Hebrew word · H3575

כּוּתָה

khut

Cuth

A proper name: Kutha (Akkadian Kutû / Gudua), at modern Tell Ibrahim in central Iraq, an ancient city sacred to Nergal, god of the underworld and plague.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Cuth = "crushing"

a place from which king Sargon of Assyria imported colonists into Israel; probably a location approx 20 (32 km) miles northeast of Babylon

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 2 Kings 17:24

Range of meaning

A proper name: Kutha (Akkadian Kutû / Gudua), at modern Tell Ibrahim in central Iraq, an ancient city sacred to Nergal, god of the underworld and plague.

Against the English

Translations simply transliterate it ('Cuthah', 'Cutha', 'Cuth'). The name carries no hidden meaning. Its later history is what matters.

How it drifted

Because Cuthah is the first named Mesopotamian city in the list and is mentioned again in v. 30, later Jewish writers used it as a label for all Samaritans.

Used elsewhere in the period

Josephus (Antiquities 9.288–291) calls the Samaritans 'Chouthaioi' (Cuthaeans) and traces them to these settlers. Rabbinic literature calls Samaritans 'Kutim', and a minor tractate is titled 'Kutim'. The Samaritans called themselves 'Shamerim', 'keepers' (of the Law), and claimed descent from northern Israelite tribes.

From the study of 2 Kings 17:30

Range of meaning

Place name: Kutha (Akkadian Kutû), a Babylonian city about 30 km northeast of Babylon.

Against the English

KJV, BSB and WEB keep 'Cuth' here and 'Cuthah' in v. 24. Some modern versions use 'Cuthah' in both places for consistency.

Used elsewhere in the period

Known from cuneiform texts as Nergal's cult city. Josephus (Antiquities 9.288–291) traces the Samaritans to these settlers and calls them 'Chouthaioi' (Cutheans). Rabbinic literature regularly calls Samaritans 'Kutim'. The Samaritans themselves rejected this account and claimed descent from northern Israel (Ephraim and Manasseh).

Where it appears

2 Kings · 2

  1. 2 Kings 17:24 וּ֠מִכּוּ֠תָה and from Cuthah <towards>

    Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

    Here: Kutha (Akkadian Kutû), a Babylonian city northeast of Babylon and the cult centre of the god Nergal (v. 30). Its name later became the Jewish nickname for Samaritans ('Kutim').

  2. 2 Kings 17:30 כ֔וּת Cuthah

    The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,

    Here: Kutha (Akkadian Kutû), a city northeast of Babylon whose patron god was Nergal. The short spelling Kut stands for the Kutah of v. 24. Much later the name gave Jewish writers their nickname for Samaritans: 'Cutheans' (Kutim).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.