1. Son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, Isa 37:38; 2Ki 19:37, who, upon returning to Nineveh after his fatal expedition against Hezekiah, was killed by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, through fear, according to Jewish tradition, of being sacrificed to his idol Nisroch. They then fled to the mountains of Armenia, B. C. 713.

2. One of the gods adored by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, who settled in Samaria, in the stead of those Israelites who were carried beyond the Euphrates. They made their children pass through fire, in honor of this false deity, and of another called Anammelech, 2Ki 17:31. Some think that Adrammelech represented the sun, and Anammelech the moon.

Adar the king.

(1.) An idol; a form of the sun-god worshipped by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim (2Ki 17:31), and brought by the Sepharvite colonists into Samaria.

(2.) A son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38).

1. The idol of the Sepharvite colonists of Samaria planted by Assyria (2Ki 17:31); means "burning splendor of the king" (compare Molech). The male power of the sun; as ANAMMELECH is the female, sister deity. Astrology characterized the Assyrian idolatry. Adrammelech was represented as a peacock or a mule; Anammelech as a pheasant or a horse. Children were burnt in his honor.

2. Son and murderer of Sennacherib in Nisroch's temple at Nineveh. He and Sharezer his brother escaped to Armenia (2Ki 19:36; 2Ch 32:21). Named so from the idol.

1. Adrammelech and Anammelech (wh. see), the gods of Sepharvaim to whom the colonists, brought to Samaria from Sepharvaim, burnt their children in the fire (2Ki 17:31). There is no good explanation of the name: it was once supposed to be for Adar-malik, 'Adar the prince.' But Adar is not known to be a Babylonian god, and compound Divine names are practically unknown, nor were human sacrifices offered to Babylonian gods.

2. Adrammelech and Sharezer (wh. see) are given in 2Ki 19:37 as the sons of Sennacherib who murdered their father. [The Kethibh of Kings omits 'his sons']. The Babylonian Chronicle says: 'On the 20th of Tebet, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was killed by his son in an insurrection'; and all other native sources agree in ascribing the murder to one son, but do not name him. Adrammelech is impossible as an Assyrian personal name, and probably arises here from some corruption of the text. The sons of Sennacherib known to us are Ashur-n

Adram'melech

1. The god of the Sepharvites, to whom they burnt their children, placed in one of the houses of the high places among the Samaritans. 2Ki 17:31. A sort of Adar-Mars, i.e., sun-god, who was regarded as a destroying being (F?rst).

2. One of the sons of Sennacherib who smote his father with the sword and then fled to the land of Armenia. 2Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38.

Adram'melech

(splendor of the king).

1. The name of an idol introduced into Samaria by the colonists from Sepharvaim.

2Ki 17:31

He was worshipped with rites resembling those of Molech, children being burnt in his honor. Adrammelech was probably the male power of the sun, and ANAMMELECH, who is mentioned with Adrammelech as a companion god, the female power of the sun.

See Anammelech

2. Son of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who, with his brother Sharezer, murdered their father in the temple of Nisroch at Nineveh, after the failure of the Assyrian attack on Jerusalem. The parricides escaped into Armenia.

2Ki 19:37; 2Ch 32:21; Isa 37:38

ADRAMMELECH, the son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria. The king returning to Nineveh, after his unhappy expedition made into Judea against king Hezekiah, was killed by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, while at his devotions in the temple of his god Nisroch, Isa 37:38; 2Ki 19. It is not known what prompted these two princes to commit this parricide; but after they had committed the murder, they fled for safety to the mountains of Armenia, and their brother, Esar-haddon, succeeded to the crown.

ADRAMMELECH was also one of the gods adored by the inhabitants of Sepharvaim, who were settled in the country of Samaria, in the room of the Israelites, who were carried beyond the Euphrates. The Sepharvaites made their children pass through the fire in honour of this idol, and another, called Anammelech, 2Ki 17:31. The Rabbins say, that Adrammelech was represented under the form of a mule; but there is much more reason to believe that Adrammelech meant the sun, and Anammelech the moon; the first signifying the magnificent king, the second the gentle king,