RABSACE (Hebr. rabh-šāqēh, Assyrian rab šāqē, according to the etymology “chief cupbearer” of beer).—A name designating a high Assyrian official and officer of the kīṣir šurrāti, that is, of the king’s guard, who not infrequently had dealings with foreign relations.
A r. acts as speaker, protagonist in the dramatic scene narrated in II Reg. 18–19, almost identical to Is. 36–37, briefly summarized in Eccli. 48:20–24, which took place Sennacherib (v.), that is, in 701 B.C. Having subdued all the cities of the Phoenician and Palestinian coast, fighting especially against Ascalon and Accaron, Sennacherib sought to humiliate the “arrogant and proud” King Ezechia of Judah, who had recently strengthened Yahwism by eliminating idolatry from his kingdom. Sennacherib invaded the country and took a great number of its fortresses (cf. the reliefs of Lachis [v.]). An agreement was reached; among other things, Ezechia had to pay a heavy tribute. The r.’s mission was an attempt to intimidate Ezechia, to make him surrender unconditionally or else to have him dethroned by his own people, which would have eliminated the entire work of the pious king’s Yahwistic reform. In his mission, the r. shows himself through his speech to be a knower of languages, well informed about the internal situation of the kingdom of Judah, a good orator, and, naturally, filled with all the pride that a servant of the god Aššur (v.) could feel toward the God of that land rebellious against the great Empire. He emphasizes Ezechia’s weakness: he lacks trained soldiers, especially cavalrymen, and has in Egypt “a support of broken reed.” Nor could Ezechia place his trust in Yahweh, after suppressing the sacrifices on the high places (v. BRAHMÃ); and “what deity in the west had been able to withstand the strong hand of Aššur?” The r. succeeded in producing in Jerusalem a “fear like that of a woman in labor.” But his true adversary was the prophet Isaia (v.), who, in opposition to his blasphemous speeches, encouraged Ezechia and the people, announcing a plague in the Assyrian camp (an “angel” who struck a great number of enemies), which forced Sennacherib to return to Nineveh.