Tirhakah

Biblical Record

Tirhakah is mentioned twice in the Bible, in 2 Kings 19:9 and Isaiah 37:9, two passages with nearly identical content. During the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invaded Judah and sent officials to demand the surrender of Jerusalem. Around that time Sennacherib heard a report concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia (Cush): "Behold, he is come out to fight against thee" (2 Kings 19:9). In response, he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with a threatening letter. Hezekiah spread this letter before the LORD in the temple and prayed (2 Kings 19:14–19). Isaiah then delivered a prophecy that Assyria would not enter Jerusalem. The text goes on to record that the angel of the LORD struck down 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp and that Sennacherib returned to Nineveh (2 Kings 19:35–36).

The Bible does not say whether Tirhakah actually fought or what the outcome was. He appears only as part of the background that prompted Sennacherib to press Hezekiah in haste.

Significance Within Scripture

"Cush" refers to the region of the upper Nile south of Egypt, corresponding to present-day northern Sudan. Tirhakah is mentioned as another power capable of standing against the great power of Assyria. In this narrative, however, Judah's deliverance comes not through the help of a foreign army but through Hezekiah's prayer and God's intervention. Elsewhere Isaiah repeatedly warned against relying on Egypt and Cush (Isaiah 20, 30, 31). The brief mention of Tirhakah is read within this broader theme. Tirhakah does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

Historians identify Tirhakah with Taharqa, a king of Egypt's Twenty-fifth Dynasty (a dynasty of Nubian origin). His reign is generally dated from about 690 BC into the 660s BC. He is reported to have later lost control of Egypt after attacks by the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.

Sennacherib's campaign against Judah is commonly dated to 701 BC. Because Tirhakah may not yet have ascended the throne at that time, interpretations differ:

• One view holds that he led the army as a prince or military commander at the time, and that the text calls him "king" using the title he later held.
• Another view holds that Sennacherib conducted two campaigns and that the scene in which Tirhakah appears belongs to the later one.
• Some scholars calculate the chronology itself differently.

None of these views has become the settled consensus. In addition, older translations and sermons sometimes render Cush as "Ethiopia," but the biblical Cush is not the same region as modern Ethiopia. For the same reason, stories linking Tirhakah with the Ethiopian eunuch of the New Testament have no basis in the text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted specifically to Tirhakah are rare. He is usually mentioned briefly as a background figure in sermons on the scene in which Hezekiah spread Sennacherib's letter before the LORD and prayed. Otherwise he is introduced only in passing during expository preaching on 2 Kings or Isaiah, or in read-through-the-Bible programs.