2 Kings 19:13
New International Version
Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”

New Living Translation
What happened to the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad? What happened to the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

English Standard Version
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”

Berean Standard Bible
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

Berean Literal Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’”

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

New King James Version
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’ ”

New American Standard Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

NASB 1995
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

NASB 1977
‘Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Legacy Standard Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Amplified Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and Ivvah?’”

Berean Annotated Bible
Where are the kings of Hamath (fortress), Arpad (I shall be supported), Sepharvaim (the two Sipparas), Hena (troubling), and Ivvah (ruin)?

Christian Standard Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah? ’ ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’”

American Standard Version
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?

Contemporary English Version
The kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah have all disappeared.

English Revised Version
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'"

Good News Translation
Where are the kings of the cities of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?"

International Standard Version
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sephar-vaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?'"

NET Bible
Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'"

New Heart English Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?"'"

Webster's Bible Translation
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah?
Majority Text Translations
Majority Standard Bible
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

World English Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Where [is] the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”

Berean Literal Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?’”

Young's Literal Translation
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?'

Smith's Literal Translation
Where the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king to the city of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivah?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana and of Ava?

Catholic Public Domain Version
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena, and of Avva?”

New American Bible
Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, or the kings of the cities Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”

New Revised Standard Version
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of Sepharvim, and of Dena, and Ivah?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Where is the King of Khamath and the King of Raphad and the King of the city Sepharvaim, and of Ana and of Ava?”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Where is the king of Haemath, and the king of Arphad? and where is the king of the city of Seppharvaim, of Ana, and Aba?

Additional Translations ...



Context
Sennacherib's Blasphemous Letter
12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar? 13Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

Cross References
Where are the kings of Hamath,

Amos 6:2
Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?

Zechariah 9:2
and also against Hamath, which borders it, as well as Tyre and Sidon, though they are very shrewd.
Arpad,

Isaiah 10:9
“Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?

Jeremiah 49:23
Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard a bad report; they are agitated like the sea; their anxiety cannot be calmed.
Sepharvaim,

2 Kings 17:31
the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

Joshua 12:7-24
And these are the kings of the land that Joshua and the Israelites conquered beyond the Jordan to the west, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir (according to the allotments to the tribes of Israel, Joshua gave them as an inheritance / the hill country, the foothills, the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev—the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites): / the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one; …
Hena,

Isaiah 36:19
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

Isaiah 37:13
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
and Ivvah?’”

2 Kings 18:34
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

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.
2 Kings 18:33-35
Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? / Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? / Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

Isaiah 36:18-20
Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? / Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? / Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”

2 Chronicles 32:13-15
Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand? / Who among all the gods of these nations that my fathers devoted to destruction has been able to deliver his people from my hand? How then can your God deliver you from my hand? / So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not let him mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you from my hand!”

Nahum 3:8-10
Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water? / Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies. / Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.

Ezekiel 31:3-9
Look at Assyria, a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches that shaded the forest. It towered on high; its top was among the clouds. / The waters made it grow; the deep springs made it tall, directing their streams all around its base and sending their channels to all the trees of the field. / Therefore it towered higher than all the trees of the field. Its branches multiplied, and its boughs grew long as it spread them out because of the abundant waters. …

Isaiah 14:24-27
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand. / I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.” / This is the plan devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations. …


Treasury of Scripture

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

the king.

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.

Numbers 13:21
So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath.

Numbers 34:8
From mount Hor ye shall point out your border unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad:

Arpad.

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?

Isaiah 37:13-20
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? …

Arphad.

Jump to Previous
Arpad City Hamath Hena Ivah Ivvah Sepharvaim Sepharva'im
Jump to Next
Arpad City Hamath Hena Ivah Ivvah Sepharvaim Sepharva'im
2 Kings 19
1. Hezekiah, in mourning, sends to Isaiah to pray for them.
6. Isaiah comforts them.
8. Sennacherib, going to encounter Tirhakah, sends a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah.
14. Hezekiah's prayer.
20. Isaiah's prophecy of the destruction of Sennacherib, and the good of Zion.
35. An angel slays the Assyrians.
36. Sennacherib is slain by his own sons.












Where are the kings of Hamath,

Hamath was an important Syrian city-state on the Orontes River, valued for its fertile territory and position along major trade routes. Its defeat demonstrated Assyria’s reach into prominent and well-defended kingdoms.

Amo 6:2 Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there…
Zec 9:2 and also against Hamath, which borders it,…

Arpad,

Arpad was a fortified city in northern Syria that fell to Assyria after prolonged resistance. By naming it alongside Hamath, Sennacherib pointed to rulers who had been unable to withstand Assyrian power.

Isa 10:9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad?”…
Jer 49:23 Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, for they have heard…

Sepharvaim,

Sepharvaim was likely a Mesopotamian city under Assyrian control. Its people were later among those relocated to Samaria after Israel’s fall, reflecting Assyria’s policy of deporting conquered populations.

2Ki 17:31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites…
Jos 12:7-24 And these are the kings of the land that Joshua…

Hena,

Hena was another conquered city, probably in Mesopotamia. Though little is known of it, its inclusion added to the record of kingdoms Assyria claimed to have subdued.

Isa 36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods…
Isa 37:13 Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim…

and Ivvah?’”

Ivvah was likewise a city brought under Assyrian rule. Hena is not well-documented but is believed to have been another city in Mesopotamia. Sennacherib’s question was intended to intimidate Hezekiah by presenting Judah as no different from the nations and cities already overcome.

2Ki 18:34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad?…
2Ki 17:24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Kings of Hamath and Arpad
These were rulers of cities in Syria, which were conquered by the Assyrian Empire. Their mention highlights the Assyrian threat and the fate of those who opposed them.

2. Sepharvaim
A city whose people were exiled by the Assyrians. It represents the power and reach of the Assyrian Empire during this period.

3. Hena and Ivvah
Lesser-known cities or regions that were also conquered by the Assyrians. Their mention serves to emphasize the completeness of Assyrian dominance.

4. Assyrian Empire
The dominant power during this time, known for its military might and conquests, including the siege of Jerusalem.

5. Hezekiah
The king of Judah during this time, who is faced with the threat of the Assyrian army and seeks God's intervention.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty Over Nations
Despite the apparent power of the Assyrian Empire, God remains sovereign. This reminds us that no earthly power can thwart God's ultimate plans.

The Futility of Idolatry
The conquered cities likely relied on their gods for protection, yet they fell. This serves as a reminder of the futility of idolatry and the importance of trusting in the one true God.

Faith in Times of Crisis
Hezekiah's response to the Assyrian threat was to seek God in prayer. In our own crises, we should turn to God, trusting in His power and provision.

Historical Context as a Faith Builder
Understanding the historical context of biblical events can strengthen our faith, showing how God has acted in history and continues to act today.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1. What is the meaning of 2 Kings 19:13?

2. How does 2 Kings 19:13 demonstrate God's sovereignty over earthly kings and kingdoms?

3. What lessons can we learn about trusting God from 2 Kings 19:13?

4. How does 2 Kings 19:13 connect with God's promises in Isaiah 37:13?

5. How can we apply the message of 2 Kings 19:13 in our daily lives?

6. What does 2 Kings 19:13 teach about the futility of relying on human power?

7. How does 2 Kings 19:13 challenge the historical accuracy of the Bible's narrative?

8. What archaeological evidence supports the events described in 2 Kings 19:13?

9. How does 2 Kings 19:13 fit into the broader theme of divine intervention in the Bible?

10. What are the top 10 Lessons from 2 Kings 19?


(13) The king.--Comp. 2Kings 18:34, from which, as well as from the sequence of thought in 2Kings 19:12-13 here, it is clear that "king" is here used as a synonym of local god. (Comp. Amos 5:26; Psalm 5:2 : "My King, and my God.")

Verse 13. - Where is the King of Hamath. Ilu-bid, King of Hamath, raised a rebellion against Sargon in B.C. 720, and was taken prisoner the same year and carried to Assyria (see the 'Eponym Canon,' p. 127). And the King of Arpad. Arpad revolted in conjunction with Hamath, and was reduced about the same time ('Eponym Canon,' p. 126). Its "king" is not mentioned, but he probably shared the fate of Ilu-bid. And the King of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hens, and Ivah? It is probably not meant that these three cities were all of them under the dominion of one and the same king. "King" is to be taken distributively. (On the sites of the cities, see the comment upon 2 Kings 18:34.)

The Assyrian challenge in 2 Kings 19:13 strings together real, recent conquests to prove that no nation’s gods—or kings—can stop Sennacherib. Yet this very taunt sets the stage for God to reveal Himself as utterly different: living, sovereign, and faithful to His covenant. While the enemy says “Where are…?” God will answer, “Here I AM.”

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Where
אַיּ֤וֹ (’ay·yōw)
Interrogative | third person masculine singular
Strong's 335: Where?, how?

are the kings
מֶֽלֶךְ־ (me·leḵ-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of Hamath,
חֲמָת֙ (ḥă·māṯ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2574: Hamath -- a place North of Damascus

Arpad,
אַרְפָּ֔ד (’ar·pāḏ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 774: Arpad -- a city in Aram (Syria)

Sepharvaim,
סְפַרְוָ֑יִם (sə·p̄ar·wā·yim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5617: Sepharvaim -- a city conquered by the king of Assyr

Hena,
הֵנַ֖ע (hê·na‘)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2012: Hena -- a city in Aram (Syria) or Mesopotamia

and Ivvah?’”
וְעִוָּֽה׃ (wə·‘iw·wāh)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5755: Ivvah -- a city conquered by Assyr


Additonal Resources
2 Kings 19:13 Blue Letter Bible
2 Kings 19:13 Bible Gateway
2 Kings 19:13 Bible.com

2 Kings 19:13 NIV
2 Kings 19:13 NLT
2 Kings 19:13 ESV
2 Kings 19:13 NASB
2 Kings 19:13 KJV

2 Kings 19:13 Study Bible
2 Kings 19:13 Biblia Paralela
2 Kings 19:13 Chinese Bible
2 Kings 19:13 French Bible
2 Kings 19:13 Catholic Bible

OT History: 2 Kings 19:13 Where is the king of Hamath (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)

2 Kings 19:12
Top of Page
Top of Page