Sepharvites

The Sepharvites are the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, named once in the text in connection with the resettlement of Samaria after the Assyrian deportation. Their notice belongs to the catalogue of foreign peoples planted in the cities of Israel and the gods they brought with them.

Worship Brought from Sepharvaim

The single reference is part of a list of imported deities and the rites their devotees practiced. Set alongside the Avvites and their idols, the Sepharvites are described in their own ritual terms: "the Sepharvites burned their sons in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim" (2Ki 17:31). The verse fixes both the people and their two named gods, and it identifies the practice — child-sacrifice by fire — as the form of worship they carried into the land.