NISROCH (nIs'rOk), nis-roke').
The Hebrew form of the name of a deity of the Assyrians, in whose temple Sennacherib was wor shiping when slain by his §ons (2 Kings xix:37; Is. xxxvii :38).
There has been much speculation as to the iden tity of this deity, and many wild theories have been put forward concerning him. Some suggest that the word refers to Noah's dove, which had been made an object of worship. The word is now usually supposed to mean great eagle. This bird was held in peculiar veneration by the ancient Per sians; and was likewise worshiped by the Arabs before the time of Mohammed. But the word re fers to a divinity represented in the Assyrian tablets by a human form with the wings and head of an eagle, in whose temple at Nineveh Scnnacherib was murdered by his sons Adrammelech arid Sharezer iNERGAL SHAREZER, NI/hie 1 See) (2 KingS SiX.:37; IS. XXxVii:38), The etymology of the name, even the Shemitic origin of the word, is doubtful, and nothing definite is known of this deity.
Prof. T. G. Pinc c s, however, st ales in Hast ings' Bib. Dict. that "with regard to the form, Nisroch, there arc two possible explanations : Nisroch (the same as Esorach) may be for Asu raku,a leng-thened form of Asur by- the addition of aku—the sante termination as appears in Amartt duk (u), the Marduku (a personal name) of the later contract tablets, in which case the presence of the ending would seem to imply Accadian in fluence. On the other hand, the name may be really a compound one, i.e. the well-known ap pellation of the god Asur with the Accadian name of the moon-god Aku (compare Eri-Aku, 'servant of the moon-god'=Arioch) attached to it. In sup port of this second etymology may be cited the fact that Sennacherib's name contains the element Sin, the common name of the moon-god in Babylonia and Assyria, and the expression 'Ins god' may refer to some such compound deity as Asur-Aku, whom Sennacherib specially wor shiped."