2 Chronicles 32 · a question people ask
Does 2 Chronicles tell the night in the Assyrian camp the same way 2 Kings does?
Each book tells it in its own words, and these notes set them side by side without explaining the differences. 2 Chronicles says, "The LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, the leaders, and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land" (32:21). 2 Kings says, "That night, the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians" (2 Kings 19:35), and Isaiah tells it in almost the same words (Isaiah 37:36). None of the three says how. Of the king's death, 2 Chronicles says, "When he had come into the house of his god, those who came out of his own body killed him there with the sword" (32:21), and names no one. 2 Kings names "Adrammelech and Sharezer" (2 Kings 19:37), and Isaiah calls them "Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons" (Isaiah 37:38). 2 Kings 19's honest question on the same night keeps to the verses in the same way.
The verses
“The LORD sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, the leaders, and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, those who came out of his own body killed him there with the sword.”
“That night, the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went home, and lived at Nineveh. As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.”
“Then the LORD’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, went away, returned to Nineveh, and stayed there. As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.”