Arioch

1. King of Ellasar, and ally of Chedorlaomer, Gen 14:1 .\par 2. A captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s guard, Dan 2:14 .\par

A’rioch. (venerable).

1. The king of Eliasar, one of the allies of Chedorlaomer in his expedition against his rebellious tributaries. Gen 14:1. (B.C. 1921-1912).

2. The captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s body-guard. Dan 2:14, etc.

3. Properly Eirioch, or Erioch, mentioned in Jdt 1:6 as king of the Elymaeans.

("lion-like".)

1. King of Ellasar. (Gen 14:1; Gen 14:9). (See ELLASAR.)

2. Captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s guard (Dan 2:14).

(Heb. Arsyok’, אִרְיוֹךְ, from the Sanscrit Arjaka, venerable, or perhaps from the Heb. אֲרִי, a lion; Sept. Α᾿ριώχ [v. r. in Daniel Α᾿ριώχης, in Tob. Εἰριώχ], Josephus Α᾿ρίουχος, Ant. 1, 9, 1; Α᾿ρίουχος, Ant. 10:10, 2), the name of two men and one place.

1. A king of Ellasar, confederate with Chedorlaomer against Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 14:1; Gen 14:9), B.C. cir. 2080 (Jour. Sac. Lit. Jan. 1862). SEE LOT.

2. The captain of the royal guard at the court of Babylon, into whose charge Daniel and his fellow youths were committed (Dan 2:14). B.C. 604.

3. A “plain” of the Elymaeans (? Persians), mentioned in the apocryphal book of Judith (1, 6) as furnishing aid to Arphaxad in his contest with Nebuchadnezzar; supposed by Grotius to mean the Oracana (Ο᾿ράκανα) of Ptolemy (6, 2, 11), but more probably borrowed from the first of the above names (see Fritzsche, Handb. in loc.).

[A’rioch]

1. King of Ellasar in the East. Gen 14:1; Gen 14:9.

2. Captain of Nebuchadnezzar’s guard. Dan 2:14-15; Dan 2:24-25.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Gerson B. Levi, Marcus Jastrow, Louis Ginzberg

—Biblical Data:

1. King of Ellasar, one of the four kings who invaded Palestine in the days of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 1, 9). The style of the chapter in Genesis is such as to make it probable that the narrative, though embellished, rests on some historical tradition. Midrash Gen. R. xlii. seeks to identify Arioch with Yawan (changed by the censor into Antiochus), and remarks further that coins the name of which bore some resemblance to the name Ellasar were still in circulation. It is now, however, generally held that Arioch, king of Ellasar, is identical with Eri-aku, king of Larsa, found in cuneiform inscriptions, though it should be added that no account of Eri-aku's campaign has as yet been discovered, so that only the identity of the two names can be maintained with certainty. We know that Eri-aku was conquered by Hammurabi, the Amraphel of Gen. xiv. 1, and that he became a vassal to him. The ruins of Larsa cover the site known as Senkereh.Bibliography: Schrader, K. A. T. 2d ed., p. 135, Eng. ed., p. 121: Hommel, Ancient Hebrew Tradition, index, s.v. Eriaku; Jensen, in Z. D. M. G. l. 247 et seq.

2. Captain of Nebuchadnezzar's guard, mentioned in Dan. ii. 14, 15.

3. A king of the Elymeæans (Elamites) in alliance with Nebuchadnezzar (Judith i. 6).

—In Rabbinical Literature:

In Arioch of Ellasar the Midrash finds an indication of the fate of the Jews under Antiochus Epiphanes [Arioch being construed as Antioch(us)] (Gen. R. xlii. 4). In the other Arioch, "the captain of the king's guard" (Dan. ii. 14), the Rabbis recognize Nebuzaradan, who was given this name because he roared like a lion () against the captured Jews (Lam. R. v. 5;the reason for the identification is found in II Kings xxv. 8, which offers a parallel to Dan. ii. 14). It may be mentioned that the amora Samuel is often called by the name of Arioch (Shab. 53a, and elsewhere), which, however, is derived from the Old Persian arjak ("ruler").

ARIOCH.—1. The king of Ellasar (Gen 14:1). It has been suggested by Schrader that Arioch is the transcription of Eri-a-ku, the Sumerian writing of the name Rim-Sin of the king of Larsa, son of Kudur-Mabug, an Elamite, who ruled Southern Babylonia till conquered by Hammurabi. See Chedorlaomer. 2. The captain of the king’s guard in the time of Nebuchadrezzar (Dan 2:14). 3. King of the Elymæans (Jdt 1:6).

C. H. W. Johns.

ar´i-ok: (אריוך, ’aryōkh):

(1) The name of the vassal king of Ellasar, under Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Amraphel, king of Shinar (Babylonia), who took part in the expedition against Sodom, Gomorrah and other states (Gen 14:1, Gen 14:9). Assyriologists generally, and probably rightly, identify Arioch with Êri-Aku (which see), king of Larsa, Ellasar being for Al-Larsa (now Sinqāra in central Babylonia).

Texts Referring to the Reign of Arioch

For an account of the expedition see AMRAPHEL, and for the Babylonian texts bearing upon the reign, see ERI-AKU. In Gen 14:1, Gen 14:9, where the names of the allied kings who marched against the Cities of the Plain are given, that of Arioch follows his more immediate suzerain, Amraphel, and not Chedorlaomer, who, however, appears to have been the real overlord (Gen 14:4), which agrees with the indications of the Bah records. No details of the expedition are available from Babylonian sources. Besides Larsa, Êri-Aku’s inscriptions inform us that Ur (Muqayyar, Mugheir) was in the principality of which Larsa was the capital.

(2) The Arioch of Dan 2:14, Dan 2:25 was captain of the bodyguard of King Nebuchadnezzar. Nothing else is known about him except that it was he who was commanded to slay the “wise men” who failed to repeat to the king his dream and its interpretation; and who communicated to his royal master that Daniel had undertaken the task.