Lachish

Biblical Text

• Period of the conquest: In Joshua 10, Japhia king of Lachish joined four other Amorite kings in attacking Gibeon and was defeated by Joshua. Israel then attacked Lachish and took it on the second day (Joshua 10:31-32). Lachish appears in the list of conquered kings (Joshua 12:11) and was allotted to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:39).
• Period of the monarchy: Rehoboam fortified Lachish (2 Chronicles 11:9). Amaziah king of Judah fled to Lachish to escape a conspiracy but was put to death there (2 Kings 14:19).
• Assyrian invasion: When the Assyrian king Sennacherib encamped at Lachish, Hezekiah sent messengers there and paid tribute. From Lachish, Sennacherib sent Rabshakeh to Jerusalem to demand surrender (2 Kings 18:14-17; Isaiah 36:2).
• The Prophets: Micah called Lachish "the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion" (Micah 1:13). In the time of Jeremiah, when the Babylonian army was attacking Jerusalem, Lachish and Azekah were still holding out as the remaining fortified cities of Judah (Jeremiah 34:7).
• After the return from exile: Some of the people of Judah settled again in Lachish (Nehemiah 11:30).

Background

Lachish lay in the low hills between the Judean highlands and the coastal plain. The Korean New Revised Version renders this region as "the plain"; in Hebrew it is called the Shephelah. Because the city guarded the route ascending from the coastal road to Jerusalem, it was an important defensive stronghold in southwestern Judah. Lachish is widely identified with Tel Lachish (Arabic name Tell ed-Duweir) in modern Israel. The meaning of the name is uncertain.

Archaeological evidence outside the Bible also attests to the importance of Lachish. The walls of Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, bore reliefs depicting the siege and capture of Lachish; these reliefs are now held in the British Museum. This invasion is generally dated to 701 BC. Excavations in the 1930s uncovered letters written in Hebrew on pottery fragments, known as the "Lachish Letters." These letters are understood to date from around the time of the Babylonian invasion. One of them, which states that the signals of Azekah cannot be seen, is often cited alongside Jeremiah 34:7.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

Lachish was the city that came under attack first whenever Judah faced foreign invasion. Second Kings and Isaiah draw a contrast between Sennacherib encamped at Lachish and Hezekiah praying in Jerusalem. Lachish is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• "The beginning of the sin" in Micah 1:13: The text does not specify what this refers to. On the basis of the phrase "bind the chariot to the swift beast," many interpreters take it to refer to reliance on military power. Others hold that idolatry spread by way of this city.
• Date of the conquest: Scholars differ over which of the several destruction layers at Lachish should be associated with Joshua's conquest, depending on how they date the Exodus.
• Significance of Sennacherib's reliefs: Some hold that Sennacherib depicted the capture of Lachish rather than Jerusalem in his palace because he failed to take Jerusalem. This is an interpretation, not something the biblical text states directly (compare 2 Kings 19:35-36).