Tartan
“Commander-in-chief (Assyrian: tartanu)”
Summary
Tartan was not a personal name but an Assyrian military title meaning 'commander-in-chief,' held by officers who led important military expeditions.
☩The Title
For many years Tartan was thought to be a personal name, but Assyrian inscriptions have revealed it to be the title of the highest military official next to the king—essentially the commander-in-chief. The Assyrian form of the word is tartanu or turtanu. From the Assyrian eponym lists, this appears to have been the most senior position in the empire after the king himself.
☩Biblical Appearances
The title appears twice in Scripture. In Isaiah 20:1, a Tartan was sent by Sargon king of Assyria to capture Ashdod, which he accomplished. In 2 Kings 18:17, Sennacherib sent his Tartan along with Rabsaris (chief eunuch) and Rabshakeh (chief cup-bearer) with a great army against Jerusalem during Hezekiah's reign. These were not the same individual but different officers holding the same title at different times. The Greek translators of 2 Kings seem to have understood these were titles rather than names, as they prefixed the article to all three designations.
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Tartan," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. X (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Tartan," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. V (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.George Morrish, "Tartan," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Tartan," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).