The last king of Judah, installed by Nebuchadnezzar in place of his nephew Jehoiachin and renamed by him. Weak rather than wicked by nature, he consulted Jeremiah repeatedly and in secret, but feared his own officials too much to act on the advice. He rebelled against Babylon, and the eighteen-month siege that followed ended in famine and the breaching of the walls. He fled by night towards the Jordan, was captured near Jericho, and saw his sons killed in front of him at Riblah before his eyes were put out and he was taken to Babylon in chains.
ArchaeologyThe Lachish Letters — ostraca from a Judean garrison — capture the last days before the fall, one reporting that the signal-fires of Azekah could no longer be seen.
Lachish Ostraca, Letter IV (Tell ed-Duweir, discovered 1935 by the J.L. Starkey expedition; British Museum), reporting that the fire-signals of Azekah could no longer be seen; ed. H. Torczyner (Tur-Sinai), 'Lachish I: The Lachish Letters' (London: Oxford University Press, 1938); cf. Jer 34:7.
Death & legacy
BibleWhen Jerusalem fell his sons were killed before his eyes, which were then put out, and he was carried in chains to Babylon.
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
Born · Jerusalem(today Jerusalem) Photo: Godot13 — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
In art
The prophet Jeremiah prophesies the fall of Jerusalem to King Zedekiah · Joseph Stallaert — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)Zedekiah is chained and brought before Nebuchadnezzar · UNKNOWN; Illustrator of Petrus Comestor's 'Bible Historiale', France, — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)102.Zedekiah's Sons Are Slaughtered before His Eyes · Gustave Doré — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)Germany Zwiefalten Münster Nebuchadnezzer and Zedekiah · Rebecca Kennison — CC BY 2.5 (via Wikimedia Commons)Captivity of Babylon · Unknown authorUnknown author — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)Dipinto a imitazione di mosaico, in sostituzione di mosaico del V sec. perduto -FG18 · Fabrizio Garrisi — CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons)François-Xavier Fabre - Nabuchodonosor Has Zedekiah's Children Killed before his Eyes · François-Xavier Fabre — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)Gevangenneming van koning Sedekia Geschiedenis van Jeremia (serietitel) Theatrum biblicum (..) (serietitel), RP-P-1904-3423 · Rijksmuseum — CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
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