Sennacherib: Sin (the god) sends many brothers, son of Sargon, whom he succeeded on
the throne of Assyria (B.C. 705) in the 23rd year of Hezekiah. "Like
the Persian Xerxes, he was weak and vainglorious, cowardly under
reverse, and cruel and boastful in success." He first set himself to
break up the powerful combination of princes who were in league
against him. Among these was Hezekiah, who had entered into an
alliance with Egypt against Assyria. He accordingly led a very
powerful army of at least 200,000 men into Judea, and devastated the
land on every side, taking and destroying many cities
(2 Kings 18:13-16)
comp.
(Isaiah 22)ff
(Isaiah 24:1)ff and
(2 Chronicles 32:1-8) His own account of
this invasion, as given in the Assyrian annals, is in these words:
"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 forty-six 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." (Comp.)
(Isaiah 22:1-13) for description of the feelings
of the inhabitants of Jerusalem at such a crisis.) 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; 19:1)ff
(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.
