Arpad

Arpad is a fortified city of Syria that the UPDV names alongside Hamath, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah whenever the Assyrian boast over conquered cities is rehearsed. The city is paired with Hamath in every appearance, and the cluster is invoked twice by the Rabshakeh and once again in Sennacherib's letter to Hezekiah.

In the Rabshakeh's Taunt

When the Assyrian commander stands before Jerusalem's walls, he runs the list of cities whose gods failed to save them: "Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?" (2Ki 18:34). The parallel in Isaiah is nearly identical: "Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?" (Isa 36:19). The taunt treats Arpad as a familiar name on the roll of fallen Syrian cities whose patron deities were no defense against Assyria.

In Sennacherib's Letter

The same list returns in Sennacherib's written threat to Hezekiah, this time pointing at the kings rather than the gods: "Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?" (2Ki 19:13). The shift from gods to kings makes the same point — every monarch on this list has been cut off by Assyria, and Hezekiah is told to expect the same.

In all three verses Arpad functions as part of a fixed Syrian-cities formula, repeatedly bracketed with Hamath as exemplars of the Assyrian conquest record.