nibhaz Summary and Overview

barker, the name of an idol, supposed to be an evil demon of the Zabians. It was set up in Samaria by the Avites (2 Kings 17:31), probably in the form of a dog.

(the barker), a deity of the Avites, introduced by them into Samaria in the time of Shalmaneser. #2Ki 17:31| The rabbins derived the name from a Hebrew root nabach, "to bark," and hence assigned to it the figure of a dog, or a dog-headed man. The Egyptians worshipped the dog. Some indications of this worship have been found in Syria, a colossal figure of a dog having formerly stood at a point between Berytus and Tripolis.

NIB'HAZ (barker), an idol-god of the Avites. 2 Kgs 17:31. The name being derived from a word meaning "to bark," it is supposed that the god was represented by the figure of a dog. It would therefore be allied to Anubis of the Egyptians. A large figure of a dog was found on the road from Beirout to Tripolis.

The Avites' idol introduced into Samaria by the Assyrian colonists planted there (2 Kings 17:31). Botta represents a bitch suckling a puppy on a slab at the entrance of a temple at Khorsabad. A colossal figure of a dog was formerly between Berytus and Tripoli. So the rabbis derive N. from nabach, "to bark"; a dogheaded human figure, like the Egyptian Anubis.