King Zedekiah (Judah) (jan 1, 597 BC – jan 1, 586 BC)

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Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. His original name was Mattaniah, but Nebuchadnezzar renamed him Zedekiah and placed him on the throne after exiling Jehoiachin. He was Jehoiachin’s uncle, not his son. Zedekiah was weak and indecisive: he sometimes consulted Jeremiah privately, but he did not have the courage to obey his warnings. Jeremiah repeatedly told him to submit to Babylon, but Zedekiah eventually rebelled, hoping for help from Egypt.

This rebellion led to the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. In 586 BCE, Jerusalem fell, the First Temple was destroyed, and Judah’s monarchy came to an end. Zedekiah was captured while fleeing. His sons were killed before him, and then he was blinded and taken to Babylon. From a Jewish timeline perspective, Zedekiah is the tragic final king of the Davidic monarchy before the Babylonian exile.

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