Nergal
NERGAL
One of the gods of the Cuthite heathen who were transplanted into Palestine, 2Ki 7:20 . This idol probably represented the planet Mars, which was ever the emblem of bloodshed. Mars is names, by the Zabians and Arabians, ill luck, misfortune. He was represented as holding in one had a drawn sword, and in the other, by the hair, a human head just cut off; his garments were blood red, as the light of the planet is also reddish. His temple among the Arabs was painted red; and they offered to him garments sprinkled with blood, and also a warrior, (probably a prisoner,) who was cast into a pool. The name Nergal appears in the proper names Nergalsharezer. Neriglassar, Jer 39:3,13 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Nergal
(Heb. Nergal’, [in pause ; Sept. v.r. ; Vulg. Nergel), one of the chief Assyrian and Babylonian deities (2Ki 17:30), seems to have corresponded closely to the classical Mars. He was of Babylonian origin, and various derivations of the name have been suggested. Furst traces it to , to break in pieces, with added; Gesenius identifies it with the Sabian Nerig, the I being appended as the mark of a diminutive, which was a sign of endearment; Von Bohlen compares the Sanscrit Nrigal, man-destroyer, spoken of a fierce warrior, and corresponding to Merodach; and Rawlinson says the name “is evidently compounded of the two Hamitic rootsair, a man, and gula, great; so that he is the great man, or the great hero” (Ancient Monarchies, 1:171; 2:256). “His monumental titles are ‘the storm-ruler,’ ‘the king of battle,’ ‘the champion of the gods,’ ‘the male principle’ (or ‘the strong begetter’), ‘the tutelar god of Babylonia,’ and ‘the god of the chase.’ Of this last he is the god pre-eminently; another deity, Nin, disputing with him the presidency over war and battles. It is conjectured that he may represent the deified Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord from whom the kings both of Babylon and Nineveh were likely to claim descent. SEE NIMROD.
The city peculiarly dedicated to his worship is found in the inscriptions to be Cutha or Tiggaba, which is in Arabian tradition the special city of Nimrod. The only express mention of Nergal contained in sacred Scripture is in the above passage, where ‘the men of Cutha,’ placed in the cities of Samaria by a king of Assyria (Esar-haddon?), are said to have ‘made Nergal their god’ when transplanted to their new country a fact in close accordance with the frequent notices in the inscriptions, which mark him as the tutelar god of that city. Nergal’s name occurs as the initial element in Neryal-shar-ezar (Jer 39:3; Jer 39:13); and is also found, under a contracted form, in the name of a comparatively late king-the Abennerigus of Josephus (Ant. 20:2, 1). Nergal appears to have been worshipped under the symbol of the ‘Man-Lion.’ The Shemitic name for the god of Cutha was Aria, a word which signifies ‘lion’ both in Hebrew and Syriac. Nir, the first element of the god’s name, is capable of the same signification. Perhaps the habits of the lion as a hunter of beasts were known, and he was thus regarded as the most fitting symbol of the god who presided over the chase. It is in connection with their hunting excursions that the Assyrian kings make most frequent mention of this deity. As early as B.C. 1150, Tiglath-pileser I speaks of him as furnishing the arrows with which he slaughtered the wild animals. Assuur-dani-pal(Sardanapalus), the, son and successor of Esar-haddon, never fails to invoke his aid, and ascribes all his hunting achievements to his influence. Pul sacrificed to him in Cutha, and Sennacherib built him a temple in the city of Tarbisa. near Nineveh; but in general he was not much worshipped either by the earlier or the later kings (see the Essay of Sir H. Rawlinson in Rawlinson’s Herodotus, 1:631-634).”
The rabbinical commentators believe that this idol was in the form of a cock, since the somewhat similar word, , tarnegol, in the Talmud, means a cock (Selden, Dii Syr. 2:8, page 317 sq.; Schwarz, Palest. page 80). In curious coincidence with this tradition Layard gives two figures of a cock on Babylonian remains, showing its ancient worship by that people (Nineveh and Bablon n. 158). Norberg, Gesenius, and other inquirers into the astrolatry of the Assyrians and Chaldaeans, conclude that Nergal is the same as the Sabian name for the planet Mars. Both among the Sabians and Arabians it means ill-luck, misfortune; and it was by no means peculiar to the mythology of the West to make it the symbol of bloodshed and war. The Sabian Mars was typified as a man holding in one hand a drawn sword, and in the other a human head just cut off; his garments were also red, no doubt from the hue which the body of the planet presents to the eye. Among the southern Arabs his temple was painted red; and they offered to him garments stained with blood, and a warrior (probably a prisoner), who was cast into a pool. It is related of the caliph Hakim that in the last night of his life, as he saw the planet Mars rise, he murmured, ” Dost thou ascend, thou accursed shedder of blood? then is my hour come ;” and at that moment the assassins sprang upon him from their hiding place (Mohammed Abu-Taleb; ap. Norberg, Onomast. page 105; Bar- Hebrceus, p. 220). See Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 913, and Comment. zu Jesa, 2:344; Nork, Bibl. Mythol. 1:60 sq.; Lanci, Paral. alla illust. del. Sac. Script. 1:284; Wichmallshausen, Diss. de Nergal. Cuth. Idolo (Viteb. 1707).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Nergal
the great dog; that is, lion, one of the chief gods of the Assyrians and Babylonians (2 Kings 17:30), the god of war and hunting. He is connected with Cutha as its tutelary deity.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Nergal
A Hamite name (“great hero”.) Some of the Assyrian kings pretended descent from him. In the monuments he is called “the great brother,” “the storm ruler,” “king of battle,” “the strong begetter”; “god of the chase,” which is his special attribute. Nimrod deified, “the mighty hunter before the Lord,” from whom naturally the kings of Babylon and Nineveh would claim descent. Cutha or Tiggaba (Nimrod’s city in Arab tradition) is in the inscriptions especially dedicated to him. In accurate conformity with this the men of Cutha (2Ki 17:30) planted by the Assyrian king as colonists in Samaria “made Nergal their god.”
Nergal appears in the compound Nergal-sharezer (Jer 39:3; Jer 39:13). A human headed lion with eagles’ wings was his symbol. His Semitic name Aria (which when transposed is Nir) means “lion”; Greek Ares; Mars is his planet. Nerig is still its Mendaean name, and the Mendaeans call the third day of the week from him. The lion as lord of the forest was a fit symbol of the god of the chase. Tiglath Pileser (1150 B.C.) attributes to his gift the arrows wherewith he slew wild beasts; so Assur-dani-pal or Sardanapalus. Pul sacrificed to Nergal in Cutha, and Sennacherib built a temple to him in Tarbisa near Nineveh.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Nergal
NERGAL.The god of the city of Cubta in Babylonia, hence worshipped by the captive Cuthans who were transplanted to Samaria by Sargon (2Ki 17:30). In the Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] -Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] pantheon he was a god of war and pestilence, and of hunting, and the planet Mars was sacred to him.
The name Nergal is probably of Sumerian origin, namely, Ner-galgreat warrior. The god is sometimes in the non-Semitic texts called Ner-unu-gal, hero of the lower world, evidently indicating his connexion with death and destruction.
W. M. Nesbit.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Nergal
An idol of the men of Cuth, (2Ki 17:30) compounded of Ner and Gal, light discovered.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Nergal
nargal (, nereghal): A Babylonian deity, identified with the planet Mars, and worshipped at Cutha (compare 2Ki 17:30). See BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA, RELIGION OF.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Nergal
Nergal. Recent inquiries into the astrolatry of the Assyrians and Chaldans have led to the conclusion that Nergal is one of the names for the planet Mars. This name of the planet, both among the Zabians and Arabians, means ill-luck, misfortune; and it was by no means peculiar to the mythology of the West to make it the symbol of bloodshed and war. Among the people first named, the planet Mars was typified under the figure of a man holding in one hand a drawn sword, and in the other a human head just cut off; and his garments were also red, which, as well as the other ideas attached to this idol, were no doubt founded on the reddish hue which the body of the planet presents to the eye. Among the southern Arabs his temple was painted red; and they offered to him garments stained with blood, and also a warrior (probably a prisoner), who was cast into a pool.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Nergal
[Ner’gal]
An Assyrian and Babylonian god. 2Ki 17:30. It has many titles on the monuments, such as ‘the god of the chase,’ ‘the king of battle,’ etc.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Nergal
H5370
An idol.
2Ki 17:30
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Nergal
Nergal (ner’gal), man-devourer, great hero. An idol of the Cuthites. 2Ki 17:30. The Jewish rabbins fancied that this idol was figured by a cock. It is now very commonly supposed to be the planet Mars. The word is used in titles, as Nergal-sharezer, the name of two princes of Babylon. Jer 39:8; Jer 39:13.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Nergal
Ner’gal. (hero). One of the chief Assyrian and Babylonian deities, seems to have corresponded closely to the classical Mars. 2Ki 17:30. It is conjectured that he may represent the deified Nimrod.