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Bible Encyclopedias
Zedekiah
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Zedeki´ah, son of Josiah, the twentieth and last king of Judah, was, in place of his brother Jehoiakim, set on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar, who changed his name from Mattaniah to that by which he is ordinarily spoken of. As the vassal of the Babylonian monarch, he was compelled to take an oath of allegiance to him, which, however, he observed only till an opportunity offered for throwing off his yoke. Success in such an undertaking was not likely to attend his efforts. His heart was not right before God, and therefore was he left without divine succor. Corrupt and weak, he gave himself up into the hands of his nobles, and lent an ear to false prophets; while the faithful lessons of Jeremiah were unwelcome, and repaid by incarceration. Like all of his class, he was unable to follow good, and became the slave of wicked men, afraid alike of his own nobility and of his foreign enemies. By his folly and wickedness he brought the state to the brink of ruin. Yet the danger did not open his eyes. Instead of looking to Jehovah, he threw himself for support on Egypt, when the Chaldean came into the land and laid siege to his capital. The siege was begun on the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year of his reign. For a year and a half did Jerusalem effectually withstand Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of that time, however, the city was stormed and taken (B.C. 588), when Zedekiah, who had fled, was captured on the road to Jericho. Judgment was speedily executed: his sons were slain before his eyes, and he himself was deprived of sight and sent in chains to Babylon, where he died in prison (, seq.; 25:1, seq.; , seq.; Jeremiah 28; Jeremiah 34; Jeremiah 37-39; Jeremiah 52; ).
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Zedekiah'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/z/zedekiah.html.
