sennacherib

2 definitions found

sennacherib - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  Sennacherib
      n 1: 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 - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  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.