Tirhakah (Taharqa, of the Cushite/Ethiopian XXVth Dynasty) is the "king of Ethiopia" whose advance against Sennacherib gave Hezekiah's Jerusalem a reprieve (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9). His army and the Assyrians met near Eltekeh, and here the two records diverge, so the ISBE lays both out. The Old Testament has Tirhakah's coming break off Sennacherib's campaign; Sennacherib's own inscription claims a victory at Eltekeh and does not mention Tirhakah by name. The ISBE notes the chronological tangle this raises (Tirhakah may not yet have been the reigning Pharaoh in 701 BC) and reports the scholarly view "that the Assyrian historians, like those of 2 Kings and Isaiah, have mingled two campaigns." It records the difficulty rather than resolving it. (Source: ISBE 1915, "Tirhakah.")
Empires and rulers of the Old Testament world
Tirhakah: Egypt against Assyria
RulerEgypt
Sources, trace every one
Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.
- 2 Kings 19:9bsb
Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So Sennacherib again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
- Isaiah 37:9bsb
Now Sennacherib had been warned about Tirhakah king of Cush: “He has set out to fight against you.” On hearing this, Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.