The cam p immediately broke up; the king fled. Sennacherib reached his capital in safety, and was no t 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 y ears and was succeeded by Esar-haddon, B.C. 680. Sennacherib was one of the most magnificen t of the Assyrian kings. Seems to have been the first who fixed the seat of government perman ently at Nineveh, which he carefully repaired and adorned with splendid buildings. His greate st work is the grand palace Kouyunjik. Of the death of Sennacherib nothing is known beyond th e brief statement of Scripture that "as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, A drammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword and escaped into the land of Armeni a." (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38) SENNACHERIB se-nak'-er-ib (cancheribh; Sennachereim, Assyrian Sin-akhierba, "the moon-god Sin has increas ed 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 t o conciliate the people he ignored them. The Babylonians, being indignant, crowned a man of h umble origin, Marduk-zakir-shum by name. He ruled only a month, having been driven out by th e irrepressible Merodach-baladan, who again appeared on the scene. In order to fortify himself against Assyria the latter sent an embassy to Hezekiah, apparentl y 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 entrenche d at Kish, about 9 miles from Babylon, and defeated him; after which he entered the gates o f Babylon, which had been thrown open to him. He placed a Babylonian, named Bel-ibni, on th e 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 re stless 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 withi n the city walls (2 Kings 20:20). Although strongly opposed by the prophet Isaiah, gifts wer e sent to Egypt, whence assistance was promised (Isaiah 30:1-4). Apparently also the Phoenici ans and Philistines, who had been sore pressed by Assyria, had made provision to resist Assyr ia. The first move was at Ekron, where the Assyrian governor Padi was put into chains and sen t 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 k ing of Sidon fled, the city surrendered without a battle, and Ethbaal was appointed king. Num erous cities at once sent presents to the king of Assyria. Ashkelon and other cities were tak en. The forces of Egypt were routed at Eltekeh, and Ekron was destroyed. He claims to have co nquered 46 strongholds of Hezekiah's territory, but he did not capture Jerusalem, for concern ing the king he said, in his annals, "himself like a bird in a cage in Jerusalem, his royal c ity, I penned him." He states, also, how he reduced his territory, and how Hezekiah sent to h im 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, besides hostages. The Biblical account of this invasion is found in 2 Kings 18:13-19:37; Isa 36; 37. The Assyri an account differs considerably from it; but at the same time it corroborates it in many deta ils. One of the striking parallels is the exact amount of gold which Hezekiah sent to the Ass yrian king (see The Expository Times, XII, 225,405; XIII, 326). In the following year Sennacherib returned to Babylonia to put down a rebellion by Bal-ibni a nd Merodach-baladan. The former was sent to Assyria, and the latter soon afterward died. Ashu rnadin-shum, the son of Sennacherib, was then crowned king of Babylon. A campaign into Cilici a and Cappadocia followed. In 694 BC Sennacherib attacked the Elamites, who were in league with the Babylonians. In reve nge, the Elamites invaded Babylonia and carried off Ashur-nadin-shum to Elam, and made Nergal ushezib king of Babylon. He was later captured and in turn carried off to Assyria. In 691 B C Sennacherib again directed his attention to the South, and at Khalute fought with the combi ned forces. Two years later he took Babylon, and razed it to the ground. In 681 BC Sennacherib was murdered by his two sons (2 Kings 19:37; see SHAREZER). Esar-haddo n their younger brother, who was at the time conducting a campaign against Ararat, was declar ed king in his stead. By way of rewarding his piety, God granted Hezekiah a brilliant victory over SENNACHERIB. This Assyrian king, who had conquered the whole world, 51 equipped an army against Hezekiah l ike unto which there is none, unless it be the army of the four kings whom Abraham routed, o r the army to be raised by God and Magog in the Messianic time. SENNACHERIB's army consiste d of more than two millions and a half of horsemen, Among them forty-five thousand princes si tting in chariots and surrounded by their paramours, by eighty thousand armor-clad soldiers , and sixty thousand swordsmen. The camp extended over a space of four hundred parasangs, an d the saddle-beasts standing neck to neck formed a line forty parasangs long. The host was di vided into four divisions. After the first of them had passed the Jordan, it was well nigh dr y, for the soldiers had all slaked their thirst with water of the river. The second divisio n found nothing to quench their thirst except the water gathered under the hoofs of the horse s. The third division was forced to dig wells, and when the fourth division crossed the Jorda n, they kicked up great clouds of dust. 52 With this vast army SENNACHERIB hastened onward, in accordance with the disclosures of the as trologers, who warned him that he would fail in his object of capturing Jerusalem, if he arri ved there later than the day set by them. His journey having lasted but one day instead of te n, as he had expected, he rested at Nob. A raised platform was there erected for SENNACHERIB , whence he could view Jerusalem. On first beholding the Judean capital, the Assyrian king ex claimed: "What

Is this Jerusalem, the city for whose sake I gathered together my whole army , for whose sake I first conquered all other lands? Is it not smaller and weaker than all th e cities of the nations I subdued with my strong hand?" He stretched himself and shook his he ad, and waved his hand contemptuously toward the Temple mount and the sanctuary crowning it . When his warriors urged him to make his attack upon Jerusalem, he bade them take their eas e for one night, and be prepared to storm the city the next day. It seemed no great undertaki ng. Each warrior would but have to pick up as much mortar from the wall as is needed to sea l a letter and the whole city would disappear. But SENNACHERIB made the mistake of not procee ding directly to the attack upon the city. If he had made the assault at once, it would hav e been successful, for the sin of Saul against the priest at Nob had not yet been wholly expi ated; on that very day it was fully atoned for. 53 In the following night, which was the Pass over night, when Hezekiah and the people began to sing the Hallel Psalms, 54 the giant host w as annihilated. The archangel Gabriel 55 sent by God to ripen the fruits of the field, was ch arged to address himself to the task of making away with the Assyrians, and he fulfilled hi s mission so well that of all the millions of the army, SENNACHERIB alone was saved with hi s two sons, his son-in-law 56 Nebuchadnezzar, and Nebuzaradan. 57 The death of the Assyrian s happened when the angel permitted them to hear the "song of the celestials." 58 Their soul s were burnt, though their garments remained intact. 59 Such an end was too good for SENNACHE RIB. To him a disgraceful death was apportioned. On his flight away from Jerusalem, he me t a Divine apparition in the guise of an old man. He questioned SENNACHERIB as to what he wou ld say to the kings allied with him, in reply to their inquiry about the fate of their sons a t Jerusalem. SENNACHERIB confessed his dread of a meeting with those kings. The old man advis ed him to have his hair cut off, which would change his appearance beyond recognition. SENNAC HERIB assented, and his advisor sent him to a house in the vicinity to fetch a pair of shears . Here he found some people angels in disguise busying themselves with a hand-mill. They prom ised to give him the shears, provided he ground a measure of grain for them. So it grew lat e and dark by the time SENNACHERIB returned to the old man, and he had to procure a light bef ore his hair could be cut. As he fanned the fire into a flame, a spark flew into his beard an d singed it, and he had to sacrifice his beard as well as his hair. On his return to Assyria , SENNACHERIB found a plank, which he worshipped as an idol, because it was part of the ark w hich had saved Noah from the deluge. He vowed that he would sacrifice his sons to this idol i f he prospered in his next ventures. But his sons heard his vows, and they killed their fathe r, 60 and fled to Kardu where they released the Jewish captives confined there in great numbe rs. With these they marched to Jerusalem, and became proselytes there. The famous scholars Sh emaiah and Abtalion were the descendants of these two sons of SENNACHERIB. 61 MIRACLES WROUGHT FOR HEZEKIAH The destruction of the Assyrian host delivered Hezekiah from an inner as well as an outer ene my, for he had opponents in Jerusalem, Sennacherib Sennacherib[snk´rb] or Senherib, d. 681 B.C., king of Assyria (705–681 B.C.). The son of Sargon, Sennacherib spent most of his reign fighting to maintain the empire establ ished by his father. It is difficult to determine the exact sequence of his conquests, but hi s first campaign seems to have been waged against Babylonia. Later he marched against an upri sing of the western nations (Phoenicia, Palestine, and Philistia), who were supported by Egyp t. He defeated the Egyptians at Eltekeh (701 B.C.) and prepared to take Jerusalem. Isaiah ha d warned Hezekiah not to join the uprising against Assyria, but the king had refused the advi ce. Thus, Sennacherib destroyed many Judaean cities and besieged Jerusalem, forcing the kin g to pay a heavy tribute. Hezekiah built the famous Siloam Tunnel when the water supply was t hreatened by the approach of the Assyrian forces. Disturbances in Babylonia called the king t o that area, and he waged a naval campaign against the Chaldaeans. He laid Elam waste and fin ally fought both the Chaldaeans and the Elamites at the battle of Halulina (Khaluli) (c.691 B .C.). The exact outcome of the battle is uncertain. Two years later Sennacherib captured an d destroyed Babylon. He constructed canals and aqueducts and built a magnificent palace at Ni neveh. Two of his sons, jealous of their brother Esar-haddon, murdered Sennacherib. Esar-hadd on succeeded to the throne. (http://www.1upinfo.com/encyclopedia/S/Sennache.html) Sennacherib In the third year of his reign he marched against Hatti (The land of the Hittites) and afte r taking many cities he claims to have laid siege to Jerusalem while Hezekiah was king. - Acc ording to Prism of Sennacherib. This would also align with the Biblical record describing eve nts in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah. - (2 Kings 18:13-19:37) His death, at the hands of hi s own sons, is recorded in 2 Kings 19:36, 37 and in 2 Chronicles 32:21. There is an Assyria n King "YaReB" noted in Hosea 5:13 and 10:13. I believe this king is SennacheRiB. I note als o that Shalmaneser V (Shalman) is mentioned in 10:14. I believe this supports my claim that t here were coregencies in Assyria during the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah. Recall that it was A haz who sent to the "Kings" of Assyria - 2 Chronicles 28:16. And also that 2 Kings 18:10 say s (of the Assyrian kings) "and THEY took it. i.e., Samaria. So it is possible that Assyria wa s divided into two kingdoms, with two kings (one in Babel and one in Nineveh), from the day s of Tiglathpileser III and Shalmaneser V. It is possible that Sargon II shared the throne wi th Shalmaneser, and that Sargon's son, Sannacherib, may have been a coregent with Shalmanese r as well. This is a difficult period wherein there were probably several power struggles. O r possibly Sannacherib was king in Assyria (as crown prince) and Sargon was king in Babylon d uring the last years of his reign. (http://members.aol.com/gparrishjr/Assyria.html)

Associates of Queen Nit

Notes:

Benjamin ben Harim

Notes:

Zephaniah ben Cushi ben Gedaliah|Prophet

Associates of Prophet Zephaniah ben Cushi

Notes:

Zephaniah ben Maaseiah|Priest

Notes:

Associates of Priest Zephaniah ben Maaseiah

Notes:

Associates of Prophet Deposer Zechariah ben Jehoiada|Zechariah ben Jehoiada

Notes:

Lehi I of Manasseh ben Joseph|Prophet

Ezekiel (Ezechiel) ben Buzi of Zadok II|Prophet