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Zedekiah Swore on a Torah Scroll and Broke Judah

Nebuchadnezzar demands that the last king of Judah swear on a Torah scroll. When Zedekiah breaks the oath, Jerusalem falls.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The King Who Held a Secret
  2. The Sanhedrin Tried to Dissolve the Oath
  3. The Escape Through the Cave
  4. Jerusalem Was Not Lost by Armies Alone

The King Who Held a Secret

Zedekiah knows something about Nebuchadnezzar that Nebuchadnezzar would prefer stayed hidden. Once, when Zedekiah caught the Babylonian king in a private act of degradation, eating raw flesh from a living animal, Nebuchadnezzar begged him for silence. Zedekiah agreed. The king of the most powerful empire on earth owed his dignity to a vassal king of a small kingdom in the hills.

Nebuchadnezzar decides to make that imbalance permanent. He installs Zedekiah on Judah's throne as his subordinate and demands an oath of loyalty. Zedekiah is ready to swear on his own life. Nebuchadnezzar refuses. He reaches for something heavier. He makes Zedekiah swear on a Sefer Torah, a scroll of the Law.

The moment Zedekiah's hand touches the scroll, the weight of the oath changes. A royal promise can be broken and punished by an empire. An oath sworn on Torah brings God's name into the room as a witness.

The Sanhedrin Tried to Dissolve the Oath

Zedekiah breaks the promise. He reaches out to Egypt, stops sending tribute, looks for allies against Babylon. Word travels. Five advisors report the breach to Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian king begins his march.

The scene moves to Daphne near Antioch. Nebuchadnezzar convenes a court session and summons the Sanhedrin. He is not presenting a military case. He is presenting a religious one. This man swore on the Torah of his God and broke his word. What does the law of his God say about that?

The Sanhedrin is trapped. Jewish law permits releasing a person from a vow under certain circumstances, and the rabbis are searching for grounds to help their king. But they cannot find a way to release a Torah oath that was knowingly made and deliberately broken. The Sanhedrin cannot save Zedekiah from the verdict his own oath sealed.

The Escape Through the Cave

Jerusalem falls. Zedekiah tries to escape through a secret tunnel that runs from his house all the way to Jericho. He is almost out. He emerges at the tunnel's exit at the precise moment a Babylonian hunting party is chasing a deer across that same ground. The soldiers stumble over the tunnel exit and find the king blinking in the light.

The Legends of the Jews says God sent the deer. The escape route had been prepared carefully and kept secret. The timing of its discovery could not have been an accident. The moment the oath was broken, a chain of consequences began that would find Zedekiah even in an underground passage miles from the city.

Jerusalem Was Not Lost by Armies Alone

Nebuchadnezzar does not simply conquer Jerusalem. He carries a legal claim to it, handed to him by the words Zedekiah spoke over a Torah scroll and then violated. The Torah oath is no trap sprung on an innocent man. Zedekiah had options. He chose to swear in the most binding way available to a Jewish king.

When he broke that oath, he did not only betray a political agreement. He placed God in the position of witness to a lie. The fall of the city carries the weight of that moment in the Sanhedrin, with the rabbis searching for an escape and finding none.

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Legends of the Jews 10:4Legends of the Jews

Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful Babylonian king, had installed Zedekiah as a vassal king. He wanted to ensure Zedekiah’s loyalty, so he demanded an oath. Now, Zedekiah was ready to swear on his own soul, but Nebuchadnezzar wasn't taking any chances. He made Zedekiah swear on a Sefer Torah, a scroll of the Law. A pretty serious oath. But, according to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Zedekiah didn't exactly keep his word for very long. But there was more to it than just breaking political promises.

Zedekiah held another secret over Nebuchadnezzar. A rather…unappetizing one.

Once, Zedekiah caught Nebuchadnezzar in the act of…well, let’s just say indulging in some very unrefined culinary habits. the verse says Nebuchadnezzar was "cutting a piece from a living hare and eating it, as is the habit of barbarians."

The shock!

Nebuchadnezzar was understandably mortified. He begged Zedekiah to swear another oath, this time to keep this embarrassing secret under wraps. He even showed Zedekiah great favor, making him sovereign over five vassal kings. It seemed like a gesture of appeasement, a way to ensure Zedekiah's silence.

But secrets have a way of…well, getting out.

One day, these five vassal kings, trying to butter Zedekiah up, said something along the lines of, "You know, if things were different, you could be sitting on Nebuchadnezzar's throne." Flattery is a dangerous game, isn't it?

And that's when Zedekiah cracked. He couldn't resist. He blurted out, "O yes, Nebuchadnezzar, whom I once saw eating a live hare!"

Oops.

The Midrash Rabbah suggests that indiscretion can have dire consequences, and this was certainly one of those times. Zedekiah’s inability to hold his tongue, his betrayal of the trust (and oaths!) placed in him, ultimately contributed to his downfall and the destruction of Jerusalem. According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 103a), this act of betrayal was a significant factor in the divine decree against him.

It makes you wonder about the weight of secrets, doesn't it? And the importance of keeping our word, even when it's hard. What secrets are we carrying, and what oaths have we made? Perhaps Zedekiah's story is a reminder to choose our words carefully, because sometimes, silence truly is golden.

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Legends of the Jews 10:5Legends of the Jews

It all started with a vow – a solemn promise made by Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, to Nebuchadnezzar. But things went south, as they often do in these stories. Zedekiah, for reasons we can only imagine, broke his vow.

It first appears that breaking a vow is a personal matter, but in those days, vows were serious business, particularly when they involved powerful rulers. And Nebuchadnezzar was definitely a powerful ruler. So, what happened next?

In legend, the five kings – presumably advisors or officials – immediately ratted out Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar. Can you imagine the tension? The stakes were incredibly high. Nebuchadnezzar, understandably furious, marched toward Daphne, near Antioch, intending to punish Zedekiah for his broken oath.

Here's where the story takes an unexpected turn. Nebuchadnezzar encountered the Sanhedrin – the Jewish high court – who had traveled to Daphne to meet him. Imagine the scene: the Babylonian king, the Jewish scholars… a clash of cultures and powers.

Nebuchadnezzar, surprisingly, treated the Sanhedrin with respect. He ordered chairs to be brought for them and asked them to read and explain the Torah. Talk about a power move disguised as intellectual curiosity!

The Sanhedrin obliged, and they eventually reached the passage in the Book of Numbers that deals with the remission of vows. The king, with a glint in his eye, posed a question: "If a man desires to be released from a vow, what steps must he take?"

The Sanhedrin explained that the man must go to a scholar who could absolve him. Nebuchadnezzar pounced. "I verily believe it was you who released Zedekiah from the vow he took concerning me!"

Ouch. Talk about being caught red-handed.

Nebuchadnezzar then ordered the members of the Sanhedrin to leave their chairs and sit on the ground, a clear sign of their disgrace. They admitted their mistake: Zedekiah's vow concerned Nebuchadnezzar as well, and they had no authority to annul it without his consent.

So, what's the takeaway from this ancient tale? It's a reminder that even the most powerful figures are bound by their word. It also shows us the complexities of leadership, the importance of keeping promises, and the potential consequences of breaking them. Plus, a little insight into the relationship between the Jewish people and foreign rulers throughout history. We see here that sometimes, the most powerful weapons aren't swords or armies, but words and the interpretation of laws. And sometimes, those words can come back to haunt you.

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Legends of the Jews 10:6Legends of the Jews

King Zedekiah of Judah knew that feeling all too well. He made a promise he couldn't keep, and the consequences, well, they were devastating.

Zedekiah's big mistake? Perjury. A broken oath. And not just any oath, but one sworn in the name of God. The stakes couldn't have been higher. When Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, Zedekiah tried to make a run for it. He attempted a daring escape through a secret cave that stretched all the way from his house to Jericho.

According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, God intervened. A deer, of all things, was sent into the Babylonian camp. Can you picture it? Chaos erupts as the soldiers give chase, and in their pursuit, they stumble upon the very exit of Zedekiah's secret cave at the precise moment he emerges!

Zedekiah, along with his ten sons, were captured and dragged before Nebuchadnezzar. And the Babylonian king didn't mince words. He laid it all out for Zedekiah, a king facing the ultimate judgment.

“Were I to judge thee according to the law of thy God,” Nebuchadnezzar declared, “thou wouldst deserve the death penalty, for thou didst swear a false oath by the Name of God; no less wouldst thou deserve death, if I were to judge thee according to the law of the state, for thou didst fail in thy sworn duty to thy overlord."

Essentially, Zedekiah was doomed no matter which legal code you looked at. He had broken his word to both God and king.

What's the takeaway from Zedekiah's tragic story? It's a stark reminder of the weight of our words, the importance of integrity, and the inescapable consequences of our choices. Sometimes, as Zedekiah learned, running away isn't the answer. Sometimes, the deer leads you straight to where you were trying to avoid. And sometimes, the promises we make – especially those made in the name of something greater – come back to haunt us in the most unexpected ways.

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