King zedekiah and king jehoiakim biography

Biblical figure; last monarch of the Kingdom of Judah

For the High Priest of Solomon's Temple, see Zedekiah (High Priest). For the given name, see Zedekiah (name).

Not to be confused with Hezekiah.

Zedekiah^[a] () was the twentieth and final King of Judah before the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon.

His birth name was Mattaniah/Mattanyahu (Hebrew: מַתַּנְיָהוּ, Mattanyāhū, "Gift of God"; Greek: Μαθθανίας; Latin: Matthanias).

After the siege of Jerusalem in 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II deposed king Jeconiah and installed his uncle Mattanyahu instead, changing his name to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17).

The prophet Jeremiah was his counselor, yet he did not heed the prophet and his epitaph is "he did evil in the sight of the Lord" (2 Kings 24:19–20; Jeremiah 52:2–3).

William F. Albright dates the start of Zedekiah's reign to 598 BC, while Edwin R.

Thiele gives the start in 597 BC.^[1] On that reckoning, Zedekiah was born in c