Atlas Biblica

    person

    Rabshakeh

    רַבְשָׁקֵה

    Rabshakeh was a Babylonian official who tried to intimidate Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem into surrendering.

    verses
    16
    first named
    2 Kings 18:17
    last named
    Isaiah 37:8
    period
    Divided Monarchy
    role
    Man

    Description

    Who was Rabshakeh?

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Rabshakeh was a high-ranking Assyrian official who served as the spokesman for King Sennacherib during his campaign against Judah (2Kings 18-19; Isaiah 36-37). He was sent, along with Tartan and Rab-saris, to intimidate King Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem. Rabshakeh delivered a threatening message, urging them to surrender and not trust in Hezekiah or God to deliver them. He spoke in Hebrew, intending to frighten the people on the city wall. Hezekiah's representatives, Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah, asked Rabshakeh to speak in Aramaic, but he refused and continued to speak in Hebrew to undermine the people's morale. Rabshakeh mocked Hezekiah's faith in God and boasted of Assyria's power. When Hezekiah heard the report, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the temple to pray. Isaiah the prophet reassured Hezekiah that God would protect Jerusalem. Rabshakeh returned to Sennacherib, who had left Lachish to fight against Libnah. Despite Rabshakeh's threats and Sennacherib's letter, Hezekiah trusted in God, and the Assyrian army was ultimately defeated by divine intervention.

    Relations

    Direct connections

    Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.

    How the graph connects Rabshakeh10 of 14 entities the graph connects to Rabshakeh, in one group: events 10. Kinship, company and ground are stated relations; events counts the acts two entities stand in together and is not a relation. Each mark is sized by how many verses name that entity and labelled with the link and the count, so the grouping and the size are both readable without colour. Distance from the centre carries nothing.Judah2 events · 1,023 versesJerusalem5 events · 888 versesLand1 event · 536 versesSpeaking2 events · 269 versesHezekiah3 events · 116 versesDelivery2 events · 106 versesLachish2 events · 22 versesEliakim2 events · 9 versesShebna2 events · 9 versesJoah2 events · 6 versesRabshakeh

    The 10 best-attested of 14 are drawn. All 14 are listed below.

    Took part in

    Stands in the same events as

    and 1 more, ordered by how many events they share.

    Places

    Where this happens

    The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.

    Where the story of Rabshakeh happensAll 3 places the claims about Rabshakeh reach, on a map of the world the text moves through, framed to them: Jerusalem, Lachish, Washer's_Field. Each dot is a coordinate from the gazetteer, sized by how many rows put Rabshakeh there. The coastline is a modern one, simplified; no border, road or settlement of any period is drawn, and no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.JerusalemLachishWasher's_Field
    Divided MonarchyAll 3 places the claims about Rabshakeh reach

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 16, across 2 books.

    1. 2 Kings8 verses

      18:1718:1918:2618:2718:2818:3719:419:8

    2. Isaiah8 verses

      36:236:436:1136:1236:1336:2237:437:8

    Onward

    Where this page goes

    Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.

    via Sending of Great Army and Rabshakeh and Sending of RabshakehHezekiahA righteous king of Judah.via Sending of Great Army and Rabshakeh and Sending of RabshakehSendingSending is a concept gathering 488 labelled instances in the text.via Sending of RabshakehJerusalemThe capital of Israel, a holy city for three religionsvia Sending of Great Army and RabshakehRab-sarisA Babylonian official sent by King Sennacherib to Jerusalemvia Sending of Great Army and RabshakehTartanTitle of an Assyrian military commander

    Where they appear

    Chapter by chapter

    Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.

    Sources

    What this rests on