Sennacherib
Sennacherib
Samaria
Category="681 BC deaths"Category="Assyrian kings"Category="Babylonian kings"Category="Hebrew Bible/Tanakh people"[image]Sennacherib (in Akkadian Sin-ahhe-eriba, "Sin (the moon god) has taken the place of brothers to me") was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria (705 BC-681 BC). His reign was tested several times by revolts - each of which was brought down.
In 701 BC, an Egyptian-backed rebellion broke out in Judah and was led by Hezekiah. Sennacherib was able to sack many cites in Judah; however, he was not able to take its capital, Jerusalem. This famous event was recorded by Sennacherib himself, by Herodotus, and by several biblical writers.
"And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria" (2 Chronicles 32:21). There is no mention of this great disaster in the Assyrian annals.
Sennacherib's account
Sennacherib first recounts several of his previous victories, and how his enemies had become overwhelmed by his presence. He was able to do this to Great Sidon, Little Sidon, Bit-Zitti, Zaribtu, Mahalliba, Ushu, Akzib and Akko. After taking each of these cities, Sennacherib installed a puppet leader named Ethbaal as ruler over the entire region. Sennacherib then turned his attention to Beth-Dagon, Joppa, Banai-Barqa, and Azjuru, cities that were ruled by Sidqia and also fell to Sennacherib.Egypt and Nubia then came to the aid of the stricken cities. Sennacherib defeated the Egyptians and, by his own account, single-handedly captured the Egyptian and Nubian charioteers. Sennacherib captured and sacked several other cities, including Lachish. He punished the "criminal" citizens of the cities, and he reinstalled Padi, their leader, who had been held as a hostage in Jerusalem.
After this, Sennacherib turned to King Hezekiah of Judah, who stubbornly refused to submit to him. Forty-six of Hezekiah's cities were conquered by Sennacherib, but Jerusalem did not fall. His own account of this invasion, as given in the Assyrian annals, is as follows:
- Because Hezekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my power I took 46 of his strong fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about, I took and plundered a countless number. From these places I took and carried off 200,156 persons, old and young, male and female, together with horses and mules, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude; and Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape... Then upon Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty... All these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government.
Isaiah's account
Isaiah's account of Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem is rather long. It starts with the obvious, about Sennacherib's march against the cities of Judah, and simply states that Sennacherib takes them. Isaiah then recounts how Hezekiah prayed to the God of Israel to save Jerusalem. His account then ended in the way the God of Israel defeats Sennacherib's army: many of Sennacherib's troops are simply killed in their sleep.The disaster according to Herodotus
The Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote his Histories ca. 440 BC, also speaks of a divinely-appointed disaster destroying an army of Sennacherib in this same campaign (2:141):- when Sanacharib, king of the Arabians and Assyrians, marched his vast army into Egypt, the warriors one and all refused to come to his [i.e., the Pharoah Sethos'] aid. On this the monarch, greatly distressed, entered into the inner sanctuary, and, before the image of the god, bewailed the fate which impended over him. As he wept he fell asleep, and dreamed that the god came and stood at his side, bidding him be of good cheer, and go boldly forth to meet the Arabian host, which would do him no hurt, as he himself would send those who should help him. Sethos, then, relying on the dream, collected such of the Egyptians as were willing to follow him, who were none of them warriors, but traders, artisans, and market people; and with these marched to Pelusium, which commands the entrance into Egypt, and there pitched his camp. As the two armies lay here opposite one another, there came in the night, a multitude of field-mice, which devoured all the quivers and bowstrings of the enemy, and ate the thongs by which they managed their shields. Next morning they commenced their fight, and great multitudes fell, as they had no arms with which to defend themselves. There stands to this day in the temple of Vulcan, a stone statue of Sethos, with a mouse in his hand, and an inscription to this effect - "Look on me, and learn to reverence the gods."
Detailed analysis
Sennacherib's first act was to break up the powerful combination of princes who were in league against him, among whom was Hezekiah, who had entered into an alliance with Egypt. Sennacherib accordingly led a very powerful army (reportedly 200,000 men in size) into Judah, and devastated the land on every side, taking and destroying many cities (2 Kings 18:13-16; compare Isaiah 22, 24, 29, and 2 Chronicles 32:1-8).(See Isa. 22:1-13 for a description of the feelings of the inhabitants of Jerusalem at such a crisis.)
Hezekiah was not disposed to become an Assyrian vassal. He accordingly at once sought help from Egypt (2 Kings 18:20-24). Sennacherib, hearing of this, marched a second time into Judah (2 Kings 18:17, 37; 19; 2 Chr. 32:9-23; Isa. 36:2-22. Isa. 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, that protected it from invasions from the east). Sennacherib sent envoys to try to persuade Hezekiah to surrender, but in vain. 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.
Sennacherib did not campaign again against Jerusalem. He was murdered by two of his own sons (Adrammelech and Sharezer), and was succeeded by another son, Esarhaddon (681 BC), after a reign of twenty-four years.
In popular culture
Lord Byron's poem The Destruction of Sennacherib ("The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold...") is a retelling of the story contained in 2 Kings.This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.
See also