Superman is blasphemy

I know the title is somewhat sensational, but bear with me here:

Supermans Kryptonian name is Kal El. I'd previously assumed that it was one word (like Kalel), but during an episode of smallville a while ago, he was referred to as Kal of the house of El.

This got me thinking because El is the hebrew word for God.

A Google search for the meaning of Kal turned up an interesting result...

The word "כל " is the only word I know of in Hebrew that is not pronounced as it is spelled. It is spelled with a khamatz, a vowel marking, that renders it, "kal," however, for whatever reason, it is pronounced "kol". To someone who only knows how to read hebrew, is unfamiliar, or doesn't speak it as a home language, they would most likely pronounce it "kal". (I am, in fact, a hebrew tutor, and many of my students make this very mistake). It means, "all" or "everything" and would render Kal-El to mean, "all that is G-d", "all things G-dly". Seeing as Siegel and Schuster were two Cleveland jews, expressing in superman their feeling as the outsider, and seeing that the state of Israel was founded in 1948, after Superman was born, and seeing that it would be very unlikely they'd have complete knowledge of hebrew save for what they learned in temple, it seems logical to me that they named their hero "all that is G-d"

Source: www.bluetights.net...

So basically, the Hebrew Tutor in the above excerpt surmises that Kal El means “All that is God”

Thoughts?

reply to post by the siren


Even when Superman was new, many Christians I know already think that Superman is a blasphemy that tries to steal glory from God.

Personal I think it doesn't really matter. The bible doesn't talk about superman. So I don't see why it matters.

Superman is a fictional character. It's not blasphemy if it's known that the idea is false.

Hopefully there aren't people running about thinking there is some guy that wears a costume and can do all sorts of spiffy stuff.

Why should I assume the Messiah will show and wear a bathrobe?

Is it wrong to imply or write fiction about a savior?

I mean really... it's fiction, who knows what "the savior" might look like this time around...

Originally posted by mopusvindictus
Is it wrong to imply or write fiction about a savior?

I mean really... it's fiction, who knows what "the savior" might look like this time around...

Historically, we had real superheroes. Men and women who have no regards for their own life, material wealth and would do anything for the good of the many.

These are men and women who had superhuman will within them.

And without them, the world will be a lot worse now. Much of the things we take for granted, we owe to some of them.

hahahahha superman is no blasphemy,damn those cahtolics really go far...fanatics..ur making JESUS LOOK BAD!

superman is ultra screwed,every villan nowadays uses cryptonian: pistols,knives,weapons blabla or just gets a crypto rock to hold in his pocket to make superman weak. i dont know anyone that is more exploited then the weakness of superman xxaxaxaxaxa

A comic book character who does good is blasphemes?

Anyway, godlike powers do not necessarily equate to God. Nor is he written in anyway godlike...or even Godlike.

I remember that the fellow who came up with Superman was Jewish...

Wiki has this to say on it:

Because Siegel and Shuster were both Jewish, some religious commentators and pop-culture scholars such as Rabbi Simcha Weinstein and British novelist Howard Jacobson suggest that Superman's creation was partly influenced by Moses,[40][41] and other Jewish elements. Superman's Kryptonian name, "Kal-El", resembles the Hebrew words קל-אל, which can be taken to mean "voice of God".

I checked the various translator tools on the internet, and they all translated the Jewish as "easy to".

Dunno.

Originally posted by whatukno
Superman is a fictional character.

Noooooo!!!! :bnghd:
Why didn't somebody tell me this before?

*sigh* At least I still have Batman

Like, I said before, the title is a bit sensational. I'm not terribly bothered one way or the other, and I'm not a zeolot. I just found it interesting, that's all.

Originally posted by RuneSpider
I remember that the fellow who came up with Superman was Jewish...

Wiki has this to say on it:

Because Siegel and Shuster were both Jewish, some religious commentators and pop-culture scholars such as Rabbi Simcha Weinstein and British novelist Howard Jacobson suggest that Superman's creation was partly influenced by Moses,[40][41] and other Jewish elements. Superman's Kryptonian name, "Kal-El", resembles the Hebrew words קל-אל, which can be taken to mean "voice of God".

I checked the various translator tools on the internet, and they all translated the Jewish as "easy to".

Dunno.

Maybe we'll get lucky and someone who speaks Hebrew can translate.

I wonder if the other names in Superman (like Zod) could also have Hebrew roots.

reply to post by the siren


I think it is symbolic of Christ, the only true Son of Man who was super to everyone!..

A tribute perhaps!?

I never really studied the comics much, I had a cpl of them as a kid, but was pretty casual about them.

Originally posted by RuneSpider
I remember that the fellow who came up with Superman was Jewish...

Wiki has this to say on it:

Because Siegel and Shuster were both Jewish, some religious commentators and pop-culture scholars such as Rabbi Simcha Weinstein and British novelist Howard Jacobson suggest that Superman's creation was partly influenced by Moses,[40][41] and other Jewish elements. Superman's Kryptonian name, "Kal-El", resembles the Hebrew words קל-אל, which can be taken to mean "voice of God".

I checked the various translator tools on the internet, and they all translated the Jewish as "easy to".

Dunno.

I find that info quite interesting!!!!! I'm not sure what to say about that, since the jews denied Christ, were these guys believers, putting on a tribute or were they doing something else?

I suppose it is buried in the details of the stories, the truth about how they're projecting him, whether or not it is positive or in another more subtle tone, not evident at first glance. But I don't have the time to look into it.
Perhaps that's how they feel/felt about Moses. [ FWIW, Moses is supposed to have handed down in secret, the true law to the pharisees, and that is what judaism is based off of, the traditions of men and the leaven of the pharisees. But God had no secrets and kept nothing from the Israelites ]

cheers...

[edit on 11-10-2009 by toasted]