Libnah

Libnah or Lobna (Hebrew: לִבְנָה‎, whiteness; Latin: Lobna) was an independent city with its own king at the time of the Israelite occupation of Canaan, and appointed to the tribe of Judah as one of the 13 Kohanic cities during the Israelite settlement (Joshua 21:13). The town revolted during the reign of King Jehoram of Judah, according to 2 Kings 8:22 and 2 Chronicles 21:10, because Jehoram "had abandoned [the] God of his fathers". The revolt took place at the same time as Edom revolted against Judean rule (2 Kings 8:20-22).

Josiah, King of Judah, married Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah (1 Chronicles 3:15; 2 Kings 23:31-32;2 Kings 24:17-18; Jeremiah 22:11). Two of their sons, Jehoahaz and Zedekiah also became Kings of Judah.

As recorded in the Hebrew Bible at 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37, in 732 BCE , 185,000 Assyrian soldiers under King Sennacherib were killed by an angel of God while encamped near Libnah, thwarting their advance from Lachish to Jerusalem.

Exodus station

Libnah is also the name of the 17th station among of the places the Israelites stopped on the Exodus. This is probably a different location; most likely this Libnah is located in the Sinai Desert where the Israelites traveled prior to entering the land of Canaan.

Possible Sites and Excavations

  • The excavators of Tell Zeitah have suggested it as a possible location of Libnah. [1]
  • An excavation has been initiated at Tel Burna, which has also been identified as the possible site of Libnah. [2][3][4] Tel Burna, was fortified, lies between the Philistine city of Gath and the Judahite city of Lachish, and was inhabited continuously from the Bronze Age onwards. Until the Judahite period, it appears to have been a pagan cultic centre.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Cf. the excavation's website (The Zeitah Excavations - Introduction Archived December 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.)
  2. ↑ Tel Burna Excavation website (The Tel Burna Excavation Project)
  3. ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/07/11/archaeologists-uncover-biblical-city/
  4. ↑ http://telburna.wordpress.com/about/
  5. ↑ Ruth Schuster,'Biblical city of Libnah found, archaeologists surmise,' Haaretz 8 February 2015.
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