Siteadmin, Check users, Administrators
12,071
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
New page
'''Zedekiah''' or '''Tzidkiyahu''' ([[Hebrew]] '''צִדְקִיָּהוּ''', justice of [[YHWH]]<ref name=Zedekiah>Mike Campbell, "[http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=zedekiah Entry for Zedekiah]," ''[http://www.behindthename.com/ Behind the Name]'', 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref>) or '''Mattaniah''' or '''Mattanyahu''' ([[Hebrew]] '''מַתַּנְיָהוּ''', gift of [[YHWH]]<ref name=Mattaniah>Mike Campbell, "[http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=mattaniah Entry for Mattaniah]," ''[http://www.behindthename.com/ Behind the Name]'', 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref>) (620-r. 599-588 BC according to [[James Ussher|Ussher]]<ref name=Ussher>[[James Ussher]], ''[[The Annals of the World]]'', [[Larry Pierce]], ed., Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003 (ISBN 0890513600), pghh. 806-7, 809-12, 814-6, 818, 824,831-2, 834-8, 841-3, 847-9</ref> or 618-r. 597-586 BC according to [[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele]]<ref name=Wood>Leon J. Wood, ''A Survey of Israel's History'', rev. ed. David O'Brien, Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1986 (ISBN 031034770X), pp. 318-20</ref>), was the nineteenth, and last, king of the [[Southern Kingdom]] of [[Israel]].<ref name=HSI>Anonymous, "[http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/biblediscovery/zedekiah.asp Entry for Zedekiah]," ''Holy Spirit Interactive''. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref> He is best known for losing [[Jerusalem]] to [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], who ordered his chief-of-staff to burn it to the ground.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=25|verses=8-10|version=NASB}}</ref> But he is also known for the most flagrant physical and personal abuse of a [[prophet]], short of ordering that prophet's execution, that any king of the [[Southern Kingdom|Southern]] or [[Northern Kingdom]] ever committed.
== Early Life and Family ==
His birth name was Mattanyahu or Mattaniah, meaning "gift of God."<ref name=Mattaniah/> He was the youngest of the four named sons of [[Josiah]] and the second named son by Josiah's wife [[Hamutal]]. Three brothers preceded him; their names were [[Johanan]], [[Jehoiakim]], and [[Jehoahaz II|Jehoahaz]].<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_Chronicles|chap=3|verses=15|version=NASB}}</ref> He had an unknown number of sons, but all his sons would eventually perish by the sword (although the [[Book of Mormon]] would allege that one son of his, named [[Mulek]], would escape, cross the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and found a nation that would figure in an alleged pre-history of the [[United States]]<ref name=Mormon>Jeff Lindsay, "[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme6.shtml Mulek, Son of Zedekiah]," ''Book of Mormon Nuggets'', May 15, 2004. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Mormon2>Intellectual Reserve, Inc., "[http://scriptures.lds.org/in/z/8 Index for Zedekiah]," ''The Official Scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'', 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Mormon3>Intellectual Reserve, Inc., "[http://scriptures.lds.org/bd/z/11 Bible Dictionary Entry for Zedekiah]," ''The Official Scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'', 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref>).
== Political Setting and Prior History ==
Mattaniah grew up during one of the most turbulent periods in the ancient Middle East, that being the decline of [[Assyria]] as a world power, the rise of [[Babylonia]], and the displacement and temporary conquest of [[Egypt]]. Six years before Mattaniah was born, [[Nabopolassar]] had, according to [[James Ussher]], led an allied [[Medea|Medo]]-[[Chaldea]]n army against [[Nineveh]], capital of Assyria, and reduced it to a ruin.<ref>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 740</ref> (Most conventional Assyriologists assert that the attack on Nineveh took place in 612 BC.) When Mattaniah was ten years old, [[Pharaoh]] [[Necho II]] made a bid to thwart the rising of Babylon by capturing the city of [[Carchemish]]. King [[Josiah]] made an ill-advised attempt to stop him in the [[Megiddo]] valley, and as a result he, and probably his eldest son with him, were killed in action.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=23|verses=29-30|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=35|verses=20-25|version=NASB}}</ref>
[[Jehoahaz II]] took the throne quickly, but three months later, Necho deposed him and set up Mattaniah's other brother Eliakim, who then took the name [[Jehoiakim]], to reign instead.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=23|verses=31-34|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=1-4|version=NASB}}</ref> Jehoiakim had been on the throne for only three years when [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] (whom Ussher says was made viceroy of Babylonia at this time) came from the east, recaptured Carchemish, chased Necho back to Egypt, and besieged Jerusalem for the first time.<ref>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pghh. 769-70, 774-5.</ref>
Jehoiakim pledged his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, but within three years he rebelled against him.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=1|version=NASB}}</ref> He probably hoped that Necho II would support him. Necho did in fact challenge Nebuchadnezzar, who barely won the resulting action and had to retire to [[Babylon]] to rebuild his forces.<ref name=Wood2>Wood, ''op. cit.'', p. 317.</ref> But in due course Nebuchadnezzar was back.
Jehoiakim died and his body was left exposed,<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=22|verses=19|version=NASB}}</ref> and Jehoiakim's son [[Jehoiachin]] reigned for a hundred days afterward. Jehoiachin was as rebellious as his father had been, and Nebuchadnezzar came with a very large force that convinced Jehoiachin to surrender immediately.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=8-16|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=9-10|version=NASB}}</ref>
At this time, no one, including Nebuchadnezzar, had any realistic expectation of more trouble from the Egyptian quarter. But that situation would eventually change. Necho had died in 600 BC<ref>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 790</ref> (conventional Egyptologists suggest that he lived to 595 BC), and his son [[Psammtik II]] had succeeded him. While Psammtik would not give Nebuchadnezzar any trouble, Psammtik's son [[Apries]], known in the [[Bible]] as ''Hophra'', would.
== Accession ==
Nebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah on the throne in the eighth year of his, Nebuchadnezzar's reign.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=18|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=Britannica>"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9078296 Zedekiah]." ''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=KingsofIsrael>"[http://www.geocities.com/thekingsofisrael/biography_Zedekiah.html King Zedekiah - Biography]." ''The Kings of Israel.'' Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=keyway>[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/roadsign.htm Wayne Blank], "[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2001/20010225.htm Entry for Zedekiah]," ''Church of God Daily Bible Study'', retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref name=WebBible>Matthew G. Easton and Paul S. Taylor, "[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/zedekiah.html Zedekiah]," ''[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/home.html WebBible Encyclopedia]'', retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Columbia1>"[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0853321.html Entry for Zedekiah]", ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.''© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease. © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Easton>Easton, Matthew George. "[http://www.biblestudytools.net/Dictionaries/EastonBibleDictionary/ebd.cgi?number=T3894 Entry for Zedekiah]." ''Easton's Bible Dictionary''. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2>"[http://www.bartleby.com/aol/65/ze/Zedekiah.html Entry for Zedekiah]." ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=LTK1911>Anonymous. "[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Zedekiah Entry for Zedekiah]". ''The Classic Encyclopedia''. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref> He changed Mattaniah's name to ''Zedekiah'', meaning ''justice'' of [[God]],<ref name=Zedekiah/> and compelled Zedekiah to swear an oath of allegiance to him ''in God's Name.''<ref>{[Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=13|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=KingsofIsrael/>
== Domestic Policy ==
Zedekiah showed little regard for God, and even less for the promises he made.<ref name=Britannica/><ref name=keyway/> The [[Bible]] plainly accuses him of doing "evil in the sight of [[YHWH]]." Not only he, but virtually the entire priestly class committed multiple sacrileges and other offenses, including the ceremonial pollution of the [[Temple of Jerusalem]].<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=14|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=CCM>David Holt Boshert, Jr., and David Ettinger, [http://www.christcenteredmall.com/teachings/kings/zedekiah.htm Zedekiah King of Judah], Christ-Centered Mall. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref name=WebBible/>
[[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] advised<ref name=WebBible/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2/> Zedekiah--and also the kings of [[Moab]], [[Ammon]], [[Sidon]], and [[Tyre]]--to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and stop listening to [[psychic]]s and [[Astrology|astrologers]] who repeatedly advised Zedekiah and the other kings ''not'' to submit.<ref name=ISBE>Genung, John Franklin. "[http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T9346 Entry for ZEDEKIAH (2)]". ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'', James Orr, M.A., D.D. gen. ed. 1915. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Ussher/>
=== Jeremiah's Letter ===
Zedekiah regarded Jeremiah as a disruptive influence. Then, within a year of his assuming the throne, he received what he must have regarded as confirmation.
Zedekiah had sent three messengers to [[Babylon]] with a letter from him to Nebuchadnezzar. Those messengers now (598 BC or 596 BC) came back with another letter from Seraiah, a man among the deportees who traveled with Jehoiachin. In that letter, Seraiah accused Jeremiah of encouraging the deportees to disaffect from their old country and, in essence, defect to Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonia.
In fact, all that Jeremiah encouraged the deportees to do was to conduct themselves as proper lawful and law-abiding residents of Babylon, and to await the proper season for their return, which would occur after a mandated seventy-year period (reckoned, according to Ussher, from the deportation of 607 BC) had elapsed for the land of Israel to have its sabbaths. Jeremiah also said that the deportees would have far greater blessing than those who were still in the Southern Kingdom territory at the time (or perhaps that those now left behind were more accursed).
As mentioned, Seraiah regarded this as seditious and so reported it to Zedekiah. Zedekiah read the accusatory letter to Jeremiah. Jeremiah replied by pronouncing a curse from God on his accuser.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=29|verses=1-23|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/>
=== Hananiah's False Prophecy ===
In the fifth month of Zedekiah's fourth year (596 BC or 594 BC), a prophet named [[Hananiah]] gave Zedekiah a word of encouragement: that within two years' time all the Temple furnishings, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away, and all the deportees would return home.<ref name=ISBE/> Jeremiah said, presumably in the presence of the king, that people might believe the peace that Hananiah now prophesied when they saw it. Hananiah persisted in his message by taking off Jeremiah's neck the symbolic wooden yoke he was wearing and breaking it. Jeremiah then said that instead of that wooden yoke, God would make a yoke of [[iron]] to place on the necks of all the nations of the region.
Jeremiah then called Hananiah a liar straight-out and foretold that God would put the man to death. Two months later Hananiah was dead.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=28|verses=1-17|version=NASB}}</ref>
== Foreign Affairs ==
In Zedekiah's first year, representatives from [[Moab]], [[Ammon]], [[Tyre]], and [[Sidon]] visited Zedekiah and apparently proposed an alliance.<ref name=Wood/><ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=27|verses=1-3|version=NASB}}</ref>. Jeremiah warned specifically that such a coalition would never succeed. Little or nothing seems to have come of these meetings until much later.<ref name=ISBE/>
In 594 BC, according to Ussher, [[Pharaoh]] Psammtik II died, and his son [[Apries]] began a twenty-five-year reign.<ref name=Ussher/> Very rapidly Apries marched out of Egypt and into [[Phoenicia]], where he captured [[Sidon]] before returning to Egypt with a great load of booty.<ref name=Ussher/> He was that ''Pharaoh-hophra'' in whom Zedekiah would repose his trust as he now, in this year, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and suspended payment of his annual tribute.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=Columbia1/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2/><ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/> (Thiele's supporters insist that Apries did not succeed Psammtik II until 588 BC, two years before the [[Fall of Jerusalem]].<ref name=Wood/> Though this would be in accord with the role that Apries/Hophra is said to have played in delaying Nebuchadnezzar, this does not explain nearly as well the political change that suggested to Zedekiah that rebellion might actually succeed. After all, in Thiele's system, Apries/Hophra did not take command until the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign--and Zedekiah was plotting rebellion and sending secret messages to Egypt long before this.)
Three years later was a sabbatical year, when the law required the Israelites to set their slaves free.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=34|verses=8-10|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/> In that year Nebuchadnezzar came into the Southern Kingdom and captured all the fortified cities except [[Lachish]], Azekah, and [[Jerusalem]]. In mid-winter, Nebuchadnezzar invested Jerusalem and built fortresses all around it.<ref name=WebBible/><ref name=ISBE/>
Now Jeremiah predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would capture Jerusalem, arrest Zedekiah, and deport him, but that Zedekiah would die peacefully and have a proper burial. Furious, Zedekiah had Jeremiah imprisoned for sedition.<ref name=Ussher/>
The slaveowners apparently set their slaves free, as the sabbatical law required.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/> Then [[Apries]] came in force to attack Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had to break off his siege to deal with Apries.<ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/> Nebuchadnezzar did send 832 prisoners to Babylon before he fought against Apries and chased him away.<ref name=Ussher/>
While Nebuchadnezzar was dealing with Apries, the slaveowners of Jerusalem forced their slaves back into their previous condition of servitude.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/> Jeremiah reprimanded them severely for this, and said that their only chance to escape arrest and possible execution at the hands of the [[Chaldea]]ns was to release their slaves.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=34|verses=11-22|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/>
Jeremiah then tried to escape, but the nobles stopped him at the gate. Jeremiah was thrown into a dungeon, but eventually transferred to the court of the king's prison house.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=KingsofIsrael/>
Zedekiah repeatedly asked Jeremiah for prophecies during this time. Jeremiah's answer was always the same: that the Southern Kingdom was doomed, and that everyone ought to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, who had direct license from God to conquer the kingdom.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/>
The princes were outraged and accused Jeremiah of high treason. They asked Zedekiah for permission to execute him, and Zedekiah told the nobles to do with Jeremiah as they saw fit. So they lowered Jeremiah into a muddy dungeon. But an [[Ethiopia]]n named [[Ebedmelech]] warned Zedekiah not to let Jeremiah die of starvation and thirst, so Zedekiah ordered Jeremiah lifted out of the mudhole and kept in the court. There Jeremiah remained until the city fell.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=39|verses=15-18|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/>
== Fall of Jerusalem, Exile, and Death ==
: ''Main Article: [[Fall of Jerusalem]]''
[[Nebuchadnezzar II]] was back in 589 BC and, according to Ussher, now began a siege that lasted precisely 390 days--almost exactly the number of years since the Division of the Kingdom between Kings [[Rehoboam]] and [[Jeroboam I]].<ref name=JeremiahLast>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=4|verses=4-6|version=NASB}}</ref><ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=52|verses=1-11|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/> During this time, famine set in, and eventually the city had no food within it at all.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/>
Finally Nebuchadnezzar's army breached the walls and entered the city. Zedekiah and all the soldiers fled by night. This, however, was unavailing. A Chaldean war patrol chased them, caught them, and brought them to Nebuchadnezzar's camp at Riblah. There Nebuchadnezzar forced Zedekiah to watch as he executed all of Zedekiah's sons. Nebuchadnezzar then had Zedekiah blinded and chained for deportation to Babylon. In that city, after an unknown number of years, Zedekiah died, a miserable and broken man.<ref name=JeremiahLast/><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=Britannica/><ref name=KingsofIsrael/><ref name=keyway/><ref name=WebBible/><ref name=Columbia1/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2/><ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/>
== An Extrabiblical Allegation Involving Zedekiah ==
The [[Apocrypha]]l book of II Maccabees alleges<ref>II Maccabees 2:4-8</ref> that Jeremiah removed the [[Ark of the Covenant]] to a secret location in [[Jerusalem]]. In 1998, the amateur [[Archaeology|archaeologist]] [[Ron Wyatt]] claimed to have determined where the Ark is located, in a place that his supporters call "Zechariah's Cave."<ref>Anonymous, "[http://www.arkdiscovery.com/zedekiahs_cave.htm Zedekiah's Cave]," ''[http://www.arkdiscovery.com ArkDiscovery.com]''. Retrieved April 16, 2007. This site contains a fanciful and highly dubious account describing six "Levite" men who descended into the cave, penetrated to within sight of the Ark, and then met death at the hands of [[angel]]s.</ref>
In fact, [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] said during the reign of [[Josiah]]<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=3|verses=16|version=NASB}}</ref> that the Ark would not be needed any longer. The Ark has never been seen again since the destruction of the [[Temple of Jerusalem]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]].
== References ==
<references/>
== See Also ==
* [[Josiah]]
* [[Jehoiakim]]
* [[Jehoiachin]]
* [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]
* [[Evil-Merodach]]
* [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]]
* [[House of David]]
* [[Southern Kingdom]]
* [[Biblical chronology dispute]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Bible character]]
[[Category:Biography]]
[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:History]]
== Early Life and Family ==
His birth name was Mattanyahu or Mattaniah, meaning "gift of God."<ref name=Mattaniah/> He was the youngest of the four named sons of [[Josiah]] and the second named son by Josiah's wife [[Hamutal]]. Three brothers preceded him; their names were [[Johanan]], [[Jehoiakim]], and [[Jehoahaz II|Jehoahaz]].<ref>{{Bible ref|book=I_Chronicles|chap=3|verses=15|version=NASB}}</ref> He had an unknown number of sons, but all his sons would eventually perish by the sword (although the [[Book of Mormon]] would allege that one son of his, named [[Mulek]], would escape, cross the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and found a nation that would figure in an alleged pre-history of the [[United States]]<ref name=Mormon>Jeff Lindsay, "[http://www.jefflindsay.com/bme6.shtml Mulek, Son of Zedekiah]," ''Book of Mormon Nuggets'', May 15, 2004. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Mormon2>Intellectual Reserve, Inc., "[http://scriptures.lds.org/in/z/8 Index for Zedekiah]," ''The Official Scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'', 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Mormon3>Intellectual Reserve, Inc., "[http://scriptures.lds.org/bd/z/11 Bible Dictionary Entry for Zedekiah]," ''The Official Scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'', 2006. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref>).
== Political Setting and Prior History ==
Mattaniah grew up during one of the most turbulent periods in the ancient Middle East, that being the decline of [[Assyria]] as a world power, the rise of [[Babylonia]], and the displacement and temporary conquest of [[Egypt]]. Six years before Mattaniah was born, [[Nabopolassar]] had, according to [[James Ussher]], led an allied [[Medea|Medo]]-[[Chaldea]]n army against [[Nineveh]], capital of Assyria, and reduced it to a ruin.<ref>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 740</ref> (Most conventional Assyriologists assert that the attack on Nineveh took place in 612 BC.) When Mattaniah was ten years old, [[Pharaoh]] [[Necho II]] made a bid to thwart the rising of Babylon by capturing the city of [[Carchemish]]. King [[Josiah]] made an ill-advised attempt to stop him in the [[Megiddo]] valley, and as a result he, and probably his eldest son with him, were killed in action.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=23|verses=29-30|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=35|verses=20-25|version=NASB}}</ref>
[[Jehoahaz II]] took the throne quickly, but three months later, Necho deposed him and set up Mattaniah's other brother Eliakim, who then took the name [[Jehoiakim]], to reign instead.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=23|verses=31-34|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=1-4|version=NASB}}</ref> Jehoiakim had been on the throne for only three years when [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] (whom Ussher says was made viceroy of Babylonia at this time) came from the east, recaptured Carchemish, chased Necho back to Egypt, and besieged Jerusalem for the first time.<ref>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pghh. 769-70, 774-5.</ref>
Jehoiakim pledged his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, but within three years he rebelled against him.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=1|version=NASB}}</ref> He probably hoped that Necho II would support him. Necho did in fact challenge Nebuchadnezzar, who barely won the resulting action and had to retire to [[Babylon]] to rebuild his forces.<ref name=Wood2>Wood, ''op. cit.'', p. 317.</ref> But in due course Nebuchadnezzar was back.
Jehoiakim died and his body was left exposed,<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=22|verses=19|version=NASB}}</ref> and Jehoiakim's son [[Jehoiachin]] reigned for a hundred days afterward. Jehoiachin was as rebellious as his father had been, and Nebuchadnezzar came with a very large force that convinced Jehoiachin to surrender immediately.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=8-16|version=NASB}}, {{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=9-10|version=NASB}}</ref>
At this time, no one, including Nebuchadnezzar, had any realistic expectation of more trouble from the Egyptian quarter. But that situation would eventually change. Necho had died in 600 BC<ref>Ussher, ''op. cit.'', pgh. 790</ref> (conventional Egyptologists suggest that he lived to 595 BC), and his son [[Psammtik II]] had succeeded him. While Psammtik would not give Nebuchadnezzar any trouble, Psammtik's son [[Apries]], known in the [[Bible]] as ''Hophra'', would.
== Accession ==
Nebuchadnezzar placed Mattaniah on the throne in the eighth year of his, Nebuchadnezzar's reign.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Kings|chap=24|verses=18|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=Britannica>"[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9078296 Zedekiah]." ''Encyclopædia Britannica.'' 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=KingsofIsrael>"[http://www.geocities.com/thekingsofisrael/biography_Zedekiah.html King Zedekiah - Biography]." ''The Kings of Israel.'' Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=keyway>[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/roadsign.htm Wayne Blank], "[http://www.keyway.ca/htm2001/20010225.htm Entry for Zedekiah]," ''Church of God Daily Bible Study'', retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref name=WebBible>Matthew G. Easton and Paul S. Taylor, "[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/zedekiah.html Zedekiah]," ''[http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/home.html WebBible Encyclopedia]'', retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Columbia1>"[http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0853321.html Entry for Zedekiah]", ''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia.''© 1994, 2000-2006, on Infoplease. © 2000–2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Easton>Easton, Matthew George. "[http://www.biblestudytools.net/Dictionaries/EastonBibleDictionary/ebd.cgi?number=T3894 Entry for Zedekiah]." ''Easton's Bible Dictionary''. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2>"[http://www.bartleby.com/aol/65/ze/Zedekiah.html Entry for Zedekiah]." ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=LTK1911>Anonymous. "[http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Zedekiah Entry for Zedekiah]". ''The Classic Encyclopedia''. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref> He changed Mattaniah's name to ''Zedekiah'', meaning ''justice'' of [[God]],<ref name=Zedekiah/> and compelled Zedekiah to swear an oath of allegiance to him ''in God's Name.''<ref>{[Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=13|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=KingsofIsrael/>
== Domestic Policy ==
Zedekiah showed little regard for God, and even less for the promises he made.<ref name=Britannica/><ref name=keyway/> The [[Bible]] plainly accuses him of doing "evil in the sight of [[YHWH]]." Not only he, but virtually the entire priestly class committed multiple sacrileges and other offenses, including the ceremonial pollution of the [[Temple of Jerusalem]].<ref>{{Bible ref|book=II_Chronicles|chap=36|verses=14|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=CCM>David Holt Boshert, Jr., and David Ettinger, [http://www.christcenteredmall.com/teachings/kings/zedekiah.htm Zedekiah King of Judah], Christ-Centered Mall. Retrieved April 16, 2007</ref><ref name=WebBible/>
[[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] advised<ref name=WebBible/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2/> Zedekiah--and also the kings of [[Moab]], [[Ammon]], [[Sidon]], and [[Tyre]]--to submit to Nebuchadnezzar and stop listening to [[psychic]]s and [[Astrology|astrologers]] who repeatedly advised Zedekiah and the other kings ''not'' to submit.<ref name=ISBE>Genung, John Franklin. "[http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T9346 Entry for ZEDEKIAH (2)]". ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'', James Orr, M.A., D.D. gen. ed. 1915. Retrieved April 16, 2007.</ref><ref name=Ussher/>
=== Jeremiah's Letter ===
Zedekiah regarded Jeremiah as a disruptive influence. Then, within a year of his assuming the throne, he received what he must have regarded as confirmation.
Zedekiah had sent three messengers to [[Babylon]] with a letter from him to Nebuchadnezzar. Those messengers now (598 BC or 596 BC) came back with another letter from Seraiah, a man among the deportees who traveled with Jehoiachin. In that letter, Seraiah accused Jeremiah of encouraging the deportees to disaffect from their old country and, in essence, defect to Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonia.
In fact, all that Jeremiah encouraged the deportees to do was to conduct themselves as proper lawful and law-abiding residents of Babylon, and to await the proper season for their return, which would occur after a mandated seventy-year period (reckoned, according to Ussher, from the deportation of 607 BC) had elapsed for the land of Israel to have its sabbaths. Jeremiah also said that the deportees would have far greater blessing than those who were still in the Southern Kingdom territory at the time (or perhaps that those now left behind were more accursed).
As mentioned, Seraiah regarded this as seditious and so reported it to Zedekiah. Zedekiah read the accusatory letter to Jeremiah. Jeremiah replied by pronouncing a curse from God on his accuser.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=29|verses=1-23|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/>
=== Hananiah's False Prophecy ===
In the fifth month of Zedekiah's fourth year (596 BC or 594 BC), a prophet named [[Hananiah]] gave Zedekiah a word of encouragement: that within two years' time all the Temple furnishings, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away, and all the deportees would return home.<ref name=ISBE/> Jeremiah said, presumably in the presence of the king, that people might believe the peace that Hananiah now prophesied when they saw it. Hananiah persisted in his message by taking off Jeremiah's neck the symbolic wooden yoke he was wearing and breaking it. Jeremiah then said that instead of that wooden yoke, God would make a yoke of [[iron]] to place on the necks of all the nations of the region.
Jeremiah then called Hananiah a liar straight-out and foretold that God would put the man to death. Two months later Hananiah was dead.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=28|verses=1-17|version=NASB}}</ref>
== Foreign Affairs ==
In Zedekiah's first year, representatives from [[Moab]], [[Ammon]], [[Tyre]], and [[Sidon]] visited Zedekiah and apparently proposed an alliance.<ref name=Wood/><ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=27|verses=1-3|version=NASB}}</ref>. Jeremiah warned specifically that such a coalition would never succeed. Little or nothing seems to have come of these meetings until much later.<ref name=ISBE/>
In 594 BC, according to Ussher, [[Pharaoh]] Psammtik II died, and his son [[Apries]] began a twenty-five-year reign.<ref name=Ussher/> Very rapidly Apries marched out of Egypt and into [[Phoenicia]], where he captured [[Sidon]] before returning to Egypt with a great load of booty.<ref name=Ussher/> He was that ''Pharaoh-hophra'' in whom Zedekiah would repose his trust as he now, in this year, rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and suspended payment of his annual tribute.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=Columbia1/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2/><ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/> (Thiele's supporters insist that Apries did not succeed Psammtik II until 588 BC, two years before the [[Fall of Jerusalem]].<ref name=Wood/> Though this would be in accord with the role that Apries/Hophra is said to have played in delaying Nebuchadnezzar, this does not explain nearly as well the political change that suggested to Zedekiah that rebellion might actually succeed. After all, in Thiele's system, Apries/Hophra did not take command until the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign--and Zedekiah was plotting rebellion and sending secret messages to Egypt long before this.)
Three years later was a sabbatical year, when the law required the Israelites to set their slaves free.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=34|verses=8-10|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/> In that year Nebuchadnezzar came into the Southern Kingdom and captured all the fortified cities except [[Lachish]], Azekah, and [[Jerusalem]]. In mid-winter, Nebuchadnezzar invested Jerusalem and built fortresses all around it.<ref name=WebBible/><ref name=ISBE/>
Now Jeremiah predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would capture Jerusalem, arrest Zedekiah, and deport him, but that Zedekiah would die peacefully and have a proper burial. Furious, Zedekiah had Jeremiah imprisoned for sedition.<ref name=Ussher/>
The slaveowners apparently set their slaves free, as the sabbatical law required.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/> Then [[Apries]] came in force to attack Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had to break off his siege to deal with Apries.<ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/> Nebuchadnezzar did send 832 prisoners to Babylon before he fought against Apries and chased him away.<ref name=Ussher/>
While Nebuchadnezzar was dealing with Apries, the slaveowners of Jerusalem forced their slaves back into their previous condition of servitude.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/> Jeremiah reprimanded them severely for this, and said that their only chance to escape arrest and possible execution at the hands of the [[Chaldea]]ns was to release their slaves.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=34|verses=11-22|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/>
Jeremiah then tried to escape, but the nobles stopped him at the gate. Jeremiah was thrown into a dungeon, but eventually transferred to the court of the king's prison house.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=KingsofIsrael/>
Zedekiah repeatedly asked Jeremiah for prophecies during this time. Jeremiah's answer was always the same: that the Southern Kingdom was doomed, and that everyone ought to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, who had direct license from God to conquer the kingdom.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/>
The princes were outraged and accused Jeremiah of high treason. They asked Zedekiah for permission to execute him, and Zedekiah told the nobles to do with Jeremiah as they saw fit. So they lowered Jeremiah into a muddy dungeon. But an [[Ethiopia]]n named [[Ebedmelech]] warned Zedekiah not to let Jeremiah die of starvation and thirst, so Zedekiah ordered Jeremiah lifted out of the mudhole and kept in the court. There Jeremiah remained until the city fell.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=39|verses=15-18|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/>
== Fall of Jerusalem, Exile, and Death ==
: ''Main Article: [[Fall of Jerusalem]]''
[[Nebuchadnezzar II]] was back in 589 BC and, according to Ussher, now began a siege that lasted precisely 390 days--almost exactly the number of years since the Division of the Kingdom between Kings [[Rehoboam]] and [[Jeroboam I]].<ref name=JeremiahLast>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=4|verses=4-6|version=NASB}}</ref><ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=52|verses=1-11|version=NASB}}</ref><ref name=Ussher/> During this time, famine set in, and eventually the city had no food within it at all.<ref name=Ussher/><ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/>
Finally Nebuchadnezzar's army breached the walls and entered the city. Zedekiah and all the soldiers fled by night. This, however, was unavailing. A Chaldean war patrol chased them, caught them, and brought them to Nebuchadnezzar's camp at Riblah. There Nebuchadnezzar forced Zedekiah to watch as he executed all of Zedekiah's sons. Nebuchadnezzar then had Zedekiah blinded and chained for deportation to Babylon. In that city, after an unknown number of years, Zedekiah died, a miserable and broken man.<ref name=JeremiahLast/><ref name=Ussher/><ref name=Britannica/><ref name=KingsofIsrael/><ref name=keyway/><ref name=WebBible/><ref name=Columbia1/><ref name=Easton/><ref name=HSI/><ref name=Columbia2/><ref name=ISBE/><ref name=LTK1911/>
== An Extrabiblical Allegation Involving Zedekiah ==
The [[Apocrypha]]l book of II Maccabees alleges<ref>II Maccabees 2:4-8</ref> that Jeremiah removed the [[Ark of the Covenant]] to a secret location in [[Jerusalem]]. In 1998, the amateur [[Archaeology|archaeologist]] [[Ron Wyatt]] claimed to have determined where the Ark is located, in a place that his supporters call "Zechariah's Cave."<ref>Anonymous, "[http://www.arkdiscovery.com/zedekiahs_cave.htm Zedekiah's Cave]," ''[http://www.arkdiscovery.com ArkDiscovery.com]''. Retrieved April 16, 2007. This site contains a fanciful and highly dubious account describing six "Levite" men who descended into the cave, penetrated to within sight of the Ark, and then met death at the hands of [[angel]]s.</ref>
In fact, [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] said during the reign of [[Josiah]]<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Jeremiah|chap=3|verses=16|version=NASB}}</ref> that the Ark would not be needed any longer. The Ark has never been seen again since the destruction of the [[Temple of Jerusalem]] by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]].
== References ==
<references/>
== See Also ==
* [[Josiah]]
* [[Jehoiakim]]
* [[Jehoiachin]]
* [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]
* [[Evil-Merodach]]
* [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]]
* [[House of David]]
* [[Southern Kingdom]]
* [[Biblical chronology dispute]]
[[Category:Bible]]
[[Category:Bible character]]
[[Category:Biography]]
[[Category:Israel]]
[[Category:History]]