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Sennacherib

Emperor living at the time of Divided Monarchy

Sennacherib and Sargon were Assyrian kings who led military campaigns against Judah during the reigns of King Hezekiah and King Ahaz, respectively.

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Also known as Sargon

Sennacherib and Sargon were powerful Assyrian kings who significantly impacted the kingdom of Judah. Sargon II, mentioned in Isa.20.1, was the king of Assyria who conquered Ashdod, a Philistine city. This event occurred during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah and served as a warning of the impending Assyrian threat. Sennacherib, Sargon's son and successor, is more prominently featured in the biblical narrative (2Kings 18-19; 2Chronicles 32; Isaiah 36-37). He invaded Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah and besieged Jerusalem. Sennacherib demanded tribute from Hezekiah and threatened to destroy the city. Hezekiah prayed to God for deliverance, and the prophet Isaiah prophesied that God would defend Jerusalem. As a result, the Assyrian army was miraculously defeated, and Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, where he was later assassinated by his own sons. These accounts demonstrate God's power to protect His people and the fulfillment of prophetic words.

Family

Children
AdrammelechSharezerEsarhaddon

Connections

Part of: Kings, prophets and the house of David

Isaiah and Hezekiah against Sennacherib

RoleStated in the text

When Sennacherib of Assyria threatened Jerusalem in 701 BC, Hezekiah sought Isaiah. Isaiah promised deliverance and the Assyrian army was struck down. Isaiah also announced and then reversed Hezekiah's fatal illness, and warned of Babylon after the envoys' visit.

IsaiahA prophetHezekiahKing of JudahSennacheribEmperor of Assyria
Where the text shows it: 2 Kgs 19:1-7 — Hezekiah sends to Isaiah2 Kgs 19:35-36 — Assyrian army destroyed2 Kgs 20:1-11 — Illness and healingIsa 39:5-7 — Babylon foretold

Sources: 2 Kgs 19:1-7 · 2 Kgs 19:35-36 · 2 Kgs 20:1-11 · Isa 39:5-7

More background: search Wikipedia ↗

Bible dictionary

Sennacherib Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

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. Isa. 22, 24, 29, and 2 Chr. 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. Isa. 22:1-13 for description of the feelings of the inhabitants of Jerusalem at such a crisis.)…

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Sennacherib, Or Sennacherib Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(sin, the moon, increases brothers), was the son and successor of Sargon. [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 vs. 13-16 of this chapter. 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.…

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Sennacherib Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

bramble of destruction

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Sennacherib Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

SENNACH'ERIB (Heb. Sanherib, Sin, the moon, sent many brothers - i.e., he was not his father's eldest son) was king of Assyria when Hezekiah reigned in Judah. He was the son and successor of Sargon. Judah had paid tribute to Assyria, but under Hezekiah it revolted, and so revenge was determined upon; accordingly Sennacherib appears in the Bible as the invader of Palestine on two occasions. The first time he was pacified by a tribute. 2 Kgs 18:14. But, Hezekiah having the second time revolted, he sent an embassy with a few troops to the capital and demanded submission. He also sent an insulting letter to Hezekiah, who went up to the house of the Lord and prayed for deliverance. His prayer was answered, for the Assyrian army besieging Libnah was smitten with a plague so severe Seunacherib on his Throne. (From monuments at Kouyunjik.) that it is stated 185,000 died in one night. The effect of this catastrophe was that the siege was raised and Sennacherib retreated to Nineveh. 2 Kgs 19:35. Many years - perhaps twenty - after this he was worshipping in the house of his god Nisroch when Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, smote him with the sword. 2 Kgs 19:37. He was succeeded by Esar-haddon. Sennacherib's reign lasted twenty-two years, b.c. 705-682. It was brilliant. He crushed the revolt of Babylon, attacked Sidon, made many cities tribute, and, as Sargon had done, laid a heavy hand upon the neighboring nations. He made Nineveh his capital and adorned it with many splendid buildings. His palaces were large and beautiful. His monuments exist in unexpected places. Thus, at the mouth of the Nahr el-Kalb, near Beyrout, and close by an inscription of Rameses the Great of Egypt, is the record of his arrival.

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Sennacherib Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

SENNACH'ERIB (Heb. Sanherib, Sin, the moon, sent many brothers - i.e., he was not his father's eldest son) was king of Assyria when Hezekiah reigned in Judah. He was the son and successor of Sargon. Judah had paid tribute to Assyria, but under Hezekiah it revolted, and so revenge was determined upon; accordingly Sennacherib appears in the Bible as the invader of Palestine on two occasions. The first time he was pacified by a tribute. 2 Kgs 18:14. But, Hezekiah having the second time revolted, he sent an embassy with a few troops to the capital and demanded submission. He also sent an insulting letter to Hezekiah, who went up to the house of the Lord and prayed for deliverance. His prayer was answered, for the Assyrian army besieging Libnah was smitten with a plague so severe Seunacherib on his Throne. (From monuments at Kouyunjik.) that it is stated 185,000 died in one night. The effect of this catastrophe was that the siege was raised and Sennacherib retreated to Nineveh. 2 Kgs 19:35. Many years - perhaps twenty - after this he was worshipping in the house of his god Nisroch when Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, smote him with the sword. 2 Kgs 19:37. He was succeeded by Esar-haddon. Sennacherib's reign lasted twenty-two

years, b.c. 705-682. It was brilliant. He crushed the revolt of Babylon, attacked Sidon, made many cities tribute, and, as Sargon had done, laid a heavy hand upon the neighboring nations. He made Nineveh his capital and adorned it with many splendid buildings. His palaces were large and beautiful. His monuments exist in unexpected places. Thus, at the mouth of the Nahr el-Kalb, near Beyrout, and close by an inscription of Rameses the Great of Egypt, is the record of his arrival.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Sennacherib appears

14 verses in 3 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H5576

2 Kings4
2 Chronicles5
Isaiah5

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.