Aryoch

אריוך


Genesis 14:1/9 names Aryoch King of Elasar as one of those who invaded southern Kena'an from Eylam in the Av-Rahamic War of the Kings.

Judith 1:6 has Aryoch as the King of Eylam who resisted Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 2:14 has him as captain of the king's bodyguard, sent to execute the wise men of Bavel (Babylon).
Gesenius states that the name is of Assyriac-Chaldaic origin, and we know from multiple texts that the ending Och is Persian. This works for the Judith reference, but is the Genesis name an anachronism? It is something that all historians tend to do - no one writing a history of Roman England is going to speak of Londinium; they will say London; no one writing an early history of America is going to say New Amsterdam, unless it is specifically relevant to the piece of history they are recounting: they will say New York.

In Sanskrit Arjaka means "reverenced" or "holy", which is more comprehensible than linking it to the Yehudit Ari = "a lion", as some scholars have attempted todo; highly likely as a kingly-title too.




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