Sakkuth (סִכּוּת, sikkuth). A Mesopotamian star god (Amos 5:26). The prophet Amos refers to “Sikkuth” and “Kiyyun,” but the identification of both is difficult. The names are vocalized in Hebrew according to words for idols (שִׁקּוּץ, shiqquts; shiqquts, “detestable thing”; גִלּול, gilwl; gillul, “idol”), which may have been intended distortions of the Mesopotamian names Sakkuth and Kaiwan. However, not all scholars agree with this assessment. The Septuagint interpreted the Hebrew as the “tabernacle (or booth) of Molech,” reading סֻכַּת מֹלֶך (sukkath molekh), sukkat molech, and some English versions follow this in part (e.g., NIV).

The Mesopotamians worshipped Kaiwan, or Saturn, so the pairing of Sakkuth with Kaiwan makes it likely that Sakkuth is the name of another god that was associated with the planet. There is a reference to an obscure Babylonian god named Sag-kud, and although it appears to have been a planet or a star, no evidence links it directly to the planet Saturn.

The Israelites’ adoption of this god for worship may have resulted from their association with the Assyrians after the fall of the northern kingdom.