2 Kings 19:32-37

19:32 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city,

nor will he shoot an arrow here. ¹ 

He will not attack it with his shield-carrying warriors, ² 

nor will he build siege works against it.

19:33 He will go back the way he came.

He will not enter this city,” says the Lord.

19:34 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.’” ³ 

19:35 That very night the Lord’s messenger went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When they ⁴  got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses. ⁵  19:36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. ⁶  19:37 One day, ⁷  as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, ⁸  his sons ⁹  Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ¹⁰  They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

[19:32]  ¹ tn Heb “there.”

[19:32]  ² tn Heb “[with] a shield.” By metonymy the “shield” stands for the soldier who carries it.

[19:34]  ³ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

[19:35]  ⁴ tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.

[19:35]  ⁵ tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies.”

[19:36]  ⁶ tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”

[19:37]  ⁷ sn The assassination probably took place in 681 b.c.

[19:37]  ⁸ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.

[19:37]  ⁹ 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.

[19:37]  ¹⁰ 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.