the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Encyclopedias
Sennacherib
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
In order to fortify himself against Assyria the latter sent an embassy to Hezekiah, apparently 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
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 restless 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 within the city walls (2 Kings 20:20 ). Although strongly opposed by the prophet Isaiah, gifts were sent to Egypt, whence assistance was promised (Isaiah 30:1-4 ). Apparently also the Phoenicians and Philistines, who had been sore pressed by Assyria, had made provision to resist Assyria. The first move was at Ekron, where the Assyrian governor Padi was put into chains and sent 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 king of Sidon fled, the city surrendered without a battle, and Ethbaal was appointed king. Numerous cities at once sent presents to the king of Assyria. Ashkelon and other cities were taken. The forces of Egypt were routed at Eltekeh, and Ekron was destroyed. He claims to have conquered 46 strongholds of Hezekiah's territory, but he did not capture Jerusalem, for concerning the king he said, in his annals, "himself like a bird in a cage in Jerusalem, his royal city, I penned him." He states, also, how he reduced his territory, and how Hezekiah sent to him 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, besides hostages.
The Biblical account of this invasion is found in 2 Kings 18:13 through 19:37; Isaiah 36; 37 . The Assyrian account differs considerably from it; but at the same time it corroborates it in many details. One of the striking parallels is the exact amount of gold which Hezekiah sent to the Assyrian king (see The Expository Times ,
In the following year Sennacherib returned to Babylonia to put down a rebellion by
In 694
In 681
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Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Sennacherib'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​isb/​s/sennacherib.html. 1915.