Bible Strands
2 Kings 19:37
One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And his son Esar-haddon reigned in his place.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Sennacherib king of Assyria is the subject, having recently withdrawn his forces from Jerusalem and returned to Nineveh. The verse records his assassination by his sons while he is engaged in pagan worship.
The words — The Hebrew text uses מִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה (mishṭaḥweh) for "bowing down" and נִסְרֹךְ (Nisroch) for the deity's name, marking the specific location and act of prostration.
The thread — The geographic reference to Ararat appears in Genesis 8:4 as the mountain where the ark came to rest. The political transition to Esar-haddon follows the prophecy in 2 Kings 19:7 regarding the king's return and fate.
Why it lands — The text records the violent death of a conquering ruler and the immediate succession of his son. It presents historical causation and judgment without commentary, leaving the reader to trace the fulfillment of the preceding prophecy.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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 Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Cross-references
- Genesis 8:4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
- Ezra 4:2 they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.”
- 2 Kings 19:7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
- Jeremiah 51:27 “Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.
- Deuteronomy 32:31 For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies concede.
- 2 Kings 18:5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him.
- 2 Kings 18:30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
- 2 Kings 19:10 “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
- 2 Chronicles 32:14 Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand?
- 2 Chronicles 32:19 They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth—the work of human hands.