Zedekiah

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1. Judah's last king, 599 to 588 B.C. (See Jeremiah .) Youngest son of Josiah and Hamutal ( Jeremiah 1:3;  Jeremiah 37:1), brother to Jehoahaz ( 2 Kings 24:17-18;  2 Kings 23:31). Ten years old when his father died, 21 when he mounted the throne. Originally named Mattaniah; Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah when he deposed Zedekiah's nephew Jehoiachin. This proves that Nebuchadnezzar treated his vassal kindly, allowing him to choose a new name (Zedekiah is Hebrew, "righteousness of Jehovah") and confirming it as a mark of his supremacy; this name was to be the pledge of his righteously keeping his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar who made him swear by God ( Ezekiel 17:12-16;  2 Chronicles 36:13).

In  1 Chronicles 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 ( 2 Chronicles 36:12-13), he would "not humble himself" ( Jeremiah 38:5;  Jeremiah 39:1-7;  Jeremiah 52:1-11; and Jeremiah 21; 24; 27; 28; 29; 32; 33; 34; 37; 38).

In  Jeremiah 27:1 read "Zedekiah" for "Jehoiakim" with Syriac, Arabic, and one of Kennicott's manuscripts (compare  Jeremiah 27:3;  Jeremiah 27:12; and  Jeremiah 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 ( Baruch 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 ( Jeremiah 51:59), and also sent messengers to Babylon ( Jeremiah 37:5-11;  Jeremiah 34:21;  Ezekiel 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" ( Jeremiah 34:17) fatal to them, manumission from God's free service ( Psalms 119:45;  John 8:36;  2 Corinthians 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 ( Proverbs 28:23;  Psalms 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 ( Jeremiah 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 ( Jeremiah 38:9), so that mothers boiled and ate the flesh of their own infants ( Lamentations 4:5;  Lamentations 4:8;  Lamentations 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 ( Ezekiel 12:12;  Ezekiel 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;  Jeremiah 52:4-11).

Thus were fulfilled the seemingly inconsistent prophecies, "his eyes shall behold his eyes,"  Jeremiah 32:4, and  Ezekiel 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" ( Judges 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 ( Jeremiah 52:31).

2. Son of Chenaanah. (See Micaiah , son of Imlah). 1 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 18. He is distinguished by Jehoshaphat ("is there not here besides a prophet of Jehovah, that we might inquire of him?") from Jehovah's prophets. Zedekiah therefore was one of the "400 prophets of the GROVES" , (Asheerah Ashtaroth) who apparently were not slain when Elijah slew the 450 prophets of Baal ( 1 Kings 18:19;  1 Kings 18:22;  1 Kings 18:24), or rather a prophet of the calves symbolizing "Jehovah," for they spoke in Jehovah's name ( 1 Kings 22:8). Compare as to his assumption of horns  Amos 6:13. Josephus adds (Ant. 8:15, section 3) that Zedekiah denounced Micaiah as contradicting Elijah, who foretold that dogs should lick up Ahab's blood in the vineyard of Naboth of Jezreel; and defied Micaiah to wither the hand with which he smote his cheek, as the prophet from Judah had done to Jeroboam.

3. Son of Maaseiah, a false prophet in Babylon, among the captives with Jeconiah. Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 29:21-22;  Jeremiah 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!" ( Isaiah 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 ( Jeremiah 36:12). He was not much better than his father, who died by God's visitation ( Jeremiah 28:10-17).

5. Son of Jeconiah ( 1 Chronicles 3:16).

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

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,  2 Kings 24:17;  2 Kings 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,  2 Chronicles 36:13;  Ezekiel 17:12;  Ezekiel 17:14;  Ezekiel 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,  2 Kings 24:18-20;  2 Chronicles 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,  Jeremiah 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,  Jeremiah 51:59; Bar_1:1;  Jeremiah 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,  Exodus 21:2;  Deuteronomy 15:1-2;  Deuteronomy 15:12;  Jeremiah 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,  Jeremiah 37:3-5;  Jeremiah 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  Jeremiah 34:11;  Jeremiah 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,  Jeremiah 37:3;  Jeremiah 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,  2 Kings 25:2-4;  Jeremiah 39:2-3;  Jeremiah 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,  2 Kings 25:4-7;  Jeremiah 32:4-7;  Jeremiah 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,  Jeremiah 32:4-5;  Jeremiah 34:3; and the other of  Ezekiel 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!"  Jeremiah 34:4-5 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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.  2 Kings 24:18. Compare  2 Kings 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  2 Kings 24:17;  2 Kings 25:7 and, with some trifling variations in  Jeremiah 39:1-7;  Jeremiah 62:1-11, together with the still shorter summary in  1 Chronicles 38:10, etc.; and also in Jeremiah 21; Jeremiah 24; Jeremiah 27-29; Jeremiah 32; Jeremiah 34; Jeremiah 37-38 and  Ezekiel 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  Jeremiah 37:5-11;  Jeremiah 34:21 and  Ezekiel 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.  Jeremiah 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.  Jeremiah 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,  Jeremiah 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.  Jeremiah 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.  Jeremiah 38:12. (B.C. 605).

Bridgeway Bible Dictionary

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 ( 1 Kings 2:11;  1 Kings 2:24), an administrator in the government of Jehoiakim ( Jeremiah 36:12), a son of Jehoiakim ( 1 Chronicles 3:16) and a false prophet among the Jewish captives in Babylon ( Jeremiah 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 ( 2 Kings 23:30;  2 Kings 23:34;  2 Kings 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;  2 Kings 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 ( Jeremiah 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 ( 2 Kings 24:18-20;  2 Chronicles 36:11-14;  Jeremiah 27:1;  Jeremiah 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 ( 2 Kings 24:20 b; 25:1;  Jeremiah 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 ( Jeremiah 21:1-10). He also warned Zedekiah of the judgment to fall on him personally ( Jeremiah 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 ( Jeremiah 37:1-10). Meanwhile in Babylon, Ezekiel likewise warned of the increased suffering that Zedekiah’s rebellion against Babylon would bring upon Jerusalem ( Ezekiel 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 ( Jeremiah 37:15;  Jeremiah 38:5-6), but then was just as easily persuaded by a friend of Jeremiah to change his mind ( Jeremiah 38:7-10). Zedekiah had secret meetings with Jeremiah in the hope of receiving better news, but Jeremiah merely repeated his former announcements ( Jeremiah 37:16-21;  Jeremiah 38:14-28).

After eighteen months of siege, the Babylonian army broke through the walls of Jerusalem ( 2 Kings 25:1-4;  Jeremiah 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 ( 2 Kings 25:4-7;  Ezekiel 12:10-13;  Ezekiel 21:25-27

Morrish Bible Dictionary

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.  Ezekiel 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,"  Jeremiah 32:4; and the other that "he shall be brought to Babylon, yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there."   Ezekiel 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.  2 Kings 24:17,20;  2 Kings 25:2,7;  1 Chronicles 3:15;  2 Chronicles 36:10,11;  Jeremiah 1:3;  Jeremiah 21:1-7;  Jeremiah 24:8;  Jeremiah 27:3,12;  Jeremiah 28:1;  Jeremiah 29:3;  Jeremiah 32:1-5;  Jeremiah 34:2-21;  Jeremiah 37 —   Jeremiah 39;  Jeremiah 44:30;  Jeremiah 49:34;  Jeremiah 51:59;  Jeremiah 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.   1 Kings 22:11,24;  2 Chronicles 18:10,23 .

3. Son of Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, king of Judah.   1 Chronicles 3:16 .

4. Son of Maaseiah: he was a false prophet in Babylon among the captives: with Ahab he was burnt to death.   Jeremiah 29:21,22 .

5. Son of Hananiah and a prince of Judah.   Jeremiah 36:12 .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. The twentieth and last king of Judah, son of Josiah and Hamutal, and uncle to Jeconiah his predecessor,  2 Kings 24:17,19   Jeremiah 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,  2 Kings 24:18-20   2 Chronicles 36:11-13 . Compare  Jeremiah 29:16-19   34:1-22   38:5   Ezekiel 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,  Jeremiah 37:2,5,7-10 .

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,  2 Kings 25:1-30   Jeremiah 39:1-18   52:1-34   Ezekiel 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,  Jeremiah 34:3   Ezekiel 12:13 .

2. A false prophet, exposed by Micaiah when urging Ahab to fight with the Syrians,  1 Kings 22:11-37 . His fate is foreshadowed in  1 Kings 22:25 .

3. Another false prophet, denounced by Jeremiah,  Jeremiah 29:21,22 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

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.  2 Chronicles 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.  2 Kings 25:1-11;  2 Chronicles 36:12;  2 Chronicles 36:20. Thus the double prophecy concerning him—that he should be carried to Babylon, but never see it—was literally fulfilled.  Jeremiah 32:4-5;  Jeremiah 34:3; comp.  Ezekiel 12:13. 2. A false prophet in the reign of Ahab.  1 Kings 22:11;  1 Kings 22:24-25;  2 Chronicles 18:10;  2 Chronicles 18:23-24. There are four persons of this name mentioned in the Bible.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Kings 22:1Micaiah

2. Last king of Judah (596-586 B.C.). Zedekiah was made king in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ( 2 Kings 24:17 ). When he rebelled, the Babylonian army besieged Jerusalem and destroyed it. Zedekiah was taken to Riblah along with his family. At Riblah he witnessed the executions of his sons before his own eyes were blinded ( 2 Kings 25:7 ). Then Zedekiah was taken to Babylon. He apparently died in captivity. See Israel .

3. Son either of Jehoiakim or Jeconiah ( 1 Chronicles 3:16 ), the Hebrew text being unclear at this point. 4. Signer of Nehemiah's covenant ( 1 Chronicles 10:1 ), spelled Zidkijah by KJV:5. Prophet who promised quick hope to Exiles in Babylon ( Jeremiah 29:21 ). Jeremiah pronounced God's judgment on him. 6. Royal official in Jeremiah's day ( Jeremiah 36:12 ).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ZEDEKIAH . 1 . Son of Chenaanah, and one of Ahab’s four hundred court prophets (  1 Kings 22:11;   1 Kings 22:24-25 ,   2 Chronicles 18:10;   2 Chronicles 18:23-24 ). 2 . A prophet deported to Babylon with Jehoiachin. He and another, named Ahab , are denounced by Jeremiah (  Jeremiah 29:21-23 ) for gross immorality as well as for falsely prophesying a speedy restoration from Babylon. It was probably their action as political agitators that brought on them the cruel punishment of being roasted in the fire by order of Nebuchadrezzar. 3 . Son of Hananiah, one of the princes in the reign of Jehoiakim (  Jeremiah 36:12 ). 4 . A signatory to the covenant (  Nehemiah 10:1 ). 5. See next article.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The son of Hananiah, a prince of Judah in the days of Jehoiakim ( Jeremiah 36:12 ).

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Zedekiah'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/z/zedekiah.html. 1897.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

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!

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Tsidkiyah', צַדְקַיָּה [but in this simple form only in  1 Kings 22:11;  Nehemiah 10:1;  Jeremiah 27:12;  Jeremiah 28:1; Jeremiah 29, 3; elsewhere in tile prolonged form Tsidkiya'Hu, צַדַקַיָּהוּ , My Righteousness is Jah, or, Righteousness Of Jehovah; Sept andJosephus, Σεδεκίας ) , the name of several Hebrews.

1. Son of Chenaanah, a prophet at the court of Ahab, head, or, if not head, virtual leader, of the college. He appears but once, viz., 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). B.C. 896. Zedekiah had prepared himself for the interview with a pair of iron horns, after the symbolic custom of the prophets (comp.  Jeremiah 13:19), the horns of the Irem, or buffalo, which was the recognized emblem of the tribe of Ephraim ( Deuteronomy 33:17). With these, in the interval of Micaiah's arrival, he illustrated the manner in which Ahab should drive the Syrians before him. When Micaiah appeared and had delivered his prophecy, Zedekiah sprang forward and struck him a blow on the face, accompanying it by a taunting sneer. For this he is threatened by Micaiah in terms which are hardly intelligible to us, but which evidently allude to some personal danger to Zedekiah.

The narrative of the Bible does not imply that the blow struck by Zedekiah was prompted by more than sudden anger, or a wish to insult and humiliate the prophet of Jehovah. But Josephus takes a very different view, which he develops at some length (Alt. 8:15, 3). He relates that after Micaiah had spoken, Zedekiah again came forward, and denounced him as false, on the ground that his prophecy contradicted the prediction of Elijah, that Ahab's blood should be licked up by dogs in the field of Naboth of Jezreel; and, as a further proof that he was an impostor, he struck him, daring him to do what Iddo, in somewhat similar circumstances, had done to Jeroboam-viz. wither his hand. This addition is remarkable; but it is related by Josephus with great circumstantiality, and was perhaps drawn by him from that source, now lost, from which he has added so many touches to the outlines of the sacred narrative.

As to the question of what Zedekiah and his followers were, whether prophets of Jehovah or of some false deity, it seems hardly possible to entertain any doubt. True, they use the name of Jehovah, but that was a habit of false prophets ( Jeremiah 28:2; comp.  Jeremiah 29:21;  Jeremiah 29:31); and there is a vast difference between the casual manner in which they mention the awful name and the full and, as it were, formal style in which Micaiah proclaims and reiterates it. Seeing, also, that Ahab and his queen were professedly worshippers of Baal and Ashtaroth, and that a few years oily before this event they had an establishment consisting of two bodies one of 450, the other of 400 prophets of this false worship, it is difficult to suppose that there could have been also 400 prophets of Jehovah at his court. But the inquiry of the king of Judah seems to decide the point. After hearing the prediction of Zedekiah and his fellows, he asks at once for a prophet of Jehovah: "Is there not here besides ( עוֹד ) a prophet of Jehovah that we may inquire of Him? " The natural inference seems to be that the others were Not prophets of Jehovah, but were the 400 prophets of Ashtaroth (A.V. "the groves") who escaped the sword of Elijah (comp.  1 Kings 18:19 with 22:40). They had spoken in his name, but there was something about them — some trait of manner, costume, or gesture — which aroused the suspicions of Jehoshaphat, and, to the practiced eye of one who lived at the center of Jehovah-worship and was well versed in the marks of the genuine prophet, proclaimed them ‘ counterfeits. (See Micaiah).

2. The son of Hananiah, one of the princes of Judah who were assembled in the scribes chamber of the king's palace when Micaiah announced that Baruch had read the words of Jeremiah in the ears of the people from the chamber of Gemariah the scribe ( Jeremiah 36:12). B.C. 605.

3. The last king of Judah and Jerusalem. B.C. 598588. He was the son of Josiah, and his genealogy is given in 1 Chronicles 3, 15, from which it appears that the sons of Josiah were Johanan the first-born (who is never elsewhere mentioned, and therefore probably had died young, or had been set aside by some popular resolution, to which Shallum may have been indebted for the crown in preference to his elder brother, Jehoiakim), the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, and the fourth Shallum. Since Jehoiakim was twenty-five at his father's death, and Jehoahaz, or Shallum, twenty-three, while Zedekiah was not twenty-one till his accession to the throne, eleven years later, there must be a different order from that of, age adopted with the last two sons of Josiah: perhaps it war arranged so as to bring together the two sons of Josiah, who reigned each eleven years, each having been preceded by a king who reigned for only three months. Zedekiah is, indeed, called the brother of his predecessor Jehoiachin ( 2 Chronicles 36:10); but the word must be used in an indefinite sense, for he certainly was his uncle. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnab; so that he was full brother of Jehoahaz ( 2 Kings 23:31;  2 Kings 24:18).

His original name had been Mattaniah, which was changed to Zedekiah by Nebuchadnezzar when he carried off his nephew Jehoiachin to Babylon, and left him on the throne of Jerusalem. Zedekiallhwas but twenty-one years old when he was thus placed in charge of an impoverished kingdom, and a city which, though still strong in its natural and artificial impregnability, was bereft of well-nigh all its defenders. But Jerusalem might have remained the head of the Babylonian province of Judah, and the Temple of Jehovah continued standing, had Zedekiah possessed wisdom and firmness enough to remain true to his allegiance to Babylon. This, however, he could not do ( Jeremiah 38:5). His history is contained in the short sketch of the events of his reign given in  2 Kings 24:17-20;  2 Kings 24:7, and, with some trifling variations, in  Jeremiah 39:1-7; Jeremiah 52, 1-11, together with the still shorter summary in  2 Chronicles 36:10, etc.; and also in Jeremiah 21, 24, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38 (being the chapters containing the prophecies delivered by this prophet during this reign, and his relation of various events more or less affecting Zedekiah), and  Ezekiel 16:11-21. To these it is important to add the narrative of Josephus ( Ant. 10: 7, 1-8, 2), which is partly constructed by comparison of the documents enumerated- above, but also seems to contain information derived from other and independent sources. From these it is evident that Zedekiah was a man not so much bad at heart as weak in will. He was one of those unfortunate characters, frequent in history, like Charles I of England and Louis XVI of France, who find themselves at the head of affairs during a great crisis, without having the strength of character to enable them to do what they know to be right, and whose infirmity becomes moral guilt. The princes of his court, as he himself pathetically admits in his interview with Jeremiah, described in ch. 38:had him completely under their influence. "Against them," he complains, "it is not the king that can do anything." He was thus driven to disregard the counsels of the prophet, which, as the event proved, were perfectly sound; and he who might have kept the fragments of the kingdom of Judah together, and maintained for some generations longer the worship of Jehovah, brought final ruin on his country, destruction on the Temple, death. to his family, and a cruel torment and miserable captivity on himself.

It is evident from Jeremiah 27 (in  Jeremiah 27:1 Jehoiakim's name is a copyist's error for that of Zedekiah) and 28 (apparently the earliest prophecies delivered during this reign) 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. This happened either during the king's absence or immediately after his return from Babylon, whither he had gone on some errand, the nature of which is not named, but which may have been an attempt to blind the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar to his contemplated revolt ( Jeremiah 51:59). The project was attacked by Jeremiah with the strongest statement of the folly of such a course statement corroborated by the very material fact that a man of Jerusalem named Hananiah, who had opposed him with a declaration in the name of Jehovah, that the spoils of the Temple should be restored within two years, had died, in accordance with Jeremiah's prediction, within two months of its delivery. This, and perhaps also the impossibility of any real alliance between Judah and the surrounding nations, seems to have put a stop, for the time, to the anti- Babylonian movement. On a man of Zedekiah's temperament the sudden death of Hananiah must have produced a strong impression; and we may without improbability accept this as the time at which he procured to be made in silver a set of the vessels of the Temple to replace the golden plate carried off with his predecessor by Nebuchadnezzar (Bar. 1, 8).

The first act of overt rebellion of which any record survives was the formation of an alliance with Egypt, of itself equivalent to a declaration of enmity with Babylon. In fact, according to the statement of Chronicles and Ezekiel, with the expansion of Josephus, it was in direct contravention of the oath of allegiance in the name of Elohim by which Zedekiah was bound by Nebuchadnezzar-namely, that he would keep the kingdom for Nebuchadnezzar, make no innovation, and enter into no league with Egypt ( Ezekiel 17:13;  2 Chronicles 36:13; Joseph. Ant. 10:7, 1). As a natural consequence, it brought on Jerusalem an immediate invasion of the Chaldaeans. The mention of this event in the Bible, though sure, is extremely slight, and occurs only in  Jeremiah 34:21;  Jeremiah 37:5-11, and  Ezekiel 17:15-20; but Josephus ( Ezekiel 10:7;  Ezekiel 10:3) relates it more fully, and gives (probably by conjecture) the date of its occurrence as the eighth year of Zedekiah. Probably, also, the denunciations of an- Egyptian alliance contained in  Jeremiah 2:18;  Jeremiah 2:36, have reference to the same time. It appears that Nebuchadnezzar, being made aware of Zedekiah's defection, either by the non-payment of the tribute or by other means, at once sent an-army to ravage Judaea. This was done, and the whole country was reduced, except Jerusalem and two strong places in the western plain, Lachish and Azekah, which still held out ( Jeremiah 34:7). I n the panic which followed the appearance of the Chaldaeans, Zedekiah succeeded in inducing the princes and other inhabitants of Jerusalem to abolish the odious custom which prevailed of enslaving their countrymen. A solemn rite ( Jeremiah 34:18), recalling in its form that in which the original covenant of the nation had been made with Abram ( Genesis 15:9, etc.), was performed in the Temple ( Jeremiah 34:15), and a crowd of Israelites of both sexes found themselves released from slavery. In the meantime Pharaoh had moved to the assistance of his ally. On hearing of his approach, the Chaldaeans at once raised the siege and advanced to meet him. The nobles seized the moment of respite to reassert their power over the king, and their defiance of Jehovah, by re-enslaving those whom they had so recently manumitted; and the prophet thereupon utters a doom on these miscreants which, in the fierceness of its tone and in some of its expressions, recalls those of Elijah on Ahab ( Jeremiah 34:20).

This encounter was quickly followed by Jeremiah's capture and imprisonment which, but for the interference of the king ( Jeremiah 37:17;  Jeremiah 37:21), would have rapidly put an end to his life ( Jeremiah 37:20). How long the Babylonians were absent from Jerusalem we are not told. It must have required at least several months to move a large army and baggage through the difficult and tortuous country, which separates Jerusalem from the Philistine Plain, and to effect the complete repulse of the Egyptian army from Syria, which Josephus affirms was effected. All we certainly know is that on the tenth day of the tenth month of Zedekiah's ninth year, the Chaldaeans were again before the walls ( Jeremiah 52:4). From this time forward the siege progressed slowly but surely to its consummation, with the accompaniment of both famine and pestilence (Josephus). Zedekiah again interfered to preserve the life of Jeremiah from the vengeance of the princes ( Jeremiah 38:7-13), and then occurred the interview between the king and the prophet of which mention has already been made, and which affords so good a clew to the condition of abject dependence into which a long course of opposition had brought the weak-minded monarch. It would seem from this conversation that a considerable desertion had already taken place to the besiegers, proving that the prophet's view of the condition of things was shared by many of his countrymen. But the unhappy Zedekiah throws away the chance of preservation for himself and the city which the prophet set before him, in his fear that he would be mocked by those very Jews who had already taken the step Jeremiah was urging him to take ( Jeremiah 38:19).

At the same time, his fear of the princes who remained in the city is not diminished, and he even condescends to impose on the prophet a subterfuge, with the view of concealing the real purport of his conversation from these tyrants of his spirit ( Jeremiah 38:24-27). But while the king was hesitating the end was rapidly coming nearer. The city was indeed reduced to the last extremity. The fire of the besiegers had throughout been very destructive (Josephus), but it was now aided by a severe famine. The bread had long been consumed ( Jeremiah 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. Mothers had boiled and eaten the flesh of their own infants (Baruch 2, 3;  Lamentations 4:10). Persons of the greatest wealth and station were to be seen searching the dung heaps for a morsel of food. The effeminate nobles, whose fair complexions had been their pride, wandered in the open streets like blackened but living skeletons ( Lamentations 4:5;  Lamentations 4:8). Still the king was seen in public, sitting in the gate where justice was administered, that his people might approach him, though indeed he had no help to give them ( Jeremiah 38:7).

At last, after sixteen dreadful months had dragged on, the catastrophe arrived. It was on the ninth day of the fourth month, about the middle of July, at midnight, as Josephus with minuteness informs us, that the breach in those stout and venerable walls was effected. The moon, nine days old, had gone down below the hills which form the western edge of the basin of Jerusalem, or was, at any rate, too low to illuminate the utter darkness which reigns in the narrow lanes of an eastern town, where the inhabitants retire early to rest, and where there are but few windows to emit light from within the houses. The wretched remnants of the army, starved and exhausted, had left the walls, and there was nothing to oppose the entrance of the Chaldaeans. Passing in through the breach, they made their way, as their custom was, to the center of the city, and for the first time the Temple was entered by a hostile force, and all the princes of the court of the great king took their seats in state in the middle gate of the hitherto virgin house of Jehovah. The alarm quickly spread through the sleeping city, and Zedekiab, collecting his wives and children (Josephus), and surrounding himself with the few soldiers who had survived the accidents of the siege, made his way out of the city at the opposite end to that at which the Assyrians had entered, by a street which, like the Bein es-Surein at Damascus, ran between two walls (probably those on the east and west sides of the so-called Tyropoeon valley), and issued at a gate above the royal gardens and the Fountain of Siloam. ‘ Thence he took the road towards the Jordan, perhaps hoping to find refuge, as David had, at some fortified place in the mountains on its eastern side. On the road they were met and recognized by some of the Jews who had formerly deserted to the Chaldseans. By them the intelligence was communicated, with the eager treachery of deserters, to the generals in the city (Josephus), and, as soon as the dawn of day permitted it, swift pursuit was made. The king's party must have had some hours' start, and ought to have had no difficulty in reaching the Jordan; but, either from their being on foot, weak and infirm, while the pursuers were mounted, or perhaps owing to the encumbrance of the women and baggage, they were overtaken near Jericho, when just within sight of the river. A few of the people only remained round the person of the king. The rest fled in all directions, so that he was easily taken.

Nebuchadnezzar himself was then at Riblah, at the upper end of the valley of Lebanon, some thirty-five miles beyond Baalbek, and therefore about ten days journey from Jerusalem. Thither Zedekiah and his sons were dispatched; his daughters were kept at Jerusalem, and shortly after fell into the hands of the notorious Ishmael at Mizpah. When he was brought before Nebuchadnezzar, the great king reproached him in the severest terms, first for breaking his oath of allegiance, and next for ingratitude (Josephus). He then, with a refinement of cruelty characteristic of those cruel times, ordered his sons to be killed before him, and lastly his own eyes to be thrust out. See EYE. He was loaded with brazen fetters, and at a later period taken to Babylon, where he died. We are not told whether he was allowed to communicate with his brother Jehoiachin, who at that time was also in captivity there; nor do we know the time of his death; but from the omission of his name in the statement of Jehoiakim's release by Evil- Merodach, twenty-six years after the fall of Jerusalem, it is natural to infer that by that time Zedekiah's sufferings had ended.

The fact of his interview with Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and his being carried blind to Babylon, reconciles two predictions of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which at the time of their delivery must have appeared conflicting, and which Josephus indeed particularly states Zedekiah alleged as his reason for not giving more heed to Jeremiah. The former of these ( Jeremiah 32:4) states that Zedekiah shall "speak with the king of Babylon mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;" the latter ( Ezekiel 12:13), that "he shall be brought to Babylon yet shall he not see it, though he die there." The whole of this prediction of Ezekiel, whose prophecies appear to have been delivered at Babylon ( Ezekiel 1:1-3;  Ezekiel 40:1), is truly remarkable as describing almost exactly the circumstances of Zedekiah's flight.

4. A son of Jehoiachin or Jeconiah, and grandson of Jehoiakim, king of Judah ( 1 Chronicles 3:16). B.C. 598 or later. As nothing further is recorded of him, and he is not mentioned subsequently among the royal lineage ( 1 Chronicles 3:17), Keil conjectures ( Comment. ad loc.) that he may have died prior to the deportation of the royal family; but in that case he must have been only an infant.

5. The son of Maaseiah, a false prophet in Babylon among the captives who were taken with Jeconiah ( Jeremiah 29:21-22). He was denounced in the letter of Jeremiah (595) for having, with Ahab the son of Kolaiah, buoyed up the people with false hopes, and for profane and flagitious conduct. Their names were to become a by-word, and their terrible fate a warning. Of this fate we have no direct intimation, or of the manner in which they incurred it; the prophet simply pronounces that they should fall into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and be burned to death. In the Targum of R. Joseph on  2 Chronicles 28:3, the story is told that Joshua the son of Jozadak the high-priest was cast into the furnace of fire with Ahab and Zedekiah, but that, while they were consumed, he was saved for his righteousness sake. 16. The first named of the princes who sealed the sacred covenant with Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 10:1 A. V. "Zikijah"). B.C. 410.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

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 (, seq.; 25:1, seq.; , seq.; Jeremiah 28; Jeremiah 34; Jeremiah 37-39; Jeremiah 52; ).