Ebed-Melech

Ebed-Melech (Hebrew: עֶבֶד-מֶלֶךְ‎ ‘Eḇeḏmeleḵ; Latin: Abdemelech) is mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah chapter 38 as an Ethiopian official at the palace of king Zedekiah of Judah during the Siege of Jerusalem (597 BCE). The name is translated as Servant/Slave of the King, and as such may not be his proper name but a hereditary title. The text relates that he was a Cushite (Jeremiah 38:7) and a eunuch.[1]

Ebed-Melech sees Jeremiah in the cistern. (Jim Padgett, 1984)

Ebed-Melech is notable for rescuing the prophet Jeremiah from the cistern into which he had been cast to his death (Jeremiah 38:4–13). Later Jeremiah relayed God's message to him saying that he, Ebed-Melech, would "not fall by the sword" during the Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians (Jer 39:15–18) because he had put his trust in Him (God). According to some extra-biblical legends this extended to Ebed-Melech never dying, instead joining the small group of holy people who enter Heaven while still alive.

There are parallels between the story of Ebed-Melech and that of the Ethiopian eunuch in the Acts of the Apostles.[2]

See also

References
  1. "www.Bibler.org - Dictionary - Ebed-Melech". Retrieved 2012-12-18.
  2. Juan Vicente Estigarribia, "Commentaries on the Historicity of Acts of the Apostles 8, 26–39," Beiträge zur Sudanforschung 5 (1992): 39–46.
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