The Lachish Letters

An officer named Hoshaiah wrote to a man named Yaush, possibly the commander at Lachish. The letters were probably written shortly before Babylon's army took the city, and were dug up there in 1935.

Scripture: when the king of Babylon’s army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities.

Jeremiah 34 is set in the middle of that war. Babylon is attacking Jerusalem and the Judean cities still left, and Lachish and Azekah are named. Jeremiah is speaking to King Zedekiah.

Soon after, Zedekiah makes a covenant to free Hebrew servants. The people obey, then turn and take them back.

British archaeologist James Leslie Starkey found them in January and February 1935, during the third Wellcome campaign of excavations at Lachish.

They are ostraca: writing on clay, in carbon ink and Ancient Hebrew. They probably come from one broken pot, and were likely written within a short time.

They were sent to Yaush, possibly the commander at Lachish, from Hoshaiah, an officer in a nearby city, possibly Mareshah. In one, he defends himself over a letter he was, or wasn't, supposed to have read.

Scripture: In Letter 4, Hoshaiah's post is watching for the fire signals of Lachish, but cannot see Azeqah. Those are the two cities the passage names.

Today seventeen ostraca are in the British Museum in London. A smaller number, including Letter 6, are at the Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem.

Scholars think the letters were probably written shortly before Lachish fell to Nebuchadnezzar the Second, in 588 or 586 BC. They don't retell the passage. They illustrate the same moment, an indirect link.

Details remain debated. Yaush's role and Hoshaiah's town are only possible, the date is probable, and Letter 7 is too worn to read.

Ink on clay, from a kingdom under siege. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you today. Follow Bible Evidence for more.