Zedekiah

Biblical Account

Zedekiah was a son of King Josiah. His original name was Mattaniah. After Nebuchadnezzar carried Mattaniah's nephew Jehoiachin off to Babylon, he made Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17). The name is generally understood to mean "The LORD is righteous." Scripture records that he became king at the age of twenty-one and reigned eleven years (2 Kings 24:18; 2 Chronicles 36:11; Jeremiah 52:1).

His life is recorded in 2 Kings 24–25, 2 Chronicles 36, and Jeremiah 21, 27, 32, 34, 37–39, and 52. Zedekiah came to the throne under an oath to Babylon but eventually rebelled (2 Chronicles 36:13). When Jerusalem was besieged, he secretly summoned the prophet Jeremiah and questioned him on several occasions. He did not, however, heed the counsel to surrender to Babylon, nor did he prevent his officials from casting Jeremiah into a cistern (Jeremiah 38). Scripture also records that during the siege a covenant was made to release the slaves, only to be revoked afterward (Jeremiah 34).

Jerusalem fell in the eleventh year of his reign. Zedekiah fled by night but was captured in the plains of Jericho and brought to Riblah. There his sons were killed before his eyes. His eyes were then put out, and he was bound in fetters and taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1–7; Jeremiah 39:1–7).

Other individuals in Scripture bear the same name. Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, a false prophet in the time of Ahab (1 Kings 22:11), and the Zedekiah mentioned in Jeremiah 29:21 are distinct from this king.

Significance Within Scripture

Scripture portrays Zedekiah as the king who reigned when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the Babylonian exile reached its completion. Second Chronicles judges that he did not humble himself before the words of Jeremiah (2 Chronicles 36:12). Ezekiel 17 treats his rebellion as the breaking of an oath.

The New Testament does not mention Zedekiah by name. Likewise, the genealogy in Matthew 1 passes from Josiah to Jechonias (Jehoiachin).

Interpretive Questions

• Kinship terminology: Second Kings identifies him as Jehoiachin's uncle. The Hebrew text of 2 Chronicles 36:10 uses a word corresponding to "brother," which is understood to denote a relative in a broader sense.
• The relationship between two prophecies: Jeremiah 32:4 states that he would see the king of Babylon with his own eyes, while Ezekiel 12:13 states that he would be brought to Babylon yet would not see that land. Many commentators hold that both prophecies were fulfilled when he stood before the king at Riblah and was then blinded and carried away. The Jewish historian Josephus reports that Zedekiah disbelieved the two prophecies because he regarded them as contradictory.
• Name and prophecy: Some scholars see the name "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" in Jeremiah 23:6 as a deliberate contrast with Zedekiah's name.
• Chronology: Scholars differ on the year of Jerusalem's fall; proposals include 587 BC and 586 BC.

In Korean Churches

In Korean church preaching, Zedekiah is often presented as an example of someone who heard the word of God yet failed to obey it. Preachers frequently point in particular to his fear of people over regard for God's will (Jeremiah 38:19). In expository preaching on the Book of Jeremiah, he is often presented as a foil to the prophet Jeremiah.