Difference between revisions of "Lachish"

<p> A royal [[Canaanite]] city which joined the confederacy against [[Gibeon]] for submitting to Israel, and was taken by Joshua (&nbsp;Joshua 12:11; &nbsp;Joshua 10:3; &nbsp;Joshua 10:5; &nbsp;Joshua 10:31-32) "on the second day," which shows its strength; the other cities were taken in one day (&nbsp;Joshua 10:35). [[Assigned]] to Judah, in the '''''Shephelah''''' or "low hilly country" (&nbsp;Joshua 15:33; &nbsp;Joshua 15:39). [[Rehoboam]] fortified it (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 11:9). To [[Lachish]] [[Amaziah]] fled from the conspirators, and was slain there (&nbsp;2 Kings 14:19; &nbsp;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 (&nbsp;2 Kings 18:14; &nbsp;2 Kings 18:17; &nbsp;2 Kings 19:8). The strength of Lachish as a fortress is implied in &nbsp;2 Chronicles 32:9, "Sennacherib laid siege against Lachish and all his power with him." </p> <p> It held out against [[Nebuchadnezzar]] (&nbsp;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 &nbsp;2 Chronicles 32:1, "Sennacherib encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself"; &nbsp;2 Kings 19:8; &nbsp;Jeremiah 34:7. </p> <p> Lachish was foremost in adopting some of the northern idolatry. Hence, Micah (&nbsp;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 (&nbsp;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 (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1878, p. 19-20). </p>

<p> [[Lachish]] ( ''Lâ'Kish'' ), ''Invincible.'' A city of the Amorites, lying south of Jerusalem, and toward the border of [[Simeon.]] &nbsp;Joshua 10:1-43; &nbsp;Joshua 3:1-17. It was one of the [[Canaanitish]] cities which was subdued by Joshua and included in Judah; fortified by Jeroboam. &nbsp;2 Chronicles 11:9. King Amaziah was killed there. &nbsp;2 Kings 14:19. Lachish was besieged by Sennacherib and perhaps taken. &nbsp;2 Kings 18:13-14; &nbsp;Isaiah 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. Lachish has lately (1892) been identified with Tel-el-Hesy on the [[Mediterranean]] Sea, where remarkable tablets, records, and letters of the king of Lachish have been found, written before the exodus. </p>

<p> ''''' lā´kish ''''' ( לכישׁ , <i> ''''' lākhı̄sh ''''' </i> ; [[Septuagint]] Λαχίς , <i> ''''' Lachı́s ''''' </i> (&nbsp; Joshua 15:39 ), Μαχές , <i> ''''' Machés ''''' </i> ): </p> 1. Location: <p> A town in the foothills of the [[Shephelah]] on the border of the [[Philistine]] plain, belonging to Judah, and, from the mention of [[Eglon]] in connection with it, evidently in the southwestern portion of Judah's territory. Eusebius, <i> Onomasticon </i> locates it 7 miles from Eleutheropolis ( <i> ''''' Beit ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Jibrîn ''''' </i> ) toward Daroma, but as the latter place is uncertain, the indication does not help in fixing the site of Lachish. The city seems to have been abandoned about 400 BC, and this circumstance has rendered the identification of the site difficult. It was formerly fixed at <i> ''''' Umm ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Lakis ''''' </i> , from the similarity of the name and because it was in the region that the Biblical references to Lachish seem to indicate, but the mound called <i> ''''' Tell ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Hesy ''''' </i> is now generally accepted as the site. This was first suggested by Conder in 1877 ( <i> Pefs </i> , 1878,20), and the excavations carried on at the Tell by the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1890-93 confirmed his identification. <i> ''''' Tell ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Hesy ''''' </i> is situated on a wady, or valley, of the same name ( <i> ''''' Wâdy ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Hesy ''''' </i> ), which runs from a point about 6 miles West of Hebron to the sea between Gaza and Askelon. It is a mound on the very edge of the wady, rising some 120 ft. above it and composed of debris to the depth of about 60 ft., in which the excavations revealed the remains of distinct cities which had been built, one upon the ruins of another. The earliest of these was evidently Amorite, and could not have been later than 1700 BC, and was perhaps two or three centuries earlier (Bliss, <i> [[Mound]] of Many Cities </i> ). The identification rests upon the fact that the site corresponds with the Biblical and other historical notices of Lachish, and especially upon the discovery of a cuneiform tablet in the ruins of the same character as the <i> ''''' Tell ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Amarna ''''' </i> <i> [[Letters]] </i> , and containing the name of Zimridi, who is known from these tablets to have been at one time [[Egyptian]] governor of Lachish. The tablets, which date from the latter part of the 15th or early part of the 14th century BC, give us the earliest information in regard to Lachish, and it was then an Egyptian dependency, but it seems to have revolted and joined with other towns in an attack upon Jerusalem, which was also an Egyptian dependency. It was perhaps compelled to do so by the Khabiri who were then raiding this region. The place was, like Gaza, an important one for Egypt, being on the frontier and on the route to Jerusalem, and the importance is seen in the fact that it was taken and destroyed and rebuilt so many times. </p> 2. History: <p> We first hear of it in the history of Israel when Joshua invaded the land. It was then an Amorite city, and its king, Japhia, joined the confederacy formed by Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, to resist Joshua. They were defeated in the remarkable battle at Gibeon, and the five confederate kings were captured and put to death at [[Makkedah]] (&nbsp;Joshua 10 <i> passim </i> ; &nbsp; Joshua 12:11 ). Lachish was included in the lot of Judah (&nbsp;Joshua 15:39 ), and it was rebuilt, or fortified, by Rehoboam (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 11:5 , &nbsp;2 Chronicles 11:9 ). It was besieged by Sennacherib in the reign of Hezekiah and probably taken (&nbsp;2 Kings 18:13 ) when he invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem, but the other references to the siege leave it doubtful (&nbsp;2 Kings 18:14 , &nbsp;2 Kings 18:17; &nbsp;2 Kings 19:8; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 32:9; &nbsp;Isaiah 36:2; &nbsp;Isaiah 37:8 ). The Assyrian monuments, however, render it certain that the place was captured. The sculptures on the walls of Sennacherib's palace picture the storming of Lachish and the king on his throne receiving the submission of the captives (Ball, <i> Light from the East </i> , 190-91). This was in 701 BC, and to this period we may assign the enigmatical reference to Lachish in &nbsp;Micah 1:13 , "Bind the chariot to the swift steed, [[O]] inhabitant of Lachish: she was the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion." The cause of the invasion of Sennacherib was a general revolt in Phoenicia, Palestine, and Philistia, Hezekiah joining in it and all asking Egypt for aid (Rawlinson, <i> Five Great Monarchies of the [[Ancient]] Eastern World </i> , chapter ix). Isaiah had warned Judah not to trust in Egypt (&nbsp;Isaiah 20:5 , &nbsp;Isaiah 20:6; &nbsp;Isaiah 30:1-5; &nbsp;Isaiah 31:1 ), and as Lachish was the place where communication was held with Egypt, being a frontier fortress, perhaps even having an Egyptian garrison, it would be associated with the "sin" of the Egyptian alliance ( <i> HGHL </i> , 234). </p> <p> The city was evidently rebuilt after its destruction by Sennacherib, for we find Nebuchadnezzar fighting against it during his siege of Jerusalem (&nbsp;Jeremiah 34:7 ). It was doubtless destroyed by him, but we are informed by Nehemiah (&nbsp;Nehemiah 11:30 ) that some of the returned Jews settled there after the captivity. It is very likely that they did not reoccupy the site of the ruined city, but settled as peasants in the territory, and this may account for the transference of the name to <i> ''''' Umm ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Lakis ''''' </i> , 3 or 4 miles from <i> ''''' Tell ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Hesy ''''' </i> , where some ruins exist, but not of a kind to suggest Lachish (Bliss, op. cit). No remains of any importance were found on the Tell indicating its occupation as a fortress or city later than that destroyed by the king of Babylon, but it was occupied in some form during the crusades, <i> ''''' Umm ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Lakis ''''' </i> being held for a time by the Hospitallers, and King [[Richard]] is said to have made it a base of operations in his war with [[Saladin]] ( <i> HGHL </i> ). The Tell itself, if occupied, was probably only the site of his camp, and it has apparently remained since that time without inhabitants, being used for agricultural purposes only. See further, Palestine (RECENT Exploration ), III, 1. </p>