Credible Theories
Hebrew Bible · 2 Kings 19:35

185,000 dead in one night

Reference2 Kings 19:35
Writtenc. 600–550 BCE
SetSiege of Jerusalem, 701 BCE
The angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

Translation: KJV

Read it literally

A silent weapon that kills an army overnight without touching the city. Sennacherib's annals boast of trapping Hezekiah 'like a bird in a cage' but never claim he took Jerusalem.

What scholars say

The siege is real (Sennacherib's own annals record it). Herodotus has a separate story of mice ruining the Assyrian army.

Quick answers about 2 Kings 19:35

Where is 2 Kings 19:35 found?

2 Kings 19:35 (Hebrew Bible). Translation quoted: King James Version (1611; standard 1769 text), with Apocrypha.

When was 2 Kings 19:35 written?

c. 600–550 BCE.

What do scholars say about 2 Kings 19:35?

The siege is real (Sennacherib's own annals record it). Herodotus has a separate story of mice ruining the Assyrian army.

Sources

  1. King James Version (1611; standard 1769 text), with ApocryphaPrimary text

Scholarly dates are rounded. The wording follows the named public-domain translation.

Updated