Atomic Bible

A powerful ancient empire, often in conflict with Israel.

Assyria

Named in 136 verses across 17 books, first in Genesis 2:14.

אַשּׁוּרAssyria

The name means “country of Assur or Ashur.” Hitchcock's Bible Names, 1869

About Assyria Written by AI

Assyria, also known as Asshur, was a powerful ancient empire centered in Mesopotamia, in what is now modern-day Iraq. The Assyrians are mentioned extensively throughout the Old Testament, often in the context of their military conquests and their interactions with the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The name "Asshur" first appears in Genesis 10:11, where it is associated with Nimrod, who is said to have built several cities, including Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. In Genesis 25:18, the descendants of Ishmael are described as living in the region from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as one goes toward Assyria. Assyria began to emerge as a significant power in the 9th century BC, and its kings are mentioned in the books of Kings and Chronicles. The Assyrian king Shalmaneser III is recorded as receiving tribute from Jehu, king of Israel (2Ki.15.19-20). Later, Tiglath-Pileser III, also known as Pul, conquered parts of Israel and deported some of its inhabitants (2Ki.15.29; 1Ch.5.6, 26). The Assyrian Empire reached its zenith during the reign of Sennacherib, who is known for his military campaigns against Judah and his siege of Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah (2Kings 18-19; 2Chronicles 32; Isaiah 36-37). The prophet Isaiah played a significant role in encouraging Hezekiah to trust in God and resist the Assyrian threat. Other Assyrian kings, such as Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, are also mentioned in the Bible (Ezra 4:2; 2Ch.33.11). The fall of the Assyrian Empire is alluded to in the prophetic books, particularly in Nahum, which foretells the destruction of Nineveh (Nam.3.18-19).

Drafted by an AI model for STEPBible's TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Check it against the verses below.

Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

The name derived from the city Asshur on the Tigris, the original capital of the country, was originally a colony from Babylonia, and was ruled by viceroys from that kingdom. It was a mountainous region lying to the north of Babylonia, extending along the Tigris as far as to the high mountain range of Armenia, the Gordiaean or Carduchian mountains. It was founded in B.C. 1700 under Bel-kap-kapu, and became an independent and a conquering power, and shook off the yoke of its Babylonian masters. It subdued the whole of Northern Asia. The Assyrians were Semites (Gen. 10:22), but in process of time non-Semite tribes mingled with the inhabitants. They were a military people, the “Romans of the East.”

Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria little is positively known. In B.C. 1120 Tiglath-pileser I., the greatest of the Assyrian kings, “crossed the Euphrates, defeated the kings of the Hittites, captured the city of Carchemish, and advanced as far as the shores of the Mediterranean.” He may be regarded as the founder of the first Assyrian empire. After this the Assyrians gradually extended their power, subjugating the states of Northern Syria. In the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, Shalmaneser II. marched an army against the Syrian states, whose allied army he encountered and vanquished at Karkar. This led to Ahab’s casting off the yoke of Damascus and allying himself with Judah. Some years after this the Assyrian king marched an army against Hazael, king of Damascus. He besieged and took that city. He also brought under tribute Jehu, and the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

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About a hundred years after this (B.C. 745) the crown was seized by a military adventurer called Pul, who assumed the name of Tiglath-pileser III. He directed his armies into Syria, which had by this time regained its independence, and took (B.C. 740) Arpad, near Aleppo, after a siege of three years, and reduced Hamath. Azariah (Uzziah) was an ally of the king of Hamath, and thus was compelled by Tiglath-pileser to do him homage and pay a yearly tribute.

In B.C. 738, in the reign of Menahem, king of Israel, Pul invaded Israel, and imposed on it a heavy tribute (2 Kings 15:19). Ahaz, the king of Judah, when engaged in a war against Israel and Syria, appealed for help to this Assyrian king by means of a present of gold and silver (2 Kings 16:8); who accordingly “marched against Damascus, defeated and put Rezin to death, and besieged the city itself.” Leaving a portion of his army to continue the siege, “he advanced through the province east of Jordan, spreading fire and sword,” and became master of Philistia, and took Samaria and Damascus. He died B.C. 727, and was succeeded by Shalmanezer IV., who ruled till B.C. 722. He also invaded Syria (2 Kings 17:5), but was deposed in favour of Sargon (q.v.) the Tartan, or commander-in-chief of the army, who took Samaria (q.v.) after a siege of three years, and so put an end to the kingdom of Israel, carrying the people away into captivity, B.C. 722 (2 Kings 17:1-6, 24; 18:7, 9). He also overran the land of Judah, and took the city of Jerusalem (Isa. 10:6, 12, 22, 24, 34). Mention is next made of Sennacherib (B.C. 705), the son and successor of Sargon (2 Kings 18:13; 19:37; Isa. 7:17, 18); and then of Esar-haddon, his son and successor, who took Manasseh, king of Judah, captive, and kept him for some time a prisoner at Babylon, which he alone of all the Assyrian kings made the seat of his government (2 Kings 19:37; Isa. 37:38).

Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, became king, and in Ezra 4:10 is referred to as Asnapper. From an early period Assyria had entered on a conquering career, and having absorbed Babylon, the kingdoms of Hamath, Damascus, and Samaria, it conquered Phoenicia, and made Judea feudatory, and subjected Philistia and Idumea. At length, however, its power declined. In B.C. 727 the Babylonians threw off the rule of the Assyrians, under the leadership of the powerful Chaldean prince Merodach-baladan (2 Kings 20:12), who, after twelve years, was subdued by Sargon, who now reunited the kingdom, and ruled over a vast empire. But on his death the smouldering flames of rebellion again burst forth, and the Babylonians and Medes successfully asserted their independence (B.C. 625), and Assyria fell according to the prophecies of Isaiah (10:5-19), Nahum (3:19), and Zephaniah (3:13), and the many separate kingdoms of which it was composed ceased to recognize the “great king” (2 Kings 18:19; Isa. 36:4). Ezekiel (31) attests (about B.C. 586) how completely Assyria was overthrown. It ceases to be a nation. (See NINEVEH; BABYLON.)

M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, third edition (1897), public domain, from CrossWire. Shown as written; its Scripture quotes are from older translations.

36.359, 43.153 See it on a map

GenesisMatthewRevelation

Where the Bible names it

  1. Genesis 2:14

    The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

  2. Genesis 10:11

    From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

  3. Genesis 25:18

    Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

  4. Numbers 24:22

    Yet Kain will be destroyed when Asshur takes you captive.”

  5. Numbers 24:24

    Ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus; they will subdue Asshur and Eber, but they too will perish forever.”

  6. 2 Kings 15:19

    Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.

  7. 2 Kings 15:20

    Menahem exacted this money from each of the wealthy men of Israel—fifty shekels of silver from each man—to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and did not remain in the land.

  8. 2 Kings 15:29

    In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.

  9. 2 Kings 16:7

    So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”

  10. 2 Kings 16:8

    Ahaz also took the silver and gold found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s palace, and he sent it as a gift to the king of Assyria.

  11. 2 Kings 16:9

    So the king of Assyria responded to him, marched up to Damascus, and captured it. He took its people to Kir as captives and put Rezin to death.

  12. 2 Kings 16:10

    Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.

  13. 2 Kings 16:18

    And on account of the king of Assyria, he removed the Sabbath canopy they had built in the temple and closed the royal entryway outside the house of the LORD.

  14. 2 Kings 17:3

    Shalmaneser king of Assyria attacked him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.

  15. 2 Kings 17:4

    But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.

  16. 2 Kings 17:5

    Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land, marched up to Samaria, and besieged it for three years.

  17. 2 Kings 17:6

    In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

  18. 2 Kings 17:23

    Finally, the LORD removed Israel from His presence, as He had declared through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their homeland into Assyria, where they are to this day.

  19. 2 Kings 17:24

    Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

  20. 2 Kings 17:26

    So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The peoples that you have removed and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Because of this, He has sent lions among them, which are indeed killing them off.”

  21. 2 Kings 17:27

    Then the king of Assyria commanded: “Send back one of the priests you carried off from Samaria, and have him go back to live there and teach the requirements of the God of the land.”

  22. 2 Kings 18:7

    And the LORD was with Hezekiah, and he prospered wherever he went. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to serve him.

  23. 2 Kings 18:9

    In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.

  24. 2 Kings 18:11

    The king of Assyria exiled the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.

  25. 2 Kings 18:13

    In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked and captured all the fortified cities of Judah.

  26. 2 Kings 18:14

    So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

  27. 2 Kings 18:16

    At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

  28. 2 Kings 18:17

    Nevertheless, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh, along with a great army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. They advanced up to Jerusalem and stationed themselves by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.

  29. 2 Kings 18:19

    The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?

  30. 2 Kings 18:23

    Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

  31. 2 Kings 18:28

    Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out loudly in Hebrew: “Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria!

  32. 2 Kings 18:30

    Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’

  33. 2 Kings 18:31

    Do not listen to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and his own fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

  34. 2 Kings 18:33

    Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

  35. 2 Kings 19:4

    Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”

  36. 2 Kings 19:6

    who replied, “Tell your master that this is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid of the words you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

  37. 2 Kings 19:8

    When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.

  38. 2 Kings 19:10

    “Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

  39. 2 Kings 19:11

    Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?

  40. 2 Kings 19:17

    Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.

And 96 more

2 Kings 19:20, 19:32, 19:35, 19:36, 20:6, 23:29

1 Chronicles 5:6, 5:26

2 Chronicles 28:16, 28:20, 28:21, 30:6, 32:1, 32:4, 32:7, 32:9, 32:10, 32:11, 32:21, 32:22, 33:11

Ezra 4:2, 6:22

Nehemiah 9:32

Psalms 83:8

Isaiah 7:17, 7:18, 7:20, 8:4, 8:7, 10:5, 10:12, 10:24, 11:11, 11:16, 14:25, 19:23, 19:24, 19:25, 20:1, 20:4, 20:6, 23:13, 27:13, 30:31, 31:8, 36:1, 36:2, 36:4, 36:8, 36:13, 36:15, 36:16, 36:18, 37:4, 37:6, 37:8, 37:10, 37:11, 37:18, 37:21, 37:33, 37:36, 37:37, 38:6, 52:4

Jeremiah 2:18, 2:36, 50:17, 50:18

Lamentations 5:6

Ezekiel 16:28, 23:5, 23:7, 23:9, 23:12, 23:23, 27:23, 31:3, 32:22

Hosea 5:13, 7:11, 8:9, 9:3, 10:6, 11:5, 11:11, 12:1, 14:3

Micah 5:5, 5:6, 7:12

Nahum 3:18

Zephaniah 2:13

Zechariah 10:10, 10:11

From STEPBible's TIPNR, Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0): names, family, references and the AI written article. Verse text is the BSB.