Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

SENNACHERIB

King of the Assyrian Empire from 705 to 681 BC. His name, meaning “son has replaced brothers,” may refer to a specific family situation by means of which he, a younger son of Sargon II, came to succeed his father. Before the death of his father, Sennacherib acted as military governor of the northern provinces of the Assyrian Empire. He was successful in quelling unrest in those areas. When Sargon II was assassinated in 705 BC, Sennacherib lost no time in claiming the throne.

As king of Assyria, he was a bold administrator. He was soon known to be a just and tolerant man, for thus the biblical account speaks of him. Extrabiblical sources indicate that, while he was conducting military campaigns, he also developed a strong rule at home and, employing slave labor acquired through his military victories, he did much building in Nineveh, his capital city. Many of the decorations of his palace, as well as inscriptions he prepared, are housed in museums today.

Shortly after Sennacherib became king, he was confronted by rebellion in the eastern and western provinces. It is at this point that the biblical record refers to Sennacherib. Judah was a vassal state of Assyria. It is likely that Merodach-baladan in Babylon and Hezekiah, king of Judah, joined in this insurrection (2 Kgs 18:7-8).

Sennacherib was ready for the challenge from Babylon and Palestine. In 703 BC he first led his forces to Kish near Babylon, where he defeated Merodach-baladan’s army and then captured the city of Babylon itself. Turning west in 701 BC, Sennacherib led his armies against the Palestinian alliance headed by Hezekiah. He captured the cities of Tyre and Sidon and then continued his campaign southward. Several of the Philistine cities submitted before the Assyrian onslaught, but Ashkelon, Beth-dagon, and Joppa resisted and were captured and plundered. The leaders of the city of Ekron were put to death by being skinned alive because they had delivered up their pro-Assyrian king to Hezekiah. Sennacherib then turned to Judah. He besieged the Judean city of Lachish and captured 46 other towns, taking 200,150 Jewish captives. Hezekiah began to realize his desperate situation as Sennacherib’s military victories came one after the other, so he sent tribute to Sennacherib at Lachish. The tribute amounted to 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold (2 Kgs 18:13-16). From his camp at Lachish, Sennacherib sent envoys to Jerusalem to demoralize the city inhabitants. In their effort to convince Jerusalem that it should surrender, the Assyrians referred to Hezekiah’s removal of altars and places of worship. This act was considered an affront to the God the Judeans worshiped and on whom they relied for victory; he would not aid a people led by an idol-breaking king such as Hezekiah.

While Sennacherib was threatening Jerusalem, Tirhakah, the Ethiopian king of Egypt, led his army to Libnah. Sennacherib was able to defeat this Egyptian force. He then turned his full attention to Jerusalem again (2 Kgs 19:15-19). Isaiah was sent by God to inform Hezekiah that the mocking Sennacherib would be humbled and Jerusalem would be spared for David’s sake. The Lord’s word was fulfilled. Sennacherib’s plans to take Jerusalem by siege had to be abandoned when 185,000 of his troops died of a miraculous plague.

Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria. He was murdered in the temple of Nisroch by Adrammelech and Sharezer, two of his sons. A third son, Esarhaddon, succeeded him upon the throne of Assyria.