John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 37:38

"And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead." — Isaiah 37:38 (ASV)

While he was worshipping. Here the Jews allow themselves that liberty of conjecture in which they are always accustomed to indulge. They contrive a story: Sennacherib consulted an oracle and asked why he could not conquer the Jews. The answer, they claim, was that Abraham had wished to sacrifice his son to God. Following that example, the tyrant then determined to slay his own son to appease his god. Consequently, his sons, enraged at their father's cruel design, slew him in the temple of his idol. But it is unnecessary to spend time on such conjectures, in which the Jews display excessive impudence.

Here it is highly important to behold, as in a picture, the unhappy death of tyrants, whom the Lord destroys without human agency when everything appears about to be overthrown by their violence, and whom He exposes, along with all their power, to universal scorn. Sennacherib, who had come into Judea with a vast army, returns home with few soldiers and is, as it were, led in triumph by God, the conqueror.

But the matter does not end here. For in the very heart of his empire, in the metropolis, in the temple itself—a place whose sanctity defended even the lowliest persons from the mob—he is slain. He is not slain by a foreign enemy, not by a rebellious populace, not by traitors, and, in short, not by servants, but by his own sons, so that the murder might be all the more disgraceful.

It should be noted that these insatiable gluttons, who freely wallow in the blood of others, are slain by their own followers and are punished by those from whom, above all others, they should have been safe. This is more shocking than if they had been put to death by strangers. But God thus punishes the cruelty of those who, in their eagerness to enjoy power, did not even spare the innocent. Even in secular historians, we find various examples of this kind, in which we may easily perceive the judgments of the Lord.

Besides, Sennacherib's insatiable ambition receives its just reward. While he was intent on greatly extending his territories, he could not secure peace within his own family or lead his children to live in harmony. Indeed, the conspiracy arose from his neglect of some children and his undue attachment to others. And not only was this tyrant slain, but his kingdom also was soon afterward overthrown, as we have already said. In the meantime, so that his successor would not dare to make any attempt against the Jews, God also kept him occupied within his own country by internal conflicts.