SEDECIA (Hebr. Sidhāyijāhā “justice of Jahweh”). — Last king of Judah (597–586), Iosia (v.) Ioachaz (v.); he was placed on the throne at the age of 21 NABUCHODONOSOR II (v.) Ioachin (v.), who had been taken into exile in Babylon. His name was Matthania, changed to that of S. by Nabuchodonosor himself (II Reg. 24, 17), who also imposed upon him an oath of loyalty (II Par. 36, 13).
Concerning the events of his reign, only sketched in the historical books (II Reg. 24–25; II Par. 36), abundant information is found in the book of Jeremias (chaps. 27–39). He governed during an extremely difficult period, both because of the harsh condition of vassalage toward Babylon, established with Nabuchodonosor’s first intervention in 597, and because of Egypt’s interference in the politics of the tottering kingdom of Judah.
Doubtful and uncertain, he was never equal to the situation, and his yielding to the policy of the anti-Babylonian faction, against the repeated counsels of Jeremias, hastened the final catastrophe. The following unfavorable judgment is given concerning his religious and moral conduct: “He did what was displeasing to the Lord his God; he did not submit to the prophet Jeremias, who spoke to him in the name of God” (II Par. 36, 12). As long as Pharaoh Nechao lived, who after the defeat of Carcamis (605 B.C.) prudently refrained from meddling in Palestinian affairs, the situation remained fairly tranquil; but in the year of his death (593 B.C.), S., at the instigation of the anti-Babylonian party, organized in Jerusalem a conference of the various Palestinian states, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon (Ier. 27, 3), with the evident aim of shaking off the Babylonian yoke. Pharaoh Psammetico II’s abstention brought about the failure of the league, but the king of Judah S. had to go to Babylon and justify himself before Nabuchodonosor, to whom the said conference had appeared more than suspicious. Returning to Jerusalem, he again fell prey to the same party, inflamed by the seditious activity of various pseudo-prophets who foretold the imminent autonomy of the kingdom (Ier. 28), while the Temple was open to the invasion of idolatrous cults (Ex. 8). When Ephree, a pharaoh decidedly hostile to Babylonian power, succeeded Psammetico II in 588, the agitation erupted into open revolt. All the Palestinian states took up arms against the King of Babylon, together with the King of Judah, united in a league headed by Egypt. But Nabuchodonosor, having set out that same year with a large army, encamped at Reblatha on the Orontes; then he invaded the territory of Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem (the 9th year of Sedecia, around December 588 B.C.; II Reg. 25, 1); the city defended itself heroically for 18 months, awaiting the arrival of Egyptian aid. Jeremias, who for the salvation of Jerusalem and the nation advised surrender to the Chaldeans, was thrown into prison; even there S. continued secretly to consult him, without ever following his counsels (Ier. 27, 17 ff.; 38, 14 ff.). After a year, when the Chaldeans had been forced to interrupt the siege lest they be attacked from the rear by the Egyptians, the dawn of victory seemed to appear in Jerusalem; the Chaldeans, having soon disposed of the Egyptians, resumed the siege. The city, already exhausted by famine and epidemics, could no longer resist for long, and in the 11th year of S., in June 587 B.C., it was invaded by the besiegers, who put it to the sword and flames. S., having fled with the principal captains, was overtaken near Jericho and taken prisoner (Ier. 39, 2 ff.). Brought to Reblatha before Nabuchodonosor, the unhappy father saw all his sons slaughtered in his presence (II Reg. 25, 2–4); after this the Chaldean king had his eyes put out and, having him bound in chains, sent him 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, and the entire country devastated (ibid. 25, 8–21).