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{{About||the Libna in Slovenia|Libna}}
'''Libnah''' or '''Lobana''' ({{langx|he|לִבְנָה}}, ''whiteness''; {{langx|la|Lobana}}) was an independent city, probably near the western seaboard of Israel, with its own king at the time of the Israelite conquest of [[Canaan]].<ref name="Hens-Piazza" >Gina Hens-Piazza Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: 1–2 Kings [[Abingdon Press]], 2006  {{isbn|978-1-426-75973-4}} p.282.</ref> It is thought to have been an important producer of revenue, and one that rebelled against the [[Kingdom of Judah|Judahite crown]].

==Records in the Hebrew Bible==
It is assigned 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 [[Books of Chronicles|2 Chronicles]] [[2 Chronicles 21|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 ([[Books of Chronicles|1 Chronicles]] [[1 Chronicles 3|3]]:15; [[2 Kings 23]]:31–32; [[2 Kings 24]]:17–18; [[Jeremiah 22]]:11). Two of their sons, [[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz]] and [[Zedekiah]] also became [[Kings of Judah]].

Sennacherib's army may have attacked Libnah in 701 BCE, but the various biblical reports are, recent scholarship has argued, somewhat confused, having Libnah attacked after [[Hezekiah]] had already surrendered at Lachish. Since Sennacherib attacked from the north, it is odd that he would move back to conquer a town in the north after a victory in the south. It is possible that the editor reversed the historical chronology.<ref>William R. Gallagher, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jfud5omuauIC&pg=PA220 ''Sennacherib's Campaign to Judah: New Studies,''] [[Brill Publishers|BRILL]], 1999 {{isbn|978-9-004-11537-8}} p.220.</ref><ref>[[John Bright (biblical scholar)|John Bright]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=XZJ1BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA307 ''A History of Israel,''] 4th.ed. [[Westminster John Knox Press]], 2000 {{isbn|978-1-611-64209-4}} p.307.</ref> [[Kenneth Anderson Kitchen|Kenneth Kitchen]], for one, found no difficulty in the traditional account, which has Libnah attacked after [[Lachish]]. According to the narrative at ([[2 Chronicles 32]]:20–21a, an angel of [[Yahweh]] destroyed the host of [[Sennacherib]]'s army, and at [[2 Kings 19]]:35, the number of Assyrian soldiers killed is claimed to have amounted to 185,000. The large number of troops reportedly dying overnight is explained as possibly due to poisoning,<ref>[[Kenneth Anderson Kitchen|Kenneth Kitchen]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Kw6U05qBiXcC&pg=PA41 ''On the Reliability of the Old Testament,''] [[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing]], 2003 pp.41–43 {{isbn|978-0-802-84960-1}}</ref> and the [[Targum]] version refers to pestilence.

[[Eusebius]] and [[Jerome]] (''OS'' 274:13; 135:28) describe it as being a village in the region of [[Bayt Jibrin|Eleutheropolis]] ([[Bayt Jibrin|Beit Gubrin]]), called in their day ''Lobana'' or ''Lobna''.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Biblica: a critical dictionary of the literary, political, and religious history, the archaeology, geography, and natural history of the Bible'' (vol. 3), ed. Cheyne, T. K. (Thomas Kelly) & Black, J. Sutherland (John Sutherland), Toronto 1899–1903, p. [https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabib03cheyuoft/page/n73 2794] (s.v. Libnah)</ref>

==As a station of the Exodus==
Libnah is also the name of the 17th [[Stations of the Exodus|station]] among the places the [[Israelite]]s are said to have stopped over at during [[the Exodus]]. The context suggests that this Libna lay somewhere in the [[Sinai Desert]] which the Israelites are described as traversing prior to entering the land of Canaan.

==Possible sites and excavations==
* [[Tel Lavnin]] (''Khurbet Tell el Beida'') in the Judean Shephelah.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hawk |first=L. Daniel|title=Joshua in 3-D: A Commentary on Biblical Conquest and Manifest Destiny |publisher=[[Cascade Books]] |date=2010 |location=Eugene, Ore. |page=126|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UTdMAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126 |oclc=636959402 |isbn=9781606088197 }}</ref>
* The excavators of [[Tell Zeitah]] have suggested it as a possible location of Libnah.<ref>Cf. the excavation's website ([http://www.zeitah.net/overview.html The Zeitah Excavations – Introduction] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210032236/http://www.zeitah.net/overview.html |date=December 10, 2007 }})</ref>
* An excavation has been initiated at [[Tel Burna]], which has also been identified as the possible site of Libnah, based on [[William F. Albright]]'s proposal.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aharoni|first=Y. |author-link=Yohanan Aharoni |title=The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography''|edition=2 |publisher=Westminster Press |location=Philadelphia|year=1979|page=439 |language=en|isbn=0664242669 |oclc=6250553}} (original Hebrew edition: 'Land of Israel in Biblical Times - Historical Geography', [[Bialik Institute]], Jerusalem (1962))</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Rainey|first=A.F.|author-link=Anson Rainey|title=The Biblical Shephelah of Judah|journal=[[Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research]]|publisher=[[The University of Chicago Press]] on behalf of The [[American Schools of Oriental Research]]|volume=251 |issue= |page=11|date=1983|jstor=1356823|language=en}}</ref><ref>Tel Burna Excavation website ([https://telburna.wordpress.com/about/ About the Tel Burna Excavation Project])</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Exploring the Holy Land: 150 Years of the Palestine Exploration Fund |last=McKinny |first=Chris |publisher=Equinox Publishing Limited |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-78179-707-5 |pages=107–22 |last2=Tavger |first2=Aharon |editor-last=Gurevich |editor-first=David |chapter=From Lebonah to Libnah: Historical Geographical Details from the PEF and Other Early Secondary Sources on the Toponymy of Two Homonymous Sites |editor-last2=Kidron |editor-first2=Anat |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/37807452}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=In Search of Libnah |journal=Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society |url=https://janes.scholasticahq.com/article/32973-in-search-of-libnah |last=Suriano |first=Matthew J. |issue=1 |volume=35 |pages=151–181 |last2=Shai |first2=Itzhaq |year=2021 |last3=Uziel |first3=Joe}}</ref> Tel Burna was fortified and lay between the Philistine city of Gath and the Judahite city of Lachish, and it was inhabited continuously from the Bronze Age onwards. Until the Judahite period, it appears to have been a pagan cultic centre.<ref>Ruth Schuster,[http://www.haaretz.com/life/archaeology/.premium-1.641367 'Biblical city of Libnah found, archaeologists surmise,'] [[Haaretz]] 8 February 2015.</ref>
* Vargon held the view that [[Tell ej-Judeideh]] was to be identified with Libnah.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Vargon|first=Shmuel |title=Gedud: A Place-Name in the Shephelah of Judah|journal=Vetus Testamentum|volume=42 |issue=4|date=1992|page=559 |doi=10.2307/1518965 |jstor=1518965 |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Stations of the Exodus}}

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[[Category:13 Kohanic cities]]