What Does 2 Kings 19:9 Mean?

(9) **Heard say of Tirhakah.**—For the construction, comp. Psalm 2:7; Psalm 3:2. **Tirhakah.**—Called in Egyptian inscriptions *Taharka,* in Assyrian *Tarqû;* the Ταρακὺς of Manetho, and *Teapxwws* of Strabo. He was the last king of the 25th, or *Ethiopian* (Cushite) dynasty, and son of Shabataka the son of Shabaka (2Kings 17:4). Sennacherib does not *name* Tirhakah, but calls him “the king of Meluhhu,” *i.e.,* Meroë. The two successors of Sennacherib had further wars with Tirhakah. Esarhaddon, according to notices in the annals of Assurbanipal, conquered Tirhakah, “king of Mizraim and Cush, and divided Egypt between a number of vassal kings. A list of twenty names is preserved, beginning with” Necho king of Memphis and Sais.” This was Esarhaddon’s tenth expedition (circ. 671 B.C. ). Tirhakah, however, invaded Egypt once more, for “he despised the might of Asshur, Istar, and the great gods my lords, and trusted to his own power.” This led to Assurbanipal’s first expedition, which was directed against Egypt. Ewald and Knobel suppose that Isaiah 18 refers to an embassy from Tirhakah asking the co-operation of Judah against the common foe. If it be alleged that Shabataka was still nominal king of Egypt, we may regard Tirhakah as commanding in his father’s name. But Egyptian chronology is too uncertain to be allowed much weight in the question.