There are several of this name in Scripture; and it is no wonder, being a compound of Zedek, justice - - and Jah, Lord. The Lord is my judge. And how very blessed is such a name, considered with an eye to Christ, the justifier of his redeemed!
or MATTANIAH, was the last king of Judah before the captivity of Babylon. He was the son of Josiah, and uncle to Jehoiachin his predecessor, 2Ki 24:17; 2Ki 24:19. When Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, he carried Jehoiachin to Babylon, with his wives, children, officers, and the best artificers in Judea, and put in his place his uncle Mattaniah, whose name he changed into Zedekiah, and made him promise, with an oath, that he would continue in fidelity to him, A.M. 3405, 2Ch 36:13; Eze 17:12; Eze 17:14; Eze 17:18. He was twenty-one years old when he began to reign at Jerusalem, and he reigned there eleven years. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, committing the same crimes as Jehoiakim, 2Ki 24:18-20; 2Ch 36:11-13; and regarded not the menaces of the Prophet Jeremiah, from the Lord; but hardened his heart. The princes of the people, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, imitated his impiety, and abandoned themselves to all the abominations of the Gentiles. In the first year of his reign, Zedekiah sent to Babylon Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, probably to carry his tribute to Nebuchadnezzar. By these messengers Jeremiah sent a letter to the captives at Babylon, Jer 29:1-23. Four years afterward, either Zedekiah went thither himself, or at least he sent thither; for the Hebrew text may admit either of these interpretations, Jer 51:59; Bar 1:1; Jer 32:12. The chief design of this deputation was to entreat Nebuchadnezzar to return the sacred vessels of the temple, Bar 1:8. In the ninth year of his reign, he revolted against Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 25. It was a sabbatical year, in which the people should set their slaves at liberty, according to the law, Exo 21:2; Deu 15:1-2; Deu 15:12; Jer 34:8-10.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar marched his army against Zedekiah, and took all the fortified places of his kingdom, except Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem. He sat down before the last-mentioned city on the tenth day of the tenth month of the holy year, which answers to our January. Some time afterward, Pharaoh Hophrah, king of Egypt, marched to assist Zedekiah, Jer 37:3-5; Jer 37:10. Nebuchadnezzar left Jerusalem, and went to meet him, defeated him, and obliged him to return into Egypt; after which he resumed the siege of Jerusalem. In the mean while, the people of Jerusalem, as if freed from the fear of Nebuchadnezzar, retook the slaves whom they had set at liberty, which drew upon them great reproaches and threatenings from Jer 34:11; Jer 34:22. During the siege Zedekiah often consulted Jeremiah, who advised him to surrender, and pronounced the greatest woes against him if he should persist in his rebellion, Jer 37:3; Jer 37:10; Jeremiah 21. But this unfortunate prince had neither patience to hear, nor resolution to follow, good counsels. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, on the ninth day of the fourth month, (July,) Jerusalem was taken, 2Ki 25:2-4; Jer 39:2-3; Jer 52:5-7. Zedekiah and his people endeavoured to escape by favour of the night; but the Chaldean troops pursuing them, they were overtaken in the plains of Jericho. He was seized and carried to Nebuchadnezzar, then at Riblah, a city of Syria. The king of Chaldea, reproaching him with his perfidy, caused all his children to be slain before his face, and his eyes to be put out; then loading him with chains of brass, he ordered him to be sent to Babylon, 2Ki 25:4-7; Jer 32:4-7; Jer 52:4-11. Thus were accomplished two prophecies which seemed contradictory: one of Jeremiah, who said that Zedekiah should see and yet not see, Nebuchadnezzar with his eyes, Jer 32:4-5; Jer 34:3; and the other of Eze 12:13, which intimated that he should not see Babylon, though he should die there. The year of his death is not known. Jeremiah had assured him that he should die in peace; that his body should be burned, as those of the kings of Judah usually were; and that they should mourn for him, saying,” Ah, lord!” Jer 34:4-5.
Zedeki´ah, son of Josiah, the twentieth and last king of Judah, was, in place of his brother Jehoiakim, set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, who changed his name from Mattaniah to that by which he is ordinarily spoken of. As the vassal of the Babylonian monarch, he was compelled to take an oath of allegiance to him, which, however, he observed only till an opportunity offered for throwing off his yoke. Success in such an undertaking was not likely to attend his efforts. His heart was not right before God, and therefore was he left without divine succor. Corrupt and weak, he gave himself up into the hands of his nobles, and lent an ear to false prophets; while the faithful lessons of Jeremiah were unwelcome, and repaid by incarceration. Like all of his class, he was unable to follow good, and became the slave of wicked men, afraid alike of his own nobility and of his foreign enemies. By his folly and wickedness he brought the state to the brink of ruin. Yet the danger did not open his eyes. Instead of looking to Jehovah, he threw himself for support on Egypt, when the Chaldean came into the land and laid siege to his capital. The siege was begun on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of his reign. For a year and a half did Jerusalem effectually withstand Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of that time, however, the city was stormed and taken (B.C. 588), when Zedekiah, who had fled, was captured on the road to Jericho. Judgment was speedily executed: his sons were slain before his eyes, and he himself was deprived of sight and sent in chains to Babylon, where he died in prison (2Ki 24:17, seq.; 25:1, seq.; 2Ch 36:10, seq.; Jeremiah 28; Jeremiah 34; Jeremiah 37-39; Jeremiah 52; Eze 17:15).
1. The twentieth and last king of Judah, son of Josiah and Hamutal, and uncle to Jeconiah his predecessor, 2Ki 24:17,19 Jer 52:1 . When Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, he carried Jeconiah to Babylon, with his wives, children, officers, and the best artificers in Judea, and put in his place his uncle Mattaniah, whose name he changed to Zedekiah, and made him promise with an oath that he would maintain fidelity to him. He was twenty-one years old when he began to reign at Jerusalem, and he reigned there eleven years. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, committing the same crimes as Jehoiakim, 2Ki 24:18-20 2Ch 36:11-13 . Compare Jer 29:16-19 34:1-22 38:5 Eze 17:12,14,18 . In the ninth year of his reign, he revolted against Nebuchadnezzar, trusting to the support of Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt, which proved ineffectual, and despising the faithful remonstrance’s of Jeremiah, Jer 37:2,5,7 -10.\par In consequence of this the Assyrian marched his army into Judea, and took all the fortified places. In the eleventh year of his reign, on the ninth day of the fourth month, (July,) Jerusalem was taken, 588 BC. The king and his people endeavored to escape by favor of the night; but the Chaldean troops pursuing them, they were over-taken in the plain of Jericho. Zedekiah was taken and carried to Nebuchadnezzar, then at Riblah, in Syria, who reproached him with his perfidy, caused his children to be slain before his face and his own eyes to be put out; and then loading him with chains of brass, he ordered him to be sent to Babylon, 2Ki 25:1-30 Jer 39:1-18 52:1-34 Eze 19:1-14 . All these events remarkably fulfilled the predictions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, in the chapters preciously referred to. Compare also, with respect to Zedekiah’s blindness, Jer 34:3 Eze 12:13 .\par 2. A false prophet, exposed by Micaiah when urging Ahab to fight with the Syrians, 1Ki 22:11-37 . His fate is foreshadowed in 1Ki 22:25 .\par 3. Another false prophet, denounced by Jeremiah, Jer 29:21,22 .\par
Zedeki’ah. (justice of Jehovah). The last king of Judah and Jerusalem. He was the son of Josiah, by his wife Hamutal, and, therefore, own brother to Jehoahaz. 2Ki 24:18. Compare 2Ki 23:31. His original name was Mattaniah, which was changed to Zedekiah by Nebuchadnezzar when he carried off his nephew, Jehoiachim, to Babylon and left him on the throne of Jerusalem. Zedekiah was but twenty-one years old when he was thus placed in charge of an impoverished kingdom, B.C. 597.
His history is contained in a short sketch.of the events of his reign given in 2Ki 24:17; 2Ki 25:7 and, with some trifling variations in Jer 39:1-7; Jer 62:1-11, together with the still shorter summary in 1Ch 38:10, etc.; and also in Jeremiah 21; Jeremiah 24; Jeremiah 27-29; Jeremiah 32; Jeremiah 34; Jeremiah 37-38 and Eze 16:11-21. From these, it is evident that Zedekiah was a man not so much bad at heart as weak in will.
It is evident from Jeremiah 27 and Jeremiah 28, that the earlier portion of Zedekiah’s reign was marked by an agitation throughout the whole of Syria against the Babylonian yoke. Jerusalem seems to have taken the lead, since in the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign, we find ambassadors from all the neighboring kingdoms -- Tyre, Sidon, Edom and Moab -- at his court to consult as to the steps to be taken.
The first act of rebellion of which any record survives was the formation of an alliance with Egypt, of itself equivalent to a declaration of enmity with Babylon. As a natural consequence, it brought on Jerusalem an immediate invasion of the Chaldaeans. The mention of this event in the Bible though indisputable, is extremely slight, and occurs only in Jer 37:5-11; Jer 34:21 and Eze 17:15-20, but Josephus (x.7, 3) relates it more fully, and gives the date of its occurrence, namely, the eighth year of Zedekiah, (B.C. 589).
Nebuchadnezzar at once sent an army to ravage Judea. This was done, and the whole country reduced, except Jerusalem and two strong places in the western plain, Lachish and Azekah, which still held out. Jer 34:7.
Called away for a time by an attack from Pharaoh and the Egyptians, on the tenth day of the tenth month of Zedekiah’s ninth year, the Chaldeans were again before the walls. Jer 52:4, From this time forward, the siege progressed slowly but surely to its consummation. The city was indeed reduced to the last extremity. The bread had for long been consumed, Jer 38:9, and all the terrible expedients had been tried to which the wretched inhabitants of a besieged town are forced to resort in such cases.
At last, after sixteen dreadful months, the catastrophe arrived. It was on the ninth day of the fourth month, about the middle of July at midnight, as Josephus with careful minuteness informs us, that the breach in those strong and venerable walls was effected. The moon, nine days old, had gone down. The wretched remnants of the army acquitted the city in the dead of night; and as the Chaldaean army entered the city at one end, the king and his wives fled from it by the opposite gate. They took the road toward the Jordan. As soon as the dawn of day permitted it, swift pursuit was made.
The king’s party were overtaken near Jericho and carried to Nebuchadnezzar, who was then at Riblah, at the upper end of the valley of Lebanon. Nebuchadnezzar, with a refinement of barbarity characteristic of those cruel times, ordered the sons of Zedekiah to be killed before him, and lastly, his own eyes to be thrust out. He was then loaded with brazen fetters, and at a later period, taken to Babylon, where he died.
2. Son of Chenaanah, a false prophet at the court of Ahab, head, or, if not head, virtual leader, of the college, (B.C. 896). He appears but once namely, as spokesman, when the prophets are consulted by Ahab on the result of his proposed expedition to Ramoth-gilead. 1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 18. Zedekiah had prepared himself for the interview with a pair of iron horns, with which he illustrated the manner in which Ahab should drive the Syrians before him. When Micaiah, the prophet of the Lord, appeared and had delivered his prophecy, Zedekiah sprang forward and struck him a blow on the face, accompanying it by a taunting sneer.
3. The son of Maaseiah, a false prophet in Babylon. Jer 29:21-22. He was denounced in the letter of Jeremiah for having, with Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, buoyed up the people with false hopes, not for profane and flagitious conduct. Their names were to become a by-word, tend their terrible fate a warning. (B.C. 595).
4. The son of Hananiah, one of the princes of Judah in the time of Jeremiah. Jer 38:12. (B.C. 605).
1. Judah’s last king, 599 to 588 B.C.
In 1Ch 3:15 Johanan is oldest, then Jehoiakim, Zedekiah is third in order, Shallum fourth, because Jehoiakim and Zedekiah reigned longer, namely, 11 years each; therefore Shallum, though king before Jehoiakim, is put last; on the other hand Zedekiah and Shallum were both sons of Hamutal, therefore put together. Had Zedekiah kept his oath of fealty he would have been safe, though dependent. But weak, vacillating, and treacherous, he brought ruin on his country and on himself. It was through the anger of Jehovah against Judah that Zedekiah was given up to his own rebellious devices, "stiffening his neck and hardening his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel" who warned him by Jeremiah; like Pharaoh of old (2Ch 36:12-13), he would "not humble himself" (Jer 38:5; Jer 39:1-7; Jer 52:1-11; and Jeremiah 21; 24; 27; 28; 29; 32; 33; 34; 37; 38).
In Jer 27:1 read "Zedekiah" for "Jehoiakim" with Syriac, Arabic, and one of Kennicott’s manuscripts (compare Jer 27:3; Jer 27:12; and Jer 28:1, "in the fourth year ... of the reign of Zedekiah") The kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon sent ambassadors in his fourth year to urge Zedekiah to conspire with them against Nebuchadnezzar. But Jeremiah symbolized the futility of the attempt by sending "yokes" back by the ambassadors. Hananiah, who broke the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck, died that year according to the Lord’s sentence by Jeremiah. Baruch (Bar 1:8) represents Zedekiah as having caused silver vessels to be made to replace the golden ones carried off by Nebuchadnezzar; possibly this may have been owing to the impression made on Zedekiah by Hananiah’s death.
In his eighth year (Josephus Ant. 10:7, Section 3) Zedekiah actually leagued with Egypt in treacherous violation of his compact with Nebuchadnezzar. But evidently (Jeremiah 27-28) Zedekiah had been secretly plotting before, in his fourth year; in that year he had gone to Babylon to allay Nebuchadnezzar’s suspicion (Jer 51:59), and also sent messengers to Babylon (Jer 37:5-11; Jer 34:21; Eze 17:13-20). Zedekiah disregarded Jehovah’s words by Jeremiah, notwithstanding the warning given in Jeconiah’s punishment. Still while the issue between the Chaldaeans and Pharaoh Hophra was undecided, he sent begging Jeremiah, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us.
Nebuchadnezzar on learning Zedekiah’s treachery had sent a Chaldaean army which reduced all Judaea except Jerusalem, Lachish, and Azekah (Jeremiah 34). Zedekiah had in consequence induced the princes and people to manumit their Hebrew bond servants. But when Pharaoh Hophra compelled the Chaldaeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem, the princes and people in violation of the covenant enslaved their Hebrew servants again. So God by Jeremiah gave the enslavers a "liberty" (Jer 34:17) fatal to them, manumission from God’s free service (Psa 119:45; Joh 8:36; 2Co 3:17), to pass under the bondage of the sword, pestilence, and famine.
Then followed Jeremiah’s attempt to escape to his native place and his arrest. Zedekiah sent and took him out of prison, and asked, Is there any word from the Lord? to which the prophet, without regard to his personal interests, replied, "there is, for thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon." Zedekiah showed his sense of Jeremiah’s faithfulness by ordering bread to be given him out of the bakers’ street until all the bread in the city was spent (Pro 28:23; Psa 37:19). However, in consequence of his prophesying death to those that remained in the city and life to those who should go forth to the Chaldaeans, who had returned to the siege in the tenth month of Zedekiah’s ninth year (Jer 52:4), Jeremiah was again imprisoned. Zedekiah was too weak to resist, but answered his princes "the king is not he that can do anything against you."
At Ebedmelech’s intercession Zedekiah rescued him, and again consulted him. Again Jeremiah told him his only hope was in going forth to the Chaldaeans. But Zedekiah was afraid lest the Chaldaeans should give him up to Jewish deserters, who would treat him ignominiously. Jeremiah told him in reply that, by not going forth, he should bring burning upon the city, and upon himself the very evil he feared if he went forth, ignominious treatment from not only the deserters but the very women of the palace (Jeremiah 38). So afraid was Zedekiah of his princes that he imposed on Jeremiah a subterfuge, concealing the real purpose of his interview from the princes. The terrible concomitants of a siege soon followed (Jer 38:9), so that mothers boiled and ate the flesh of their own infants (Lam 4:5; Lam 4:8; Lam 4:10) and the visage of their nobles was blacker than coal, their skin clave to their bones and became withered.
On the ninth day of the fourth month in the middle of July (Josephus) after a year and a half’s siege (from the tenth month of the ninth year to the fourth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah) about midnight a breach was made in the wall The Babylonian princes took their seats in state in the middle gate, between the upper and the lower city. Zedekiah fled in the opposite direction, namely, southwards, with muffled face to escape recognition, and like one digging through a wall to escape (Eze 12:12; Eze 12:6), between the two walls on the E. and W. sides of the Tyropoeon valley, by a street issuing at the gate above the royal gardens and the fountain of Siloam. Zedekiah was overtaken in the plains of Jericho. He was taken for judgment to Riblah at the upper end of Lebanon; there Nebuchadnezzar first killed his sons before his eyes, then caused the eyes of Zedekiah to be "dug out" (Jeremiah 39; Jer 52:4-11).
Thus were fulfilled the seemingly inconsistent prophecies, "his eyes shall behold his eyes," Jer 32:4, and Eze 12:13 "he shall not see Babylon, though he shall die there." Zedekiah was put "in prison," literally, "the house of visitations" or "punishments," where there was penal work enforced on the prisoners, as grinding, from whence Septuagint reads "in the house of the mill." So Samson "did grind" (Jdg 16:21). He probably died before Evil Merodach, successor of Nebuchadnezzar, treated kindly Jehoiachin in the 37th year of his captivity, 26 years after the fall of Jerusalem; for no mention is made of him (Jer 52:31).
2. Son of Chenaanah.
3. Son of Maaseiah, a false prophet in Babylon, among the captives with Jeconiah. Jeremiah (Jer 29:21-22; Jer 29:25) denounces him for adultery and lying prophecies, buoying up the captives with delusive promises of a speedy restoration. A proverbial formula of cursing should be taken up by all the captives, "Jehovah make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!" (Isa 65:15.) Brother of Zephaniah.
4. Son of Hananiah. One of the princes assembled in the scribes’ chamber when Micaiah announced that Baruch had read Jeremiah’s words to the people (Jer 36:12). He was not much better than his father, who died by God’s visitation (Jer 28:10-17).
5. Son of Jeconiah (1Ch 3:16).
Zedekiah (zĕd’e-kî’ah), justice of Jehovah. 1. The last king of Judah, the son of Josiah, and the uncle of Jehoiachin. His proper name was Mattaniah, but Nebuchadnezzar changed it to Zedekiah when raising him to the throne. He commenced his reign at twenty-one, and reigned eleven years, 598-588 b.c. 2Ch 36:11. He was a weak man, and the people were completely demoralized. In the ninth year of his reign he revolted against Nebuchadnezzar, in consequence of which the Assyrian monarch marched his army into Judæa and took all the fortified places. In the eleventh year of his reign, on the ninth day of the fourth month (July), Jerusalem was taken. The king and his people endeavored to escape by night, but, the Chaldæan troops pursuing them, they were overtaken in the plain of Jericho. Zedekiah was seized and carried to Nebuchadnezzar, then at Riblah, in Syria, who reproached him with his perfidy, caused all his children to be slain before his face and his own eyes to be put out, and then, loading him with chains of brass, ordered him to be sent to Babylon. 2Ki 25:1-11; 2Ch 36:12; 2Ch 36:20. Thus the double prophecy concerning him—that he should be carried to Babylon, but never see it—was literally fulfilled. Jer 32:4-5; Jer 34:3; comp. Eze 12:13. 2. A false prophet in the reign of Ahab. 1Ki 22:11; 1Ki 22:24-25; 2Ch 18:10; 2Ch 18:23-24. There are four persons of this name mentioned in the Bible.
[Zedeki’ah]
1. The name given by Nebuchadnezzar to Mattaniah, son of Josiah, whom he set on the throne of Judah. Zedekiah reigned eleven years, B.C. 599-588, and was the last king of Judah. His reign was evil; he did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah, and profaned the name of Jehovah by breaking his oath to the king of Babylon. The chief priests and the people also transgressed greatly. On Zedekiah revolting from Nebuchadnezzar, he formed an alliance with Egypt (cf. Eze 17:3-20); but Egypt was defeated, and then Nebuchadnezzar pushed on the siege of Jerusalem.
Zedekiah was many times warned by Jeremiah against his course, and was advised to submit to Babylon; but for this Jeremiah was persecuted by the princes of Judah. When the city was taken, Zedekiah, with his wives and children, attempted to escape, but he was captured. Two prophecies respecting him are remarkable: one that he shall speak with the king of Babylon, and "his eyes shall behold his eyes," Jer 32:4; and the other that "he shall be brought to Babylon, yet shall he not See it, though he shall die there." Eze 12:13. And thus it came to pass: on being carried before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, his sons were slain before his face, then his eyes were put out, and he was carried to Babylon. 2Ki 24:17; 2Ki 24:20; 2Ki 25:2; 2Ki 25:7; 1Ch 3:15; 2Ch 36:10-11; Jer 1:3; Jer 21:1-7; Jer 24:8; Jer 27:3; Jer 27:12; Jer 28:1; Jer 29:3; Jer 32:1-5; Jer 34:2-21; Jer. 37 - Jer. 39; Jer 44:30; Jer 49:34; Jer 51:59; Jer 52:1-11.
2. Son of Chenaanah: he was a false prophet, and an adviser of Ahab. He arrogantly smote Micaiah in the face and asked, "Which way went the Spirit of Jehovah from me to speak unto thee?" Micaiah told him his question would be answered when he went into an inner chamber to hide himself. 1Ki 22:11; 1Ki 22:24; 2Ch 18:10; 2Ch 18:23.
3. Son of Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, king of Judah. 1Ch 3:16.
4. Son of Maaseiah: he was a false prophet in Babylon among the captives: with Ahab he was burnt to death. Jer 29:21-22.
5. Son of Hananiah and a prince of Judah. Jer 36:12.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Ira Maurice Price
1. One of the four hundred prophets (I Kings xxii. 11, 24, 25) whom Ahab summoned to inquire of them before Jehoshaphat whether he should attack the Syrians in battle at Ramoth-gilead. Zedekiah appeared as a rival of Micaiah, whom Ahab always feared, and who on this occasion ironically foretold Israel's defeat. Zedekiah struck him on the cheek because he explained by a figure that the words of the four hundred prophets were inspired by a lying spirit. Micaiah's reply was that his rival should see a verification of the adverse prophecy with his own eyes.
2. One of the evil men of Israel in the Captivity, whose false utterances and immoral acts aroused even Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, to such a pitch of wrath that he ordered them to be roasted in the fire (Jer. xxix. 21-23), probably in some such fiery furnace as that mentioned in Daniel.
3. The last king of Judah. He was the youngestson of Josiah and full brother of Jehoahaz (II Kings xxiii. 31, xxiv. 18), the first son of Josiah to reign, who was carried captive to Egypt by Pharaoh-Necho in 608 B.C. (ib. xxiii. 33). Zedekiah's real name was "Mattaniah" (ib. xxiv. 17), but Nebuchadrezzar, who enthroned him (in 597) in the place of the rebellious and captive Jehoiachin, his nephew, changed it to "Zedekiah" (= "righteousness of Jah"). The new king assumed the throne under the sovereignty of Nebuchadrezzar; and an abundance of material descriptive of the events of his reign is furnished in II Kings (xxiv. 17-xxv. 7), in II Chronicles (xxxvi. 10-21), and in more than a dozen chapters of Jeremiah. The eleven years of Zedekiah's reign were notable for a steady decline in Judah's power and for the desperate efforts of Jeremiah to avert the coming disaster. As a ruler he was pliant in the hands of his princes and of Jeremiah, yielding readily to the influence of any adviser, whether prince or prophet. He made a journey to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign to assure Nebuchadrezzar that he would stand by his oath (Jer. li. 59); but the undying ambitions of the Egyptian kings kept turning toward Asia, and Zedekiah, with his usual wavering policy, could no longer resist the persuasions of Hophra (Apries), King of Egypt (589-569 B.C.), and in 588 B.C. broke off his allegiance to Nebuchadrezzar. This brought the Babylonian army against Jerusalem; but it had no sooner settled down to a siege than Judah's Egyptian ally appeared from the southwest. The Babylonians hastily raised the siege and gave Hophra's army such a blow that it retired to the land of the Nile. The siege of Jerusalem was then resumed, and after an investment of one and one-half years the walls yielded. Zedekiah and his retinue escaped through some hidden gate and fled toward the Jordan; but the Babylonians overtook him on the plains of Jericho, and carried him captive to the King of Babylon, whose headquarters were at Riblah. Here Zedekiah's sons, heirs to the throne, were slain in his presence, his own eyes were put out, and he was bound with fetters and taken to Babylon as an ignominious rebel prisoner. As a result of his conspiracies Jerusalem was taken, plundered, and burned; its best population was deported to Babylon as captives; the Jewish kingdom perished; and Israel ceased to exist as an independent nation. Zedekiah passed the remainder of his days in a Babylonian dungeon.
ZEDEKIAH, the last king of Judah before its fall at the hands of the Babylonians, is known to us not only from the historical books, but also from references in the Book of Jeremiah. He was the third son of Josiah to assume the royal title. Jehoahaz was deposed by the Pharaoh; Jehoiakim had a troubled reign of eleven years, and escaped the vengeance of Nebuchadrezzar by dying just before the Babylonian reached Jerusalem. The young Jehoiachin suffered for the sin of his father, being carried into captivity after three months of barren kingship. With him were carried away the chief men of Judah to the number of eight thousand,—Nebuchadrezzar thinking thus to break the seditious temper of the people. Over the remnant left behind Zedekiah was made king. His earlier name, Mattaniah, was changed to Zedekiah (meaning ‘righteousness of Jahweh’), to indicate that the Babylonian monarch, in punishing the treachery of Jehoiakim, had the God of Judah on his side (2Ki 24:17). We are told by Ezekiel (Eze 17:13; Eze 17:19) that Zedekiah took an oath of allegiance to his suzerain. For Zarakes of 1Es 1:38 see Zarakes.
Nebuchadrezzar’s confidence that the people would be submissive after the severe lesson they had received was disappointed. The new men who came to the front were as headstrong as, and even more foolish than, their predecessors. They were blind to the ludicrous Insufficiency of their resources, and determined to play the game of politics against the great nations of the world. The court of Zedekiah was the centre of intrigues against the Babylonian power, and the plotters were fed with promises from Egypt. Zedekiah showed himself a weak man, unable to cope with the situation. In his fourth year ambassadors appeared at Jerusalem from the surrounding nations, to concert common measures against the oppressor. The majority of the prophets encouraged the movement; only Jeremiah saw the madness of the undertaking, and declared against it. His bold declaration of the truth brought upon him the enmity of the courtiers. Zedekiah seems to have been called to account by the great king, to whom he made some explanation which satisfied him, or at least lulled suspicion for a time. The movement itself came to nothing at this time. But in Zedekiah’s ninth year renewed promises from Egypt induced the Jerusalemites to revolt, and Zedekiah was too weak to restrain them. Nebuchadrezzar replied promptly by marching in person against the rebels. Jerusalem was a stronghold in which the people had confidence, and they seem also to have believed fanatically that Jahweh would intervene to protect His Temple. This faith was raised to a high pitch by the approach of an Egyptian army under Pharaoh-hophra; for Nebuchadrezzar was compelled to raise the siege to meet the new enemy. The expression of the people’s confidence that they had got from Jahweh all that they desired is seen in the indecent haste with which they reduced again to slavery the servants whom they had set free in order to obtain His favour (Jer 34:8 ff.).
The joy was short-lived. The Egyptians were hardly a serious problem to Nebuchadrezzar, and soon left him free to resume the siege, which he did with energy. The strongly fortified city was defended by its inhabitants with the courage of despair, and held out a year and a half. During this time they suffered all the horrors of siege, famine, and pestilence. Jeremiah, who still predicted disaster, was arrested, and would have perished in his dungeon had it not been for the compassion of one of the king’s slaves (Jer 38:1-28). Zedekiah, who believed in him, consulted him by stealth, but could not nerve himself to follow the advice he received. When at last the wall was breached, the king attempted to escape to the Jordan valley, hoping thus to gain the eastern desert. But he was overtaken and carried to Nebuchadrezzar. The victor, considering that forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, slew the captive king’s children before his eyes, then blinded the king himself and carried him away in chains to Babylon. The kingdom of Judah had come to an end (2Ki 25:4 ff.).
H. P. Smith.
(1) The son of Chenaanah (1Ki 22:11, 1Ki 22:24; 2Ch 18:10, 2Ch 18:23). Zedekiah was apparently the leader and spokesman of the 400 prophets attached to the court in Samaria whom Ahab summoned in response to Jehoshaphat’s request that a prophet of Yahweh should be consulted concerning the projected campaign against Ramoth-gilead. In order the better to impress his audience Zedekiah produced iron horns, and said to Ahab, “With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until they be consumed.” He also endeavored to weaken the influence of Micaiah ben Imlah upon the kings by asking ironically, “Which way went the Spirit of Yahweh from me to speak unto thee?”
In Josephus (Ant., VIII, xv, 4) there is an interesting rearrangement and embellishment of the Biblical narrative. There Zedekiah is represented as arguing that since Micaiah contradicts Elijah’s prediction as to the place of Ahab’s death, he must be regarded as a false prophet. Then, smiting his opponent, he prayed that if he were in the wrong his right hand might forthwith be withered. Ahab, seeing that no harm befell the hand that had smitten Micaiah, was convinced; whereupon Zedekiah completed his triumph by the incident of the horns mentioned above.
(2) The son of Maaseiah (Jer 29:21-23). A false prophet who, in association with another, Ahab by name, prophesied among the exiles in Babylon, and foretold an early return from captivity. Jeremiah sternly denounced them, not only for their false and reckless predictions, but also for their foul and adulterous lives, and declared that their fate at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar should become proverbial in Israel.
(3) The son of Hananiah (Jer 36:12). One of the princes of Judah before whom Jeremiah’s roll was read in the 5th year of Jehoiakim.
(4) One of the officials who sealed the renewed covenant (Neh 10:1, the King James Version “Zid-kijah”). The fact that his name is coupled with Nehemiah’s suggests that he was a person of importance. But nothing further is known of him.
(5) The last king of Judah (see following article).
The most important of several biblical characters named Zedekiah was the man who became the last king of Judah. Others who bore the name Zedekiah were a prophet in the court of Ahab (1Ki 2:11; 1Ki 2:24), an administrator in the government of Jehoiakim (Jer 36:12), a son of Jehoiakim (1Ch 3:16) and a false prophet among the Jewish captives in Babylon (Jer 29:21-23).
King of Judah
Zedekiah the king was the third son of Josiah to sit upon the throne of Judah. He was known also as Mattaniah (2Ki 23:30; 2Ki 23:34; 2Ki 24:17). The king of Babylonian appointed him king after the former king and all Judah’s best people had been taken captive to Babylon (in 597 BC; 2Ki 24:10-17). Little is known of the early part of Zedekiah’s reign, except that in his fourth year he paid a visit to Babylon (Jer 51:59).
With all Jerusalem’s best administrators now captive in Babylon, Zedekiah’s government was immature and weak. His officials encouraged him to seek help from Egypt and rebel against Babylon. Jeremiah, who had been bringing God’s message to Judah for more than thirty years, opposed this policy. He warned that it would lead only to the horrors of siege and destruction. He advised the people to submit to Babylon, and so at least soften the judgment that was to fall upon them (2Ki 24:18-20; 2Ch 36:11-14; Jer 27:1; Jer 27:12-15).
Zedekiah, however, followed the advice of the pro-Egypt party and rebelled against Babylon. As a result he brought upon Jerusalem the besieging armies of Babylon (2Ki 24:20 b; 25:1; Jer 32:1-2). When he asked Jeremiah to pray that God would remove the Babylonians, Jeremiah replied that God would not remove them. The time of Jerusalem’s judgment had come. Jeremiah advised that it would be better to surrender and be taken captive to Babylon than to resist and die in the siege (Jer 21:1-10). He also warned Zedekiah of the judgment to fall on him personally (Jer 34:1-7).
When Egypt came to Jerusalem’s aid, Babylon lifted the siege temporarily, but Jeremiah warned Zedekiah that Babylon would return and crush both Egypt and Judah (Jer 37:1-10). Meanwhile in Babylon, Ezekiel likewise warned of the increased suffering that Zedekiah’s rebellion against Babylon would bring upon Jerusalem (Eze 17:12-21).
Back in Jerusalem, the pro-Egypt party accused Jeremiah of being a traitor and had him imprisoned. The weak Zedekiah easily gave in to Jeremiah’s opponents (Jer 37:15; Jer 38:5-6), but then was just as easily persuaded by a friend of Jeremiah to change his mind (Jer 38:7-10). Zedekiah had secret meetings with Jeremiah in the hope of receiving better news, but Jeremiah merely repeated his former announcements (Jer 37:16-21; Jer 38:14-28).
After eighteen months of siege, the Babylonian army broke through the walls of Jerusalem (2Ki 25:1-4; Jer 39:1-3). Zedekiah tried to escape by night, but enemy soldiers quickly captured him. They then executed his sons in front of him, blinded him and took him in chains to Babylon, where later he died (2Ki 25:4-7; Eze 12:10-13; Eze 21:25-27). Jerusalem was destroyed, its remaining people and treasures taken to Babylon, and the kingdom of Judah brought to an end (2Ki 25:8-21; 587 BC).