2 Kings 17:31

31 The Arvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

2 Kings 17:31 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 17:31

And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak
The former of which is represented by the Jews in the shape of a dog, deriving the word from "nabach", to bark, as if it was the same with the Anubis Latrator of Virgil F2, an Egyptian deity; though that is said F3 to have its name from NO(e) (b) , which in the Egyptian language signifies "gold", the statutes of it being made of gold; and the latter in the form of an ass, for what reason I cannot say; but the first word, according to Hillerus F4, signifies, "the remote one seeth", that is, the sun, which beholds all things; and Tartak is a chain, and may denote the fixed stars chained as it were in their places; or the satellites of the planets, chained to their orbs:

and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and to
Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim;
which were the same with Moloch; which may be concluded, partly from the worship paid them, and partly from the signification of their names; both end with "melech", king, which Moloch also signifies; the first may be interpreted the mighty king, and the latter the king that answers in an oracular way; from the first, one of the sons of Sennacherib king of Assyria had his name, ( Isaiah 37:36 ) , though the Jews, according to their fancy, represent the one in the likeness of a mule, and the other in the likeness of a horse; and some make the one to be a peacock, and the other a pheasant {e}; the Septuagint version puts the article before them in the feminine gender, excepting the two last, taking them for she deities, or leaving the word (eikona) , "images", to be understood.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Aeneid. l. 6. So Ovid. Metamorph. l. 9. Fab. 12. ver. 689.
F3 Jablonski apud Michael. Obs. Sacr. Exercit. 4. p. 66, 67.
F4 Ut supra, (Onomast. Sacr.) p. 606.
F5 Vid. Kimchium in loc.

2 Kings 17:31 In-Context

29 Yet every nation was making their gods, and they put them in the shrine of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities in which they [were] living.
30 The men of Babylonia made Succoth Benoth; the men of Cush made Nergal; the men of Hamath made Ashima.
31 The Arvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 Those who were fearing Yahweh made priests of the high places {from among themselves}, and they were sacrificing for them in the shrines of the high places.
33 Yahweh they were fearing, but their gods they were serving, according to the customs of the nations from which they were deported.
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.