Zedekiah (1)

1. ZEDEKIAH, or Sedecias, or Mattaniah, the last King of Judah, before the Captivity of Babylon. He was the Son of Josiah, and Uncle to Jeconiah his Predecessor in the Kingdom. When Nebuchadnezzar2 Kings xxiv. 17, 19. took Jerusalem from Jeconiah, he carried this King to Babylon, with his Wives, Children, Officers, and all the best Artificers in Judea, and put in his place his Uncle Mattaniah, whose Name he changed to Zedekiah,¹ and made him promise, with an Oath, that he would continue in Fidelity to him.² He was one and twenty Years old when he began to reign at Jerusalem, and he reigned there eleven Years. His Mother’s Name was Hamutal, the Daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He did Evil in the Sight of the Lord, committing the same Crimes as Jehoiakim.³ He regarded not the Menaces that were made to him by the Prophet Jeremiah, who spoke to him from the Lord; but he hardened his Heart the more, instead of being converted to God. The Princes of the People, and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem, imitated his Impiety, and abandoned themselves to all the Abominations of the Gentiles, profaning the Temple of God. This so far provoked the Lord, that he resolved upon their utter Destruction.

In the first Year of his Reign Zedekiah sent to Babylon⁴ Elasah, the Son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the Son of Hilkiah, probably to carry his Tributes to Nebuchadnezzar. By these Messengers Jeremiah sent a Letter to the Captives at Babylon. Four Years afterwards,⁵ either Zedekiah went thither himself, or at least he sent thither; for the Hebrew Text may admit of either of these two Interpretations. See before, the Article of SERAIAH VII. The chief Design of this Deputation was to intreat Nebuchadnezzar, that he would please to return the sacred Vessels of the Temple, Baruch i. 8. Lastly, in the ninth Year of his Reign,⁶ he revolted against Nebuchadnezzar. It was in a Sabbatical Year, in which the People set their Slaves at liberty, according to the Law.⁷ Then King Nebuchadnezzar marched his Army against Zedekiah, and took all the fortified Places of his Kingdom, except Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem.

He lay down before Jerusalem on the tenth Day of the tenth Month of the Holy Year, which answers to the Month, or rather the Moon, of our January. Some time afterwards Pharaoh Hophrah, King of Egypt, took the Field, to come to the Assistance of Zedekiah.⁸ Then Nebuchadnezzar left the Siege of Jerusalem, and went to meet him, gave him Battel, defeated him, and obliged him to return into Egypt; after which he returned to the Siege of Jerusalem. In the mean while the People of Jerusalem, thinking themselves freed from the Fear of Nebuchadnezzar, took the Slaves again which they had before set at liberty, which drew upon them great Reproaches and Threatnings from Jeremiah.⁹ During the Siege Zedekiah often consulted with Jeremiah, who always advised him to surrender, and pronounced the greatest Woes against him if he should persist in his Rebellion:¹⁰ But that unfortunate Prince had neither Patience to hear, nor Resolution to follow, good Counsels. Lastly, in the eleventh Year of Zedekiah,¹¹ on the ninth Day of the fourth Month, which answers to the Month of July, the City of Jerusalem was taken. Zedekiah, and all his People, endeavoured to escape by the favour of the Night, but the Chaldean Troops pursuing them, they were overtaken in the Plain of Jericho.

He was taken, and carried to Nebuchadnezzar, who was then at Riblah, a City of Syria. There, the King of Chaldea reproaching him with his Perfidy, caused all his Children to be slain before his Face, and then had his Eyes put out; and, loading him with Chains of Brass, he ordered him to be sent to Babylon.¹² Thus was brought to pass the Accomplishment of two Prophecies, which seemed contradictory to each other; one of Jeremiah, who said, that Zedekiah should see, and yet not see Nebuchadnezzar with his Eyes,¹³ and the other of Ezekiel,¹⁴ which intimated, that he should not see Babylon, tho’ he should die there. The Year of his Death is not known: The Rabbins¹⁵ say he died of Grief: For, having been invited to a Feast that Nebuchadnezzar made for his Friends, Zedekiah was there made drunk, and in his Drunkenness he com-

VOL. III. mitted several indecent Actions, unworthy his Birth and the Condition he was in; for which he afterwards conceived such Remorse, that he died upon it. But these Traditions are of no great Authority, and learned Men are agreed, that they have no Right to bear the Name of St. Jerome. Jeremiah had assured him,¹⁶ that he should die in Peace, that his Body should be burnt, as those of the Kings of Judah had us’d to be burnt; that they should mourn for him, by saying, Alas, my Lord!

The Rabbins say, that at the Obsequies of Zedekiah they cried out, Alas! King Zedekiah is dead, who has drank up the Dregs of all Ages; that is, who has suffered the Punishment due to all his Predecessors. They said also, that he made his Escape from Jerusalem by a subterraneous Passage, which led from the King’s Palace to the Plains of Jericho; but that a Hind following him without, and going just the same Pace above Ground as the King went under Ground, and the Chaldeans following the Hind, they came upon the King at unawares, just as he came out of his subterraneous Passage. Josephus relates,¹⁷ that Zedekiah, to save the City and the Temple, made choice of a voluntary Exile and Captivity: But this is only to disguise the Truth. Zedekiah’s Flight was not a voluntary Act to save his Country; but he might have saved it, if he had followed the Advice of Jeremiah, and had sincerely submitted himself to the Chaldeans. He reigned eleven Years at Jerusalem, and after him the Kingdom of Judah was entirely suppressed.

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