Digging Up the Bible: Lachish Letters

DIGGING UP THE BIBLE
Important Archeological Finds that help Us Understand Scripture

pdf

Dr. Paul Manuel—2017

 

Lachish Letters
(6^th century BC)

In 1935 James Starkey discovered at Lachish a series of 18 letters written in paleo-Hebrew script on clay pottery shards (ostraca). They were correspondence from Hoshaiah, a soldier stationed near Jerusalem, to Joash, his commander at Lachish, during the latter years of Zedekiah's reign. Lachish was a major fortified city in Judah of strategic importance because it protected the conduit from the coastal highway to the central hill country against foreign armies bound for Jerusalem.

• It was so when Sennacherib, the Assyrian monarch, led his troops to besiege the capital of the Southern Kingdom in 701 B .C.
• It was so when Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian monarch, led his troops to besiege the capital of the Southern Kingdom in 586 B .C.

The Lachish Letters anticipated Nebuchadnezzar's invasion and eventual siege of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem.

 

The impending danger of unrest as foreign troops advance toward the capital is evident in the repeated wish for peace in the prayer of the letters:

May the LORD cause my lord to hear tidings of peace today. (#2)
May the LORD cause my lord to hear tidings of peace and tidings of good. (#3)
May the LORD cause my [bird to hear tidings of pea[ce]. . .this very daly! (#5)
May the LORD cause my lord to see peace at this time! (#6)
May the LORD cause my lord to hear ti[dings] of peace and of [good]. (#9)

The text of one letter (#4) expresses concern for another fortress on the way inland: "Be apprised that we are watching for the signal fire of Lachish...because we cannot see Azekah."

The army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachish and Azekah—were the only fortified cities left in Judah. (Jer 34:7)

Lachish eventually fell to Nebuchadnezzar's army as it did earlier to Sennacherib's army.

 

Significance for Biblical Studies: The Lachish Letters reveal the pressure Jerusalem residents felt as Babylonian forces advanced against the city and the populace faced seemingly inevitable deportation. They also express the hope, albeit formalized, that God will use His people to resolve the conflict ("May the LORD cause you").

For a pdf go here.