2 Kings 19:35-37

19:35 That very night the Lord’s messenger went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When they ¹  got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses. ²  19:36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. ³  19:37 One day, ⁴  as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, ⁵  his sons ⁶  Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. ⁷  They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

[19:35]  ¹ tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.

[19:35]  ² tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies.”

[19:36]  ³ tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”

[19:37]  ⁴ sn The assassination probably took place in 681 b.c.

[19:37]  ⁵ sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.

[19:37]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.