2 Kings 19:35–37

19:35 That very night the Lord’s messenger went out and killed 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. When they61 got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses.62 19:36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh.63 19:37 One day,64 as he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch,65 his sons66 Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword.67 They escaped to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.

61	tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
62	tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies.”
63	tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
64	sn The assassination probably took place in 681 b.c.
65	sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name is a corruption of Nusku.
66	tc Although “his sons” is absent in the Kethib, it is supported by the Qere, along with many medieval Hebrew mss and the ancient versions. Cf. Isa 37:38.
67	sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239–40.