Prophetic and military activity in the Lachish Letters : a ninety-year rejoinder to Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai (Harry Torczyner)

Abstract

Professor Naftali Herz Tur-Sinai (born Harry Torczyner) (1886–1973) was entrusted with the transcriptions and translations of the “Lachish Letters”, a group of ostraca discovered in 1935 and 1938 during the British Mandate Period excavations of Tell ed-Duweir (ancient Lachish). Since the time of discovery and related preliminary papers, and with the publication of Tur-Sinai’s first edition of 1938 and his revised 1940 Hebrew edition, much ink has been spilt over the interpretation of the ostraca and their significance to Classical Hebrew, biblical studies, and the final decades of the Judahite kingdom. Tur-Sinai treated the corpus as a homogenous group of documents that presumably belonged to a court dossier from the time of Jehoiakim’s reign (609–598 BCE), revolving around the fate of the prophet Uriah. The present discussion evaluates Tur-Sinai’s original interpretation and other scholars’ propositions. The argument revolves around certain inscriptions (particularly Lachish 3, 6, and 16), in an attempt to offer a closer look at some of their debated readings, especially with regards to the presumed identification and role of an anonymous prophet, the mention of letters from the royal court and officials, and the politico-military atmosphere of Judah.