2 Kings 19:37

19:37 One day, ¹  as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, ²  his sons ³  Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ⁴  They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

2 Kings 19:20

19:20 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria. ⁵ 

¹ sn The assassination probably took place in 681 b.c.

² sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.

³ tc Although “his sons” is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions. Cf. Isa 37:38.

⁴ sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.

⁵ tn Heb “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in the parallel passage in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense, “because.”