Succoth-benoth

{{Short description|Babylonian deity}}

Succoth-benoth or Succoth Benoth ({{langx|he|סֻכּוֹת בְּנוֹת|Huts of Daughters}}) was a Babylonian deity, one of the gods brought to the Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. In the ninth year of Hoshea, "the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes", resettling large numbers of population. (2 Kings 17:6)

The "men" from each of these five cities set up their gods in the shrines of the land, mixing it with the worship of Yahweh. "The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuthah made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites ... Adrammelech and Anammelech." (2 Kings 17:30-31){{Cite web|url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et09b17.htm|title=2 Kings 17 / Hebrew Bible in English / Mechon-Mamre|website=www.mechon-mamre.org|access-date=2018-12-29}} The Bible says that these deities were idols, although the Samaritans were not punished because they worshipped the God of the Israelites as well.{{dubious|reason=this is exactly the opposite of what is told at Kings 17:29 you should quote your source|date=February 2025}}

The identity of Succoth-benoth is unknown. Hayim Tawil noted that Bànitu (Akkadian: 𒁀𒉌𒌈 Ba.ni.TUM, "the female creature") was an epithet of Ishtar in Nineveh, and postulated the name "Succoth-benoth" was a Hebrew rendition of a Neo-Babylonian or Neo-Assyrian divine name meaning "the image of Bànitu".Hayim Tawil, An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew, p. 462.

According to b. Sanhedrin, Succoth Benoth was a hen; according to the Jerusalem Talmud, Avoda Zara, a hen and her chicks, thus associating this god with the astrological constellation Pleiades.{{cite book|author=Reuven Chaim Klein|title=God versus Gods: Judaism in the Age of Idolatry|year=2018|publisher=Mosaica Press|isbn=978-1946351463|pages=355}} According to commentators, either sukkot is a foreign word for "hen" and the phrase means "hen of chicks" or the entire phrase is a foreign word for "hen".{{Cite web |title=Penei Moshe on Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah 3:2:3:2 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Penei_Moshe_on_Jerusalem_Talmud_Avodah_Zarah.3.2.3.2 |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.sefaria.org}}{{Cite web |title=Rashi on Sanhedrin 63b:16:2 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Sanhedrin.63b.16.2 |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.sefaria.org}} Marcus Jastrow proposed that the phrase is native to Hebrew and should be read "covering the young".{{Cite web |title=Jastrow, סוּכּוֹת 1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Jastrow,_%D7%A1%D7%95%D6%BC%D7%9B%D6%BC%D7%95%D6%B9%D7%AA.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=www.sefaria.org}}