The Lachish Letters

2025-07-05

The Lachish Letters were inscriptions on ostraca, or pottery sherds. These consisted of both letters and administrative records. They date from the early sixth century B.C., in the final days of Judah before its fall and captivity. These were discovered in the 1930s in Lachish and the inscriptions were written in old Hebrew cursive script.

Some noteworthy findings among these letters were letters three and four.

Letter Three

In letter three, a certain Hoshaiah wrote to his commander Yaush. Yaush had insinuated that Hoshaiah was illiterate, and Hoshaiah responded. He also relayed two communiques to Yaush.

And to your servant it has been reported saying: The commander of the army Coniah son of Elnatan, has gone down to go to Egypt and he sent to commandeer Hodaviah son of Ahijah and his men from here. And as for the letter of Tobiah, the servant of the king, which came to Shallum, the son of Jaddua, from the prophet, saying, “Be on guard!” your ser[va]nt is sending it to my lord. (Translation from Shmuel Ahituv via Wikipedia)

The first communique mentions that a certain Coniah son of Elnatan, an army commander, went to Egypt. He was to apprehend Hodaviah son of Ahijah and his men there. Some connect this Coniah son of Elnatan to the Elnathan in Jeremiah 26:22: “And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt.”

Consider the context of Jeremiah 26:20-23:

And there was also a man that prophesied in the name of the LORD, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah: And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death: but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt; And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. (Jeremiah 26:20-23)

The operation in the letter could have been to apprehend the prophet Urijah, or a similar situation. On the other hand, this could have been a diplomatic mission. Judah and Egypt had been in league against Babylon, as you can see that Jehoiakim had the ability to extradite Uriah to be tried in Judah. We also read, “But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?” (Ezekiel 17:15). And again, “Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land” (Jeremiah 37:7).

Letter Four

In this letter, one is sending a message to his commander, saying that he was watching for fire signals from Lachish because he could not see Azekah.

And may (my lord) be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs which my lord has given, because we cannot see Azeqah. (Translation from Shmuel Ahituv via Wikipedia)

In those days, when anticipating attacks from the Chaldeans, they used fire signals to communicate between cities. “O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction” (Jeremiah 6:1).

Other than Jerusalem, Lachish and Azekah were the last two cities standing, so these were the last two cities sending messages via fire signal: “When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah” (Jeremiah 34:7).