Zedekiah

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Zedekiah, robbed of his sons and blinded, leaves the burning Jerusalem (586 BC); Detail from Rembrandt's painting Jeremiah laments the destruction of Jerusalem (1630)

Zedekiah ( Hebrew צִדְקִיָּהוּ ṣidqîjāhû , German ' YHWH is (my) justice' ; * 618; † after 586 BC BC) was the last king of the kingdom of Judah (southern kingdom) in the reign of Israel . His third son, Josias, was originally Mattanja. The Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II changed Mattanya's name after his enthronement in Zedekiah.

Regency

Approximate extent of the New Babylonian Empire in the 6th century BC Chr.

The main sources for the life of Zedekiah are the books of Kings and Chronicles of the Bible. According to 2 Kings 24.17 - 25.7 EU he was the brother of King Jehoiakim and thus the uncle of his predecessor King Jehoiachin , who ruled for three months and ten days ( 2 Chr 36.9  EU ).

According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Zedekiah was appointed king by Nebuchadnezzar II in his seventh year of reign, after he had been king around December 598 BC. BC / January 597 BC BC (month Kislimu ) moved against Jerusalem and after the surrender on March 10, 597 BC. Chr. Greg. ( 2. Addaru ) plundered part of the temple treasure and had the Jewish upper class including the royal family led into exile in Babylon . In 2 Kings 24.12 EU , on the other hand, the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar II's reign is named, including the year of accession .

It is consistently reported that Zedekiah was 21 years old when he ascended the throne and that he ruled for 11 years. Although Nebuchadnezzar II had Zedekiah swear an oath of faithfulness to God (2nd Chronicle 36.13 EU and Ezekiel 17.13ff. EU ), Zedekiah broke the promise in his ninth year of reign (589 to 588 BC) and thereby caused the Fall of the southern kingdom of Judah. Apparently Zedekiah had made efforts to bring about an anti-Babylonian coalition. Jer 39.5  EU and 2. Kings 25.6 EU report on the trial before Nebuchadnezzar II. The prophet Jeremiah sees Nebuchadnezzar II as an instrument of God ( Jer 25.9  EU ). He then had Jerusalem conquered for the second time by troops under the command of Nebusaradan (see Conquest of Jerusalem ). Zedekia fled to the Jordan Valley , but was caught up there and abandoned by his followers. He was taken captive before Nebuchadnezzar; This caused his children slain before his eyes, he was blinded and then led him in chains to Babylon ( 2 Kings 25.4-7  LUT ). The usual punishment for breaking the oath of God was execution . However, he remained in captivity until his death ( Jer 52 : 6–11  LUT ). According to reports of rabbinical historiography, Nebuchadnezzar also brought a new wife to him during his 40-year imprisonment.

According to the chronicle, the work of Jeremiah, the prophet of the people who had been called by God, fell into the time before the conquest until the destruction of Jerusalem. While the book of kings does not mention him and only suggests the “wrath of Yahweh” as the reason for the event, the chronicle interprets the fall of statehood, kingship and the temple as God's judgment over Zedekiah's “hardening” and idolatry, with which he opened the house of God ( defiled the temple:

“And the Lord, the God of their fathers, kept speaking against them through his messengers; for he had compassion on his people and his dwelling. But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and mocked his prophets until the Lord's wrath grew against his people and there was no more forgiveness. "

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Zedekia  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ From December 3, Greg. 598 BC BC ( 21. Araḫsamna ) to March 10th Greg. 597 BC Chr. (2nd Addaru); see also Ludwig Schmidt u. a .: The year of the catastrophe: 587 BC Chr. P. 9.
  2. ↑ The month of Kislimu began on December 11th, greg. 598 BC And ended on January 10th Greg. 597 BC Chr.
  3. ↑ In the Babylonian Chronicle it is noted: In the seventh year of the reign of Nabu-kudurri-usur, on the 2nd Addaru ... he took King Jehoiachin prisoner . The 2nd Addaru of the seventh year of reign fell on the period from the evening of March 9th to the evening of March 10th of the year 597 BC. Chr.
  4. ↑ Manfred Weippert: Jejojakin . In: Dietz-Otto Edzard u. a .: Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology , Vol. 5. de Gruyter, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-11-007192-4 , p. 274.
predecessor Office successor
Jojachin King of Judah
597-587 BC Chr. 		-
personal data
SURNAME Zedekiah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zidkija
BRIEF DESCRIPTION last king of Judah (597 BC – 587 BC)
DATE OF BIRTH 617 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 6th century BC Chr.