Theophory and Angelic Names ((OOC))
Jul. 3rd, 2012 12:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tryingitallTBH: The mun is no Biblical scholar, but did attend several years of Sunday School in a Methodist church before running off to join the Unitarians.
So, I think most people familiar with angelic mythology and apocryphal Judeo-Christian...whatever, know that the name 'Michael' means 'Who is like God?'. Most of the other Biblical and apocryphal angelic names have similar structure, with the 'El' part signifying God, or the power of God or a god.
Not all the angels in SPN have the same type of name, but many do. Balthazar does not. His name is also Biblical, but comes from the name of the last king of Babylon (also Belshatzzar or Bel-sarra-usur), who sees a mysterious disembodied hand writing on a wall and has the writing interpreted by the prophet Daniel (spoiler: it does not turn out to be good news).
Balthazar's name, however, is a different type of theophory, using 'Ba'al' instead of the root 'El'. In much of the Old Testament, Ba'al is used to refer to a different and competing god, rather than the God we think of today as the Judeo-Christian Creator, however, in its most basic form the name Ba'al means lord or master, and most of the name origin sites I have found translate the entire moniker as 'Lord/Master protect the King'.
It's not a bad name, really, but in the light of Biblical context, it's not an especially auspicious one, either.
So, I think most people familiar with angelic mythology and apocryphal Judeo-Christian...whatever, know that the name 'Michael' means 'Who is like God?'. Most of the other Biblical and apocryphal angelic names have similar structure, with the 'El' part signifying God, or the power of God or a god.
Not all the angels in SPN have the same type of name, but many do. Balthazar does not. His name is also Biblical, but comes from the name of the last king of Babylon (also Belshatzzar or Bel-sarra-usur), who sees a mysterious disembodied hand writing on a wall and has the writing interpreted by the prophet Daniel (spoiler: it does not turn out to be good news).
Balthazar's name, however, is a different type of theophory, using 'Ba'al' instead of the root 'El'. In much of the Old Testament, Ba'al is used to refer to a different and competing god, rather than the God we think of today as the Judeo-Christian Creator, however, in its most basic form the name Ba'al means lord or master, and most of the name origin sites I have found translate the entire moniker as 'Lord/Master protect the King'.
It's not a bad name, really, but in the light of Biblical context, it's not an especially auspicious one, either.