The meaning of Zedekiah (1) in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
zed-e-ki'-a (tsidhqiyahu, tsidhqiyah, "Yah my righteousness"; Sedekia, Sedekias):
(1) The son of Chenaanah (I Kings 22:11, I Kings 22:24; II Chronicles 18:10, II Chronicles 18:23). Zedekiah was apparently the leader and spokesman of the 400 prophets attached to the court in Samaria whom Ahab summoned in response to Jehoshaphat's request that a prophet of Yahweh should be consulted concerning the projected campaign against Ramoth-gilead. In order the better to impress his audience Zedekiah produced iron horns, and said to Ahab, "With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until they be consumed." He also endeavored to weaken the influence of Micaiah ben Imlah upon the kings by asking ironically, "Which way went the Spirit of Yahweh from me to speak unto thee?"
In Josephus (Ant., VIII, xv, 4) there is an interesting rearrangement and embellishment of the Biblical narrative. There Zedekiah is represented as arguing that since Micaiah contradicts Elijah's prediction as to the place of Ahab's death, he must be regarded as a false prophet. Then, smiting his opponent, he prayed that if he were in the wrong his right hand might forthwith be withered. Ahab, seeing that no harm befell the hand that had smitten Micaiah, was convinced; whereupon Zedekiah completed his triumph by the incident of the horns mentioned above.
(2) The son of Maaseiah (Jeremiah 29:21-23). A false prophet who, in association with another, Ahab by name, prophesied among the exiles in Babylon, and foretold an early return from captivity. Jeremiah sternly denounced them, not only for their false and reckless predictions, but also for their foul and adulterous lives, and declared that their fate at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar should become proverbial in Israel.
(3) The son of Hananiah (Jeremiah 36:12). One of the princes of Judah before whom Jeremiah's roll was read in the 5th year of Jehoiakim.
(4) One of the officials who sealed the renewed covenant (Nehemiah 10:1, the King James Version "Zid-kijah"). The fact that his name is coupled with Nehemiah's suggests that he was a person of importance. But nothing further is known of him.
(5) The last king of Judah (see following article).
John A. Lees
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