{"id":71472,"date":"2020-03-10T09:55:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T07:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71472"},"modified":"2020-03-10T09:55:57","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T07:55:57","slug":"588-bce-the-siege-has-begun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/588-bce-the-siege-has-begun\/","title":{"rendered":"588 BCE: The Siege Has Begun"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"71472","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38552,"related_cahpter":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Evidence from the Lachish Letters\r\n\r\n","content":"

At the conclusion of Jeremiah’s prophecy, the text immediately switches back to the harsh reality on the ground, the worst battle Jerusalem has ever faced. All of Judah’s fortified cities have fallen, with the exception of Lachish and Azekah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1935, a British excavation of Tel Lachish shed surprising light on this verse (34:7). In a well-preserved room by the city’s gate, in an archaeological stratum from the time of the Babylonian conquest, archaeologists discovered an archive of some twenty letters, written in ink on ostraca (pottery shards), which became known as “the Lachish letters.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This unprecedented discovery included the correspondence conducted during those fateful days. Most of the letters were sent by a clerk or minor official named Hoshaiah, stationed outside Lachish, to his superior, Joash, stationed at Lachish. The letters are written in paleo-Hebrew. Some document the Judean kingdom’s final days. In letter 4, lines 10-13, the clerk writes to his commanding officer: “And may (my lord) be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs that my lord has given, because we cannot see Azekah.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apparently, Hoshaiah was stationed at a vantage point between Azekah and Lachish, tracking the signals sent out by these two fortified cities, bonfire by night and smoke by day. The letters thus complement the account in the Book of Jeremiah. The prophet reports that of all of Judah’s fortified cities, only Azekah and Lachish remained; soon afterward, the Lachish letters report that Azekah too has fallen \u2014 its fires have been extinguished, and only those of Lachish can still be seen. The Babylonian army approaches from the sea (as noted, large armies preferred to invade Jerusalem by sea, from the west, as it was safer and easier). The troops drop anchor at Ashkelon, which Babylonia conquered in 605 BCE. The armies march through the Shephelah and crush all of Judah’s defensive outposts along the way, until only Lachish and Azekah remain outside of Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The connection between the Lachish letters and the verse in Jeremiah sheds a harsh but clear light on the Babylonian war on Judah. The campaign advanced toward Jerusalem with virtually no resistance. Despite the grand coalition between the nations of the region, Judah was left to face the great empire of the north alone. Perhaps this explains the verse from Lamentations: “All her allies betrayed her, became her enemies” (Lam. 1:2). At this point, Judah’s entire army has mobilized for war. There is a mass enlistment. Simultaneously, King Zedekiah sends urgent appeals to Egypt for reinforcements, as we will see below. The year is 588 BCE, the siege of Jerusalem has begun, and most of Judah’s cities have already fallen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lau, Binyamin. <\/span>Jeremiah: The Fate of a Prophet<\/span><\/em>. Maggid Books, 2013. \u201cJeremiah\u2019s Reply to King Zedekiah\u2019s Delegates\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69252,"id":69252,"title":"jer-lau2","filename":"jer-lau2.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/running-a-gauntlet-of-pain\/jer-lau2\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer-lau2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69251,"date":"2020-01-27 21:59:05","modified":"2020-01-27 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