The priests and nobles of Ekron, who had given him up to Hezekiah, were ruthlessly impaled.

Meanwhile Tirhakah, the Ethiopian king of Egypt, on whose help Hezekiah had relied, was marching to the assistance of his ally.

Sennacherib met him at Eltekeh, and there the combined forces of the Egyptians and Arabians were defeated and compelled to retreat.

Hezekiah now endeavoured to make peace by the offer of rich and numerous presents, including thirty talents of gold and 800 of silver.

But nothing short of the death of the Jewish king and the transportation of his people would content the invader.