Patricide

The killing of a father by his own sons appears in scripture in a single recorded episode: the death of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, struck down in the temple of his god by two of his sons. Two parallel passages tell the story; the same case is collected under Parricide, which adds the Chronicler's compressed retelling.

Sennacherib in the House of Nisroch

The Kings narrative reports the act and the place without specifying the filial relation: "And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead" (2 Kings 19:37). The setting is the temple of Nisroch — the king is at his own act of worship — and the sword falls there. The strikers are named; their flight is to Ararat; the successor on the throne is identified as another son, Esar-haddon.

Sons Identified as Killers

Isaiah's parallel adds the relationship that makes the killing patricide: "And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead" (Isaiah 37:38). The two strikers are now explicitly "his sons." The two passages line up word for word in everything but that addition; it is Isaiah that makes the family identification plain, and the killing of a father by his own children is what the entry collects.