WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

Sennacherib
    n 1: king of Assyria who invaded Judea twice and defeated
         Babylon and rebuilt Nineveh after it had been destroyed by
         Babylonians (died in 681 BC)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Sennacherib
   Sin (the god) sends many brothers, son of Sargon, whom he
   succeeded on the throne of Assyria (B.C. 705), in the 23rd year
   of Hezekiah. "Like the Persian Xerxes, he was weak and
   vainglorious, cowardly under reverse, and cruel and boastful in
   success." He first set himself to break up the powerful
   combination of princes who were in league against him. Among
   these was Hezekiah, who had entered into an alliance with Egypt
   against Assyria. He accordingly led a very powerful army of at
   least 200,000 men into Judea, and devastated the land on every
   side, taking and destroying many cities (2 Kings 18:13-16; comp.
   Isa. 22, 24, 29, and 2 Chr. 32:1-8). His own account of this
   invasion, as given in the Assyrian annals, is in these words:
   "Because Hezekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I
   came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my
   power I took forty-six of his strong fenced cities; and of the
   smaller towns which were scattered about, I took and plundered a
   countless number. From these places I took and carried off
   200,156 persons, old and young, male and female, together with
   horses and mules, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless
   multitude; and Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his
   capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the
   city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the
   gates, so as to prevent escape...Then upon Hezekiah there fell
   the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the
   chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with 30 talents of gold and
   800 talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense
   booty...All these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat
   of my government." (Comp. Isa. 22:1-13 for description of the
   feelings of the inhabitants of Jerusalem at such a crisis.)

     Hezekiah was not disposed to become an Assyrian feudatory. He
   accordingly at once sought help from Egypt (2 Kings 18:20-24).
   Sennacherib, hearing of this, marched a second time into
   Palestine (2 Kings 18:17, 37; 19; 2 Chr. 32:9-23; Isa. 36:2-22.
   Isa. 37:25 should be rendered "dried up all the Nile-arms of
   Matsor," i.e., of Egypt, so called from the "Matsor" or great
   fortification across the isthmus of Suez, which protected it
   from invasions from the east). Sennacherib sent envoys to try to
   persuade Hezekiah to surrender, but in vain. (See TIRHAKAH.) He next sent a threatening letter (2 Kings
   19:10-14), which Hezekiah carried into the temple and spread
   before the Lord. Isaiah again brought an encouraging message to
   the pious king (2 Kings 19:20-34). "In that night" the angel of
   the Lord went forth and smote the camp of the Assyrians. In the
   morning, "behold, they were all dead corpses." The Assyrian army
   was annihilated.

     This great disaster is not, as was to be expected, taken
   notice of in the Assyrian annals.

     Though Sennacherib survived this disaster some twenty years,
   he never again renewed his attempt against Jerusalem. He was
   murdered by two of his own sons (Adrammelech and Sharezer), and
   was succeeded by another son, Esarhaddon (B.C. 681), after a
   reign of twenty-four years.


Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's):

Sennacherib, bramble of destruction