Zedekiah ( ; born Mattaniah; 618 BC – after 586 BC) was the twentieth and final

King of Judah The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah, which was formed in about 930 BC, according to the Hebrew Bible, when the United Kingdom of Israel split, with the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel rejecti ...

before the destruction of Jerusalem by

Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

. After the siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II deposed king

Jeconiah Jeconiah ( meaning "Yahweh has established"; ; ), also known as Coniah and as Jehoiachin ( ''Yəhoyāḵin'' ; ), was the nineteenth and penultimate king of Judah who was dethroned by the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BCE ...

and installed his uncle Mattaniah instead, changing his name to Zedekiah (). The prophet

Jeremiah Jeremiah ( – ), also called Jeremias, was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah authored the Book of Jeremiah, book that bears his name, the Books of Kings, and the Book of Lamentations, with t ...

was his counselor, yet he did not heed the prophet and his epitaph is "he did evil in the sight of the Lord" (; ). William F. Albright dates the start of Zedekiah's reign to 598 BC, while Edwin R. Thiele gives the start in 597 BC.Edwin Thiele, '' The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings'', (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). , 9780825438257, 217. On that reckoning, Zedekiah was born in c. 617 BC or 618 BC, being twenty-one on becoming king. Zedekiah's reign ended with the siege and fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar II, which has been dated to 587 or 586 BC.

Background

The defeat of the

Neo-Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...

in 612 BC at the Battle of Nineveh by the

Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to ancient Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC a ...

caused upheavals that led to the destruction of the

Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...

. Egypt, concerned about the new threat posed by the Babylonians, moved northward to support Assyria. It set on the march in 608 BC, moving through Judah. King

Josiah Josiah () or Yoshiyahu was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE). According to the Hebrew Bible, he instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Until the 1990s, the biblical description of Josiah’s ...

attempted to block the Egyptian forces and fell mortally wounded in battle at

Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Juncti ...

. Josiah's younger son Jehoahaz was chosen to succeed his father on the throne. Three months later the Egyptian pharaoh

Necho II Necho II (sometimes Nekau, Neku, Nechoh, or Nikuu; Greek: Νεκώς Β'; ) of Egypt was a king of the 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC), which ruled from Sais. Necho undertook a number of construction projects across his kingdom. In his reign, accor ...

, returning from the north, deposed Jehoahaz in favor of his older brother,

Jehoiakim Jehoiakim, also sometimes spelled Jehoikim was the eighteenth and antepenultimate King of Judah from 609 to 598 BC. He was the second son of King Josiah () and Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. His birth name was Eliakim. Background Af ...

. Jehoahaz was taken back to Egypt as a captive.Bakon, Shimon
"Zedekiah: Last King of Judah"
''Jewish Bible Quarterly'', Vol. 36, No. 2, 2008. After the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians at the

Battle of Carchemish The Battle of Carchemish was a battle fought around 605 BCE between the armies of Egypt, allied with the remnants of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, against the armies of Babylonia. The forces would clash at Carchemish, an important military crossing a ...

in 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II besieged Jerusalem. Jehoiakim changed allegiances to avoid the destruction of Jerusalem. He paid tribute from the treasury, some artifacts from the temple, and some of the royal family and nobility were taken as hostages. The subsequent failure of the Babylonian invasion into Egypt undermined Babylonian control of the area, and after three years, Jehoiakim switched allegiance back to the Egyptians and ceased paying the tribute to Babylon. Because of this, Nebuchadnezzar II invaded Judah again in 599 BC, and again laid siege to Jerusalem. In 598 BC, Jehoiakim died during the siege and was succeeded by his son

(also known as Jehoiachin). Jerusalem fell within three months. Jeconiah was deposed by Nebuchadnezzar, who installed Zedekiah, Jeconiah's uncle, in his place.

Life and reign

According to the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Babylonian chronicle, which states,

The seventh year: In the month Kislev the king of Akkad mustered his army and marched to Hattu. He encamped against the city of Judah and on the second day of the month Adar he captured the city ndseized tsking. A king of his own choice he appointed in the city ndtaking the vast tribute he brought it into Babylon.

The kingdom was at that time a tributary to Nebuchadnezzar II. Despite the strong remonstrances of

Baruch ben Neriah Baruch ben Neriah ( ''Bārūḵ ben Nērīyyā''; c. 6th century BC) was the scribe, disciple, secretary, and devoted friend of the Hebrew Bible, Biblical prophet Jeremiah. He is traditionally credited with authoring the Book of Baruch. Biograp ...

and other family and advisors—and ignoring the example of his older brother

—Zedekiah entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt and revolted against Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar responded by invading Judah (). Nebuchadnezzar began a siege of Jerusalem in December 589 BC. During this siege "every worst woe befell the city, which drank the cup of God's fury to the dregs" (; , ). After laying siege to the city for about thirty months, Nebuchadnezzar finally succeeded in capturing Jerusalem in 586 BC. Zedekiah and his followers attempted to escape, making their way out of the city, but were captured on the plains of Jericho and taken to Riblah. There, Zedekiah saw his sons put to death. Then his eyes were put out and he was loaded with chains and carried captive to Babylon (; ; ; ; ; ), where he remained a prisoner until he died. After the fall of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar sent Nebuzaradan to destroy the city. It was plundered and razed to the ground, and

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (), was a biblical Temple in Jerusalem believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries Common Era, BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it ...

was destroyed. Only a small number of vinedressers and husbandmen were permitted to remain in the land ().The sages also explain proverbs 24:30 as follows: I passed by the field of a lazy man, This is Ahaz. And the vineyard of a senseless man, this is Manashe. And behold, it was all overgrown with thorns, this is Amon. And its surface was covered with Nettle, this is Jehoiakim. And its stone wall was broken down, this is a reference to Zedekiah, in whose days the temple was destroyed.

In the Book of Jeremiah

Zedekiah's first appearance in the

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah () is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1#Superscription, Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the book as "th ...

is in Jeremiah 21, where he sends Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to the prophet

to ask God why Nebuchadnezzar had declared war against Judah; they suspected that God was going to make Nebuchadnezzar withdraw from besieging them. Jeremiah responds to Pashhur and Zephaniah and tells them that God declares what will happen if Zedekiah does not surrender to Nebuchadnezzar — his people will die by the sword, pestilence, and famine, but if he surrenders they will survive. In Jeremiah 22, Jeremiah advises Zedekiah to act with justice and righteousness and warns him what will happen if he does not obey God's word. (, ) In Jeremiah 24, God shows Jeremiah a vision of two baskets of figs placed before a temple, one filled with good, ripe figs, and the other filled with bad figs. God compares Zedekiah and his officials to the bad figs and states that they will be destroyed by sword, famine, and pestilence. Jeremiah had previously advised Zedekiah at the beginning of his reign to submit to

and to not listen to false prophets like Hananiah who prophesied that he would not have to serve Babylon. () In Zedekiah's tenth year, he imprisons Jeremiah in his palace because Jeremiah had prophesied that

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

would be captured by Nebuchadnezzar. Subsequently, Jeremiah prophesies that Zedekiah will die in peace and have a traditional funeral like the kings before him, but he will be captured by Babylon. Later, Zedekiah made a covenant with his people to free all Hebrew slaves, but they were re-enslaved by their captors. God speaks through Jeremiah and notes that Zedekiah did what was right by freeing the Hebrew slaves, but he broke his own covenant by allowing them to be re-enslaved. () Zedekiah sends Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest to ask Jeremiah to pray for them when Apries's army had threatened the Babylonians enough to retreat from sieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah once again responds that the Babylonians will come back and capture the city. Previously, when Jeremiah had been imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary in suspicion that he was defecting to the Babylonians, Zedekiah secretly questioned him and asked if there was any word from God, to which Jeremiah responded that there was, that Zedekiah will be captured by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah pleads that he will die if he is sent back to Jonathan's house so Zedekiah transferred him to the court of the guard and ordered that a loaf of bread be given to him daily. Zedekiah refuses his officials' pleas to execute Jeremiah for his prophecies and instead lets them do what they want with Jeremiah, that is throwing him into a cistern belonging to Zedekiah's son Malchiah. Ebed-melech, a servant, heard this and went to Zedekiah (who was at the Benjamin Gate) to tell him that Jeremiah would die if he wasn't saved from the pit. Zedekiah commanded Ebed-melech to take thirty-men to lift Jeremiah from the cistern. Jeremiah then warns Zedekiah again that he shall be spared if he obeys God and surrenders to Babylon, but if he doesn't Jerusalem will be destroyed and he will not escape from Nebuchadnezzar.

Aftermath

Upon the fall of Jerusalem, the former Kingdom of Judah was absorbed into the Neo-Babylonian Empire and reorganized to become Yehud province. Nebuchadnezzar transferred the administrative center from Jerusalem to Mizpah and appointed Gedaliah ben Aḥikam as governor of the province, under the watchful eye of a Babylonian guard (, ). On hearing this news, all the Jews in

Moab Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...

Ammon Ammon (; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; '; ) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Wadi Mujib, Arnon and Jabbok, in present-d ...

Edom Edom (; Edomite language, Edomite: ; , lit.: "red"; Akkadian language, Akkadian: , ; Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom that stretched across areas in the south of present-day Jordan and Israel. Edom and the Edomi ...

, and

Aram-Damascus Aram-Damascus ( ) was an Arameans, Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of Damascus in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later years b ...

returned to Judah (). However, the subsequent assassination of Gedaliah led most of the population of Judah to flee to Egypt for safety (, ) In Egypt, they settled in Migdol,

Tahpanhes Tahpanhes or Tehaphnehes (; or ) known by the Ancient Greeks as the ( Pelusian) Daphnae () and Taphnas () in the Septuagint, now Tell Defenneh, was a city in ancient Egypt. It was located on Lake Manzala on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, abou ...

Noph Noph or Moph was the Hebrew name for the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, capital of Lower Egypt, References Hebrew Bible cities Ancient Egypt {{Egypt-geo-stub ...

, and

Pathros Pathros (; ; , ; Koine , ) refers to Upper Egypt, primarily the Thebaid where it extended from Elephantine fort to modern Asyut north of Thebes. Gardiner argues it extended to the north no further than Abydos. It is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible ...

. ().

Chronological dispute

The

Babylonian Chronicles The Babylonian Chronicles are a loosely-defined series of about 45 clay tablet, tablets recording major events in Babylonian history. They represent one of the first steps in the development of ancient historiography. The Babylonian Chronicles a ...

give 2 Adar (16 March), 597 BC, as the date that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem. At that time, Nebuchadnezzar deposed King

and installed Zedekiah—Jeconiah's uncle—in his place. Zedekiah's installation as king by Nebuchadnezzar can therefore be firmly dated to the early spring of 597 BC. Historically there has been considerable controversy over the date when Jerusalem was captured the second time and Zedekiah's reign came to an end. There is no dispute about the month: it was the summer month of Tammuz (Jeremiah 52:6). The problem has been to determine the year. It was noted above that Albright preferred 587 BC and Thiele advocated 586 BC, and this division among scholars has persisted until the present time. If Zedekiah's years are by accession counting, whereby the year he came to the throne was considered his "zero" year and his first full year in office, 597/596, was counted as year one, Zedekiah's eleventh year, the year the city fell, would be 587/586. Since Judean regnal years were measured from

Tishrei Tishrei () or Tishri (; ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year (wh ...

in the fall, this would place the end of his reign and the capture of the city in the summer of 586 BC. Accession counting was the rule for most, but not all, of the kings of Judah, whereas "non-accession" counting was the rule for most, but not all, of the kings of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The publication of the

in 1956 yielded evidence that the years of Zedekiah were measured in a non-accession sense. According to this method, 598/597 BC—the year Zedekiah was installed by Nebuchadnezzar according to Judah's Tishrei-based calendar—is considered to be "year one" of Zedekiah's reign. Therefore, the fall of Jerusalem in his eleventh year would have been in year 588/587 BC, i.e. in the summer of 587 BC. The Babylonian Chronicles allow the fairly precise dating of the capture of

and the start of Zedekiah's reign, and they also give the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar's successor

Amel-Marduk Amel-Marduk ( Babylonian cuneiform: ''Amēl-Marduk'', meaning "man of Marduk"), also known as Awil-Marduk, or in the biblical rendition of his name, Evil-Merodach (), was the third emperor of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 562 BCE until ...

(Evil Merodach) as 562/561 BC, which was the 37th year of Jeconiah's captivity according to 2 Kings 25:27. These Babylonian records related to Jeconiah's reign are consistent with the fall of the city in 587 but not in 586, thus supporting Albright's date. Nevertheless, scholars who assume that Zedekiah's reign should be calculated by accession reckoning continue to adhere to the 586 date.

Book of Mormon

According to the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

, a religious text in the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

, Zedekiah had a son named Mulek, who escaped death and traveled across the ocean to the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, where he founded the Mulekite nation. The Mulekites later merged with another Israelite splinter group—the Nephites—to form one nation, which retained the Nephite name.

Genealogical note

Zedekiah (whose name at birth was Mattaniah) was the third of

's four sons. His three brothers were Eliakim (born c. 634 BCE), Shallum (born c. 633 BCE), and Johanan. Hamutal—the daughter of Jeremiah of

Libnah Libnah or Lobana (, ''whiteness''; ) was an independent city, probably near the western seaboard of Israel, with its own king at the time of the Israelite conquest of Canaan.Gina Hens-Piazza Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries: 1–2 Kings Abingdon ...

—was mother to Mattaniah and his older brother Shallum, while Zebidah—the niece of Pedaiah—was mother to Eliakim. Zedekiah had multiple wives, sons, and daughters, but only one son is named in the Bible, Malchiah. Shallum succeeded Josiah as king of Judah, under the name Jehoahaz. Shallum was succeeded by Eliakim, under the name

. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his own son

. Nebuchadnezzar II deposed Jeconiah and installed his uncle Mattaniah on the throne, under the name Zedekiah. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the kingdom was conquered by

and the people exiled.

In films

Notes

References

, - {{Authority control 6th-century BCE kings of Judah Book of Mormon people Dethroned monarchs