1. A. (Heb. 'Arpakhad'), son of Shem, born 2 years after the Flood (Gen. 10:22; 11:10), grandfather or great-grandfather of Heber (q.v.). The name seems also to designate an ethnic group, like Elam, Asshur, Aram, Lud. It may indicate the Arrapachitis (Ptolemy, *Geography*, VI, 1, 2; Assyr. Arrapha), in the mountainous region northeast of Mesopotamia; more likely, however, it refers to the Chaldeans (Kasdim) of lower Mesopotamia, from which Abraham came.
2. A., king of Media (Judg. 1:1, 5), defeated by Nebuchadnezzar of Nineveh; neither of them is attested in other ancient sources. The name, in altered form, seems to correspond to Phraortes, the Median Fravartish or Parruvartis. It does not refer here to Phraortes I (c. 647–625 B.C.), successor of Deioces, who founded the Median dynasty (Herodotus, I, 102); rather, it likely refers to Phraortes II, who, according to the Behistun Inscription, was defeated by Darius I (522–485) in the region of Rhagae (cf. Judg. 1:5, 15). Others suggest another figure from the time of Artaxerxes II (404–358) or Artaxerxes III (358–337), still unidentified.