Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem
701 BC
📂 BIBLICAL
📖 About This Event
In 701 BC, Sennacherib, king of Assyria and son of the great conqueror Sargon II, launched a massive campaign against the kingdoms of the Levant. After crushing a coalition of rebellious vassals at the Battle of Eltekeh, Sennacherib turned his attention to Judah. King Hezekiah, who had closed the high places and reformed worship, refused to pay tribute. Sennacherib's army captured 46 fortified cities of Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem with 185,000 soldiers (2 Kings 18:13-17).
The Assyrian field commander, the Rabshakeh, stood by the aqueduct and addressed the people of Jerusalem in Hebrew, urging them to surrender by claiming that no god had ever delivered a city from the hand of the Assyrian king. Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and sent his officials to the prophet Isaiah, who told the king: 'Thus says the Lord: Because of what you have said to the envoys of the king of Assyria, do not be afraid of what you have heard... behold, I will put a spirit in him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land' (2 Kings 19:6-7).
Sennacherib received news that the Elamite king was invading his territory and withdrew. But before he could escape, 'he offered worship in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat' (2 Kings 19:37). Meanwhile, 'the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians' (2 Kings 19:35). Key Scripture: 2 Kings 18-19; Isaiah 36-37; 2 Chronicles 32; CCC 56
📜 Key Facts
Date
701 BC
Category
Biblical
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