LIBNAH

(Lib’nah) [whiteness].

1. An Israelite wilderness encampment. Its location is unknown.—Num. 33:20, 21.

2. A royal Canaanite city taken by Joshua before the conquest of Lachish. (Josh. 10:29-32, 39; 12:15) Libnah was one of the cities in the territory of Judah given to the “sons of Aaron.” (Josh. 15:21, 42; 21:13; 1 Chron. 6:57) Centuries later King Josiah’s father-in-law lived there.—2 Ki. 23:31; 24:18; Jer. 52:1.

At the time of the Edomite revolt in the tenth century B.C.E., Libnah also rebelled against Judean King Jehoram. (2 Ki. 8:22; 2 Chron. 21:10) In 732 B.C.E. Assyrian King Sennacherib’s army moved from Lachish to Libnah. He had sent a military detachment from Lachish to threaten Jerusalem. While at Libnah, the Assyrians received reports that Tirhakah the king of Ethiopia intended to fight them. Therefore, Sennacherib, to encourage Jerusalem’s surrender, sent messengers a second time with intimidating letters to Hezekiah the king of Judah. Subsequently Jehovah’s angel slew 185,000 of the Assyrian host, apparently still encamped near Libnah.—2 Ki. 19:8-35; Isa. 37:8-36.

Tell es-Safi, located less than six miles (10 kilometers) W of the suggested site of Azekah, is generally favored as a possible identification of ancient Libnah. This crescent-shaped mound, with its cliffs of white limestone, is a natural fortress. However, some scholars prefer linking Libnah with Tell Bornot, about five and a half miles (9 kilometers) SE of Tell es-Safi.