5524. Sukkoth Benoth

Lexical Summary

Sukkoth Benoth: Sukkoth Benoth

Original Word: סֻכּוֹת בְּנוֹת
Part of Speech: Noun
Transliteration: Cukkowth bnowth
Pronunciation: sook-KOHT beh-NOHT
Phonetic Spelling: (sook-kohth' ben-ohth')
KJV: Succoth-benoth
NASB: Succoth-benoth
Word Origin: [from H5523 (סוּכּוֹת סוּכּוֹת - Succoth) and the (irreg.) plural of H1323 (בַּת - daughter)]

1. booths of (the) daughters
2. brothels, i.e. idoalatrous tents for impure purpose

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

Succoth-benoth

From Cukkowth and the (irreg.) Plural of bath; booths of (the) daughters; brothels, i.e. Idoalatrous tents for impure purpose -- Succoth-benoth.

see HEBREW Cukkowth

see HEBREW bath

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from Sukkoth and bath
Definition
"booths of daughters," an Assyr.-Bab. god
NASB Translation
Succoth-benoth (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

סֻכּוֺת בְּנוֺת proper name, of a divinity 2 Kings 17:30, Assyrian-Babylonian deity, worshipped by Babylonians in Samaria; text of name corrupt; Schr^{COT ad. location} (after H. Rawlinson) proposes Zîr-bânit, or Zarpanituv, wife of Marduk (compare Hpt^{AR, May 1886} Muss-Arn^{JBL xi (1892), 167}), rejecting Sakkut-binûtu = Marduk Dl^{Par 215}; Jen^{ZA iv. 352} makes בְּנוֺת = banîtu, epithet of Ištar; all doubtful.

Topical Lexicon

Biblical Occurrence

“ The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima ” (2 Kings 17:30). This single reference places Succoth Benoth among the idols introduced into Samaria after the Assyrian deportations, illustrating the spiritual syncretism that developed when foreign settlers merged their own deities with a nominal worship of the Lord (2 Kings 17:32–34).

Historical Background

After defeating the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C., Assyria repopulated the land with exiles from several conquered peoples (2 Kings 17:24). Each group “continued to make their own gods” (2 Kings 17:29). Succoth Benoth, fashioned by the Babylonians, therefore traveled westward from the heart of Mesopotamia to the hills of Samaria. Outside Scripture the name appears on no surviving Babylonian inscription, but later Jewish tradition equates it with a goddess connected to astral worship—possibly Ishtar or the constellation Pleiades. Whether the idol represented a tent-shrine of young women (as some suggest) or an astral mother-goddess, its introduction underscores how captivity cultures exported their false worship into Israel.

Religious Context and Theological Implications

1. Violation of the First Commandment. The narrative follows immediately after the author’s detailed explanation that Israel had been exiled for practicing idolatry (2 Kings 17:7–17). The arrival of Succoth Benoth shows the land filling back up with the very sins that provoked judgment, confirming the justness of God’s covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28:36–37).
2. The Futility of Syncretism. The settlers “feared the Lord, yet served their own gods” (2 Kings 17:33). Scripture presents this mixture as self-contradictory, for “you cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). The episode warns that adding foreign rituals to outward Yahwism does not placate divine wrath.
3. Continuity of Divine Witness. Even after Israel’s fall, the prophetic writers record these idols by name, exposing them to ridicule and preserving a testimony against them for every future reader (Isaiah 46:1–2; Jeremiah 10:14–15).

Ministry and Homiletical Insights

• Cultural tendencies to syncretism endure. Modern believers face subtle forms of Succoth Benoth when worldly ideologies infiltrate worship and ethics. The text calls churches to maintain pure devotion (2 Corinthians 11:3).
• External forms cannot substitute for covenant fidelity. The Samaritans built their own priesthood and “appointed for themselves priests of the high places” (2 Kings 17:32), yet the Lord still deemed their worship illegitimate. Authentic faith demands both right object and right heart (John 4:23–24).
• Idolatry disinherits successive generations. Succoth Benoth means “booths of daughters” or “shelters for young women,” hinting at cultic prostitution. What began as pagan ritual often became generational bondage (Hosea 4:13–14). Parents are custodians of their children’s spiritual inheritance (Ephesians 6:4).

Lessons for Contemporary Believers

1. Guard the place of Scripture. The Samaritans lacked the Law’s corrective voice; thus their religion drifted. Regular exposure to the whole counsel of God inoculates against imported ideas (Acts 20:27–31).
2. Identify modern idols. Succoth Benoth stands as a concrete reminder that idols are not merely statues but any loyalty that competes with the Lord. Ambition, entertainment, or social acceptance can erect unseen shrines.
3. Proclaim exclusivity of Christ. Where ancient Samaria mingled gods, the Church proclaims one Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). Evangelism includes exposing counterfeit hopes and inviting all nations to abandon their Succoth Benoth for the living God (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

Forms and Transliterations

בְּנ֔וֹת בנות bə·nō·wṯ beNot bənōwṯ

Englishman's Concordance

2 Kings 17:30
HEB: אֶת־ סֻכּ֣וֹת בְּנ֔וֹת וְאַנְשֵׁי־ כ֔וּת
NAS: made Succoth-benoth, the men
KJV: made Succothbenoth, and the men
INT: of Babylon made Succoth-benoth the men of Cuth

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 5524
1 Occurrence

bə·nō·wṯ — 1 Occ.