Isaiah Chapter 37 verse 38 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 38. - Nisroch his god. The name Nisroch has not been found in the Assyrian inscriptions, and is, in fact, read only in this place and the parallel passage of Kings (2 Kings 19:37). It has been supposed to represent Nusku, an Assyrian god of a somewhat low position, who, however, does not obtain mention in the historical inscriptions until the time of Asshur-bani-pal. Probably the name has suffered corruption. Asshur was, in fact, Sennacherib's favourite deity, and it is remarkable that the LXX. give in this place, not Nisroch, but Asarach. "Asarach" would seem to be "Asshur" with a guttural suffix. Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him. The murder of Sennacherib by a son, whom he called "Ardumazanes," was related by Polyhistor (ap. Euseb., 'Chronicles Can.,' 1:5, § l). Esar-haddon's annals are imperfect at the commencement, but show that his authority was at first contested, and that he had to establish it by force of arms ('Records of the Past,' vol. 3. pp. 103, 104). Adrammelech seems to have assumed the title of king (Abyden. up. Euscb., 'Chronicles Can.,' 1:9, § 1), and to have been put to death by his brother. Sharezer is not elsewhere mentioned. The name is Assyrian, as far as it goes, but is incomplete. Its full form was probably Nabu-sar-uzur or Nergal-sar-uzur (see 'Eponym Canon,' p. 63, B.C. 682 and 678). And escaped into the land of Armenia. So Moses of Chorene ('Hist. Armen.,' 1:22). The Hebrew word is Ararat (Assyrian Urardu or Urartu), which was the more eastern portion of Armenia, and lay beyond the sphere of Assyrian influence. Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. Esarhaddon (Asshur-akh iddiua) appears to have ascended the throne in B.C. 681. It is highly improbable that Isaiah was then living, and therefore the verse can scarcely be from his pen. It has probably been transferred from 2 Kings (2 Kings 19:37) in order to finish off the narrative. Esarhaddon outlived Hezekiah many years, and was brought into contact with Manasseh ('Eponym Canon,' p. 139), whom he reckoned among his tributaries (comp. 2 Chronicles 33:11).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(38) And it came to pass.--The Assyrian inscriptions fill up the gap of twenty years between the events which appear here, as if in immediate sequence, with five campaigns in the north and east of the Assyrian Empire, chiefly against the Babylonians, who revolted again under the son of Merodach-baladan.Nisroch.--Some experts (Oppert and Schrader) have found the name in the Khorsabad inscriptions, in a prayer of Sargon to Nisroch as the patron of marriage, but the identification is disputed by others, as G. Smith, Sayce, and Cheyne. The etymology of the name, as meaning the "eagle" deity, is also one of the open questions of Assyrian research.Adrammelech and Sharezer.--The former name appears in that of a deity of Sepharvaim in 2Kings 17:31--its probable meaning being "the king of glory," that of Sharezer, "the ruler preserves," or, in a variant form, Sanatzu, "Sin (the moon-god) preserves." The Assyrian records, so far as they are yet interpreted, make no mention of the murder, but an insc2Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:10), from whom the later Samaritans were descended--as having taken Zidon and deported its inhabitants (Records of the Past, iv., p. 111)--as having left in scriptions at Nahr-el-kelb, near Beyrout, in which he describes himself as "King of Egypt, Thebes, and Ethiopia," as having probably been the "king of Assyria" who carried Manasseh bound in fetters to Babylon. The will of Sennacherib (Records of the Past, i. 136), giving him his chief treasures, and renaming him with a new title of sovereignty (Assur-Ebil-Muni-pal, i.e., "Assur is lord, the establisher of the son "), seems to imply that he was a younger son, whom the fondness of Sennacherib had exalted above his elder brothers, who accordingly revenged themselves by the murder of their father.