The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, &c.— We have here an account of the idols, which were consecrated by the different nations transplanted by the king of Assyria to Samaria. It is difficult, however, (and has afforded a large field for conjecture,) to give any satisfactory account concerning them: the reader will find in Selden, Vossius, and Jurieu, much upon the subject. בנות סכות Succoth-benoth may be literally translated, the tabernacles of the daughters, or young women. Herodotus, lib. 1: cap. 199 gives us a particular account of their detestable service; but it is too bad to mention. See Bar 6:43. This abomination, implied by Succoth-benoth, the men of Babylon brought with them into the country of Samaria; and both the name of the idol Melitta, and the execrable service performed to her honour, shew that by Melitta was originally intended the same as the Venus of the Greeks and Romans. See the beginning of Lucretius's first book, De Rerum Nat. Mr. Selden imagines that some traces of the Succoth-benoth, may be found in Sicca-Veneria, the name of a city in Numidia, not far from the borders of Africa Propria. See Univ. Hist. vol. 17: p. 295., and Parkhurst's Lexicon on the word סךֶ.
The men of Cuth made Nergal— Cuth was a province of Assyria, which, according to some, lies upon the Araxis; but others rather think it to be the same with Cush, which is said by Moses to be encompassed with the river Gihon, and must therefore be the same with the country which the Greeks call Susiana, and which to this day is called by the inhabitants Chusesta. Their idol Nergal seems to have been the sun, as the causer of the diurnal and annual revolutions of the planets; for it is naturally derived from נר ner, light, and גל gal; to revolve. The Rabbis say, that the idol was represented in the shape of a cock, and probably they tell us the truth; for this seems a very proper emblem. Among the latter heathens, we find the cock was sacred to Apollo, or the Sun, (see Pierii Hieroglyph. p. 223.) "Because," says Heliodorus, speaking of the time when cocks crow, "by a natural sensation of the sun's revolution to us, they are incited to salute the god." AEthiop. lib. 1: And perhaps under this name Nergal they meant to worship the sun, not only for the diurnal return of its light upon the earth, but also for its annual return or revolution. We may observe that the emblem, a cock, is affected by the latter as well as by the former, and is frequently crowing both day and night when the days begin to lengthen. See Calmet, and Parkhurst's Lexicon.
The men of Hamath made Ashima— There are several cities and countries which go under the name of Hamath; but what we take to be here meant is that province of Syria which lies upon the Orontes, wherein there was a city of the same name; which when Shalmaneser had taken, he removed the inhabitants from thence into Samaria. Their idol אשׁימא Ashima signifies the atoner or expiator, from אשׁם asham. The word is in a Chaldee form; and seems to be the same as שׁמרון אשׁמת ashmath shomron, the sin of Samaria, mentioned Amos 8:14 where ashmath is rendered by the LXX propitiation: It is known to every one who has the least acquaintance with the mythology of the heathens, how strongly and universally they retained the tradition of an atonement or expiation for sin, although, they expected it from a false object and false means. We find it expressed in very clear terms among the Romans; even so late as the time of Horace, lib. 1: ode 2.;
Cui dabit partes scelus expiandi Jupiter———?
And whom, to expiate the horrid guilt, Will Jove appoint?
The answer is, "Apollo," the god of light. Some think that as Asuman, or Suman, in the Persian language, signifies heaven, the Syrians might from hence derive the name of this God; who they suppose was represented by a large stone pillar, terminating in a conic or pyramidical figure, whereby they denoted fire. See Parkhurst on the word אשׁם asham, Calmet, and Tennison on Idolatry.