Ebed-melech
Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian eunuch serving in King Zedekiah's palace who performed one of the bravest acts of the Bible's darkest hour. When the princes of Judah threw the prophet Jeremiah into an empty cistern to starve in the mire, Ebed-melech - a foreigner and a slave - went straight to the king at the city gate and publicly protested the injustice. Given royal leave and thirty men, he gathered old rags and worn-out garments, lowered them on ropes so the ropes would not cut the starving prophet's arms, and drew Jeremiah up out of the pit. God sent Jeremiah with a personal promise for him: when Jerusalem fell, Ebed-melech would not be given into the hands of the men he feared, 'because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.' His small kindness with the rags is one of Scripture's most tender details of practical compassion.
Biography
- Occupation
- Court official (eunuch) to King Zedekiah
- Era
- Fall of Jerusalem
- Nationality
- Ethiopian
Did You Know?
Ebed-melech's name simply means 'servant of the king' - it may have been a title rather than his personal name, leaving the brave man himself anonymous.
He is one of only two people in the book of Jeremiah to receive a personal oracle of deliverance from God - the other being Jeremiah's scribe Baruch.
His rescue plan included a detail of pure kindness: old rags lowered first, so the ropes would not cut the starving prophet's armpits.
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Ebed-melech Rescues Jeremiah
Jeremiah 38:7-13
The detail of the rags under Jeremiah's armpits - thoughtfulness inside a rescue - reveals a compassion that goes beyond mere duty.
7ow when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the kingโs house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;
God's Promise to Ebed-melech
Jeremiah 39:15-18
Before Jerusalem falls, God singles out the Ethiopian slave for personal deliverance - trust in the LORD, not nationality or status, is what God rewards.
15ow the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,