Lachish

Lay´kish

A prominent Canaanite and Israelite city located about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem and fifteen miles west of Hebron. The OT contains many references to Lachish. When Japhia, king of Lachish, joined an anti-Gibeonite coalition to resist the Israelite invasion, Joshua put him to death and captured Lachish (Josh 10:1-32). King Amaziah of Judah (ca. 800–783 BCE) was killed at Lachish, where he had taken refuge from a palace revolt in Jerusalem (2Kgs 14:17-20). Sennacherib’s devastation of Lachish is also documented in the Bible (2Kgs 18:13).