Sargon is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Sargon was a king of Assyria. He appears in the Book of Isaiah, in the Old Testament, at a time when Assyria was the dominant power in the ancient Near East and a constant threat to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The source note identifies him as the king of Assyria who captured Samaria and carried the Israelites into exile. His brief appearance in Scripture is set against that backdrop of Assyrian conquest and the scattering of God’s people.
Sargon is mentioned only once in the King James Bible, in Isaiah 20:1. The verse reads: “In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it.” Here Sargon is not the one who acts directly on the page; rather, he is the king who sent his commander Tartan to fight against Ashdod and capture it. The verse fixes the event in a specific year and presents Sargon as the authority behind the campaign, directing his officer to carry out the attack.
What Scripture says of Sargon is therefore limited and indirect. He is named as the king of Assyria, the one who dispatched Tartan against Ashdod, and the capture of that city is recorded as happening under his reign. The source note adds that he captured Samaria and carried the Israelites into exile, though the single verse in Isaiah does not itself describe those events. Taken together, the biblical text and the note present Sargon as a powerful foreign ruler whose military reach touched the people of God, and whose name appears in Scripture only in connection with that one campaign.
The Name
The name Sargon is the form used in the King James Bible for this Assyrian king. It is not a Hebrew name but a rendering of an Assyrian royal name, and its meaning is generally understood from the Akkadian language to be something like “the king is legitimate” or “the true king.” Because the name comes from outside the Hebrew and Greek traditions, its meaning is not explained or interpreted anywhere in Scripture itself. What can be said is that the name is well established in its Assyrian setting, but the Bible text offers no comment on it.
A Closing Thought
Sargon appears in Scripture in a single verse, named almost in passing as the king who sent a commander to take a city. Yet even this brief mention reminds us that no ruler, however mighty, stands outside God’s notice or God’s purposes. Empires rise and fall, and kings who seem to shape history are themselves held within a larger story. For the reader, the lesson is quiet but steady: God’s word records even the smallest reference to the powerful, and His plans are never derailed by the ambitions of earthly kings.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Isaiah 20:1 — In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;