Hena

One of the cities of Mesopotamia destroyed by sennacherib (2 Kings 18:34; 19:13). It is identified with the modern Anah, lying on the right bank of the Euphrates, not far from Sepharvaim.

(troubling), a city the Assyrian kings had reduced shortly before the time of Sennacherib. (2 Kings 19:13; Isaiah 37:13) At no great distance from Sippara (now Mosaib) is an ancient town called And or Anah , which may be the same as Hena. It is 20 miles from Babylon on the Euphrates.

he'-na (hena`; Ana): Named in 2Ki 19:13, as one of the cities destroyed by Sennacherib along with Sepharvaim. It does not appear in a similar connection in 17:24. The text is probably corrupt. No reasonable identification has been proposed. Cheyne (Encyclopaedia Biblica, under the word) says of the phrase "Hena and Ivah" that "underlying this is a witty editorial suggestion that the existence of cities called h-n-` and `-w-h respectively has passed out of mind (compare Ps 9:6 (7)), for hena` we`iwwah, clearly means `he has driven away and overturned' (so Targum, Symmachus)." He would drop out h-n-`. Hommel (Expositors Times, IX, 330) thinks that here we have divine names; Hena standing for the Arabic star-name al-han`a, and Ivvah for al-`awwa'u.

See IVAH.

W. Ewing