And their names in the Holy Bible
Summary
Parandzem G. Maetikhanyan
Key words – God, not God, idol, pagan gods, Supreme idols, title, idolatry, translation and semantic options, biblical usage.
The Old Testament contains a vast amount of material on the idolatry, different manifestations of paganism are displayed through their names, which are manifold and have different shades of meaning. Considering the different testimonies of the Holy Bible it could be implied that the names կուռք (idol), դիք (pagan gods), չաստված (not gad) or աստված (pagan god) have not only common semantic characteristics, but also certain outlined distinctions.
The names of supreme idols are introduced with various interpretations and translated versions, e.g. Աստարտ (Astarte), Բահաղ, (Vaal), Բեեղզեբուղ (Beeghzebugh) and Բելիար (Belial), the examination of which we have touched upon in this article, comparing the rich material of the Old Armenian, Eastern and Western Armenian languages, as well as the Greek and Russian originals of biblical texts.