chained; bound; shut up
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary
TARTAK.An idol introduced by the Avvites into Samaria when Sargon of Assyria transported them thither (2Ki_17:31). This deity is mentioned along with another called Nibhaz, and, according to the Babylonian Talmud, was worshipped in the form of an ass. In Assyro-Babylonian mythology no such deity is at present provable; moreover, the geographical position of the Avvites is uncertain, and their city may have been in one of the western States of Asia. The Greek text A replaces Tartak by Naibas, but this may be merely a corruption of Nibhaz.
T. G. Pinches.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909
Idol of the Avvite colonists planted by Esarhaddon in Samaria (2Ki_17:31). Worshipped under the form of a donkey (Talmud Bab. Sanhedrin, 63 b.). In Egyptian hieroglyphics the donkey symbolizes Tartak (Plutarch Isaiah and Os. 14). Tartak may be of Persian origin, meaning "the prince of darkness", belonging to the under world or some planet of ill fortune. The Carmanians worshipped Mars with a donkey (2Ki_17:31). In Pehlevi tar thakh means "deep darkness", "hero of darkness".
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.
Tar'tak. (prince of darkness). One of the gods, of the Avite or Avvite colonists of Samaria. 2Ki_17:31. According to rabbinical tradition, Tartak is said to have been worshipped, under the form of an ass.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863
tar?tak (תּתתּק, tartāḳ): In 2Ki_17:31 mentioned as the name of an idol of the Avvites, one of the peoples sent by Shalmaneser to the cities of Samaria. It is otherwise unknown.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.
Tar?tak, an idol of the Avites, introduced by them into Samaria (2Ki_17:31).
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.
(Heb. Tartak', תִּרתָֹּק; Sept. Θαρθάκ; Vulg. Tharthac), one of the gods of the Avite, or Avvite, colonists who were planted in the cities of Samaria after the removal of the tribes by Shalmaneser (2Ki_17:31). According to Rabbinical tradition, T'artak is said to have been worshipped inder the form of au ass (Talm. Babyl. Sanhedrin, fol. 63 b). From this it has been conjectured that this idol was the Egyptian Typho; but; though in the hieroglyphics the ass is the symbol of Typho, it was so far from being regarded as an object of worship that it was considered absolutely unclean (Plutarch, Is. et Os. c. 14). A Persian or Pehlvi origin has been suggested for Tartak, according to which it signifies either intense darkness, or hero of darkness, or the underworld, and so, perhaps, some planet of ill- luck, as Saturn or Mars (Gesenius, Thesaur. s.v.; Fürst, Handw. s.v.). The Carmaniails, a warlike race on the Persian Gulf, worshipped Mars alone of all the gods, and sacrificed an ass in his honor (Strabo, 15:727). Perhaps some trace of this worship may have given rise to the Jewish tradition.
CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.