Zedekiah | |
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King of Judah | |
Zedekiah from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum, 1553
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Reign | 597–586 BC |
Predecessor | Jeconiah |
Successor | Nebuchadnezzar II |
House | House of David |
Zedekiah (/ˌzɛdᵻˈkaɪə/; Hebrew: צִדְקִיָּהוּ, Modern Tsidkiyyahu, Tiberian Ṣiḏqiyyā́hû; "My righteousness is Yahweh"; Greek: Σεδεκίας, Sedekías; Latin: Sedecias), also written Tzidkiyahu, was a biblical character, the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. Zedekiah had been installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and ten days.
William F. Albright dates the start of Zedekiah's reign to 598 BC, while E. R. Thiele gives the start in 597 BC, On that reckoning, Zedekiah was born in c. 617 BC or 618 BC, being twenty-one on becoming king. Zedekiah's reign ended with the siege and fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar II, which has been dated to 587 or 586 BC.