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In I Kings 16:9, the Bible mentions that Zimri assassinated Elah, king of Israel, when the latter was drunk at the "House of Arza" (בית ארצא). Both the Targum and the Peshitta there add that Arza was an idol (טעוותא), with the Peshitta writing (טעוותא דבביתא). Does anyone here know which idol in specific is being referred to here? Is a god named Arza mentioned elsewhere? I was thinking that the Peshitta might identify Arza with Baal Zevuv because the latter is sometimes translated as בעל דבבא in Aramaic, but I see no other reason to make this claim and I'm not sure I'm reading the Peshitta properly here.

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In 1 Kings 16:9, it is written,

ט וַיִּקְשֹׁ֤ר עָלָיו֙ עַבְדֹּ֣ו זִמְרִ֔י שַׂ֖ר מַחֲצִ֣ית הָרָ֑כֶב וְה֤וּא בְתִרְצָה֙ שֹׁתֶ֣ה שִׁכֹּ֔ור בֵּ֣ית אַרְצָ֔א אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הַבַּ֖יִת בְּתִרְצָֽה׃ (WLC)

which is translated as,

9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half the chariots, conspired against him, and he was in Tirtzah drinking [himself] drunk [in] the house of Artza, who was over the house in Tirtzah.

The Hebrew phrase אֲשֶׁר עַל הַבַּיִת (ʾăšer ʿal-habbayit) occurs nine (9) times in nine (9) verses in the Westminster Leningrad Codex.

  1. 1 Kings 16:9
  2. 1 Kings 18:3
  3. 2 Kings 10:5
  4. 2 Kings 18:18
  5. 2 Kings 18:37
  6. 2 Kings 19:2
  7. Isa. 36:3
  8. Isa. 36:22
  9. Isa. 37:2

Except for one of the nine verses,1 the LXX consistently translates the Hebrew phrase אֲשֶׁר עַל הַבַּיִת into Greek by a declension of the word οἰκονόμος,2 which translates into English as "steward" or one who manages a household.3

There does not appear to be any support for the belief that אַרְצָא (ʾarṣāʾ) is an idol rather than the person "who was over the house" of King Elah in Tirtzah, the city from which he reigned over Israel (cp. 1 Kings 16:8).

Footnotes

1 2 Kings 10:5: οἱ ἐπὶ τοῦ οἴκου ("those over the house")

2

  1. 1 Kings 16:9: τοῦ οἰκονόμου
  2. 1 Kings 18:3: τὸν οἰκονόμον
  3. 2 Kings 18:18: ὁ οἰκονόμος
  4. 2 Kings 18:37: ὁ οἰκονόμος
  5. 2 Kings 19:2: τὸν οἰκονόμον
  6. Isa. 36:3: ὁ οἰκονόμος
  7. Isa. 36:22: ὁ οἰκονόμος
  8. Isa. 37:2: τὸν οἰκονόμον

3 BDAG, p. 698; LSJ, p. 1204; Thayer, p. 440

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  • My question was specifically to understand the explanation of Targum and the Peshitta who DO explain that Arza is an idol, I realize that there are other interpretations, but I was not asking about them.
    – Reb Chaim HaQoton
    Commented Jan 2, 2016 at 19:04

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