Sennacherib

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

King of Assyria, son and successor of Shalmaneser, began to reign B. C. 710, and reigned but a few years. Hezekiah king of Judah having shaken off the yoke of the Assyrians, by which Ahaz his father had suffered under Tigloth-pileser, Sennacherib marched an army against him, and took all the strong cities of Judah. Hezekiah, seeing he had nothing left but Jerusalem, which he perhaps found it difficult to preserve, sent ambassadors to Sennacherib, then besieging and destroying Lachish, to make submission. Sennacherib accepted his tribute, but refused to depart, and sent Rabshakeh with an insolent message to Jerusalem. Hezekiah entreated the Lord, who sent a destroying angel against the Assyrian army, and slew in one night 185,000 men. Sennacherib returned with all speed to Nineveh, and turned his arms against the nations south of Assyria, and afterwards towards the north. But his career was not long; within two or three years from his return from Jerusalem, while he was paying adorations to his god Nisroch, in the temple, his two sons Adrammelech and Sharezer slew him and fled into Armenia. Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead,  2 Kings 18:1-19:37   2 Chronicles 32:33 .

A most remarkable confirmation of the above Bible history has been found in the long buried ruins of ancient Nineveh. The mound called Kouyunijik, opposite Mosul, has been to a good degree explored, and its ruins prove to be those of a palace erected by this powerful monarch. The huge stone tablets which formed the walls of its various apartments are covered with bas-reliefs and inscriptions; and though large portions of these have perished by violence and time, the fragments that remain are full of interest. One series of tablets recounts the warlike exploits of Sennacherib, who calls himself "the subduer of kings from the upper sea of the setting sun to the lower sea of the rising sun," that is, from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf.

The most important of these mural pages to Bible readers, are those recounting the history of his war against Syria and the Jews, in the third year of his reign. Crossing the upper part of Mount Lebanon, he appears to have conquered Tyre and all the cities south of it on the seacoast to Askelon. In this region he came in conflict with an Egyptian army, sent in aid of King Hezekiah; this host he defeated and drove back. See  2 Kings 19:9   Isaiah 37:1-38 . The inscription then proceeds to say, "Hezekiah king of Judah, who had not submitted to my authority, forty-six of his principal cities, and fortresses and villages dependant upon them, of which I took no account, I captured, and carried away their spoil. The fortified towns, and the rest of his towns which I spoiled, I severed from his country, and gave to the kings of Askelon, Ekron, and Gaza, so as to make his country small. In addition to the former tribute imposed upon their countries, I added a tribute the nature of which I fixed." Compare  2 Kings 18:13   Isaiah 36:1 . He does not profess to have taken Jerusalem itself, but to have carried away Hezekiah's family, servants, and treasures, with a tribute of thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of silver. The amount of gold is the same mentioned in the Bible narrative. The three hundred talents of silver mentioned in Scripture may have been all that was given in money, and the five hundred additional claimed in the Ninevite record may include the temple and palace treasures, given by Hezekiah as the price of peace.

In another apartment of the same palace was found a series of wellpreserved bas-reliefs, representing the siege and capture by the Assyrians of a large and strong city. It was doubly fortified, and the assault and the defense were both fierce. Part of the city is represented as already taken, while elsewhere the battle rages still in all its fury. Meanwhile captives are seen flayed, impaled, and put to the sword; and from one of the gates of the city a long procession of prisoners is brought before the king, who is gorgeously arrayed and seated on his throne upon a mound or low hill. They are presented by the general in command, very possibly Rabshakeh, with other chief officers. Two eunuchs stand behind the king, holding fans and napkins. Above his head is an inscription, which is thus translated: "Sennacherib the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judging at the gate of the city Lachisa; I give permission for its slaughter." The captives are stripped of their armor, ornaments, and much of their clothing, and are evidently Jews.

Little did Sennacherib then anticipate the utter of his ruin of his own proud metropolis, and still less that the ruins of his palace should preserve to this remote age the tablets containing his own history, and the image of his god Nisroch so incapable of defending him, to bear witness for the God whom he blasphemed and defied. See Nineveh, Nisroch, Shalmaneser and So .

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

A well-known enemy of the Church of the living God, We have his history, as far as relates to the church,  2 Kings 18:13. His name it should seem is a compound of Sennah, the sword; and Charab, to destroy.

Though I should not have thought it worth the record of even inserting this man's name in a work of this kind, neither would his name have been remembered in history, had it not been for being connected with the church's history, yet as that part of his history which relates to the church opens a beautiful lesson, for instruction, I hope the Reader will indulge me with adding a few lines more before that we dismiss the recollection of the impious character of Sennacherib.

We are told that in the Lord's delivering the church from the threatenings and slaughter of this man, the "angel of the Lord went out that night, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred, four-score, and five thousand; and when they arose in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses." ( 2 Kings 19:35) By the angel of the Lord we may suppose is meant the messenger of the Lord, for so the word is. It is not necessary to connect the meaning of the passage, as if it was one of those beings of light which are called angels. Some have thought that this visitation from the Lord was by pestilence, or one of those fatal winds which are known to visit those climates, which, wheresoever they come they sweep off with the besom of destruction. And they who have construed the passage in this sense have observed that it is said by the Lord, before the judgment took place. "Behold, I will send a blast upon him." See the parallel history,  Isaiah 37:1-38. And as it was by night, and the Assyrian camp unprepared for so unexpected a judgment, this blast, like a devouring, fire, entered the camp, commissioned by the Lord, and destroyed them. One circumstance is related which seems very striking—in the morning they were all dead corpses. Those who have witnessed the injury done by this pestilential meteor, or fiery wind, or blast, relate that the bodies so destroyed are quickly after reduced to ashes as if calcined or burnt in an oven. When we consider what is said of the Siroc winds of the warm though milder climates than Africa, I mean Sicily and Malta, we may easily conceive how fatal the Semyel, or Simoon as they are called, of those pestilential climates may be, especially when commissioned by the Lord. And the slaughter of such an army in one night carried with it the fullest and most decided testimony that it was indeed effected by the messenger, the angel of the Lord.

I have introduced this observation of the Lord's judgment on Sennacherib's army by way of introducing another; namely, what safety are the people of the Lord brought into when all the creation of God waits as ministering servants to execute the divine judgments on their enemies! "Winds and storms fulfilling his word," sickness and the word, angels and messengers, all wait to execute the Lord's commands. "Are they not all (saith the Scripture) ministering spirits, seat forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" ( Hebrews 1:14) Hence with an eye to Christ, and to his people secured in him, the Lord's promise runs—"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee." ( Psalms 91:1-16 throughout.) First spoken to Christ, and then to all the seed of Christ everlastingly secured in him.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

On the monuments Τzin-Akki-Irib , "Sin (the "moon goddess") increases brothers," implying Sennacherib was not the firstborn; or else "thanking the god for the gift." Sargon's son and successor. Ascended the throne 704 B.C., crushed the revolt of Babylon, and drove away Merodach Baladan, made Belibus his officer viceroy, ravaged the Aramaean lands on the Tigris and Euphrates, and carried off 200,000 captives. In 701 B.C. warred with the tribes on Mount Zagros, and reduced the part of Media previously independent. In 700 B.C. punished Sidon, made Tyre, Arad, and other Phoenician cities, as also Edom and Ashdod, tributary. Took Ashkelon, warred with Egypt, took Libnah and Lachish on the frontier; and having made treaty with Sabacus or So (The Clay Seal Of So Found In Sennacherib'S Palace At Koyunjik Was Probably Attached To This Treaty) , he marched against Hezekaih of Judah who had thrown off tribute and intermeddled in the politics of Philistine cities against Sennacherib ( 2 Kings 18:13). (See Hezekiah : Assyria; Nineveh )

Hezekiah's sickness was in his 14th year, but Sennacherib's expedition in his 27th, which ought to be substituted for the copyist's error "fourteenth." On his way, according to inscriptions (G. Smith, In Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, October 1872, P. 198) , Sennacherib attacked Lulia of Sidon, then took Sidon, Zarephath, etc. The kings of Palestine mentioned as submitting to Sennacherib are Menahem of Samaria, Tubal of Sidon, Kemosh Natbi of Moab, etc. He took Ekron, which had submitted to Hezekiah and had delivered its king Padi up to him; Sennacherib reseated Padi on his throne. Sennacherib defeated the kings of Egypt and Ethiopia at Eltekeh. Sennacherib took 46 of Judah's fenced cities including Lachish, the storming of which, is depicted on his palace walls. He shut up Hezekiah, (Building Towers Round Jerusalem) , who then submitted and paid 30 talents of gold and 800 of silver.

Sennacherib gave part of Judah's territory to Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Ashkelon. It was at his second expedition that the overthrow of his host by Jehovah's Angel took place ( 2 Kings 18:17-37;  2 Kings 18:2 Kings 19). This was probably two years after the first, but late in his reign Sennacherib speaks of an expedition to Palestine apparently. "After this," in  2 Chronicles 32:9;  2 Chronicles 32:17 years after his disaster, in 681 B.C., his two sons Adrammelech and Sharezer assassinated him after a reign of 22 years, and Esarhaddon ascended the throne 680 B.C. Esarhaddon's inscription, stating that he was at war with his half brothers, after his accession, agrees with the Bible account of Sennacherib's assassination. Moses of Chorene confirms the escape of the brothers to Armenia, and says that part was peopled by their descendants.

Sennacherib's second invasion of Babylon was apparently in 699 B.C.; he defeated a Chaldaean chief who headed an army in support of Merodach Baladan. Sennacherib put one of his own sons on the throne instead of Belibus. Sennacherib was the first who made Nineveh the seat of government. The grand palace at Koyunjik was his, covering more than eight acres. He embanked with brick the Tigris, restored the aqueducts of Nineveh, and repaired a second palace at Nineveh on the mound of Nebi Yunns. Its halls were ranged about three courts, one 154 ft. by 125 ft., another 124 ft. by 90 ft. One hall was 180 ft. long by 40 ft. broad; 60 ft. small rooms have been opened. He erected memorial tablet at the mouth of the nahr el Kelb on the Syrian coast, beside an inscription recording Rameses the Great's conquests six hundred years before; this answers to his boast that "he had come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon."

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Sennach'erib or Sennache'rib. (Sin, the moon, Increases Brothers). Sennacherib was the son, and successor, of Sargon. See Sargon . His name in the original is read as Tsinakki-Irib , the meaning of which, as given above indicates that he was not the first-born of his father. Sennacherib mounted the throne B.C. 702. His efforts were directed to crushing the revolt of Babylonia, which he invaded with a large army. Merodach-baladan ventured on a battle, but was defeated and driven from the country.

In his third year, B.C. 700, Sennacherib turned his arms toward the west, chastised Sidon, and, having, probably, concluded a convention with his chief enemy, finally marched against Hezekiah, king of Judah. It was at this time that "Sennacherib came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them."  2 Kings 18:13. There can be no doubt that the record, which he has left of his campaign against "Hiskiah" in his third year, is the war with Hezekiah so briefly touched in  2 Kings 18:13-16.

In the following year, (B.C. 699), Sennacherib made his second expedition into Palestine. Hezekiah had again revolted, and claimed the protection of Egypt. Sennacherib, therefore, attacked Egypt, and from his camp at Lachish and Libnah, he sent an insulting letter to Hezekiah at Jerusalem. In answer to Hezekiah's prayer, an event occurred which relieved both Egypt and Judea from their danger. In one night, the Assyrians lost, either by a pestilence or by some more awful manifestation of divine power, 185,000 men! The camp immediately broke up; the king fled.

Sennacherib reached his capital in safety, and was not deterred by the terrible disaster, which had befallen his arms from engaging in other wars, though he seems, thenceforward, to have carefully avoided Palestine. Sennacherib reigned 22 years and was succeeded by Esar-haddon, B.C. 680. Sennacherib was one of the most magnificent of the Assyrian kings. He seems to have been the first, who fixed the seat of government permanently at Nineveh, which he carefully repaired, and adorned with splendid buildings. His greatest work is the grand palace, Kouyunjik. Of the death of Sennacherib, nothing is known beyond the brief statement of Scripture that "as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, smote him with the sword, and escaped into the land of Armenia."  2 Kings 19:37;  Isaiah 37:38.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SENNACHERIB (Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] Sin-akhç-erba, i.e. ‘Sin [the Moon-god] has increased the brothers’), son of Sargon, succeeded him on the throne of Assyria, on the 12th of Ab, b.c. 705. He was at once faced by troubles in Babylon, where Merodach-baladan had re-established himself. Sennacherib expelled him and placed Bçlibni of the Babylonian seed royal on the throne as a vassal king. After wars against the Kassites and Elamites in b.c. 701, Sennacherib set out to reduce the West to order. The king of Tyre fied to Cyprus, Sidon and the rest of PhÅ“nicia were taken or submitted, and placed under a king Ethbaal. Ashdod, Ammon, Moab, Edom sent tribute. Ashkelon and Ekron were captured, and Hezekiah had to restore Padi to the throne of Ekron after keeping him some time in prison. The Egyptians and their allies who had moved to support Hezekiah were defeated at Eltekeh. Then Sennacherib devastated Judæa, capturing 46 cities and 200,150 prisoners. Hezekiah seems to have attempted to bribe him to retreat, sending immense tribute to Sennacherib while he was besieging Lachish. Lachish fell, and the Tartan, the Rab-sbakeh and Rab-saris were sent to demand the surrender of Jerusalem (  2 Kings 19:8 ff.). The miraculous dispersion of his army compelled Sennacherib to retreat without accomplishing the capture of Jerusalem. There is some reason to think that the Biblical accounts refer partly to a second campaign of Sennacherib after b.c. 690. His annals, however, do not extend so far. Troubles in Babylonia led him to recall Bçl-ibni and set his own son Ashur-nâdin-shum on the throne. He then had once more to expel Merodach-baladan from Lower Babylonia. Building a fleet on the Tigris and Euphrates, he pursued the Chald¿an to the mouth of the Eul¿us, and there captured and destroyed the Chald¿an stronghold, thus invading Lower Elam. He was too far from his base, and the Elamites fell on his rear and captured Babylon, carried off Ashur-nâdin-shum to Elam, making a Chald¿an Nergal-ushçzib king in his stead; b.c. 694. The Assyrians soon re-asserted their supremacy, but a fresh rebellion placed a Babylonian on the throne of Babylon. In b.c. 691Samennacherib brought both Elamites and Babylonians to bay at Khalule. Two years later he invaded Elam. In b.c. 689 Babylon was captured and razed to the ground. From that time till b.c. 681, when Sennacherib was murdered (  2 Kings 19:37 ), we have no history of his reign. His great achievement was the creation of Nineveh as a metropolis of the Empire. He built the great palace of Kouyunjik and the great wall of Nineveh. Cf. Adrammelech.

C. H. W. Johns.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 18:13-16 Isaiah 222429,24,29 2 Chronicles 32:1-8 Isaiah 22:1-13

Hezekiah was not disposed to become an Assyrian feudatory. He accordingly at once sought help from Egypt (  2 Kings 18:20-24 ). Sennacherib, hearing of this, marched a second time into Palestine ( 2 Kings 18:17,37;  19;  2 Chronicles 32:9-23;  Isaiah 36:2-22 .  Isaiah 37:25 should be rendered "dried up all the Nile-arms of Matsor," i.e., of Egypt, so called from the "Matsor" or great fortification across the isthmus of Suez, which protected it from invasions from the east). Sennacherib sent envoys to try to persuade Hezekiah to surrender, but in vain. (See Tirhakah .) He next sent a threatening letter (  2 Kings 19:10-14 ), which Hezekiah carried into the temple and spread before the Lord. Isaiah again brought an encouraging message to the pious king ( 2 Kings 19:20-34 ). "In that night" the angel of the Lord went forth and smote the camp of the Assyrians. In the morning, "behold, they were all dead corpses." The Assyrian army was annihilated.

This great disaster is not, as was to be expected, taken notice of in the Assyrian annals.

Though Sennacherib survived this disaster some twenty years, he never again renewed his attempt against Jerusalem. He was murdered by two of his own sons (Adrammelech and Sharezer), and was succeeded by another son, Esarhaddon (B.C. 681), after a reign of twenty-four years.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Sennacherib ( Sen-Nak'E-Rĭb, or Sĕn-Na-Kç'-Rib ), Sin, the moon, Increases Brothers, was the son and successor of Sargon. In the third year of his reign, b.c. 700, Sennacherib turned his arms toward the west, attacked Sidon, and finally marched against Hezekiah, king of Judah. "Sennacherib came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them."  2 Kings 18:13. There can be no doubt that the record which he has left of his campaign against "Hiskiah" in his third year is the war with Hezekiah so briefly touched in  2 Kings 18:13-16. In the following year. b.c. 699, Sennacherib made his second expedition into Palestine. Hezekiah had revolted, and claimed the protection of Egypt. Sennacherib therefore attacked Egypt, and from his camp at Lachish and Libnah he sent an insulting letter to Hezekiah at Jerusalem.  2 Kings 19:14. In answer to Hezekiah's prayer the Assyrians lost, in a single night, by some awful manifestation of divine power, 185,000 men! The camp immediately broke up; the king fled.  2 Kings 19:35-37. Sennacherib reached his capital in safety, engaged in other wars, though he seems to have carefully avoided Palestine, and was slain by two of his sons, 15 or 20 years after his flight from Jerusalem.  Isaiah 37:38. He reigned 22 years, and was succeeded by Esar-haddon, b.c. 680. Sennacherib was one of the most magnificent of the Assyrian kings. He seems to have been the first who fixed the seat of government permanently at Nineveh, which he carefully repaired and adorned with palaces and splendid buildings.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Son and successor of Sargon, king of Assyria. He invaded Syria and Palestine in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's reign. Hezekiah owned that he had offended, and paid to him a tribute of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Sennacherib has left an account of this on a clay tablet. He says he captured forty-six fenced cities, and the fortresses and villages round about them belonging to Hezekiah the Jew, and carried away 200,150 souls, and horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep without number, etc. He shut up Hezekiah in his house at Jerusalem like a bird in a cage. Cf.  2 Kings 18:13-16;  2 Chronicles 32:1-8 .

On Sennacherib's second invasion, he sent insulting and impious messages to Hezekiah, who apparently was again trusting in Egypt. But an angel of God destroyed the Assyrian army. Of course the monuments say nothing of this. The king returned to Assyria, and did not venture to invade Palestine again. He was eventually murdered by two of his sons, and Esar-haddon, another son, succeeded him.  2 Kings 18:17-37;  2 Kings 19:1-37;  2 Chronicles 32:9-22;  Isaiah 36;  Isaiah 37 . Apparently Sennacherib was co-regent with Sargon in B.C. 714 when he invaded Judaea the first time; he reigned alone from B.C. 705 to 681.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

king of Assyria, son and successor of Shalmaneser. He began his reign A.M. 3290, and reigned only four years. Hezekiah, king of Judah, having refused to pay him tribute, though he afterward submitted, he invaded Judea with a great army, took several forts, and after repeated, insolent, and blasphemous messages, besieged Jerusalem; but his army being suddenly smitten with a pestilence, which cut off a hundred and eighty-five thousand in a single night, he returned to Nineveh, where he was murdered in the temple of Nisroch by his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer, and was succeeded by his other son, Esar-haddon,  2 Kings 19:7;  2 Kings 19:13;  2 Kings 19:37 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

Israel

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

se - nak´ẽr - ib ( סנחריב , ṣanḥērı̄bh  ; Σενναχηρείμ , Sennachēreı́m , Assyrian Sin - akhierba , "the moon-god Sin has increased the brothers"): Sennacherib (704-682 BC) ascended the throne of Assyria after the death of his father Sargon. Appreciating the fact that Babylon would be difficult to control, instead of endeavoring to conciliate the people he ignored them. The Babylonians, being indignant, crowned a man of humble origin, Marduk - zâkir - shum by name. He ruled only a month, having been driven out by the irrepressible Merodach - baladan , who again appeared on the scene.

In order to fortify himself against Assyria the latter sent an embassy to Hezekiah, apparently for the purpose of inspiring the West to rebel against Assyria ( 2 Kings 20:12-19 ).

Sennacherib in his first campaign marched into Babylonia. He found Merodach - baladan entrenched at Kish, about 9 miles from Babylon, and defeated him; after which he entered the gates of Babylon, which had been thrown open to him. He placed a Babylonian, named Bêl - ibni , on the throne.

This campaign was followed by an invasion of the country of the Cassites and Iasubigalleans. In his third campaign he directed his attention to the West, where the people had become restless under the Assyrian yoke. Hezekiah had been victorious over the Philistines ( 2 Kings 18:8 ). In preparation to withstand a siege, Hezekiah had built a conduit to bring water within the city walls ( 2 Kings 20:20 ). Although strongly opposed by the prophet Isaiah, gifts were sent to Egypt, whence assistance was promised ( Isaiah 30:1-4 ). Apparently also the Phoenicians and Philistines, who had been sore pressed by Assyria, had made provision to resist Assyria. The first move was at Ekron, where the Assyrian governor Padi was put into chains and sent to Hezekiah at Jerusalem.

Sennacherib, in 701 BC, moved against the cities in the West. He ravaged the environs of Tyre, but made no attempt to take the city, as he was without a naval force. After Elulaeus the king of Sidon fled, the city surrendered without a battle, and Ethbaal was appointed king. Numerous cities at once sent presents to the king of Assyria. Ashkelon and other cities were taken. The forces of Egypt were routed at Eltekeh, and Ekron was destroyed. He claims to have conquered 46 strongholds of Hezekiah's territory, but he did not capture Jerusalem, for concerning the king he said, in his annals, "himself like a bird in a cage in Jerusalem, his royal city, I penned him." He states, also, how he reduced his territory, and how Hezekiah sent to him 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, besides hostages.

The Biblical account of this invasion is found in  2 Kings 18:13 through 19:37;   Isaiah 36;  37 . The Assyrian account differs considerably from it; but at the same time it corroborates it in many details. One of the striking parallels is the exact amount of gold which Hezekiah sent to the Assyrian king (see The Expository Times , Xii , 225,405; Xiii , 326).

In the following year Sennacherib returned to Babylonia to put down a rebellion by Bêl - ibni and Merodach - baladan . The former was sent to Assyria, and the latter soon afterward died. Ashurnadin-shum, the son of Sennacherib, was then crowned king of Babylon. A campaign into Cilicia and Cappadocia followed.

In 694 Bc S ennacherib attacked the Elamites, who were in league with the Babylonians. In revenge, the Elamites invaded Babylonia and carried off Ashur - nâdin - shum to Elam, and made Nergalushêzib king of Babylon. He was later captured and in turn carried off to Assyria. In 691 Bc S ennacherib again directed his attention to the South, and at Khalute fought with the combined forces. Two years later he took Babylon, and razed it to the ground.

In 681 Bc S ennacherib was murdered by his two sons ( 2 Kings 19:37; see Sharezer ). Esar-haddon their younger brother, who was at the time conducting a campaign against Ararat, was declared king in his stead.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Sennacherib, King of Assyria, who, in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah (B.C. 713), came up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them; on which Hezekiah agreed to pay the Assyrian monarch a tribute of three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. This, however, did not satisfy Sennacherib, who sent an embassy with hostile intentions, charging Hezekiah with trusting on 'this bruised reed Egypt.' The king of Judah in his perplexity had recourse to Isaiah, who counseled confidence and hope, giving a divine promise of miraculous aid. Meanwhile 'Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia,' and of Thebes in Egypt, had come out to fight against the Assyrians, who had threatened Lower Egypt with an invasion. On learning this, Sennacherib sent another deputation to Hezekiah, who thereon applied for aid to Jehovah, who promised to defend the capital. 'And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses' (, sq.). On this, Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, and was shortly after murdered by two of his sons as he was praying in the house of Nisroch his god ( sq.; 2 Chronicles 32; Isaiah 37).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Sennacherib'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/s/sennacherib.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A king of Assyria, whose reign extended from 702 to 681 B.C., and was distinguished by the projection and execution of extensive public works; he endeavoured to extend his conquests westward, but was baffled in Judea by the miraculous destruction of his army. See 2Kings xix. 35.