MISAEL (Heb. Miṭṭā'ēl « Who [is] that which is God? »). - Name of three figures of the Old Testament.

1. A Levite, son of Uzziel (Ex. 6:22; Lev. 10:4). 2. A companion of Daniel (v.) in Babylon. Together with Hananiah (v.), Azariah (v.) and Daniel, M. was chosen from among the deported young Jews to be instructed in the Babylonian language and in cuneiform writing (Dan. 1:3 ff.). M.'s name was changed to the nearly homophonous one of Mishach (= "Who is like the god Aku?").

Having passed the preparatory period, in which he remained faithful to the Mosaic Law, M. together with the others was found "ten times" wiser than any sage or magician of Babylon (Dan. 1:20). M. implored from God the revelation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream for Daniel (Dan. 2:17) and received as a reward 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 thrown into a burning furnace, from which an angel preserved him immune from the fire. The King, impressed by the miracle, increased still further the dignity of the three young men (Dan. 3:12-97; Heb. vv. 12-30).

3. A contemporary of Ezra (Neh. 8:4).

@incollection{ec8_misael_ebr_mita_al_chi_e_cio_c, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Misael (Ebr. MiȚĂ'ĂL « Chi [È] Ciò Che È Dio ? »)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1080}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/misael-ebr-mita-al-chi-e-cio-che-e-dio} }

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