Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible

by John H. Walton

The aid of comparative study might sometimes be needed to help with a minor detail. For instance, when Sennacherib sends his representatives to present terms to Hezekiah after Jerusalem has been besieged by the Assyrians, the officers are referred to as Tartan, Rab-saris, and Rabshakeh. In the American Standard Version, for one, these are treated as proper names. Comparative study has been able to clarify that these are titles of important officers, thus resulting in the NIV translation: “The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander” (2 Kings 18:17). Without the comparative data, the passage was misunderstood, though admittedly at the technical level.