lachish Summary and Overview

impregnable, a royal Canaanite city in the Shephelah, or maritime plain of Israel (Josh. 10:3, 5; 12:11). It was taken and destroyed by the Israelites (Josh. 10:31-33). It afterwards became, under Rehoboam, one of the strongest fortresses of Judah (2 Chr. 10:9). It was assaulted and probably taken by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14, 17; 19:8; Isa. 36:2). An account of this siege is given on some slabs found in the chambers of the palace of Koyunjik, and now in the British Museum. The inscription has been deciphered as follows:, "Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment before the city of Lachish: I gave permission for its slaughter." (See NINEVEH T0002735.) Lachish has been identified with Tell-el-Hesy, where a cuneiform tablet has been found, containing a letter supposed to be from Amenophis at Amarna in reply to one of the Amarna tablets sent by Zimrida from Lachish. This letter is from the chief of Atim (=Etam, 1 Chr. 4:32) to the chief of Lachish, in which the writer expresses great alarm at the approach of marauders from the Hebron hills. "They have entered the land," he says, "to lay waste...strong is he who has come down. He lays waste." This letter shows that "the communication by tablets in cuneiform script was not only usual in writing to Egypt, but in the internal correspondence of the country. The letter, though not so important in some ways as the Moabite stone and the Siloam text, is one of the most valuable discoveries ever made in Israel" (Conder's Tell Amarna Tablets, p. 134). Excavations at Lachish are still going on, and among other discoveries is that of an iron blast-furnace, with slag and ashes, which is supposed to have existed B.C. 1500. If the theories of experts are correct, the use of the hot-air blast instead of cold air (an improvement in iron manufacture patented by Neilson in 1828) was known fifteen hundred years before Christ. (See FURNACE T0001398.)

(invincible), a city lying south of Jerusalem, on the borders of Simeon, and belonging to the Amorites, the king of which joined with four others, at the invitation of Adonizedek king of Jerusalem, to chastise the Gibeonites for their league with Israel. #Jos 10:3,5| They were routed by Joshua at Beth-horon, and the king of Lachish fell a victim with the others under the trees at Makkedah. ver. #Jos 10:26| The destruction of the town shortly followed the death of the king. vs. #Jos 10:31-33| In the special statement that the attack lasted two days, in contradistinction to the other cities which were taken in one (see ver. 35), we gain our first glimpse of that strength of position for which Lachish was afterward remarkable. Lachish was one of the cities fortified and garrisoned by Rehoboam after the revolt of the northern kingdom. #2Ch 11:9| In the reign of Hezekiah it was one of the cities taken by Sennacherib. This siege is considered by Layard and Hincks to be depicted on the slabs found by the former in one of the chambers of the palace at Kouyunjik. After the return from captivity, Lachish with its surrounding "fields" was reoccupied by the Jews. #Ne 11:30|

LA'CHISH (invincible), a city of the Amorites, lying south of Jerusalem, and toward the border of Simeon. Josh 10:3. It was one of the Canaanitish cities which was subdued by Joshua and included in Judah; fortified by Jeroboam. 2 Chr 11:9. King Amaziah was killed there. 2 Kgs 14:19. Lachish was besieged by Sennacherib and perhaps taken. 2 Kgs 18:13-14; Isa 36:1-2. The siege is considered by some to be depicted on the slabs found in one of the chambers of the palace at Kouyunjik. Layard reads the cuneiform inscription thus: "Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment before the city of Lachish, -- I give permission for its slaughter." Compare 2 Chr 32:1; 2 Kgs 19:8; Jer 34:7. It was a place of great strength, favorably situated upon the side of a hill. From Lachish had been introduced into Jerusalem the idolatry of the ten tribes. Mic 1:13. Lachish was reoccupied after the Captivity. Neh 11:30. It has been identified Plan of Lachish. (From the monuments. After Layard.) with Um Lakis, but better with Tel el-Hesy.

A royal Canaanite city which joined the confederacy against Gibeon for submitting to Israel, and was taken by Joshua (Joshua 12:11; Joshua 10:3; Joshua 10:5; Joshua 10:31-32) "on the second day," which shows its strength; the other cities were taken in one day (Joshua 10:35). Assigned to Judah, in the shephelah or "low hilly country" (Joshua 15:33; Joshua 15:39). Rehoboam fortified it (2 Chronicles 11:9). To Lachish Amaziah fled from the conspirators, and was slain there (2 Kings 14:19; 2 Chronicles 25:27). Sennacherib was at Lachish when Hezekiah begged peace. Thence he sent his first message to Hezekiah by Rabshakeh, and then having left Lachish to war against Libnah, from the latter sent again (2 Kings 18:14; 2 Kings 18:17; 2 Kings 19:8). The strength of Lachish as a fortress is implied in 2 Chronicles 32:9, "Sennacherib laid siege against Lachish and all his power with him." It held out against Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 34:7). Sennacherib's siege of Lachish is still to be seen at Koyunjik represented on the slabs of his palace walls as successful, with the inscription "Sennacherib, the mighty king of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment before the city of Lachish, I give permission for its slaughter." The Assyrian tents appear pitched within the walls, and the foreign worship going on. The town, as in Scripture, is depicted as on hilly ground, one part higher than the other. The background shows a hilly country covered with vines and fig trees; but immediately round the town are palms, indicating its nearness to the maritime plain where the palm best flourishes. His boasted success is doubtful from 2 Chronicles 32:1, "Sennacherib encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself"; 2 Kings 19:8; Jeremiah 34:7. Lachish was foremost in adopting some of the northern idolatry. Hence, Micah (Micah 1:13) warned the inhabitants of Lachish to flee on the swift beast (there's a play of like sounds between Lachish and rechesh), Sennacherib being about to make it his head quarters, for "she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion, for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee." The Jews returning from Babylon re-occupied Lachish (Nehemiah 11:30). Now Um Lakis, on a low round swell, with a few columns and fragments; in the middle of the plain, on Sennacherib's road to Egypt, where he was marching, according to Robinson. Rather it answers to the great mound of Tel el Hesy ("hillock of the waterpit"), ten miles from Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), and not far from Ajlan (Eglon). Hesy is a corruption of Lachish, the Hebrew caph) being changed into the guttural. Tel el Hesy commands the approach to the hills (Israel Exploration Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1878, p. 19-20).