Gedaliah ( or ; ''Gəḏalyyā)'' was a person from the Bible who was a governor of Yehud province. He was also the son of Ahikam, who saved 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 ...

Names

Gedaliah ( or ; ''Gəḏalyyā'' or ''Gəḏalyyāhū''; also written Gedalia, Gedallah, Hirsch, E. G. and Greenstone, J. H. (1906)
Gedallah
Jewish Encyclopedia Gedalya, or Gedalyah) means " Yah(weh) is Great".

Background

Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam (who saved the life of the prophet

) and the grandson of Shaphan (who is mentioned in relation to the discovery of the scroll of Teaching that some scholars identify as the core of the

book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

Governorship

Gedaliah was according to the narratives in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' 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 ...

and

Second Book of Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including t ...

, appointed 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 ...

as governor of Yehud province, which was formed after the defeat 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 ...

and the destruction of

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 ...

, in a part of the territory that previously formed the kingdom. He was supported by a

Chaldea Chaldea () refers to a region probably located in the marshy land of southern Mesopotamia. It is mentioned, with varying meaning, in Neo-Assyrian cuneiform, the Hebrew Bible, and in classical Greek texts. The Hebrew Bible uses the term (''Ka� ...

n guard stationed at Mizpah. On hearing of the appointment, the Jews that had taken refuge in surrounding countries returned to Judah. He zealously began to encourage the people to cultivate the fields and vineyards, and thus lay the foundation of security. Many who had fled to neighboring lands during the war of destruction were attracted by the news of the revival of the community. They came to Gedaliah in Mizpah and were warmly welcomed by him.

Assassination

Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him, murdered Gedaliah, together with most of the Jews who had joined him and many Babylonians whom Nebuchadnezzar had left with Gedaliah (). The remaining Judeans feared the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar and fled to Egypt. Although the dates are not clear from the Bible, this probably happened about 582/1 BCE (,), some four to five years and three months after the destruction of Jerusalem and the

First 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 BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it was commis ...

in 586 BCE.

Fast of Gedaliah

To lament the assassination of Gedaliah, which left Judah devoid of any Jews and Jewish rule and completed the destruction of the First Temple, the Jewish Sages established the third day of

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 ...

as the Fast of Gedaliah. Although Gedaliah's assassination perhaps occurred on the first day of Tishrei,See the fast is observed on the third day so as not to coincide with

Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...

References

{{Authority control 580s BC deaths Assassinated Jews 6th-century BCE Jews Ten Days of Repentance Book of Jeremiah Books of Kings people Biblical murder victims Assassinated governors and heads of sub-national entities Ancient governors Ancient assassinated people