Sharezer in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

sha-re'zer (sar'etser, shar'etser): Corresponds to the Assyrian Shar-ucur, "protect the king"; found otherwise, not as a complete name, but as elements in personal names, e.g. Bel-shar-ucur, "may Bel protect the king," which is the equivalent of Belshazzar (Dan 5:1). The name is borne by two persons in the Old Testament: (1) The son of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who with ADRAMMELECH (which see) murdered his father (2 Ki 19:37; Isa 37:38). The Babylonian Chronicle says concerning Sennacherib's death: "On the 20th day of Tebet Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was slain by his son in a revolt." This differs from the Old Testament account in that it speaks of only one murderer, and does not give his name. How the two accounts can be harmonized is still uncertain. Hitzig, (Kritik, 194 ff), following Abydenus, as quoted by Eusebius, completed the name of Sennacherib's son, so as to read Nergal-sharezer = Nergal-shar-ucur (Jer 39:3,13), and this is accepted by many modern scholars. Johns thinks that Sharezer (shar'etser or sar'etser) may be a corruption from Shar-etir-Ashur, the name of a son of Sennacherib (1-vol HDB, under the word). The question cannot be definitely settled. (2) A contemporary of the prophet Zechariah, mentioned in connection with the sending of a delegation to the spiritual heads of the community to inquire concerning the propriety of continuing the fasts: "They of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech" (Zec 7:2). This translation creates a difficulty in connection with the succeeding words, literally, "and his men." The Revisers place in the margin as an alternative rendering, "They of Beth-el, even Sharezer .... had sent." Sharezer sounds peculiar in apposition to "they of Beth-el"; hence, some have thought, especially since Sharezer seems incomplete, that in the two words Beth- el and Sharezer we have a corruption of what was originally a single proper name, perhaps Bel-sharezer = Bel-shar-ucur = Bel-shazzar. The present text, no matter how translated, presents difficulties. See REGEM-MELECH. F. C. Eiselen