Isaiah 37:36-38

5. THE PHENOMENON

TEXT: Isaiah 37:36-38

36

And the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camps of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

37

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

38

And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.

QUERIES

a.

How did the angel of the Lord kill so many?

b.

Why did Sennacherib's sons kill him?

PARAPHRASE

That night the angel of the Lord went out to the camp of the Assyrian army and killed 185,000 warriors. When those who were still alive awakened in the morning they beheld the terrible sight of all the dead bodies strewn throughout their camp. Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, set out to leave and he went immediately, returning to his own country, Nineveh. A number of years later, while he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer assassinated him with their swords. They escaped into the land of Ararat, and Esar-haddon, another of Sennacherib's sons became king.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 37:36-37 DEPARTURE: This epilogue is an historical record of the fulfillment of all of Isaiah's prophecies of the failure of the Assyrian empire to destroy the covenant people of God. The only possible way God could carry out His promise to deliver Jerusalem and Palestine from the Assyrian was by supernatural intervention (either directly or indirectly through providence). It is a matter of record (see also 2 Kings 19:35-37, and 2 Chronicles 32:20-23), that God intervened supernaturally and directly. An angel (Heb. maleak) of Jehovah (Heb. Yahweh) went into the Assyrian army camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. The account in 2 Kings 19 records that the slaying took place the same night Sennacherib's message of arrogant blasphemy was delivered to Hezekiah. How would the angel of the Lord perform such a herculean task? This event reminds the Bible student of the destroying angel of Exodus 12:12-23 and 2 Samuel 24:1-16. The ministry of angels is spectacular and comprehensive in the Biblical record (see our special study, The Mystery and Ministry of Angels, commentary on Daniel, College Press, p. 387-404.) One angel had the power to restrain Persia and Greece (cf. Daniel 10:15-21). One angel has the power to harm a third of the earth (Revelation 8:9). God is able to make His angels wind and fire (Hebrews 1:7), and sends them forth as ministering spirits to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation (Hebrews 1:14). Angels do not necessarily have to take human form to do God's service. They may serve in any form, wind, fire, disease, pestilence, war, famine, or whatever suits God's purposes. We simply do not know how the angel of the Lord smote 185,000 men in one night. The Hebrew verb yaceh generally means to smite with a disease. America suffered approximately 50,000 war deaths in the more than two years of war in Korea. There were over 55,000 American soldiers slain in the over ten years of war in Viet Nam. With all man's modern technology and massive destructive powers 185,000 dead in a single night still seems a staggering number.

The annals of King Sennacherib make no mention of a disaster to his troops in Palestine. However, there is an interesting tradition preserved by Herodotus (II, 141) which relates that Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians and the Arabians, led a great army against Egypt. This military move seems to have been subsequent to the subjugation of Philistia and Judea, and to have been a final stroke to secure one of the ultimate objects of his expeditionthe conquest of Egypt. The tradition states that the Egyptian army was made up of traders, artisans, and merchants, and that in great fear they encamped at Pelusium, within range of the enemy (Assyrians). The Assyrian's camp was completely overrun by an army of field mice, which gnawed apart all of their leather trappings, such as bowstrings, quivers, and shield-straps. On the next morning with only fragments of weapons, the Assyrian troops were routed, put to flight, and many of them slain. This tradition probably has some basis in fact and is an echo of some calamity to the Assyrian army. Some have suggested the mice may have carried bubonic plague, which is both swift and deadly in its working. When Sennacherib and the remainder of his army awoke in the morning the scene must have stunned them. Death on such a massive, sudden scale would cause first, dumbfoundedness, then fear, then, perhaps, chaos. The Hebrew language is forcefuland behold! all of them, corpses, dead ones! What else could Sennacherib conclude but that a Power greater than he and his army had visited during the night. This great catastrophe had happened so unexpectedly, so silently, so suddenly. No one had awakened during the night when it was happening. This was no place for Sennacherib. He would not dare go boasting to Hezekiah now. He had never before suffered such an inglorious defeat. So he left Judea. His departure is stated in the Hebrew language in short, rapid terms, And he set out, and he went, and he returned to Nineveh.
Although Sennacherib subjugated the entire eastern coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, carried off a vast amount of booty, and levied tribute on the conquered cities and provinces, there is no hint in his records during the remaining 20 years of his reign that he ever again visited this territory. Nor does the Babylonian chronicler of this period mention any such campaign. It seems that some specter haunted his memory and chilled his ambition regarding the final conquest of Egypt.

Isaiah 37:38 DEATH: Sennacherib lived another 20 years after he left Judea. Then one day as he was worshipping in the temple of his god, Nisroch (which Edward J. Young thinks is an intentional corruption of Marduk), he is slain by two of his sons who apparently are attempting an insurrection. Sennacherib's son, Esar-haddon, in an inscription found by archaeologists at the Dog River near Beirut, Lebanon, tells of this event (see our comments, Isaiah, Vol. I, pg. 189-190). Hezekiah worshipped his God and Jehovah delivered him from his enemies. Sennacherib worshipped his god and found not deliverance but assassination. The two assassins did not gain the throne. They had to flee for their own lives to the land of Ararat (modern Armenia). Esar-haddon, another son of Sennacherib, succeeded to the throne of Assyria, eventually restored the city of Babylon, conquered Egypt, imported foreigners into Samaria, forced Manasseh (Hezekiah's son) to pay heavy tribute to help build Esar-haddon's palace in Nineveh, and extended the Assyrian empire to its greatest power. In a second Egyptian campaign, Esar-haddon died and his son, the famous Assurbanipal, the one who built the great library from which archaeologists get most of their Assyrian artifacts, succeeded him.

QUIZ

1.

Where else in the Bible does God use angels to kill people?

2.

What form may angels take to do their work of killing?

3.

What tradition from antiquity may be a parallel to the Biblical account of the slaughter of the Assyrian army?

4.

How did Sennacherib come to his end?