Hashmal?? (name)

Does anyone know the origin of Hashmal’s name?

Because in modern Hebrew (which I know fluently), the word "Hashmal" means electricity. And yet, the Esper in the game is associated with the EARTH element. That’s always seemed awkward to me, as it probably would to any modern Hebrew speaker playing this game, so anyone know the origin of it’s name?

Well, Chrono Cross labeled lightning and earth under the same element (yellow) so maybe it’s a throwback.

The only reason I can think of is that the Hashmallim hold the task of regulating the duties of lower angels, at least in Christianity. This makes sense with Hashmal being the "Bringer of Order", or in the older games (FF Tactics) "The Regulator". As for him being the earth element, that is probably because he uses the mighty Quake spell in FF Tactics. As for that, C�chulainn the Impure, Belias The Gigas, Zalera the Death Seraph, Adrammelech the Wroth, Hashmal Bringer of Order, and Ultima the High Seraph all appeared in FF Tactics as the Lucavi.

This game really seems to owe a lot to Tactics. I oughta get around to playing that sometimes. I think I started Tactics Advance once, but never got very far.

The reason that it owes a lot to Tactics is because they are all part of the "Ivalice Alliance".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivalice

Oh yeah, I know that. What’s really interesting about XII is that while that’s true, it also seems to draw heavily on references from games in the numbered series. Perhaps it’s sort of like IX, which was the farewell to the Playstation, while XII is the farewell to the Playstation 2.