MISAEL (Heb. Miță'ăl, “Who [is] what God is?”).—The name of three persons in the Old Testament.
1. A Levite, son of Oziel (Ex. 6, 22; Lev. 10, 4). 2. Daniele (v.) in Babylon. Anania (v.), Azaria (v.), and Daniele, M. was chosen from among the young Jewish deportees to be instructed in the Babylonian language and cuneiform writing (Dan. 1, 3 ff.). M.’s name was changed to the almost homophonous Misach (= “Who is like the god Aku?”).
Having completed the preparatory period, during which he remained faithful to the Mosaic Law, M., together with the others, was found “ten times” wiser than any sage or magician in Babylon (Dan. 1, 20). M. implored God to reveal Nabuchodonosor’s dream to Daniele (Dan. 2, 17), and as a reward received a high administrative office in the province of Babylon (Dan. 2, 49). Having refused to worship the statue erected by the King, M., with his companions, was cast into a blazing furnace, from which an angel preserved him unharmed by the fire. The King, impressed by the miracle, increased still further the rank of the three youths (Dan. 3, 12-97; Heb. vv. 12-30).
3. A contemporary of Esdra (Neh. 8, 4).