Bible Dictionaries
Adrammelech

Holman Bible Dictionary

(uh dram' mih lehch) Divine and personal name meaning, “Adra is king.” Probably based on earlier form Hadadmelech, “Hadad is king,” using name of Canaanite god. 1. A god of the city of Sepharvaim. The Assyrian king Sargon spread the people of Israel all over his empire and replaced them with settlers from other cities he conquered (2 Kings 17:24 ). These new settlers tried to worship Yahweh, Israel's God, as the god of the land along with the gods they brought with them. One of these gods was from the city of Sephervaim, possibly in Assyria. His worshipers sacrificed their own children to this Semitic god (2 Kings 17:31-33 ). 2 . Murderer of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, during the king's worship in the temple of Nisroch (2 Kings 19:37 ). One reading of the Hebrew manuscripts describes this Adrammelech as Sennacherib's son (KJV, NIV, RSV). Other manuscripts do not have “his sons” (NAS).