Meaning of the Name Zedekiah
Zedekiah is linked with the Hebrew root tsedeq/tsedeqah and the short form of the divine name. The most common explanation is therefore "Yahweh is righteousness" or "Yahweh is just." Its etymology is generally well established.
Origin
The name Zedekiah is of Hebrew origin.
Who is Zedekiah in the Bible?
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the Babylonian destruction. He was installed by Nebuchadnezzar, but after rebelling against Babylon he became the king in whose reign Jerusalem fell, the temple was destroyed, and exile overtook the land. The same name belongs to other figures as well, but this king of Judah is by far the best known.
The story of Zedekiah in the Bible
Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before the Babylonian exile, and his reign contains some of the kingdom's darkest pages. After carrying Jehoiachin into exile, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon placed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah on the throne and changed his name to Zedekiah. Scripture records that Zedekiah did evil in the LORD's sight and paid no heed to the warnings delivered through the prophet Jeremiah. When he finally rebelled against Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem; after a long and brutal siege the city fell. Trying to escape, Zedekiah was captured in the plains of Jericho and brought before the king of Babylon at Riblah. There his sons were killed before his eyes, then his own eyes were put out, and he was led away to Babylon in chains. At the end of his reign the temple was burned, the walls were torn down, and the people were sent into exile. Others in Scripture bear the same name, but Zedekiah is remembered above all as the final king who resisted every warning and watched his kingdom fall.
Is Zedekiah mentioned in the Quran?
The name Zedekiah does not appear in the Quran; the story of this last king of Judah is told in the Old Testament, in the books of 2 Kings and Jeremiah.
Verses where Zedekiah appears
- 2 Kings 24:17 —
The king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s father’s brother, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah.
- 2 Kings 25:7 —
They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
- Jeremiah 39:5 —
But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and…