Bible Person

Tartan

Meaning: a general (official title) · Male · 2 cross references

Tartan is an Assyrian office-title preserved as a person-style record in the narratives of imperial confrontation with Judah. He appears among the officials sent by Assyria against Hezekiah and in the wider memory of Assyrian campaigns. First appears in 2 Kgs 18:17.1

AI summary: Tartan matters because his cross references place the office within the public display of Assyrian power aimed at intimidating Judah. Even as a title rather than a personal name, the entry contributes to the political texture of the crisis and the visible machinery of empire. Taken together, the material presents Tartan as part of the official force through which Assyria challenges Jerusalem.1

Central Figure

Tartan

Meaning: a general (official title)

One of Sennacherib’s messengers to Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:17).