Investigation: Jerusalem Besieged, 701 BC

In 705 BC Sargon II died in battle and Hezekiah joined a revolt against Assyria with Philistine cities, Phoenicians, Egypt and Kush, and Merodach-baladan of Babylon. He prepared: walls, water, weapons and supplies (2 Chronicles 32:2–8; Isaiah 22:8–11). In 701 Sennacherib marched west, took the Phoenician cities, defeated the Egyptian–Kushite army at Eltekeh, and turned on Judah.

His annals, first written in 700 BC on the Rassam Cylinder and recopied on later prisms, say: "As for Hezekiah the Judean, who had not submitted to my yoke, I surrounded and conquered 46 of his fortified walled cities and countless small towns… I brought out 200,150 people… Himself I locked up in Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage. I surrounded him with earthworks and made it unthinkable for him to go out of his city gate." Hezekiah later sent 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, his daughters, palace women and musicians to Nineveh (quoted in paraphrase from the published translations; reported).

The Bible tells it differently, and in more than one way. 2 Kings 18:14–16 reports Hezekiah's submission and tribute at Lachish; 2 Kings 18:17–19:37, followed almost exactly by Isaiah 36–37, tells of envoys, a blasphemous challenge, Hezekiah's prayer, Isaiah's oracles and the angel's night of death. 2 Chronicles 32 abridges both, stresses Hezekiah's preparations and faith, omits the tribute, and has the angel cut off "all the mighty men of valour."

How the biblical accounts relate

Since B. Stade (1886), many scholars divide 2 Kings 18:13–19:37 into an annal-like account A (18:13–16, the submission and tribute) and a narrative B (18:17–19:37), often further split into B1 (18:17–19:9a, 36–37: a rumor and Sennacherib's return) and B2 (19:9b–35: a letter, Hezekiah's prayer, the angel). Isaiah 36–37 contains B without A. Most think Isaiah took the narrative from Kings and left out the submission; a minority (e.g., K. A. D. Smelik) argue the narrative was composed for Isaiah. Chronicles used Kings and shaped it to its theology of faithful kings rewarded.

Earthworks or no siege ramp?

The annals claim Sennacherib "surrounded" Hezekiah with earthworks (a blockade); Isaiah 37:33 says he would not "cast a bank (siege ramp) against" the city. The two need not conflict: a blockade around Jerusalem is not an assault ramp against its wall, like the ramp excavated at Lachish. No Assyrian siege works have been found at Jerusalem.

Why did Sennacherib leave?

Proposals: (1) Hezekiah submitted and paid, so Sennacherib had what he wanted (supported by Kings A and the annals); (2) news of trouble elsewhere (Isaiah 37:7, "he shall hear a rumour"; Babylon revolted again soon after); (3) the Egyptian–Kushite threat; (4) an epidemic in the army (sometimes connected, uncertainly, with Herodotus's mice); (5) the angel of the LORD, as the Bible says. The first three are historical explanations; the fifth is the Bible's theological explanation and cannot be tested; the fourth is speculation. They are not all mutually exclusive.

Which objects say what

The Rassam Cylinder (700 BC) is the earliest edition of the annals; the Taylor Prism (British Museum, 691 BC), the Oriental Institute Prism (Chicago, 689 BC) and the Jerusalem Prism (Israel Museum) are later editions with the same account. Their manufacture dates are not the date of the campaign. The Lachish reliefs come from Room XXXVI of Sennacherib's Southwest Palace at Nineveh (British Museum). A clay seal impression of "Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah" was found in the Ophel excavations (published 2015). The Siloam tunnel inscription describes the meeting of two teams of diggers and names no king (ISA-C6: catalogue checks open).