Overview
Twenty-one inscribed potsherds found in the burnt gate complex of Lachish, most of them in 1935 by J. L. Starkey's expedition. Most are letters from a subordinate named Hoshayahu to his superior Ya'ush, written in ink in Hebrew during the Babylonian invasion that ended Judah's kingdom. They were first published by Harry Torczyner (later Tur-Sinai) in 1938.
Letter 3 reports that 'the commander of the army, Coniah son of Elnathan, has gone down to go to Egypt' and mentions a letter passed on through 'the prophet'. Letter 4 ends with the writer saying that they are watching for the fire-signals of Lachish according to the signs his lord gave, 'for we cannot see Azekah'.
Jeremiah 34:7 names Lachish and Azekah as the last fortified cities of Judah still holding out against Babylon. Letter 4 is read by many as a snapshot of that moment; what it literally says is that the writer's post could not see Azekah.
What the text says (summary)
Letter 4 (closing lines): the writer tells his lord that they are watching for the signal-fires of Lachish according to all the signs his lord has given, because they cannot see Azekah.Paraphrase of Lachish Letter 4 (Torczyner 1938 editio princeps; no public-domain English translation exists)
What the evidence shows
- 21 ostraca, ink on pottery, Old Hebrew cursive; found in the burnt gate complex of Lachish (Windle 2025; CoJS).
- Most are addressed to Ya'ush by his servant Hoshayahu (CoJS).
- Letter 3 names 'Coniah son of Elnathan', commander of the army, who has 'gone down to go to Egypt', and refers to 'the prophet'.
- Letter 4 closes: watching for the signals of Lachish; 'we cannot see Azekah'.
- The word 'prophet' in Letter 3 line 20 is spelled without a yod (point made by Rollston in the Isaiah-bulla debate).
- Found in the destruction layer of the gate complex, i.e. they were lying there when the city burned.
Open questions
- Where were the letters written, and what are they? The long-standing reading (Torczyner 1938 and most later work, as summarised by CoJS) is that Hoshayahu commanded an outpost between Lachish and Jerusalem and sent these letters to Ya'ush at Lachish. Yigael Yadin argued instead that Hoshayahu was at Lachish itself and that the sherds are drafts or copies of letters sent (on papyrus) to Ya'ush in Jerusalem. Anson Rainey ('Watching Out for the Signal Fires of Lachish', PEQ 119, 1987) defended the outpost reading (as summarised by Windle 2025; Rainey's article itself not read).
- Does 'we cannot see Azekah' mean Azekah had already fallen? That is a common inference tied to Jer 34:7. The letter itself only says the post could not see Azekah; it could also mean the line of sight was blocked or the signal was not lit. The text does not say Azekah fell.
- Are the letters full texts? Person (Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology 7, 2024) argues that Iron Age Judahite written texts, including the Lachish letters, were metonymic stand-ins for fuller oral messages, so the ostraca 'did not necessarily contain the full' message.
- Who is 'the prophet' in Letter 3? The name is not given. Identifications with Jeremiah or Uriah (Jer 26:20-23) are readings, not text.
Since 2024
- 2024Person argues the Lachish letters are metonymic written tokens of fuller oral messages rather than complete texts. [5]
- 2025-08Windle's Bible Archaeology Report survey restates the find data and the Yadin-Rainey dispute (no new find). [2]
Sources
- H. Torczyner, Lachish I: The Lachish Letters (London/New York: Oxford University Press for the Trustees of the late Sir Henry Wellcome, 1938) link editio princeps
- B. Windle, 'Letters from the Biblical World: The Lachish Letters,' Bible Archaeology Report, 29 August 2025 link study
- Center for Online Judaic Studies, 'Lakhish Ostraca, c. 587 BCE' (CojsWiki; archived copy of 10 Nov 2012) link study
- A. F. Rainey, 'Watching Out for the Signal Fires of Lachish,' Palestine Exploration Quarterly 119.2 (1987): 149-151. DOI 10.1179/peq.1987.119.2.149 link study
- R. F. Person Jr., 'Scribal Memory and Metonymy in Iron Age Judah with Some Discussion of Deuteronomy and the Lachish Letters,' Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology 7 (2024): 2-22. DOI 10.52486/01.00007.1 link study
Corrected from the earlier edition of this page
- Old entry: 'Discovery: 1935-1938, J. H. H. St. John'. The excavator was James Leslie Starkey (Wellcome-Marston expedition); most letters came to light in January-February 1935, a few in 1938.
- Old entry: 'letters written by a high-ranking officer to the king of Judah'. They are addressed to Ya'ush, a military superior, by Hoshayahu - not to the king.
- Old inscription line: 'Hebrew letter mentioning "Lachish" and "Hebron"'. The letters checked for this entry (3 and 4) name Lachish, Azekah, Egypt and Coniah son of Elnathan; no Hebron reference appears in the sources cited here.
- Old 'Date: c. 590 BCE'. They come from the destruction layer of the Babylonian conquest, c. 588-586 BCE.
- Old entry: letters give 'a vivid account of the Babylonian siege'. They are routine and urgent military correspondence (reports, complaints, signals); they do not narrate the siege.
- Old biblical list 'Jeremiah 35 (Rechabites)' has no connection to the letters; replaced by Jer 34:7 and Jer 26:20-23.
- The old summary box removed; the live dispute (outpost letters vs drafts at Lachish) is stated with names.
Checked against new publications through 2026-09.