Sepharvaim

Sepharvaim was a city whose gods did not save it. When Assyria’s king conquered a place, he sometimes moved its people elsewhere, and 2 Kings 17 says he brought men from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath and Sepharvaim to live in the cities of Samaria. They brought their own gods with them, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech. Later, Assyria’s messengers used the city’s name as a taunt against Jerusalem, asking where the gods of Hamath, Arpad and Sepharvaim were, and whether they had saved Samaria. Read 2 Kings 18 and 19 to see Hezekiah’s answer.

6 verses

2 Kings

2 Kings 17:24

And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

2 Kings 17:31

And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

2 Kings 18:34

Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?

2 Kings 19:13

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?

Isaiah

Isaiah 36:19

Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim? and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

Isaiah 37:13

Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Taken by Sargon, king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:24; 18:34; 19:13; Isa. 37:13). It was a double city, and received the common name Sepharvaim, i.e., “the two Sipparas,” or “the two booktowns.” The Sippara on the east bank of the Euphrates is now called Abu-Habba; that on the other bank was Accad, the old capital of Sargon I., where he established a great library. (See SARGON.) The recent discovery of cuneiform inscriptions at Tel el-Amarna in Egypt, consisting of official despatches to Pharaoh Amenophis IV. and his predecessor from their agents in Palestine, proves that in the century before the Exodus an active literary intercourse was carried on between these nations, and that the medium of the correspondence was the Babylonian language and script. (See KIRJATH-SEPHER.)

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(the two Sipparas) is mentioned by Sennacherib in his letter to Hezekiah as a city whose king had been unable to resist the Assyrians. (2 Kings 19:13; Isaiah 37:13) comp. 2Kin 18:34 It is identified with the famous town of Sippara., on the Euphrates above Babylon, which was near the site of the modern Mosaib. The dual form indicates that there were two Sipparas, one on either side of the river. Berosus celled Sippara "a city of the sun;" and in the inscriptions it bears the same title, being called Tsipar sha Shamas , or "Sippara of the Sun" --the sun being the chief object of worship there. Comp. (2 Kings 17:31)