that during succeeding years Laban frequently altered this original agreement when it turned out that Jacob’s flocks were increasing greatly. At length, Laban’s attitude toward Jacob changed, and at Jehovah’s direction Jacob decided to return to his homeland with his family and flocks.—Gen. 31:1-5, 13, 17, 18.

On the third day after Jacob’s secret departure, Laban learned of it and pursued Jacob, catching up with him in the mountainous region of Gilead. However, a warning from God prevented Laban from harming Jacob. (Gen. 31:19-24) When they met, Laban and Jacob quarreled. Jacob pointed to his twenty years of faithful service and hard work and showed how Laban had dealt with him unfairly, changing his wages ten times.—Gen. 31:36-42.

Laban was very concerned about retrieving the teraphim or household idols, which Rachel, unknown to Jacob, had stolen. These he was unable to find, for Rachel kept them concealed. (Gen. 31:30-35) Laban may have been influenced in his religious ideas by the moon-worshiping people among whom he dwelt and this may be indicated by his use of omens and his possession of teraphim. However, it should be noted that reasons more than merely religious ones likely made Laban so anxious to locate and retrieve the teraphim. Tablets unearthed at Nuzi near Kirkuk, Iraq, reveal that, according to the laws of patriarchal times in that particular area, possession of such household idols by a woman’s husband could give him the right to appear in court and claim the estate of his deceased father-in-law. Hence, Laban may have thought that Jacob himself stole the teraphim in order later to dispossess Laban’s own sons. This may explain why, on failing to locate the household gods, Laban was anxious to conclude an agreement with Jacob that would ensure that Jacob would not go back with the household gods after Laban’s death to deprive his sons of their inheritance.

Laban made a covenant of family peace with Jacob, and, to memorialize it, a stone pillar and a heap of stones were set up. Using Hebrew, Jacob called the heap Galeed, meaning “Witness heap.” Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, using an Aramaic or Syrian expression having the same meaning. It was also called “The Watchtower.” (Gen. 31:43-53) After bidding his grandchildren and daughters farewell, Laban returned home, and the Bible record makes no further mention of him.—Gen. 31:54, 55.

2. A place mentioned at Deuteronomy 1:1 in relation to the “desert plains in front of Suph.” The exact location of Laban is unknown.

LABDANUM

There is some uncertainty as to what is designated by the Hebrew word n^ekhoʼthʹ, an item carried by a caravan of Ishmaelites to whom Joseph was sold and one of the fine products that Jacob told his sons to take as a gift to one who was ruler in Egypt. (Gen. 37:25; 43:11) N^ekhoʼthʹ has been variously rendered “spicery” (AS, AV), “gum” (AT, RS), “tragacanth” (Da), “resin” (Mo) and, as defined in a recent Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon by Koehler and Baumgartner, “labdanum.” (NW) Labdanum is a soft, dark-brown or black gum that exudes from the leaves and branches of several varieties of Cistus or rockrose, a bushy little plant with large five-petal flowers resembling the wild rose. The gum has a bitter taste but a fragrant odor. It is used in perfumes and, at one time, was also extensively employed in medicine. With reference to this substance the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (Book III, sec. 112) writes: “It is itself most fragrant; for it is found sticking like gum to the beards of he-goats, which collect it from the wood. It is useful for many ointments, and the Arabians burn it very generally as a perfume.”

LABOR PAINS

God expressed to the first woman, Eve, after she had sinned, what the result would be as to childbearing. If she had remained obedient, God’s blessing would have continued upon her and childbearing would have been an unadulterated joy, for, “the blessing of Jehovah—that is what makes rich, and he adds no pain with it.” (Prov. 10:22) But now, as a general rule, the imperfect functioning of the body would bring pain. Accordingly God said (as often the things that he permits are said to be done by him): “I shall greatly increase the pain of your pregnancy; in birth pangs you will bring forth children.”—Gen. 3:16.

The Hebrew expression in this passage of Scripture is, literally, “your pain and your pregnancy,” and is rendered by some translations “thy sorrow and thy conception.” (AV; Yg) But the grammatical form used is called “hendiadys,” wherein two words are connected by “and” though one thing is meant. Modern translations render the expression accordingly. (AT; Mo; RS) So it is not stated that conception would necessarily increase, but that the pain would.

It is true that the pain of pregnancy and childbearing may be relieved by medical treatment, and even prevented to some extent by care and preparatory methods. But, generally, childbirth remains a physically distressing experience. (Gen. 35:16-20; Isa. 26:17) Despite such labor pains associated with childbearing, there is happiness attendant upon the birth of a child. When Jesus Christ spoke intimately with his apostles on the evening before his death, he used this circumstance as an illustration. He explained to them that he was going to leave them, then went on to say: “Most truly I say to you, You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice; you will be grieved, but your grief will be turned into joy. A woman, when she is giving birth, has grief, because her hour has arrived; but when she has brought forth the young child, she remembers the tribulation no more because of the joy that a man has been born into the world. You also, therefore, are now, indeed, having grief; but I shall see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.”—John 16:20-22.

This painful period did come upon them for parts of three days, when they doubtless wept and ‘afflicted their souls’ by fasting. (Luke 5:35; compare Psalm 35:13.) But early on the morning of the third day, Nisan 16, the resurrected Jesus appeared to certain of the disciples, and for forty days after that. Imagine their joy! On the day of Pentecost, fifty days from Jesus’ resurrection, God’s holy spirit was poured out upon them and they became joyful witnesses of his resurrection, first in Jerusalem and later in distant parts of the earth. (Acts 1:3, 8) And no one could take their joy away.

AS REPRESENTING DISTRESS

The psalmist described a gathering of kings as they viewed the splendor and magnificence of God’s holy city Zion, with its towers and ramparts of strength. He says: “They themselves saw; and so they were amazed. They got disturbed, they were sent running in panic. Trembling itself took hold of them there, birth pangs like those of a woman giving birth.” (Ps. 48:1-6) The psalm appears to describe an actual occurrence in which enemy kings were panic-stricken in a projected attack on Jerusalem. While there are several conjectures as to what occasion is here meant, no certain identification has been made.

Jeremiah, in prophesying defeat to come upon mighty Babylon, told of a people from the north, the report about whom would cause the king of Babylon to have severe pains, like a woman giving birth. This was fulfilled when Cyrus came against Babylon and particularly when the mysterious handwriting appeared on the wall at Babylonian King Belshazzar’s feast. This the prophet Daniel interpreted to Belshazzar as portending the immediate fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians.—Jer. 50:41-43; Dan. 5:5, 6, 28.

SYMBOLIC USE

Concerning the coming of “Jehovah’s day,” the apostle Paul explained that it would be when the cry of “Peace and security!” is being proclaimed. Then “sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape.” (1 Thess. 5:2, 3) Labor pains come very suddenly, the exact day and hour not foreknown. The pains first are fifteen to twenty minutes apart, becoming closer together as labor advances. In most cases the time of labor is relatively short, especially in its second stage, but once labor pains begin, the woman knows that a birth is approaching and that the ordeal must be undergone. There is no “escape.”

In the apostle John’s vision in Revelation he saw a heavenly woman crying out “in her pains and in her agony to give birth.” The child born was “a son, a male, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” In spite of the dragon’s efforts to devour it, “her child was caught away to God and to his throne.” (Rev. 12:1, 2, 4-6) The catching up of the son by God would denote his acceptance of the child as his own, just as the custom was in ancient times to present the child before its father for acceptance. (See BIRTH.) It would follow that the “woman” is God’s “wife,” the “Jerusalem above,” the “mother” of Christ and his spiritual brothers.—Gal. 4:26; Heb. 2:11, 12, 17.

God’s heavenly “woman” would, of course, be perfect and the birth would be perfect and without literal pain. The labor pains would, therefore, symbolically indicate that the “woman” would realize that the birth was at hand—would be in expectation of it shortly.

Who would this “son, a male,” be? He was to “shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” This was foretold of God’s Messianic king, at Psalm 2:6-9. But John saw this vision long after Christ’s birth on earth and his death and resurrection. The vision would therefore appear to refer to the birth of God’s new administration for the universe, the Messianic Kingdom in the hands of his Son Jesus Christ, who, on being raised from the dead, “sat down at the right hand of God, from then on awaiting until his enemies should be placed as a stool for his feet.”—Heb. 10:12, 13; Ps. 110:1; Rev. 12:10.

This was an expected event, and as the time drew near the expectation of it in heaven and on earth would become great, for fulfilled prophecy would be a sure indication of its nearness. So it would be, as the apostle pointed out to Christians, with the coming of “Jehovah’s day”: “Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you,” and, “You, brothers, you are not in darkness, so that that day should overtake you as it would thieves.”—1 Thess. 5:1, 4.

LACHISH

(Laʹchish).

A Judean city in the Shephelah. (Josh. 15:21, 33, 39) Lachish is generally identified with Tell ed-Duweir, a mound surrounded by valleys and lying some fifteen miles (24 kilometers) W of Hebron. Anciently this site occupied a strategic position on the principal road linking Jerusalem with Egypt. At one time the city covered an area of about eighteen acres (7 hectares) and perhaps had a population numbering between 6,000 and 7,500 persons.

At the time of Israel’s conquest of Canaan, Japhia the king of Lachish joined four other kings in a military offensive against Gibeon, a city that had made peace with Joshua. (Josh. 10:1-5) In response to Gibeon’s appeal for aid, the Israelite army staged an all-night march from Gilgal. With Jehovah’s help, they defeated the Canaanite alliance, and the kings themselves were trapped in a cave and thereafter executed. (Josh. 10:6-27; 12:11) Later, the city of Lachish was taken in less than two days of fighting and its inhabitants were slain. Also, Horam the king of Gezer, who came to the aid of Lachish, suffered defeat.—Josh. 10:31-35.

Some archaeologists link Israel’s campaign against Lachish with a thick layer of ash uncovered at Tell ed-Duweir, in which, among other things, a scarab of Rameses was found. But the Bible does not state that the city was burned, as it does in the case of Jericho (Josh. 6:24, 25), Ai (Josh. 8:28) and Hazor. (Josh. 11:11) Rather, Joshua 11:13 seems to indicate that the Israelites rarely burned “cities standing on their own mounds.” So there is no Scriptural basis for placing the destruction causing the ash layer in the time of Joshua and then dating the Israelite conquest of Canaan accordingly. It is also noteworthy that it cannot be definitely established to which Rameses the scarab should be assigned. At least one archaeologist attributed the scarab to Rameses III and advanced the thought that Lachish was destroyed by the Philistines in the twelfth century B.C.E.

During Rehoboam’s reign (997-980 B.C.E.) Lachish was strengthened militarily. (2 Chron. 11:5-12) Later, in 829 B.C.E., King Amaziah fled to Lachish to escape conspirators but was pursued and put to death there.—2 Ki. 14:19; 2 Chron. 25:27.

BESIEGED BY SENNACHERIB

Lachish was besieged by Assyrian King Sennacherib in 732 B.C.E. From there he sent Rabshakeh, Tartan and Rabsaris with a heavy military force to Jerusalem in an effort to move King Hezekiah to surrender. Through his chief spokesman Rabshakeh, Sennacherib defied Jehovah, and later sent messengers to Jerusalem with letters of continued taunt and threat designed to bring about Hezekiah’s surrender. This defiance of Jehovah God finally led to the annihilation by God’s angel of 185,000 Assyrian warriors in one night.—2 Ki. 18:14, 17-35; 19:8-13, 32-35; Isa. 36:1-20; 37:8-13, 33-36.

A portrayal of the siege of Lachish, from Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh, indicates that the city was encompassed by a double wall having towers at regular intervals and that palms, grapes and figs flourished in the surrounding hilly area. The scene showing Sennacherib receiving the spoils of Lachish is accompanied by the following inscription: “Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, sat upon a nimedu-throne and passed in review the booty (taken) from Lachish (La-ki-su).”

CAPTURED BY BABYLONIANS

When the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar overran Judah (609-607 B.C.E.), Lachish and Azekah were the last two fortified cities to fall before Jerusalem was taken. (Jer. 34:6, 7) What are known as the “Lachish Letters” (written on pottery fragments, eighteen of which were found at Tell ed-Duweir in 1935 and three more in 1938) appear to relate to this period. One of these letters, evidently directed by a military outpost to the commander at Lachish, reads in part: “. . . we are watching for the signal-stations of Lachish, according to all the signs which my lord gives, because we do not see Azekah.” This message suggests that Azekah had already been taken so that no signals were received from there. It is also of interest that nearly all the legible “Lachish Letters” contain words such as “May YHWH [Yahweh or Jehovah] cause my lord to hear this very day tidings of good!” This shows that the name “Jehovah” was then in common use.

After Judah and Jerusalem lay desolate for seventy years, Lachish was reoccupied by returning Jewish exiles.—Neh. 11:25, 30.

PROPHETIC MENTION

At Micah 1:13 Lachish is addressed prophetically: “Attach the chariot to the team of horses, O inhabitress of Lachish. The beginning of sin was what she was to the daughter of Zion, for in you the revolts