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Prophecy

Sennacherib will fall by the sword in his own land (Isaiah 37:7)

Stela of Esarhaddon, son and successor of Sennacherib (Sam’al, 671 BC, Pergamon Museum). It attests this king, not his father’s murder.
Archaeological object Stela of Esarhaddon, son and successor of Sennacherib (Sam’al, 671 BC, Pergamon Museum). It attests this king, not his father’s murder. — Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

○ Written after the events, according to historians; tradition dates it before

Written 701 BC according to tradition; 681–540 BC according to historians. Event: 681–680 BC.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. The prophet Isaiah, in the book of Isaiah, in 701 BC according to the account, announces that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, will return to his own land and fall there by the sword.

What happened. Twenty years later, in 681/680 BC, a Babylonian chronicle reports that Sennacherib is killed by his son during a revolt. Another of his sons, Esarhaddon, succeeds him, as the Bible also says.

What is still debated. the announcement and its fulfillment appear in the same account, which some scholars consider written after 681 BC, when the murder was already known.

What would be striking if the text came first

A tablet written by the Babylonians confirms the murder by his son, and the Bible knows accurate details: the successor, the murderers’ flight to Ararat. But announcement and fulfillment are in the same account, which historians date to after the murder.

Main objection (in French for now)

L’annonce (Es 37:7) et son accomplissement (Es 37:38) appartiennent au même récit, que N. Na’aman juge rédigé au plus tôt après 681 : l’auteur connaissait le meurtre au moment d’écrire la prédiction.

The text (World English Bible)

Behold, I will put a spirit in him and he will hear news, and will return to his own land. I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”’”

Isa 37:7

Sources