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ADRAMMELECH.—1. Adrammelech and Anammelech (wh. see), the gods of Sepharvaim to whom the colonists, brought to Samaria from Sepharvaim, burnt their children in the fire (2Ki_17:31). There is no good explanation of the name: it was once supposed to be for Adar-malik, ‘Adar the prince.’ But Adar is not known to be a Babylonian god, and compound Divine names are practically unknown, nor were human sacrifices offered to Babylonian gods.
2. Adrammelech and Sharezer (wh. see) are given in 2Ki_19:37 as the sons of Sennacherib who murdered their father. [The Kethibh of Kings omits ‘his sons’]. The Babylonian Chronicle says: ‘On the 20th of Tebet, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was killed by his son in an insurrection’; and all other native sources agree in ascribing the murder to one son, but do not name him. Adrammelech is impossible as an Assyrian personal name, and probably arises here from some corruption of the text. The sons of Sennacherib known to us are Ashur-nâdin-shum, king of Babylon, b.c. 700–694; Esarhaddon, who succeeded his father, b.c. 681; Ardi-Bçlit, Crown Prince, b.c. 694; Ashur-shum-ushabshi, for whom Sennacherib built a palace in Tarbisi; Ashur-ilu-muballitsu, for whom Sennacherib built a palace in Asshur; and Shar-etir-Ashur. Possibly Ardi-Bçlit is intended.
C. H. W. Johns.