Sen·nach·er·ib /səˈnækərəb/



 Sennacherib
      n : king of Assyria who invaded Judea twice and defeated Babylon
          and rebuilt Nineveh after it had been destroyed by
          Babylonians (died in 681 BC)


 Sennacherib
    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.)

      Hezekiah was not disposed to become an Assyrian feudatory. He
    accordingly at once sought help from Egypt (2 Kings 18:20-24).
    Sennacherib, hearing of this, marched a second time into
    Palestine (2 Kings 18:17, 37; 19; 2 Chr. 32:9-23; Isa. 36:2-22.
    Isa. 37:25 should be rendered "dried up all the Nile-arms of
    Matsor," i.e., of Egypt, so called from the "Matsor" or great
    fortification across the isthmus of Suez, which protected it
    from invasions from the east). Sennacherib sent envoys to try to
    persuade Hezekiah to surrender, but in vain. (See TIRHAKAH.) He next sent a threatening letter (2 Kings
    19:10-14), which Hezekiah carried into the temple and spread
    before the Lord. Isaiah again brought an encouraging message to
    the pious king (2 Kings 19:20-34). "In that night" the angel of
    the Lord went forth and smote the camp of the Assyrians. In the
    morning, "behold, they were all dead corpses." The Assyrian army
    was annihilated.

      This great disaster is not, as was to be expected, taken
    notice of in the Assyrian annals.

      Though Sennacherib survived this disaster some twenty years,
    he never again renewed his attempt against Jerusalem. He was
    murdered by two of his own sons (Adrammelech and Sharezer), and
    was succeeded by another son, Esarhaddon (B.C. 681), after a
    reign of twenty-four years.



 Sennacherib, bramble of destruction