for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the very first night of the siege, a hundred fourscore and five thousand, with their captains and generals, were destroyed.” Some commentators attempt to explain the disaster by an account from Herodotus (of the fifth century B.C.E.) in which he claims that a legion of rats gnawed everything in the Assyrians’ weapons that was made of rope or leather, leaving them unable to carry out an invasion of Egypt. This account obviously does not coincide with the Biblical record, nor does Herodotus’ description of the Assyrian campaign harmonize with the Assyrian inscriptions. Nevertheless, the accounts by Berossus and Herodotus at least reflect the fact that Sennacherib’s forces met up with sudden and calamitous difficulty in this campaign.

Sennacherib’s troubles had not ended, however, and following his return to Assyria he had to quell another revolt in Babylon, provoked by Merodach-baladan. This time Sennacherib placed his own son, Ashur-nadin-shumi, as king in Babylon. Six years later Sennacherib embarked on a campaign against the Elamites, but they soon retaliated by invading Mesopotamia, captured Ashur-nadin-shumi, and placed their own king on the throne of Babylon. Several years of struggle for control of the region followed, until finally the enraged Sennacherib took vengeance on Babylon by leveling it to the ground, an unparalleled act in view of Babylon’s position as the “Holy City” of all Mesopotamia. The remaining years of Sennacherib’s reign were apparently without major incident.

Sennacherib’s death is considered to have come some twenty years after his campaign against Jerusalem. This figure is dependent on Assyrian records, their reliability being subject to question. At any rate, it should be noted that the Bible account does not state that Sennacherib’s death occurred immediately upon his return to Nineveh. “Later on he entered the house of his god” Nisroch, and his sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, “struck him down with the sword,” escaping to the land of Ararat. (2 Chron. 32:21; Isa. 37:37, 38) An inscription of his son and successor, Esar-haddon, confirms this.

BUILDING WORKS

The Assyrian Empire thus saw no particular expansion under Sennacherib. He did, however, carry out an ambitious building project in Nineveh, which he had restored to its position as the capital city. The vast palace he erected there was a complex of halls, courts and rooms of state covering an area 1,500 feet (457 meters) long by 700 feet (213 meters) wide. He brought in water from thirty miles (48 kilometers) away, constructing a causeway over the Gomer River, known as the Jerwan Aqueduct. Its waters contributed toward the irrigation of gardens and parks, as well as the strengthening of the city’s defenses by its encircling moat.

SEORIM

(Se·oʹrim) [barley].

Head of the fourth of the twenty-four priestly service divisions selected by lot during David’s reign.—1 Chron. 24:5, 8.

SEPHAR

(Seʹphar).

One limit of the territory in which descendants of Joktan resided. The Bible says: “And their place of dwelling came to extend from Mesha as far as Sephar, the mountainous region of the East.” (Gen. 10:29, 30) One extremity was Mesha, apparently in N Arabia, making it probable that Sephar was in the S. (See MESHA No. 4.) One suggested location is the Yemenite city of Zafar (once the capital of the Himyarite kings), about a hundred miles (c. 161 kilometers) NE of the southern end of the Red Sea. Another is a coastal city in Mahra, on the Arabian Sea. But the exact location of ancient Sephar remains uncertain.

SEPHARAD

(Se·pharʹad).

A site from which Jerusalem’s exiles were due to return. (Obad. 20) Its exact location is unknown, but of several suggestions a likely possibility is Saparda, mentioned in certain Assyrian annals as a district of Media. The Assyrians once exiled people of Israel’s northern kingdom to “cities of the Medes.”—2 Ki. 17:5, 6.

SEPHARVAIM

(Seph·ar·vaʹim).

A city from which the king of Assyria brought people to dwell in Samaria after the Israelites had been taken into exile. (2 Ki. 17:24) Earlier, Sepharvaim and its king appear to have experienced defeat at the hands of the Assyrians. (2 Ki. 19:13; Isa. 37:13) Being mentioned along with places in Syria and Babylonia, Sepharvaim was perhaps in one of these areas. Tentative identifications include Sippar on the Euphrates N of Babylon, and Sibraim (Ezek. 47:16) between Hamath and Damascus.

SEPHARVITES

(Seʹphar·vites).

People of the city of Sepharvaim. After 740 B.C.E., at least some of the inhabitants of Sepharvaim were taken by the Assyrians as colonists to Samaria. The Sepharvites brought with them their false religion, which included the sacrificing of their sons to the gods Adrammelech and Anammelech.—2 Ki. 17:24, 31-33; 18:34; Isa. 36:19.

SERAH

(Seʹrah).

A daughter of Asher among “the souls of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt.”—Gen. 46:7, 17, 27; Num. 26:46; 1 Chron. 7:30.

SERAIAH

(Se·raiʹah) [Jehovah has prevailed, persists, is prince].

1. A son of Kenaz in the tribe of Judah, brother of Judge Othniel and nephew of Caleb the spy. Seraiah’s descendants through his son Joab became craftsmen.—1 Chron. 4:13, 14.

2. The secretary in King David’s administration. (2 Sam. 8:15, 17) Unless there were several changes in the personnel of this office he is elsewhere called Sheva (2 Sam. 20:25), Shavsha (1 Chron. 18:16) and Shisha, whose two sons later cared for like duties under Solomon. (1 Ki. 4:3) The names of most of the other governmental officials are the same in the three Davidic lists.

3. A son of Asiel in the tribe of Simeon whose descendants, contemporary with Hezekiah, joined the force that struck down Hamites and Meunim occupying an area and used the land for grazing.—1 Chron. 4:24, 35, 38-41.

4. One of the three whom King Jehoiakim, late in 624 B.C.E., sent to fetch Jeremiah and Baruch because of the prophecy they had written against Jerusalem and Judah. Seraiah was the son of Azriel.—Jer. 36:9, 26.

5. The quartermaster of King Zedekiah; son of Neriah and brother of Baruch. (Jer. 32:12; 51:59) In the fourth year of Zedekiah, 614 B.C.E., Seraiah accompanied Zedekiah to Babylon. Jeremiah had given him a scroll containing prophetic denunciations of Babylon, instructing him to read it alongside the Euphrates River, then tie a stone to the scroll and pitch it into the river, thus illustrating the permanence of Babylon’s fall. (Jer. 51:59-64) Seraiah likely passed on to the Israelites already captive there some of the thoughts from the prophecy.

6. The chief priest when Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. Though Seraiah was slain at Nebuchadnezzar’s order, his son Jehozadak was spared and taken captive to Babylon. (2 Ki. 25:18-21; Jer. 52:24-27) Through Seraiah’s son Jehozadak, the high-priestly line from Aaron continued, Jehozadak’s son Jeshua holding this office on the Jews’ release and return. (1 Chron. 6:14, 15; Ezra 3:2) Seraiah is also called the “father” of Ezra, but in view of the 139 years between Seraiah’s death and Ezra’s return, there were probably at least two unnamed generations in between them, a type of omission common in Biblical genealogies.—Ezra 7:1.

7. One of the military chiefs remaining in Judah after the general deportation to Babylon; son of Tanhumeth. Seraiah and the others of his rank supported Gedaliah’s appointment as governor, warned him of Ishmael’s threat on his life and later endeavored to avenge his death. Fearing the Babylonians, however, Seraiah and the other chiefs led the remaining Jews into Egypt.—2 Ki. 25:23, 26; Jer. 40:8, 13-16; 41:11-18; 43:4-7.

8. One of those apparent leaders listed with Zerubbabel as returning from exile in 537 B.C.E. (Ezra 2:1, 2) He is called Azariah in the parallel list at Nehemiah 7:7.

9. A priest who returned from exile with Zerubbabel. In the following generation, Meraiah represented his paternal house. (Neh. 12:1, 12) The Seraiah included among the signers of the covenant in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah may also have been a representative of the same family, or another priest of this name. (Neh. 10:1, 2, 8) Seraiah, again possibly one of this paternal house or a priest of the same name, lived in Jerusalem after the walls were rebuilt.—Neb. 11:1, 10, 11.

SERAPHS

[Heb., s^era·phimʹ].

There is some difference of opinion on the part of scholars as to the meaning of this word. The root verb from which it is drawn is sa·raphʹ. According to Professor William Gesenius, this root may mean, basically, “to suck or drink in, to swallow, to absorb,” and therefore, of fire, “to suck up, to devour,” that is, “to consume, to burn up.” Also, it may have a different meaning, in that it may be related to the Arabic word meaning “to be noble.” One word taken from this Arabic root thus means “a noble, prince.”

Gesenius goes on to comment on the first-mentioned meaning, referring to Numbers 21:6 and Isaiah 14:29; 30:6. The first two texts speak of “poisonous serpents [n^ehha·shimʹ s^era·phimʹ]” and connect them with a “fiery snake [sa·raphʹ]” (Num. 21:8), also referred to at Isaiah 30:6. These are thought to be so called from the burning inflammation caused by their bite. Then, referring to Isaiah 6:2, 6, Gesenius says of seraphs: “an order of angels who attend upon Jehovah, furnished with six wings. The Rabbins, as Abulwalid and Kimchi, render it by burning i.e. shining angels, . . . but the word . . . has the signif[icance] of burning up, not of shining; and it is therefore better . . . to understand by it princes, nobles of heaven, who are also elsewhere called [sar·imʹ].” Later he says of the Hebrew word s^era·phimʹ that, though it might be rendered winged serpents (at Isaiah 6:2, 6, as some would), the former sense, namely, princes, nobles, is to be preferred, for the word is elsewhere used only of a poisonous serpent.—Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, pp. 977, 978.

The prophet Isaiah describes his vision (Isa. 6:1-7) for us, saying: “In the year that King Uzziah died I, however, got to see Jehovah, sitting on a throne lofty and lifted up, and his skirts were filling the temple. Seraphs were standing above him. Each one had six wings. With two he kept his face covered, and with two he kept his feet covered, and with two he would fly about. And this one called to that one and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of armies. The fullness of all the earth is his glory.’ . . . And I proceeded to say: ‘Woe to me! For I am as good as brought to silence, because a man unclean in lips I am, and in among a people unclean in lips I am dwelling; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of armies, himself!’ At that, one of the seraphs flew to me, and in his hand there was a glowing coal that he had taken with tongs off the altar. And he proceeded to touch my mouth and to say: ‘Look! This has touched your lips, and your error has departed and your sin itself is atoned for.’”

No description is given of the Divine Person. However, the skirts of his majestic garment are said to have filled the temple, leaving no place for anyone to stand. His throne did not rest upon the ground but, besides being “lofty,” was “lifted up.” The seraphs “standing” may mean “hovering,” by means of one of their sets of wings, just as the cloud was “standing” or hovering by the entrance of Jehovah’s tent in the wilderness. (Deut. 31:15) Professor Franz Delitzsch comments on the position of the seraphs: “The seraphim would not indeed tower above the head of Him that sat upon the throne, but they hovered above the robe belonging to Him with which the hall was filled.” (Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, p. 191) The Vulgate, instead of saying “seraphs were standing above him,” says they were standing above “it.”

OF HIGH RANK

These mighty heavenly creatures are angels, evidently of very high position in God’s arrangement, since they are shown in attendance at God’s throne. The cherubs seen in Ezekiel’s vision corresponded with runners that accompanied the celestial chariot of God. (Ezek. 10:9-13) This idea of positions of rank or authority in the heavens is in harmony with Colossians 1:16, which speaks of things “in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities.”

THEIR FUNCTION AND DUTY

The number of seraphs is not mentioned, but they were calling to one another, evidently meaning that some were on each side of the throne and were declaring Jehovah’s holiness and glory in antiphonal song, one (or one group) repeating after the other or responding to the other with a part of the declaration: “Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of armies. The fullness of all the earth is his glory.” (Compare the reading of the Law and the people’s answering, at Deuteronomy 27:11-26.) With humility and modesty in the presence of the Supreme One, they covered their faces with one of their three sets of wings, and being in a holy location, they covered their feet with another set, in due respect for the heavenly King.

The cry of the seraphs concerning God’s holiness shows that they have to do with seeing that his holiness is declared and his glory acknowledged in all parts of the universe, including the earth. One of the seraphs touched Isaiah’s lips to cleanse away his sin and his error by means of a glowing coal from off the altar, which action may give us an indication that their work includes cleansing away sin from among God’s people, such cleansing being based on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on God’s altar.

THEIR VISIONARY FORM

The description of the seraphs as having feet, wings, and so forth, must be understood to be symbolic, their likeness to the form of earthly creatures being only representative of abilities they have or of functions they perform, just as God often speaks symbolically of himself as having eyes, ears and other human features. Showing that no man knows the form of God, the apostle John says: “Beloved ones, now we are children of God, but as yet it has not been made manifest what we shall be. We do know that whenever he is made manifest we shall be like him, because we shall see him just as he is.”—1 John 3:2.

SERED

(Seʹred) [frightened].

First-named son of Zebulun and founder of the Seredites, a Zebulunite tribal family.—Gen. 46:14; Num. 26:26, 27.

SEREDITES

(Serʹe·dites).

Zebulunite family founded by Sered.—Num. 26:26.

SERGIUS PAULUS

(Serʹgi·us Pauʹlus).

The proconsul of Cyprus when Paul visited there on his first missionary journey, about 47 C.E. Luke is correct in calling him “proconsul,” since the administration of Cyprus was at that time under the Roman Senate rather than the emperor. Cyprus was formerly an imperial province, but in 22 B.C.E. was placed under control of the Senate by Augustus. On this island an