Sennacherib King of Assyria

King Sennacherib in Royal Dress

This painted sketch is of the mighty Assyrian king Sennacherib relief which was discovered on the walls of his palace in Khorsabad, near the ruins of ancient Nineveh.

The ancient Assyrian ruins reveal much about the wealth of this powerful monarch. Sennacherib reigned from 720 BC to about 683 BC. The Bible reveals that during the reign of the Jewish king Hezekiah, Sennacherib came to conquer Jerusalem and the Angel of the LORD (The Lord Himself) slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When he returned to Assyria his own sons murdered him. 

Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
2 Kings 18:13

"Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. 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. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead."
2 Kings 19:32-37
 

Heart of His Message

Sennacherib

Imagine living within the city of Jerusalem during the siege of Sennacherib. (700BC) He has already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, (722BC) and many of the fortified cities of southern Judea. Talk about a panic attack! Sennacherib's armies were full of blood lust, and they loved to torture. Skinning people alive was one of their specialties, nailing the human skin to walls as warning to others who might rebel from his control.

Imagine now that you are the King of Judah, and you must decide what to do when the massive Assyrian army is outside your gates. The threats of Sennacherib as read by his general were not idol. 

"Then the commander stood and called out in Hebrew: "Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria! This is what the king says: Do not let Hezekiah deceive you. He cannot deliver you from my hand. Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, 'The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.' "Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death! "Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, 'The LORD will deliver us.' Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?" (2Kings 18:28-35)

What would you do? Could you make a stand? In the natural it would seem suicidal. But to surrender meant deportation, slavery, and who knows what horror. Resistance however, seems to mean certain death. 

Perhaps you have lived through "no win" situations? Perhaps you face extreme difficulty now. Sometimes, for whatever reason, we find ourselves at the end of ourselves, at the end of our own resources, where few if any, can understand the personal despair and fear of the choices that must be made.

King Hezekiah chose to take the written threats of Sennacherib's General and spread them out before the Lord. 

"Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD . And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD : "O LORD , God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD , and hear; open your eyes, O LORD , and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. "It is true, O LORD , that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD , are God." (2Kings 19:14-17)

Perhaps this is a good place to spread your collection notices, the threats of others, your divorce papers, your pink slip. Perhaps you could write down the situation and offer a prayer of desperation to the Lord. God defeated the dreaded Sennacherib, and He will defeat your enemies as well. Place the results in His hands with the rest of your entire life. Be ready to change when God makes His will known. And prepare for a glorious praise and worship when you realize that the Lord God has delivered you in a truly unimaginable way. Have faith dear one and pour out your heart to the Lord.

 
2 Kings 19:16 - LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God.

Isaiah 37:17 - Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.

2 Chronicles 32:9 - After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he [himself laid siege] against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that [were] at Jerusalem, saying,

2 Chronicles 32:22 - Thus the LORD saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all [other], and guided them on every side.

Isaiah 36:1 - Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, [that] Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

2 Kings 18:13 - Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.

2 Kings 19:20 - Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, [That] which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.

2 Chronicles 32:1 - After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself.

Isaiah 37:21 - Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:

2 Chronicles 32:10 - Thus saith Sennacherib king of Assyria, Whereon do ye trust, that ye abide in the siege in Jerusalem?

2 Kings 19:36 - So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

Isaiah 37:37 - So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

2 Chronicles 32:2 - And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem,

Sennacherib's Hexagonal Prism

From Bible History on-line

Iraq: Nineveh
Neo-Assyrian Period
Reign of Sennacherib, (689 BC)
Baked clay, inscribed
38.0 cm H, 14.0 cm W
500 Lines of Writing (cuneiform)
Purchased in Baghdad, 1919
OIM A2793

Sennacherib's Prism Reveals King Hezekiah

This six-sided hexagonal clay prism, commonly known as the Taylor Prism, was discovered among the ruins of Nineveh, the ancient capital of the Assyrian Empire.  It contains the Annals of Sennacherib himself, the Assyrian king who had besieged Jerusalem in 701 BC during the reign of king Hezekiah. On the prism Sennacherib boasts that he shut up "Hezekiah the Judahite" within Jerusalem his own royal city "like a caged bird." This prism is among the three accounts discovered so far which have been left by the Assyrian monarch of his campaign against Israel and Judah.

Who was Sennacherib?

Sennacherib in Akkadian means "Sin (moon god) has multiplied the brothers". Sennacherib was one of the most powerful monarchs in the history of the world. He was king of Assyria, and the son of Sargon. He inherited the vast empire from his father, and ascended the throne on the twelfth day of Ab (July-August), 705 B.C. Sennacherib was the king who had besieged Jerusalem during the reign of king Hezekiah of Judah.

Colonel Taylor, Hormuzd Rassam and Henry Austen Layard

The Taylor Prism was discovered among the ruins of ancient Nineveh by Colonel Taylor in 1830. Of all Assyrian documents that have come down to us not one is in better preservation than this.

Henry Austen Layard later found the Royal Palace of Sennacherib and many other archaeological treasures. The work of Layard was continued here and at other sites until 1847. In 1849 he began another exploring expedition which lasted three years. Layard had become popular in Britain as he gave persuasive scholarly accounts of his discoveries to the public, making remarkable comparisons with the Bible.

In 1878  Hormuzd Rassam (Assyrian Archaeologist 1826-1910) had resumed work for the British Museum at Nineveh after Henry Austen Layard's excavations in 1845 for the British Museum at the Mounds of Nimrud. There were clay tablets discovered in great quantities: and Rassam, without knowing it, unearthed at Nineveh a portion of the famous library of Assurbanipal (688-26 B. C.).

The palace at Nineveh was decorated with massive stone wall panels depicting the siege of Lachish. These can be seen today at the Lachish Gallery in the British Museum.

Taylor Prism Purchased by the Oriental Institute

In 1919 J. H. Breasted purchased the Taylor Prism for the Oriental Institute in Chicago from a Baghdad antiquities dealer

Specifications of the Prism

Language: Akkadian (Cuneiform)

Medium: Clay prism

Dimensions: 38cm high, 13.3cm wide (top) 14cm wide (bottom)
the width of the six panels are: 8, 7.6, 7.52, 8, 7.3, 7.7cm
the hole at the top is 2.3cm
the hole at the bottom is 2.5cm

Length of Writing: 6 columns; 500 lines

Approximate Date: 689 BCE

Dates of Sennacherib's reign: 701–681 BCE

Biblical Reference: 2 Kings 18:13-19:37; Isaiah 36:1-37:38

Location of Discovery: mound at Kuyunjik (in modern Mosul, Iraq)

Current Location: Oriental Institute Chicago, Illinois

Inventory Number: A2793.

Close up look at the Cuneiform

The Account Recorded on the Prism

"On the six inscribed sides of this clay prism, King Sennacherib recorded eight military campaigns undertaken against various peoples who refused to submit to Assyrian domination. In all instances, he claims to have been victorious. As part of the third campaign, he beseiged Jerusalem and imposed heavy tribute on Hezekiah, King of Judah-a story also related in the Bible, where Sennacherib is said to have been defeated by "the angel of the Lord," who slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers (II Kings 18-19)." - Oriental Institute

Here is an exact rendering of Sennacheribs haughty introductory declaration about himself and his third campaign:

The Biblical Comparison

The best way to see the accuracy of the Biblical account with this record on Sennacherib's Prism is to compare 2 Kings 18:13-19:37 and Isaiah 36:1-37:38 with the last paragraph on the above account.

A Mystery of History

After comparing the Biblical account with that of the Sennacherib Prism one Scripture stands out above all of the rest, which remains a mystery even to today. It is also recorded in the Book of Kings along with the Book of Isaiah. It is the part where Isaiah gives a Word from the Lord just after King Hezekiah's awesome prayer.

Isa 37:33-38 "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come into this city, Nor shoot an arrow there, Nor come before it with shield, Nor build a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, By the same shall he return; And he shall not come into this city,' Says the LORD. 'For I will defend this city, to save it For My own sake and for My servant David's sake.'" Then the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses--all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh."

This miracle cannot be substantiated by archaeological discoveries for a reason of which only God knows, but all of the pieces seem to fit together because even today no one has determined exactly why Sennacherib did not even enter Jerusalem with his great army once it was besieged. After reading his campaigns on his Prism it would seem that this was the thing he had intended to do, and with all anxiety.

Another revealing fact is this: At this point in time there was an abrupt discontinuance of Assyria’s western invasions. Professor George Rawlinson of Oxford noted:

Sennacherib during his later years made no expedition further westward than Cilicia; nor were the Assyrian designs against Southern Syria and Egypt resumed till toward the close of the reign of Esarhaddon (Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament, 1873, p. 145).

Herodotus and Josephus on Sennacherib's Campaigns

Herodotus, the father of ancient Greek history, records what is probably an Egyptian legend (that grew out of this historical event); he suggests that Sennacherib’s fighting force was greatly reduced when in one night, a plague of field mice gnawed the quivers, bowstrings, and shield-straps of his soldiers, thus making them suddenly vulnerable to their enemies (cf. Edersheim, Bible History, VII, p.155).

Josephus quotes the Chaldean historian Berosus as follows:

Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found his army under Rabshakeh his general in danger [by a plague], for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the very night of the siege, a hundred fourscore and five thousand, with their captains and generals, were destroyed (Antiquities 10.1.5).

But the account of his death may give us some sort of distant light as to this miracle and the possibility of his great army being utterly routed.

Sennacherib Murdered by his own sons.

One interesting note worth investigating further is where the Bible records what happened to Sennacherib once he had returned to Nineveh, without his great army.

In reviewing the background of this situation King Hezekiah was intensely concerned about the armies of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. He sent his servants to inquire of the prophet Isaiah just exactly what the Lord was saying that he needed to do. Once his servants had found Isaiah, he said:

2 Kings 19:6-7 "And Isaiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to your master, 'Thus says the LORD: "Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."

The book of Kings goes on to record what had actually happened to Sennacherib once he returned to his capital, Nineveh.

2 Kings 19:37 Now it came to pass, as he (Sennacherib) was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place."

This exact same account was unearthed, having been recorded on a clay tablet, now in the British Museum.

'On the twentieth day of the month Tebet Sennacherib king of Assyria his son slew him in rebellion... Esarhaddon his son sat on the throne of Assyria.' 

The Evidence of Archaeology

The evidence of archaeology helps to give us:

1. Confidence that the places and people mentioned in the Bible are accurate, even though those places and people existed thousands of years in the past.

2. Confidence that the details of the Biblical accounts have not changed over the centuries since it was written as we have a "fixed fact" in history. 

3. Confidence that everything that the Lord speaks will be fulfilled in its time.

Isa 46:8-10 "Remember this, and show yourselves men; Recall to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,' 

Written by Rusty Russell (Bible History Online)

Webmaster: rusty@bible-history.com

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