O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee.
O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast - steed, in order by a hasty flight to escape the invading foe. Compare note, Isaiah 36:2, on "Lachish," at which Sennacherib fixed his headquarters, whence he despatched "Rabshakeh to Jerusalem with a great army" (2 Kings 18:14; 2 Kings 18:17; Jeremiah 34:7).
She is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion. Lachish was the first of the cities of Judah, according to this passage, to introduce the worship of false gods, imitating what Jeroboam had introduced in Israel. Rehoboam, the perverse son of Solomon, was its builder (2 Chronicles 11:9). Since lying near the border of the northern kingdom, Lachish was first to be infected by its idolatry, which thence spread to Jerusalem. Lachish (meaning strong) shall be strong only to flee.