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Bible Dictionaries
Lachish
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or LACHISH . A town in the south country of Judah referred to several times in the Tell el-Amarna tablets. In the Biblical records it first appears as joining the coalition headed by the king of Jerusalem against the Gibeonites ( Joshua 10:3 ), and as being in consequence reduced by Joshua ( Joshua 10:31 ) in spite of the assistance given to it by the king of Gezer ( Joshua 10:33 ). It is enumerated among the cities of the tribe of Judah ( Joshua 15:39 ). Rehoboam fortified it ( 2 Chronicles 11:9 ). Hither Amaziah, king of Judah, fled from conspirators, and here he was murdered ( 2 Kings 14:19 ). In the reign of Hezekiah, Sennacherib took Lachish, and while he was quartered there Hezekiah sent messengers to him to make terms ( 2 Kings 18:13-17 ). Sennacherib’s Lachish campaign is commemorated by a sculpture from Nineveh, now in the British Museum. Lachish and Azekah were the last cities to stand against the king of Babylon ( Jeremiah 34:7 ). Lachish was one of the towns settled by the children of Judah after the Exile ( Nehemiah 11:30 ). Micah’s denunciation of Lachish as ‘the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion’ ( Micah 1:13 ) doubtless refers to incidents of which we are quite ignorant.
Lachish was identified by Conder with Tell el-Hesy , an important mound in the Gaza district, which was partially excavated with success by Flinders Petrie and Bliss for the Palestine Exploration Fund (1890 1893). Another site in the neighbourhood, of Roman date, called Umm Lakis , probably represents a later dwelling of the representatives of the ancient Lachishites, and preserves the name of the city.
R. A. S. Macalister.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Lachish'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/l/lachish.html. 1909.
