Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Kings 19:35-37
YHWH Totally Unexpectedly Devastates The Assyrian Army Causing Sennacherib To Return Home Where Subsequently He Arranges For His Assassination (2 Kings 19:35).
What happened now was totally unexpected, and deliberately so. YHWH wanted to make an instant and great impression on His people of what He could do on their behalf. The fact that there was no forewarning indicates both the genuineness of the previous prophecies (which if invented would hardly have failed to mention this stupendous event) and of the event itself. Certainly something happened of such a devastating nature that it shook the very heart of Israel, and bred in their unbelieving and foolish hearts the certainty that YHWH would never in the future allow Jerusalem to be destroyed.
Of course that was not what YHWH had intended. What He had wanted to do was awaken in them praise and gratitude which would result in future responsive hearts, and a desire from then on to do His will (then Jerusalem would indeed have been invulnerable). But it was human nature to think mechanically that if YHWH would do this once when they did not deserve it, He would always do it. It was a mistake that would be brought home to them by the destruction of Jerusalem. They were to learn by it that it was not Jerusalem that was invulnerable, but His true people, who happened at this time to be in Jerusalem.
For that very night something happened that struck at the heart of the Assyrian army. Speaking in heavenly terms ‘the Angel of YHWH went forth and smote a large part of the Assyrian army'. This may well have been because a plague of rats mentioned by Herodotus had infested the Assyrian camp bringing with them a disease that rapidly decimated the army. Or it may have been in some other way, such as a night attack by the Egyptian army (Sennacherib claimed victory, but then so no doubt did Tirhakah And certainly what happened was that Sennacherib withdrew, which would have been a strange way of celebrating a resounding victory). But what was certain was that when morning came and the Assyrians arose, there were corpses everywhere.
Coming on top of the news that he had received from Nineveh (2 Kings 19:7) this was the final decider, and he upped camp and returned to Nineveh. But even there he could not escape the long arm of YHWH, for some considerable time later YHWH indirectly arranged for his assassination. He had received back his boasts to the full.
“And it came about that night, that the angel of YHWH went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty and five thousand, and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.'
There is, of course, no external evidence of this, which is in fact what we would expect. Great kings never suffered disasters (compare how Egypt failed to record what happened at the Red Sea). Stalemates were victories, and genuine victories were lauded to the skies, but defeats, were discreetly forgotten. But what was written firmly in history (by interpreting what was written) was that Sennacherib did return to Nineveh, that Jerusalem was never taken, and that Hezekiah was never forced to submit in person. So something certainly happened. And it kept Sennacherib away for a long time.
There is a familiar ring to the story, for it was only Israel who boasted in their histories of victories gained totally by YHWH without their having any part in it. And that was partly because it was only to them that it happened. It brought no glory on them (which was the usual reason for recording history) but it did bring glory on YHWH (which was the prophets' reason for recording history).
In this case what happened was that by morning a large part of the Assyrian army were dead. To Israel that could only have one explanation, it was due to the activity of the Angel of YHWH, the same Angel Who had once almost smitten Jerusalem (2 Samuel 24:15). Humanly speaking it might have been due to a rapidly infectious fatal disease (such as bacillary dysentery) or even a night attack by the Egyptian army. Or there may have been some other reason. But certainly 2 Samuel 24:15 does indicate that this was how plague was described, and interestingly Herodotus does record an occasion when the Assyrian army had to withdraw because of the effects of a plague of vermin, which could well have brought a deadly plague with them (compare the vermin connected with the plagues in Philistia in 1 Samuel 5:6; 1 Samuel 5:9; 1 Samuel 5:12; 1 Samuel 6:4), although Herodotus ascribed the withdrawal of which he spoke to the fact that the vermin gnawed most of their equipment (strictly, however, he indicates that the event he was speaking of happened in Egypt). He does, also, speak of an Egyptian tradition that the Egyptian army was saved from a momentous defeat in 701 BC by divine intervention.
The one hundred and eighty five eleph may indicate 185 military units (the inhabitants of Libnah may well have counted the number of military units revealed by their different standards), 185 captains (by repointing), or simply a very large number. (Only the Assyrians would theoretically have known how many dead bodies there were, and in their haste to dispose of them in the hot climate it is doubtful, in view of their large numbers, if anyone was counting).
‘So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.'
The consequence of this was that Sennacherib immediately ‘departed and went and returned' (the repetition emphasising his departure) to Nineveh (recorded in his annals) where he took up his dwelling for some time, no doubt while he sorted out affairs at home. Note the emphasis on his ‘returning' to Nineveh. See for this 2 Kings 19:7; 2 Kings 19:33. In the view of Isaiah YHWH had dragged him there by his nose.
‘And it came about, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer smote him with the sword, and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned instead of him.'
While this assassination undoubtedly occurred twenty years later (in 681 BC) it was an evidence not only of the long arm of YHWH but also of His control of history. ‘The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small'. The point is that YHWH had not fully finished with Sennacherib at Libnah. Having drawn him by his nose to Nineveh he finally (indirectly) arranged for his assassination. It was poetic justice. What Sennacherib had sought to do to Jerusalem was done to him.
Some of the detail is corroborated in Babylonian records where the assassination of Sennacherib, and the revenge gained by Esarhaddon his appointed heir is described. It is clear that this was an attempted coup in order to prevent Esarhaddon (if we believe Esarhaddon) succeeding to the throne. It was led by Arda-mulissi (Adrammelech). But the coup failed and the perpetrators had to flee to Urartu where they were overtaken by Esarhaddon's vengeance.
Nisroch may well be a Hebrew representation of the Assyrian god Assur (sometimes Asarak), although others associate it with Nusku (nswk). If that be the case then the house of Nisroch would be the Temple of Nusku at Nineveh. This assumes a waw changed to a resh - with Nswk becoming Nsrk - whether deliberate or accidental. Although waw and resh are very similar in Hebrew, it is quite possible that the change were deliberate. Such changes were frequently made, sometimes in order to indicate contempt, and at others in order to bring out a specific idea. The names Adrammelech and Sharezer probably signify Arad-Melek and Nergal-shar-usur. (Arad and Nergal were two Assyrian deities). Note how Arad is also changed to Adra, and Nergal is dropped altogether. These changes are in order to demonstrate that these deities are unimportant and that their names do not matter. On the other hand a western Semitic name is a possibility for one of his sons and would not be unlikely, for Sennacherib was married to, among others, Naqi'a-Zakutu, a woman of western Semitic origin. But Shar-usur means ‘he has protected the king' and we would expect it to be preceded by the name of a god. The late Greek writer Abydenus refers to them as Adramelus and Nergilus.
‘Ararat.' That is Urartu as found in Assyrian inscriptions. It was in the neighbourhood of Lake Van in Armenia and was at this time enjoying a brief revival of strength after its battering by the Cimmerians. The sons clearly saw it as a safe refuge from the wrath of Esarhaddon, Sennacherib's heir.
The non-mention of the assassination in Assyrian records is a typical indication of how bad news was ignored when it was just not palatable. Especially when he was apparently assassinated between the statues of his own ‘protective' gods. But the inference is undoubtedly there when Esarhaddon says of his brothers ‘even drawing the sword within Nineveh against divine authority', and as we have seen it was described in the Babylonian Chronicle (‘on the twentieth of the month of Tebet his son killed Sennacherib king of Assyria during a rebellion') while Ashurbanipal does speak of ‘the very figures of the protective deities between which they had smashed Sennacherib, my own grandfather').