a female deity, perhaps Ashima (Andersen & Freedman 1989:318–319) or Ashera. II. Identity The identity of the deity being unknown, it is impossible to provide information about her. In the ancient Near East comparable words can be used when referring to the feminine deity: in Mesopotamian hymns related to marriage between Ishtar and Dumuzi (Tammuz) the goddess is presented as a young nubile woman (Wilcke 1976–80:84); in …

I. Name Kabôd occurs 200 times in MT, but doxa 453 times in the LXX (since it is also used as a translation of more than 20 other Hebrew terms) and 166 times in the NT. The standard translation, ‘glory’, is inadequate, for it does not convey the specific connotations of these words. The LXX translators chose in doxa a term which in classical Greek means ‘opinion’ or ‘reputation’, especially good reputation, hence also ‘honour’. It is not quite clear how doxa could be found suitable to render kābôd as the luminous phenomenon characteristic of theophanies or even as the name of th…