2 Chronicles 32:9
After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying, After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah that were at Jerusalem, saying,
After this Sennacherib king of Assyria remained himself at Lachish with all his power while he sent his servants to Jerusalem to speak to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all Judah that were at Jerusalem. His power invested the city and the Assyrian attack was pressed to Jerusalem's gates. Sennacherib's own record confirms this setting, including a picture made by his order of his victory at Lachish and palace reliefs showing the siege and his receiving the city's spoils.
The servants carried his challenge to frighten Judah and weaken its resistance so as to force its surrender. They scorned Judah's trust in God, mocked that trust, belittled God as no stronger than the powerless gods of other nations, and claimed that no god could deliver any people from Assyria's power. The campaign joined this threatening message with the siege and capture of Judah's cities and the taking of tribute from Hezekiah.
In answer to the humility and prayers of Hezekiah and his people, the Lord sent an angel and miraculously delivered Jerusalem. The angel destroyed the Assyrian leaders, captains and warriors, 185,000 men. Sennacherib returned in shame and disgrace to Nineveh, where he was later killed by his sons while worshiping his idol.
In its setting in Hezekiah's reign the episode shows that seeking God brought help to Judah, in contrast with rulers who departed from God. It shows that mocking God and belittling those who trust Him cannot prevent His deliverance, and that He is more powerful than Assyria's king and the nations' gods. It is applied to show that the Lord's people need not defend themselves with physical weapons even when facing an armed enemy, for their warfare is spiritual and not against flesh and blood.
Assyrian monuments and records recovered from Nineveh confirm the biblical account of the campaign and the siege of Lachish. They record the siege and capture of Lachish and the conquest and plunder of forty-six fortified cities and many smaller towns. They leave Jerusalem as Hezekiah's capital without claiming its capture, claiming only to have received tribute. The tribute figures agree together: Hezekiah gave thirty talents of gold and three hundred talents of silver, while Sennacherib's figure of eight hundred talents of silver tallies to a shekel because there were large and small silver talents, two sorts of silver talents, and his larger figure may include spoil from other cities.
The account does not support identifying the prepared Tophet of Isaiah 30:33 with the destruction of the Assyrian army, giving no evidence that the army perished in the valley. It indicates that the king returned to his own land and died there. The Assyrian army was likely with the king at Libnah rather than near Jerusalem when the angel struck the 185,000.