Isaiah 37:38 · Bible study
Isaiah 37:38 Commentary: Study: Sennacherib's Assassination and the Judgment on Idols
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Examine the assassination of Sennacherib while worshiping Nisroch. A study on divine judgment, the futility of idols, and the fulfillment of prophecy.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Sennacherib’s assassination while worshiping his god shows God’s judgment on blasphemy and the impotence of idols.
- Key words: “bowing down” (H7812, Hithpael continuous, he was in the act); “struck” (H5221, same root as the angel’s strike in v.36).
- Main debate: The identity of Nisroch (unknown as a specific Assyrian god; likely an eagle figure) and the exact motive of the sons.
- Theological theme: God’s sovereignty over history; the certainty of His word; the judgment of pride.
- Best use: A case study in fulfilled prophecy and a warning against trusting any power other than God.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
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.
WEB World English Bible 2000
As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
KJV King James Version 1769
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 Esar–haddon his son reigned in his stead.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
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.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And it cometh to pass, he is bowing himself in the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons have smitten him with the sword, and they have escaped to the land of Ararat, and Esar-Haddon his son reigneth in his stead.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch hisgod, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword: and they fled into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y acaeció, que estando orando en el templo de Nisroch su dios, Adremelech y Sarezer, sus hijos, le hirieron á cuchillo, y huyeron á la tierra de Ararat; y reinó en su lugar Esar-hadón su hijo.
E sucedeu que, enquanto ele estava prostrado na casa de seu deus Nisroque, seus filhos Adrameleque e Sarezer o feriram a espada; então eles escaparam para a terra de Ararate; e Esar-Hadom, seu filho, reinou em seu lugar.
Or, comme il était prosterné dans la maison de Nisroc, son dieu, Adrammélec et Scharetser, ses fils, le frappèrent par l’ épée, et s’ enfuirent au pays d’Ararat. Et Ésar-Haddon, son fils, régna à sa place.
Und es begab sich auch, da er anbetete im Hause Nisrochs, seines Gottes, erschlugen ihn seine Söhne Adrammelech und Sarezer mit dem Schwert, und sie flohen ins Land Ararat. Und sein Sohn Asar- Haddon ward König an seiner Statt.
Het geschiedde nu, als hij in het huis van Nisroch, zijn god, zich nederboog, dat Adramelech en Sarezer, zijn zonen, hem met het zwaard versloegen; doch zij ontkwamen in het land van Ararat; en Esar-Haddon, zijn zoon, werd koning in zijn plaats.
E avvenne che, com’egli stava prostrato nella casa di Nisroc, suo dio, Adrammelec e Saretser, suoi figliuoli, l’uccisero a colpi di spada, e si rifugiarono nel paese d’Ararat. Ed Esarhaddon, suo figliuolo, regnò in luogo suo.
A gdy chwalił Nesrocha, boga swego, w domu, tedy Adramelach i Sarasar, synowie jego, zabili go mieczem, a sami uciekli do ziemi Ararat; a królował Assarhaddon, syn jego, miasto niego.
И когда он поклонялся в доме Нисроха, бога своего, Адрамелех и Шарецер, сыновья его, убили его мечом, а сами убежали в землю Араратскую. И воцарился Асардан, сын его, вместо него.
一日 在他的神─尼斯洛 廟裡 叩拜，他兒子 亞得米勒 和沙利色 用刀 殺了他， 就逃 到亞拉臘地。他兒子 以撒哈頓 接續他 作王。
And it came about, when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to death with the sword, and they went in flight into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon, his son, became king in his place.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Isaiah 37:38
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse records the final act of divine judgment against Sennacherib’s blasphemy against the God of Israel. Calvin notes the disgrace: the tyrant is killed not by a foreign enemy but by his own sons, in his own temple, while worshiping his god. Clarke calls it “an awful punishment of his blasphemy.” The Hebrew participle מִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶה (bowing down) is continuous, he was in the very act of worship when struck. This sharpens the irony: his god could not protect him. The verb “struck” (הִכֻּהוּ) echoes the angel’s striking of the Assyrian camp in verse 36, binding the two judgments together. Barnes and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown identify Nisroch as an eagle-headed idol. Cambridge Bible confirms the 20-year gap between the army’s destruction and the king’s death, yet the prophecy still holds. The flight to Ararat and Esarhaddon’s succession show God’s sovereign plan continuing through history.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Immediate fulfillment view: Connects the assassination directly to Isaiah’s prophecy (e.g., 30:33; 31:9) without a significant gap.
- Delayed judgment view: Reads the twenty-year gap as an act of divine patience (2 Peter 3:9) before the final blow.
- Idol identity view: Debates whether Nisroch is Asshur, an eagle god, or a corrupted name; all agree the idol failed.
What is clear: God judged Sennacherib for his blasphemy; his own sons killed him while he worshiped a powerless idol, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of Nisroch | No known Assyrian deity by this name; the word may be related to 'eagle' (neser) or a Hebrew corruption of a divine name. | Some identify Nisroch with the chief god Asshur (symbolized as an eagle), while others see it as a local temple name or a corruption of the god Marduk. No consensus exists. |
| Timing of the assassination | The event happened after Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, not immediately after the army’s destruction. | The exact interval is not stated in the text. The Babylonian Chronicle and Assyrian inscriptions indicate a gap of about twenty years, but some propose a shorter span based on a reading of Isaiah 37:30. Most scholars accept the 20-year delay. |
| Motives of the sons | Adrammelech and Sharezer killed their father; they did not succeed him (Esarhaddon took the throne). | Jewish tradition speculates that Sennacherib intended to sacrifice his sons, prompting the murder. Polyhistor suggests jealousy over Esarhaddon’s appointment as crown prince. The Bible gives no motive, so both views remain conjectural. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Isaiah 37 records the climax of Assyria’s threat against Judah. Sennacherib had boasted against the Lord (2 Chronicles 32:14-19), demanding Jerusalem’s surrender. In response to Hezekiah’s prayer, God sent an angel who struck 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night (v.36). Sennacherib then withdrew to his capital, Nineveh (v.37). According to the Babylonian Chronicle, he was assassinated twenty years later, in 681 BC, during a revolt.
The verse describes Sennacherib worshiping in the house of Nisroch. No deity by that exact name appears in Assyrian records; the name may be a Hebrew corruption. Gesenius and others relate it to the eagle (nisr), an eagle-headed figure often identified with the god Asshur. The choice of the temple as the place of death underscores the helplessness of this idol.
His sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword. The motive is disputed. Polyhistor mentions that Sennacherib had appointed Esarhaddon as heir over Babylon, likely provoking jealousy in his other sons (Cambridge Bible). The sons fled to Ararat, the Hebrew name for the region of Urartu in Armenia, often linked to the resting place of Noah’s ark (Genesis 8:4). Esarhaddon then ascended the throne, continuing the dynasty. This historical detail confirms the biblical account’s accuracy while showing God’s hand in the rise and fall of kings.
The story reassures readers that no earthly power, not an army, not a palace, not a god of human making, can stand against the Lord’s word. He defends His people and judges the proud in His own time.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts. English translations vary in rendering the toponym: older versions (KJV) use “Armenia,” while modern versions (WEB, BSB) read “Ararat.” This difference reflects translation choices rather than a textual variant, since the Hebrew אֲרָרָט is consistent.
Reception History
This verse has been read throughout church history as a concrete demonstration of the principle that God opposes the proud (James 4:6). Early Christian writers cited it as evidence of God’s judgment on blasphemers and the folly of idolatry. Reformers like Calvin used it to warn rulers that no throne is secure against God’s decree. The mention of Ararat links the story to Noah, reminding readers that God both saves and judges. In liturgical use, the verse has been paired with the angelic deliverance of Jerusalem (v.36) to show the two edges of God’s action, salvation for His people, judgment for their enemies. It stands as a sobering witness that the God who defends His own will not be mocked.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The blasphemer’s end. Sennacherib mocked the living God, but his death while worshiping a false god proved that no amount of human power can escape divine justice.
- The powerless idol. Nisroch could not save his worshiper. This contrasts with the God of Israel, who rescued Jerusalem without a single soldier lifting a sword.
- The fulfilled word. Isaiah’s earlier prophecies (e.g., 31:9; 30:33) found exact fulfillment, confirming that God keeps His promises, even across a twenty-year gap.
Five-point outline
- Pride precedes a fall. Sennacherib’s boasts against God led to his humiliation and death.
- God uses unexpected instruments. His own sons became the agents of judgment, showing that God can turn a man’s own household against him.
- Idols cannot deliver. Nisroch’s temple became a slaughterhouse, not a sanctuary.
- Justice may be delayed but not denied. Twenty years passed, but the blow fell.
- God’s purposes continue. Esarhaddon’s reign shows that history moves under God’s sovereign hand, not the whims of tyrants.
Illustration hooks
- A business leader cheats his way to the top, only to be exposed by his own partner at the moment of his greatest success.
- A traveler boasts that a certain resort is “the safest place on earth,” yet a storm destroys it while he sleeps there.
- A child trusts a broken chair to hold him; it collapses just when he sits down confidently.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Did God cause the sons to murder their father? How do we understand God’s sovereignty in evil actions?
- Why did God allow Sennacherib to live twenty more years after his defeat?
- How does this story speak to the power of idols in our own lives, career, reputation, money?
Leading a Discussion
This verse closes the story of God’s deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrian threat. It raises profound questions about divine justice, the emptiness of trusting in anything other than God, and the way God’s word works itself out in history, even when we must wait to see it.
Discussion questions
- What does this verse tell you about Sennacherib’s final moments? List every detail.
- Why do you think the text specifies his posture (worshiping) and location (the temple of his god)?
- How does the sons’ flight to Ararat connect to the earlier story of Noah’s ark (Genesis 8:4)? What might that link suggest?
- Esarhaddon succeeded his father. What does this orderly succession imply about God’s control over nations?
- In what ways do people today “worship” things, success, approval, security, that cannot save them in the end?
- How does this story encourage you when you see arrogant leaders or systems that seem to get away with evil?
- Based on this passage, how would you describe God’s character to someone who thinks He is indifferent to pride and injustice?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Genesis 8:4 | The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains. |
| II Kings 19:36 | So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went home, and lived at Nineveh. |
| II Kings 19:37 | As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place. |
| II Chronicles 32:14 | Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand? |
| II Chronicles 32:19 | They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands. |
| II Chronicles 32:21 | Yahweh sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, the leaders, and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, those who came out of his own body killed him there with the sword. |
| Ezra 4:2 | they came near to Zerubbabel, and to the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have been sacrificing to him since the days of Esar Haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” |
| Isaiah 14:9 | Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the departed spirits for you, even all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
His sons smote him - What an awful punishment of his blasphemy! Who can harden his neck against God, and be successful? God does not lightly pass by blasphemy against himself, his government, his word, his Son, or his people. Let the profligate take care!
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the assassins struck during worship, possibly because the king had fewer guards or could be taken by surprise. He examines several theories about Nisroch, including that it represented an eagle, a Persian symbol. The sons who killed Sennacherib later became founders of two Armenian noble families after they fled to Ararat.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin emphasizes that God brings down tyrants not by foreign armies but through those closest to them, making their end more disgraceful. Sennacherib is slain by his own sons in a temple, the one place he should have been safe. This shows how God punishes cruel rulers through the very people they trusted.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This commentary draws on Assyrian records to place Sennacherib's assassination twenty years after his retreat from Palestine. The biblical detail of worship in the temple of Nisroch is noted as unconfirmed by any known Assyrian deity, while the murder by two sons finds partial support in ancient chronicles.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note observes that Sennacherib was cut down in the very act of bowing to his idol Nisroch, showing the utter helplessness of false gods. His own sons became the agents of his judgment, and their escape to Ararat demonstrates that even wicked men find no lasting refuge when God moves against them.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill gathers several Jewish traditions to explain why Sennacherib's sons murdered him. One account says the king vowed to sacrifice his own sons to his god if delivered, and they killed him upon hearing it. Gill notes the uncertainty of Nisroch's identity but offers possible links to pagan idols.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch insist the destruction of the Assyrian army took place before Jerusalem, not at Pelusium as Herodotus claims. They argue that Isaiah's prophecies consistently place the catastrophe in the holy mountain land, making any alternative location a thoughtless concession to pagan sources. The plague-like judgment, they note, mirrors the slaying of Egypt's firstborn.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry emphasizes that God answers Hezekiah's prayer by exposing Sennacherib's arrogance as empty delusion. The Assyrian's boasts about his own power are meaningless because God has always been the one directing history. God treats Sennacherib like a wild beast, leading him back with a hook in his nose.