Isaiah 37:36

"And the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and four score and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass that as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead."

Scholars make a point that the actual assassination of Sennacherib took place in 681 B.C., some twenty years after the events of this chapter; but, if this is indeed accurate, it does not contradict what is said here. The text merely states that "it came to pass."

Tradition has a story that these two sons of Sennacherib who murdered him lived to found substantial dynasties in Armenia. Nothing is known of their motives for murdering their father, but it was evidently not for the sake of succeeding him in the throne. The identity of what god Sennacherib claimed and which he was in the act of worshipping when they killed him is not positively identified. "Nisroch might have been the title of some better-known deity."[19]

Homer Hailey's summary of this section is excellent:

"It is not impossible for Isaiah himself to have added this historical section. If he began his prophetic work at age 30, he could have lived unto the murder of Sennacherib, which was about sixty years from the beginning of Isaiah's ministry. The account was probably added as Isaiah edited his book before his death. Two facts stand out clearly: (1) Through Isaiah, God declared what he would do, and (2) he did it; but how quickly was this remarkable deliverance forgotten by Manasseh, Hezekiah's son, who was one of the most wicked kings of Judah!"[20]

Some love to speculate with regard to just how "the angel of the Lord" executed so many men so quickly. No dogmatic answer is possible; but Barnes pointed out that God usually employed natural means in achieving many of his great miracles, as, for example, in the instance of the "strong wind" that rolled back the waters of the Red Sea, or the terrible hail as one of the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-25). His conclusion was that, "The most satisfactory explanation is that it was a great storm of hail, with thunder and lightning ... This description in its suddenness, its terror, and its ruinous effects accords more nearly with the account of the destruction than any other speculation that has been made."[21]