Bryant G. Wood
Hezekiah was one of the kings of Judah who “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 18:3). During his reign of twenty-nine years, from ca. 715 to 687 B.C., he destroyed the centers of idolatry and reestablished the worship of Yahweh (2 Chronicles 29–31). The name Hezekiah, which means “Yahweh is my strength,” seemed to typify his personality, for “he trusted in the Lord God of Israel” and “he clave to the Lord and departed not from following Him” (2 Kings 18:5, 6).
Because of his faithfulness, God blessed Hezekiah and the kingdom of Judah prospered (2 Kings 18:7). Under Hezekiah’s leadership, the Judahities were able to subdue the Philistines (2 Kings 18:8). His engineers accomplished the remarkable feat of digging a tunnel through the solid bedrock beneath Jerusalem to provide water in time of seige. (See p.49 of this issue.)
During the time of Hezekiah, the Assyrians held sway in most of the Near East. Hezekiah however, became so confident of Judah’s strength that “he rebelled against the king of Assyria and served him not” (2 Kings 18:7). We can interpret this as meaning that Hezekiah stopped paying tribute to the king of Assyria; he probably made this rash move when a new king, Sennacherib, took the throne of Assyria in 705 B.C. There are indications that Hezekiah was supported by Egypt and Babylon in the rebellion (2 Kings 18:21 and 2 Kings 20:12, 13).
Sennacherib Invades Judah
After settling affairs in the East, Sennacherib turned his attention to Palestine. In 701 B.C., he came into Judah with his mighty army and devastated the land (2 Chronicles 32:1). When Hezekiah saw that Jerusalem was in danger, he called a war council with his military
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leaders — his “princes” and his “mighty men” (2 Chronicles 32:3). Together, they prepared the city for a seige as described in 2 Chronicles 32:3–5.
Since his tunnel now provided a secure water supply inside Jerusalem, Hezekiah stopped up all the water sources outside the city. This would prevent the Assyrians from having a source of water to sustain them during seige operations. (See p. 52 of this issue.)
Next, the Jerusalemites strengthened their walls and towers and repaired the Millo, the terrace supporting a portion of the city built on the Hill Ophel (see Bible and Spade, Autumn 1972, pp. 103-105). Along with this, they built up their arsenal by making darts (weapons) and shields in abundance.
After the preparations were completed, Hezekiah called his people together and told them not to fear the king of Assyria for “there be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us and fight our battles” (2 Chronicles 32:7, 8). Hezekiah certainly displayed faith and trust in God in the face of such an awesome enemy as the armies of Assyria!
In addition to his practical defensive measures, Hezekiah attempted to buy off Sennacherib by gathering up gold and silver and sending it to the Assyrian king (2 King 18:14–16). But it did not work, for Sennacherib sent a large force under the direction of three of his staff members to demand complete surrender (2 Kings 18:17 and 2 Chronicles 32:9). The titles of Sennacherib’s staff members are rendered in the King James Version by merely transliterating the Hebrew words: “Tartan,” “Rabsaris,” and “Rabshakeh” (2 Kings 18:17). We now know from Assyrian records that they were actually Sennacherib’s Commander-in-Chief, his Chief Eunuch, and his Chief Cupbearer, respectively.
Hezekiah, in turn, sent out a three-party diplomatic delegation to negotiate with the Assyrian officials (2 Kings 18:18) — the House Minister (KJV — “over the household”), the Royal Secretary (KJV — “the scribe”), and the Royal Herald (KJV — “the recorder”). (For more information on the function of these officials, see Bible and Spade, Autumn 1973, pp. 115-119.) It was the Chief Cupbearer who delivered Sennacherib’s ultimatum to Hezekiah’s delegation. This highly trained Assyrian court official spoke to the Jews in Hebrew. He was probably able to speak Syrian as well, for Hezekiah’s officials requested that he speak in Syrian so that the people on the walls would not understand him (2 Kings 18:26).
Isaiah Undaunted
The Jews were terrified at the Chief Cupbearer’s speech. Hezekiah’s delegation tore their clothes; Hezekiah tore his clothes
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and covered himself with sackcloth. Hezekiah’s only hope was in the Lord, so he sent his officials to the prophet Isaiah to ask him to pray. This great man of God was not cowed by the mighty Assyrians. He calmly and steadfastly spoke the word of the Lord:
Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, “Be not afraid of the words which thou has heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land” (2 Kings 19:6, 7).
While the Assyrian force was at Jerusalem, Sennacherib was busy with the seige of Lachish (2 Chronicles 32:9). Excavations at Lachish have provided mute testimony to Sennacherib’s work. Evidence of a vast conflagration within the town was found. In addition, arrowheads, slingshots, a spearhead, and an Assyrian bronze helmet crest were found on a road outside the walls.
A more graphic record of the seige of Lachish is depicted on a series of wall reliefs found in Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh. Seige engines are shown battering the walls of Lachish, and Assyrian archers are seen raining arrows into the beleaguered city. Outside the city walls captured Judahite warriors are being impaled on spears and staked, spread-eagle, to the ground while long lines of civilian captives are being led away. Overlooking the entire scene is Sennacherib, seated on a throne, receiving the booty taken from Lachish.
Sennacherib Returns to Nineveh
After the Assyrian officials delivered their message to Hezekiah, they returned to Sennacherib, who had finished his work at Lachish and was now fighting against Libnah (2 Kings 19:8).
But now, a new element entered the picture — Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, was on his way north to oppose Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:9). This brief statement about Tirhakah in 2 Kings 19:9 (and Isaiah 37:9) has been a source of difficulty to Bible scholars for nearly 25 years. We shall return to this “Bible problem” shortly.
When Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah was approaching, he again sent a message to Hezekiah. This time he told Hezekiah that Jerusalem would surely fall to the Assyrians. Again, Hezekiah turned to God. He went into the house of the Lord and spread the letter before the Lord and prayed, “Save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know thou art the Lord God, even thou only” (2 Kings 19:19). Isaiah gave Hezekiah God’s answer:
Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, “He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an’ arrow here, nor come before it with shield,
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“But he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him.” This relief from Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh is a dramatic illustration of 2 Chronicles 32:9. Siege engines are seen drawn up before the walls of Lachish in an attempt to break through. The Judahites inside the walls are hurling stones and fire-brands at the attackers. To counteract the firebands, each siege engine is equipped with a fire extinguisher which pours water on the firebrands. Lines of Assyrian warriors are drawn up behind the siege engines — archers and spearmen behind their shields and, further back, slingers. Coming out of the tower in the center of the relief are citizens of Lachish fleeing from the city. Below them, to the right, are Judahite soldiers being impaled on stakes, a common Assyrian practice.
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This tragic scene shows the men, women and children of Lachish being led away into captivity in 701 B.C. The mode of dress of the Hebrew people of that day can clearly be seen, as well as details of their carts and baggage, and the uniform and weapons of the Assyrian soldiers. Two Hebrew warriors are being staked to the ground, probably in preparation for the grisly Assyrian practice of skinning their captives alive.
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Sennacherib seated on his throne before Lachish. As the battle raged and as captives and spoil were taken from the city, Sennacherib viewed the operation from his nearby throne. In the relief his officers are seen bringing him a report of the spoils taken from the city while his attendants fan him from behind. The inscription above reads, “Sennacherib, King of the world. King of Assyria, took his seat upon the throne and caused the spoil of Lachish to pass before him.” Although Sennacherib’s head has been defaced, the details of his throne, his dress, and the other figures in the scene are clear.
nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord” (2 Kings 19:32, 33).
God kept His promise, for that very night 185,000 Assyrian soldiers were killed by an angel of the Lord. Sennacherib withdrew the remainder of his forces and returned to Nineveh (2 Kings 19:35, 36). Although distorted, the Greek historian Herodotus may have been speaking of the same event when he related a story in The Histories which he picked up from priests in Egypt. He tells how thousands of field mice swarmed over Sennacherib’s army in the night and ate their quivers, bowstrings, and the leather handles of their shields. The following day, having no arms to fight with, the Assyrians retreated and Egypt was spared from their attack. (11.142)
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The Taylor Prism from Nineveh which tells of Sennacherib’s campaign to Judah in 701 B.C. when he shut up Hezekiah in Jerusalem “like a bird in a cage.”
Archaeology has given testimony to the fact that Sennacherib was unable to take Jerusalem. In his annals, Sennacherib tells how Hezekiah the Jew did not submit to his yoke. In typical Assyrian fashion, Sennacherib makes the most of the situation by bragging “Himself I made a prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage.” (D.D. Luckenbill in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, p. 288).
Then, in 681 B.C., some 20 years after his encounter with Hezekiah and the God of the Jews, Sennacherib was killed in Nineveh as Isaiah had predicted. Two of his own sons carried out the deed, and a third son, Esarhaddon, took the throne (2 Kings 19:37, 2 Chronicles 32:2, Isaiah 37:38). Again, archaeology has corroborated this event. Esarhaddon’s annals have been recovered and in them he records:
…A firm determination fell upon my brothers. They forsook the gods and turned to their deeds of violence, plotting evil. Evil words and deeds contrary to the will of god, they perpetuated against me. Unholy hostility they planned behind my back. …My brothers…trusting in their own counsel…committed unwarranted acts. …To gain the kingship they slew Sennacherib, their father. (Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Vol. II, by D.D. Luckenbill, paragraphs 501 and 502.)
Tirhakah Troubles Scholars
Now, let us turn to our “Bible problem” concerning Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia. Tirhakah was one of a series of Egyptian pharaohs who came from Ethiopia or Nubia, the region south of Egypt. The mention of Tirhakah in 2 Kings 19:9 and Isaiah 37:9 caused a problem for two reasons:
1. Based on temple inscriptions, an Egyptologist named M.F.L. Macadam worked out a chronology for this period which indicated that Tirhakah was only nine years old in 701 B.C. when Sennacherib was in Palestine. (Temples of Kawa, Vol. 1, 1949). It would have been impossible, therefore, for him to be in charge of an Egyptian expedition against Sennacherib in 701 B.C. if he were only nine years old at the time.
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2. Another inscription, the Serapeum stela, indicated that Tirhakah did not become king of Egypt and Ethiopia until 690 B.C., some eleven years after the incidents described in 2 Kings 19:9 (Parker, Kush 8, 1960). Clearly, the Bible critics said, the Bible was wrong to call Tirhakah king in 701 B.C.
Old Testament scholars have explained away these difficulties by either dismissing the phrase “Tirhakah king of Ethiopia” as an obvious “anachronism” (something chronologically out of place), or else by inventing a second campaign by Sennacherib in Palestine after 690 B.C., with the assumption that the Old Testament writers have telescoped the accounts of two campaigns into one. Neither solution is very satisfactory. There is no rational explanation for adding Tirhakah’s name to the historical narrative of 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37 and there is no evidence for a second Palestinian campaign by Sennacherib.
Prof. Kitchen Solves the Problem
The “problem” has been admirably cleared up by Egyptologist K.A. Kitchen of the University of Liverpool in England, in a detailed study of the chronology of Late-Period Egypt which he published in 1973 (The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 B.C.). In this study, he dealt with the Tirhakah problem, as he did also in a later article, “Late Egyptian Chronology and the Hebrew Monarchy — Critical Studies in Old Testament Mythology, I,” published in The Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University, Vol. 5, 1973.
By evaluating later discoveries and reanalyzing Macadam’s work of 1949, Kitchen has shown that Tirhakah was not nine years old in 701 B.C., but was instead 21 years old, well old enough to go on a campaign to Palestine. In fact, Kitchen points out that it was commonplace for young royal princes to accompany Egyptian armies when they campaigned in Syria-Palestine. Tirhakah was probably titular head of the expedition, with generals to advise him.
The reason for Tirhakah being referred to as king in 2 Kings 19:9 (and Isaiah 37:9) is readily seen when one reads to the end of the chapter — it ends with an account of Sennacherib’s murder by his sons. This occurred in 681 B.C. when Tirhakah was, in fact, the king of Egypt and Ethiopia (he took the throne in 690 B.C.). The narrative, then, was composed at a time (681 B.C. at the earliest) when Tirhakah had been known to everyone as king for a decade or more. This method of back-reference, using a current title in speaking of some earlier event, is a universal literary procedure, ancient and modern. It is quite acceptable to say, “President Ford
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Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, the pharaoh who caused Bible scholars a problem for nearly 25 years.
was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1913,” although we know that he was not president in 1913. It would become rather awkward (and ludicrous) if, every time a writer referred to some event in President Ford’s life prior to his inauguration in 1974, he had to explain that he was not president at that time. Similarly, it is equally permissible for the biblical writer to remark that Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, opposed Sennacherib in Palestine in what we call 701 B.C.
Professor Kitchen aptly summed up the results of his findings in these words:
Hence, the long-cherished idol of some Alttestamentler, this loudly trumpeted “anachronism,” must be unceremoniously torn from their grasp and consigned to the dustbin (auf Amerikanisch “garbage can,” I believe), where all such false idols belong. The Hebrew narratives of Kings and Isaiah, therefore, remain relatively unexceptionable records of one campaign by Sennacherib in 701 B.C., at which the 21 year old Taharqa (Tirhakah) — the later famous Nubian king — was present. (Page 231 of The Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University, Vol. 5, 1973.)
As usual, the Bible had it right all along.
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