Sedecias

SEDECIAS (Heb. Sidhāyijāhā "Justice of Jahweh"). - Last king of Judah (597-86), son of King

Josiah (v.) and brother of Jehoahaz (v.); he was placed on the throne at the age of 21 by Nebuchadnezzar (v.) in place of his nephew Jehoiachin (v.), who was taken into exile in Babylon. His name was Mattaniah, changed to that of S. by Nebuchadnezzar himself (II Kings 24:17), who also imposed on him an oath of loyalty (II Chron. 36:13).

On the events of his reign, barely sketched in the historical books (II Kings 24-25; II Chron. 36), there is copious information from the book of Jeremiah (chaps. 27-39). He governed in a very difficult period, both because of the harsh condition of vassalage toward Babylon, established with Nebuchadnezzar's first intervention in 597, and because of Egypt's interference in the politics of the tottering kingdom of Judah.

Doubtful and irresolute, he was never equal to the situation, and his yielding to the policy of the anti-Babylonian faction, against the repeated advice of Jeremiah, accelerated the final catastrophe. On his religious and moral conduct this unfavorable judgment is given: "He did what was displeasing to the Lord his God; he did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah who spoke to him in the name of God" (II Chron. 36:12). As long as Pharaoh Necho lived, who after the defeat at Carchemish (605 B.C.) deemed it prudent not to meddle in Palestinian affairs, the situation remained fairly calm; but in the year of his death (593 B.C.) S., at the instigation of the anti-Babylonian party, promoted in Jerusalem a conference of the various Palestinian states, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon (Jer. 27:3) with the evident aim of shaking off the Babylonian yoke. The abstention of Pharaoh Psammetichus II determined the failure of the league, but the king of Judah S. had to go to Babylon and justify himself before Nebuchadnezzar, to whom the said conference had appeared more than suspect. Returned to Jerusalem, he again became prey to the same party, rekindled by the agitating action of various pseudo-prophets who foretold the imminent autonomy of the kingdom (Jer. 28), while the Temple was open to the invasion of idolatrous cults (Ezek. 8). When Pharaoh Hophra succeeded Psammetichus II in 588, decidedly hostile to Babylonian power, the agitation flared up into open revolt. Against the King of Babylon took up arms, together with the King of Judah, all the Palestinian states, bound in a league headed by Egypt. But Nebuchadnezzar, having set out in that same year with a large army, encamped at Riblah on the Orontes; then he invaded the territory of Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem (9th year of Zedekiah, around Dec. 588 B.C.; II Kings 25:1); the city defended itself heroically for 18 months, awaiting the arrival of Egyptian help; Jeremiah, who for the salvation of Jerusalem and the nation advised surrender to the Chaldeans, was thrown into prison; even here S. continued secretly to consult him, without however ever following his advice (Jer. 27:17 ff.; 38:14 ff.). After a year, since the Chaldeans had to interrupt the siege so as not to be taken from behind by the Egyptians, the dawn of victory seemed to break over Jerusalem; the Chaldeans, soon rid of the Egyptians, resumed the siege. The city, already exhausted by famine and epidemics, resisted no longer, and in the 11th year of S., in June 587 B.C., it was invaded by the besiegers, who put it to fire and sword. S., having fled with the principal captains, was overtaken near Jericho and taken prisoner (Jer. 39:2 ff.). Brought to Riblah before Nebuchadnezzar, the unhappy father saw all his sons slaughtered in his presence (II Kings 25:2-4); after which the Chaldean king had his eyes put out and sent him in chains to Babylon (ibid. 25:6-7), where he died in prison. Thus the Kingdom of Judah came to a tragic end: the Temple was burned, the whole country devastated (ibid. 25:8-21).

Gaetano Stano