Succoth-benoth
Succoth Benoth
(Heb. Sukkoth’ Benoth’, , booths of daughters; Sept. v.r. [and even ] ; Vulg. Sochoth-benoth) occurs only in 2Ki 17:30, as the name of some deity whose worship the Babylonian settlers in Samaria are said to have set up on their arrival in that country. It has generally been supposed that this term is pure Hebrew, and as such most interpreters explain it to mean the booths in which the daughters of the Babylonians prostituted themselves in honor of their idol (i.e. Mylitta, see Herod. 1, 199; Strabo, 16:745); others small tabernacles in which were contained images of female deities (comp. Calmet, Cimmentaire Littiral, 2, 897). It is in objection to both these explanations that Succoth-benoth which in the passage in Kings occurs in the same construction with Nergal and various other gods, is thus not a deity at all, nor, strictly speaking, an object of worship. It should be noted, however, that the expression made () does not necessarily require such an interpretation. Sir H. Rawlinson thinks that Succoth-benoth represents the Chaldtean goddess Zir-banif, the wife of Merodach, who was especially worshipped at Babylon, in conjunction with her husband, and who is called-the queen of the place. Succoth he supposes to be either a Hamitic term equivalent to Zir, or possibly a Shemitic mistranslation of the term-Zirat, supreme, being confounded with Zarat, tents (see the E’ssay of: Sir H. Rawlinson in Rawlinson’s Herodotus, 1, 630). Gesenius arbitrarily alters the reading to , booths of the high-places (Thesaur. s.v.); and Movers (Phonic. 1, 596) understands involucra or secreta mulierum, having reference to phallus-worship (so Nork, Mythol. 1, 124). The rabbins. (see Kimchi and Jarch I, ad loc.) fable that it was a goddess under the form of a hen and chickens; which Kircher (Ed. 1, 3354) regards as an astronomical emblem of the Babylonians. See Selden, De Dis Syris, 2, 7, 308 sq. Vos, Theol. Gent. 2, 22; Creusius, De Succoth Benoth, in Ugolino, Thesaur. 23.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Succoth-benoth
tents of daughters, supposed to be the name of a Babylonian deity, the goddess Zir-banit, the wife of Merodach, worshipped by the colonists in Samaria (2 Kings 17:30).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Succoth Benoth
2Ki 17:30. Hebrew “the tents of daughters,” i.e. in which they prostituted themselves to the Babylonian goddess of love (Herodotus i. 109), or else “small shrines containing images of female deities.” But, as the parallelism to Nergal and Ashima require a deity, Succoth Benoth is probably Zirbanit, called wife of the Babylonian idol Merodach, and “queen” of Babylon. Thus Succoth “tents” would be a Hebrew mistranslation of Zir as if related to Jarat, whereas it means “supreme”; or Succoth is the Hamitic for Zir (Sir H. Rawlinson). The people of Hani (2000 B.C.), according to G. Smith’s reading of an inscription, defeated the Babylonians, and carried away the image of Zirat Banit or Succoth Benoth.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Succoth-Benoth
SUCCOTH-BENOTH (2Ki 17:30).A deity whose image was made and set up in Samaria by the colonists from Babylon. Benoth (LXX [Note: Septuagint.] Banith) suggests Banitu as it appears in the name Zarpantuin the inscriptions Zer-banituthe wife of Marduk, patron god of Babylon. But there is no certainty. Sayce (in Hastings DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] ) suggests that Succoth may denote the processional shrines in which the images were carried, Benoth being corrupted from Belith or Betit, the classical Beltis, a common title and synonym of Zer-bantu.
W. Ewing.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Succoth-Benoth
sukoth, sukoth-benoth, -noth ( , sukkoth benoth; , Rhochchothbaineithe, Codex Alexandrinus (better) , Sokchothbenithe):
1. The Meaning According to the Hebrew:
The name of an idol made by the Babylonians sent into exile at Samaria by an Assyrian king (Shalmaneser), and mentioned among the deities of the various nationalities there assembled (2Ki 17:30). In Hebrew, Succoth-benoth means booths of daughters, and has been explained as the chambers wherein the Babylonians placed women for prostitution; or booths or tabernacles in which images of certain goddesses were worshipped.
2. Sir H. Rawlinson’s Identification of the Name:
The parallelism, however, requires a deity, like the Nergal of the Cutheans, the Ashima of the Hamathites, etc., and not a chamber or shrine. This consideration caused Sir H. to suggest an identification of Succoth-benoth with the Babylonian Zer-pantum (= Zer-bantum), whose name was probably pronounced Zer-panth, the spouse of Merodach (the god of Babylon), as the seed-creatress. The difference in the first component, zer, was regarded as due to its possible Hamitic (= Sumerian) equivalent, or to a Semitic mistranslation, both of which explanations are now known to be untenable.
3. Is Succoth the Babylonian Sakut?:
As the people who made Succoth-benoth were Babylonians, we should expect here either a name of Merodach, the god of Babylon, or one of the deities identified with him. At present the only suggestion which can be made is that Benoth is for a, ban wath, i.e. ban'(i) mati, creator of the land. Both the Semitic and the bilingual creation-stories speak of Merodach as the creator of the world, with its products, and the great cities of Babylonia; and father Enlil, who bore the title lord of the world, bestowed the same upon Merodach at the creation, thus identifying Merodach with himself. Now there is a group which may be read either Dikut, the Judge, or Sakut, the Counselor, and if we can read Succoth-benoth as Sakut(h)ban’ wat(h), the Counselor, creator of the land, a satisfactory explanation of this puzzling name will be furnished. The terminal -i of the Babylonian has been preserved in the , ei, of the Greek. The adoption of such a descriptive name of Enlil-Merodach would form a compromise between abandoning their old objects of worship and accepting the god of the land (2Ki 17:26).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Succoth-benoth
Suc’coth-be’noth. Succothbenoth occurs only in 2Ki 17:30. It has generally been supposed that this term is pure Hebrew, and signifies the tents of daughters; which some explain as “the booths in which the daughters of the Babylonians, prostituted themselves in honor of their idol,” others as “small tabernacles, in which were contained images of female deities.” Sir H. Rawlinson thinks that Succoth-benoth represents the Chaldaean goddess Zerbanit, the wife of Merodach, who was especially worshipped at Babylon.