Meaning of LACHISH

Fortified city of the plain of Judah (Josh. 15:33, 39), currently identified with Tell ed-Duweir, 48 km southwest of Jerusalem and 24 km west of Hebron.

It was occupied by troglodytes in very ancient times, and later the Hyksos raised an earthen fence that served as a bastion and enclosure for horses and chariots (see HICSOS). Remains with ancient inscriptions have been found.

Joshua killed the king of Lachish (Joshua 10:3-35; 12:11).
Rehoboam fortified the city (2 Chron. 11:9);
Amaziah, king of Judah, took refuge there, but was captured and killed (2 Kings 14:19; 2 Chron. 25:27).

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, having besieged Lachish in 701 or 700 BC, sent Rabshakeh to Jerusalem to demand the surrender of the capital (2 Kings 18:14, 17; cf. 2 Kings 19:8 and 2 Chron. 32:9; Is. 36:2; 37:8).

Lachish, which had taught Judah to sin (Mi. 1:13), was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar as were other fortified cities of Judah (Jer. 34:7).

Archaeological excavations indicate that at the beginning of the 6th century BC. Nebuchadnezzar attacked Lachish twice (in 598 and 587 BC), destroying it and burning it.

The city was never completely rebuilt, although it was inhabited again after the return from the Babylonian captivity. The two destructions of Lachish are probably related to the sieges of Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:10; 25:1ff.; Neh. 11:30).

Lachish had great strategic importance; It is mentioned in the Tell el-Amarna letters (see AMARNA). Since 1933, active excavations have been carried out, which have yielded notable results.

The most important discovery is that of the "letters of Lachish", which are located between the two sieges of Nebuchadnezzar. These are epigraphic documents on ceramics: 18 of them were found in 1935, and another three in 1938 (cf. W. F. Albright, Bull. Am. Schs. 70, 1938, PP. 11-17; 80, 1940, PP. 11 -13; 82, p. 24; see also the article "Lachish and Azekah..." in Biblical Archeology Review, Nov.-Dec. 1982, vol. 8, no. 6).