Ebed-melech

Name

The name "Ebed-melech" means "servant of the king" in Hebrew. The text does not indicate whether this was his personal name or a title used at court.

Biblical Account

Ebed-melech appears only in chapters 38 and 39 of Jeremiah. The King James Version introduces him as "Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house" (Jeremiah 38:7); the Hebrew calls him a Cushite. Cush is the biblical name for the region south of Egypt, roughly corresponding to present-day Sudan and Ethiopia.

While the Babylonian army was besieging Jerusalem, Jeremiah urged surrender. The officials, claiming that he was weakening the morale of the people, threw him into the cistern of Malchiah the king's son. The cistern held no water, only mire. When Ebed-melech heard of this, he went to King Zedekiah, who was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, and told him that Jeremiah was about to die of hunger there. The king commanded him, "Take from hence thirty men with thee," and draw Jeremiah out (Jeremiah 38:10). Ebed-melech let down old rags and worn-out clothes by cords, had Jeremiah place them under his armpits beneath the cords, and drew him up (Jeremiah 38:11–13).

Later, while Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard, God sent a message to Ebed-melech through Jeremiah. God promised to deliver him on the day Jerusalem fell so that he would not die by the sword, giving the reason: "because thou hast put thy trust in me" (Jeremiah 39:15–18).

Significance Within Scripture

At a time when the king and officials of Jerusalem were rejecting the prophetic word, a foreign-born court servant is portrayed as one who saved the prophet and trusted in God. The text directly connects his action with his trust in God. For this reason he is often cited as an example of a Gentile who was faithful to God. Ebed-melech does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Issues

• Eunuch or official: The Hebrew word saris, commonly translated "eunuch," can refer to a castrated man but can also refer more broadly to a court official. Some interpreters understand him to have been literally a eunuch, while others regard him as a high-ranking official.
• Thirty men: The Masoretic Text reads "thirty men." Some scholars, judging this number to be large for the task of pulling one man out of a cistern, propose emending the reading to "three men."
• Comparison with the Ethiopian eunuch: Some sermons and interpretations read him alongside the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8. This connection, however, is one drawn by readers; the biblical text does not directly link the two figures.
• Later tradition: The pseudepigraphal work commonly called 4 Baruch is known to contain a story in which he falls into a long sleep during the destruction of Jerusalem and later awakens. This material is not found in the canonical text.

In the Korean Church

Because Ebed-melech appears only briefly, he is not a regular subject of Sunday sermons or church school lessons. He is treated mainly in expository preaching that works through the book of Jeremiah in sequence or in programs of reading through the Bible. In such settings he is presented in connection with themes such as courage in the face of danger, thoughtful care shown even in providing old rags, and the faith of a Gentile.