ADRAMMELECH (ăd-răm'ĕ-lĕk, Heb. ’adhrammelekh, Addar is king)
The name that the author of 2Kgs.17.31 gives to Addar, the god the Sepharvites brought to Samaria when the king of Assyria settled them there, and in the worship of whom children were burned in fire. It was a time of syncretism, when Israelites and Assyrian colonists both paid service to God and to heathen deities alike (2Kgs.17.24-2Kgs.17.41).A son of Sennacherib, who, with his brother Sharezer, murdered their father in the temple of Nisroch (2Kgs.19.37; Isa.37.1-Isa.37.38-Isa.38.1-Isa.38.22).
ADRAMMELECH, ANAMMELECH ə drăm’ ə lĕk, ə năm’ ə lĕk (
אַדְרַמֶּ֥לֶכְ,
עֲנַמֶּ֖לֶכְ, first form may be derived from
the lordship of the king, or more likely represents an original Adad [Hadad]-Milki,
Hadad is king, a name attested at Tell Halaf.) The variant Anammelech may be related to the Sumer./ Accad. god Anu (cf. Albright,
Archaeology and the Religion of Israel, pp. 162-164).
1. A deity of the natives of Sepharvaim (Sabraim in E central Syria) whom the Assyrians transplanted to Samaria after 722 b.c. (2 Kings 17:31). The melek element may refer to the god Athtar-Venus Star. Atar is attested in Harran and Syria. For Atar-Milki, Atar is king, cf. Revue Asiatic, XXX, p. 72.
2. A son of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:37; Isa 37:38). Perhaps Arad-Melek who joined his brother, Sharezer, in murdering their father in the temple of Nisrock. According to Assyrian records Esar-haddon defeated two rebels, possibly Arad-Melek and Nergal-shar-usur (Sharezer) (cf. Documents from Old Testament Times, p. 71). In Jos. Antiq. X. xxii he is called Andromachus, and other Gr. sources call him Adramelos, and Adrumuzan.
