Bible Figure
Zedekiah
Biblical character and final King of Judah
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC.
Biography
Nebuchadnezzar installed Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, as king and renamed him Zedekiah. Jeremiah repeatedly urged Zedekiah and the nation to submit to Babylon as God's appointed judgment, but the king vacillated between fear of officials and private consultation with the prophet. Zedekiah eventually rebelled against Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, producing famine and desperate conditions. When the city was breached, Zedekiah fled but was captured near Jericho. At Riblah his sons were killed before his eyes; then he was blinded and taken in chains to Babylon. Jerusalem's walls were broken, the Temple and major buildings burned, and much of the population exiled.
Biblical Significance
Zedekiah's reign closes the Davidic monarchy before the exile and fulfills repeated prophetic warnings. His refusal to heed Jeremiah demonstrates the catastrophic cost of rejecting God's word even when judgment is already at the door.