Sharezer
The Assyrian Name
The name Sharezer derives from the Assyrian compound Shar-usur, meaning "protect the king." This was not typically a standalone name in Assyrian culture but rather appeared as an element within longer compound names. For example, the name Nergal-sharezer (Jeremiah 39:3, 13) means "may Nergal protect the king," and Belshazzar (Daniel 5:1) comes from Bel-shar-usur, "may Bel protect the king." The biblical form Sharezer likely represents a shortened version of a fuller Assyrian name whose first element — the name of a deity — has been lost or omitted.
Sharezer the Son of Sennacherib
The most dramatic biblical appearance of Sharezer occurs in the aftermath of Sennacherib's failed siege of Jerusalem. After the angel of the Lord struck down 185,000 Assyrian soldiers and Sennacherib retreated to Nineveh, the narrative records a stunning conclusion: "As he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword" (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38). The parricide was followed by the sons' flight to the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon, another son, succeeded Sennacherib as king of Assyria.
The Babylonian Chronicle confirms Sennacherib's assassination, recording that on the twentieth day of the month of Tebeth, "Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was slain by his son in a revolt." However, the cuneiform account mentions only one son rather than two, and does not name the assassin. Scholars have attempted various harmonizations, with some suggesting that only one son struck the fatal blow while the other was a co-conspirator, and others proposing that the two accounts simply emphasize different details of the same event.
Some scholars have suggested that the full name of Sennacherib's son may have been Nergal-sharezer, following the pattern of other Assyrian names. Others have proposed that Sharezer is a corruption of Shar-etir-Ashur, a name attested in Assyrian records as belonging to one of Sennacherib's sons. The question remains unresolved.
Sharezer in the Time of Zechariah
The second Sharezer appears in Zechariah 7:2, in the context of a delegation sent to inquire about fasting: "Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord." The delegation came to ask the priests and prophets whether the fasting practices observed during the exile should continue now that the temple was being rebuilt.
This passage presents textual difficulties. The Hebrew is ambiguous about the relationship between Bethel and Sharezer — it is unclear whether the people of Bethel sent Sharezer, or whether Bethel-sharezer is actually a single compound name (similar to Bel-shazzar). If the latter reading is correct, the full name would be Bethel-sharezer, meaning "may Bethel protect the king," following the same pattern as other names with the -sharezer element.
Regardless of the textual question, the passage is significant because it prompted one of Zechariah's most important prophetic messages. Rather than simply answering the question about fasting, God through Zechariah challenged the people to examine whether their fasts had ever truly been directed toward Him (Zechariah 7:5-6) and called them to practice justice, mercy, and compassion rather than mere ritual observance (Zechariah 7:9-10).
The Theological Context of Sennacherib's Assassination
The murder of Sennacherib by his own sons carries profound theological significance within the biblical narrative. Sennacherib had blasphemed the God of Israel, and his Rabshakeh had publicly mocked the idea that the Lord could deliver Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:28-35). God's response came in two stages: first the miraculous destruction of the Assyrian army, and then the humiliating death of the king at the hands of his own children while he worshiped his own god.
The irony is pointed: the king who challenged whether any god could protect a nation from Assyria's might was himself left unprotected by his own deity in his own temple. Isaiah had specifically prophesied that Sennacherib would "fall by the sword in his own land" (Isaiah 37:7), and the fulfillment came through the most intimate betrayal possible — murder by his own sons.
Biblical Context
Sharezer appears in two distinct Old Testament contexts. In 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah 37:38, he is one of two sons who assassinate Sennacherib in the temple of Nisroch. In Zechariah 7:2, a person named Sharezer is part of a delegation inquiring about fasting practices, which prompts Zechariah's important prophetic discourse on justice and mercy versus empty ritual (Zechariah 7:4-14).
Theological Significance
The assassination of Sennacherib by Sharezer and Adrammelech demonstrates God's sovereign judgment against those who blaspheme His name. The king who mocked the Lord's power to save was destroyed in his own god's temple, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy. The Zechariah passage connected to the second Sharezer teaches that God values authentic justice and compassion over ritual observance, a theme central to prophetic theology.
Historical Background
The Babylonian Chronicle confirms Sennacherib's assassination on the 20th of Tebeth (January 681 BC), though it mentions only one son. Esarhaddon's inscriptions describe pursuing the assassins and ascending to the throne. The name Sharezer follows Assyrian naming conventions with the element shar-usur ('protect the king'), commonly appearing as part of longer theophoric names. Archaeological evidence from Nineveh and Babylonian administrative records corroborate the broad outline of the biblical account.