{"id":77372,"date":"2020-07-13T18:56:12","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T15:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77372"},"modified":"2020-07-13T18:56:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-13T15:56:12","slug":"some-obscure-idolatrous-references","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/some-obscure-idolatrous-references\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Obscure Idolatrous References"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our chapter can be subdivided in two. Vs. 1-17 can be entitled \u201cReproof within a Dirge,\u201d and vs. 18-27 \u201cNot Salvation but Catastrophe Lies in Store.\u201d In that second part, v.26 presents a particular challenge: \u201cAnd you shall carry off your \u2018king\u2019\u2014 Sikkuth and Kiyyun, the images you have made for yourselves of your astral (<\/span>kokhav<\/span><\/em>) deity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What were Sikkuth and Kiyyun?<\/span><\/p>\n

The oldest attempt we have at their interpretation is Targum Yonatan, who translated Sikkuth as <\/span>paskumrin<\/span><\/em>, defined as \u201cembroidered cloth over the heads of idolatrous statues\u201d (Jastrow), while leaving Kiyyun as is\u2014suggesting that it is either a proper noun, or identical with the Aramaic word <\/span>kiyyun\/kivvun<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> which is defined as \u201cfirmness or fitness\u201d (Jastrow).<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi identified all three nouns\u2014Sikkuth, Kiyyun, and Kokhav\u2014as names of idols (for Sikkuth, cf. 2 Kings 17:30), and interpreted the verse as a sign that \u2018Your enemies will tie them around your necks and force you to wear them into exile.\u201d Yosef Kara connected Sikkuth with the verb <\/span>s-k-h<\/span><\/em>, \u201cto see,\u201d and interpreted it as \u201ca [visible] figure,\u201d and Eliezer of Beaugency linked it to the verb <\/span>n-s-k<\/span><\/em>, whence we derive the noun <\/span>masekha<\/span><\/em>, either a molten figure, or a mask.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ibn Ezra, however, identified Sikkuth with <\/span>s-k-t<\/span><\/em>, to be silent (see Deut. 27:9), implying that they remained silent and accepting of idolatry in the face of rebuke, and, based on Arabic and Persian, identified Kiyyun with the planet Saturn (Shabtai), of which they had made an idol. Radak, after a restatement of earlier opinions \u2014 particularly Ibn Ezra\u2019s \u2014 added the following note:<\/span><\/p>\n

Some say that Kiyyun means to make <\/span>kavanim<\/span><\/em>. I already explained in the Book of Jeremiah (7:18) that these were types of food that were prepared for idols, which is why they were called <\/span>kavanim<\/span><\/em> [related to <\/span>hakhana<\/span><\/em>, preparation?].<\/span><\/p>\n

According to that verse, <\/span>kavanim<\/span><\/em>, which modern scholarship defines as votary cakes, known in Assyrian as <\/span>kawanu<\/span><\/em>, were offered to <\/span>meleket hashamayim<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> which JPS rendered as \u201cthe Queen of Heaven\u201d\u2014 emending the text to <\/span>malkat hashamyim<\/em> <\/span>\u2014 an epithet of the goddess Ishtar.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Some Obscure Idolatrous References","main_caption":"And you shall carry off your \u201cking\u201d\u2014 Sikkuth and Kiyyun, The images you have made for yourselves Of your astral deity \u2014 As I drive you into exile beyond Damascus","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77372"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77372"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77373,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77372\/revisions\/77373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}