H8640 H8640
Tirhaqah; Ethiopian pharaoh of Egypt's 25th dynasty who opposed Sennacherib
This king of Ethiopia (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9) marched against the Assyrian invader Sennacherib, providing a strategic distraction during Hezekiah's crisis. The name appears in Egyptian records as T-h-r-q and in Assyrian annals as Tarqu, confirming the biblical account's historical accuracy. He ruled as part of the Nubian 25th Dynasty, when Ethiopian kings controlled Egypt. The Septuagint renders his name as Tharaka, showing the typical Greek adaptation of Semitic names.
Senses
1. sense 1 — As a historical figure, Tirhaqah represents foreign intervention in Judah's favor—an Ethiopian pharaoh whose military movements created breathing room for beleaguered Jerusalem. The parallel accounts in Kings and Isaiah preserve identical spelling, unusual for names transmitted across different literary contexts. Egyptian and Assyrian sources confirm not only the name but the geopolitical situation: a Nubian dynasty ruling Egypt and challenging Assyrian expansion. Modern scholarship dates his reign to roughly 690-664 BC, making the biblical chronology complex but defensible. 2×
AR["تِرْهَاقَةَ"]·ben["তির্হাকার", "তীর্হাকার"]·DE["Tirhaqah", "[תרהקה]"]·EN["Tirhaqah"]·FR["Tirhaqah", "[תרהקה]"]·heb["תרהקה"]·HI["तिर्हाकाह"]·ID["Tirhaka"]·IT["Tirhaqah", "[תרהקה]"]·jav["Tirhaka"]·KO["디르하가", "떼르하가에-대하여"]·PT["Tirhaqah"]·RU["Тирhаке", "Тирхаке"]·ES["Tirhaca", "Tirhacá"]·SW["Tirhaka"]·TR["Tirhaka", "Tirhaka'nin"]·urd["ترہاقاہ-کے", "ترہقاہ"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† תִּרְהָקָה n.pr.m. king of Egypt, of Ethiop. dynasty: 2 K 19:9 = Is 37:9; Θαρακα; 𝔊L Θαρθακ; = Egyptian T-h-r-ḳ, Assyrian Tarḳu, SteindorffBAS i. 345f. COT 2 K 19:9 WiedemannÄg. Gesch. 590 ff. BrugschEgypt under Pharaohs (new ed. 1891), 410 ff. WMM Ency. Bib. Tirhakah GriffithHast. DB Id.