Son of King Sennacherib who participated in the murder of his father
Auch bekannt als: Adrammelech
Das geteilte KönigreichPrincePatricideactive c. 681 BC
Adrammelek was the son of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. Together with his brother Sharezer, he killed their father while he was worshiping in the temple of the god Nisroch in Nineveh. After the patricide, the two brothers fled to the land of Ararat, and it was their brother Esarhaddon who took over the Assyrian throne. The murder occurred following Sennacherib's failed campaign against Jerusalem, where an angel of the Lord struck down the Assyrian army. The biblical authors portray Sennacherib's violent end as a divine judgment on the proud great king who had mocked the God of Israel. The name Adrammelek also appears in 2 Kings 17:31 as a designation for an idol worshiped by the people from Sepharvaim, but this is a different figure than the crown prince.
Adrammelek's father Sennacherib besieged Jerusalem during King Hezekiah's reign, but God intervened and an angel struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Sennacherib had to retreat to Nineveh. This humiliation forms the background for what later happened to Sennacherib.
35That night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When men rose early in the morning, there they were—all of them dead bodies.
36Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people rose early the next morning — there they all lay, dead bodies.
Adrammelek and his brother Sharezer killed their father Sennacherib while he was worshipping in the temple of his god Nisroch in Nineveh. They then fled to the land of Ararat. The event is presented as a fulfillment of God's judgment against the proud Assyrian king.
37While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
38One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
After Adrammelech and Sharezer had killed their father and fled, their brother Esarhaddon took the Assyrian throne. The patricide did not lead to Adrammelech gaining power himself, but instead paved the way for another heir's accession.
37While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.
38One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
The name Adrammelech is also associated with an idol worshipped by the people of Sepharvaim in Samaria after the Assyrians settled them there. They sacrificed their children in fire to this idol. This is a different figure from the person Adrammelech, but the similarity in names is worth noting.
The murder of Sennacherib is also mentioned in 2 Chronicles. Here, Adrammelech is not named by name, but it is reported that some of Sennacherib's own sons killed him with swords, and that Esarhaddon became king after him.
21And the LORD sent an angel, who cut down every mighty warrior, every commander and officer, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he went back to his own land in disgrace. And when he entered the temple of his god, his own sons struck him down there with the sword.