Kings of Judah

Figure Analysis

The Kings of Judah typically aren't directly named, but they do show up, mainly as punching bags for God or Ezekiel.

For example, Ezekiel offers a prophecy against King Jehoiachin:

He [Nebuchadnezzar] took one of the royal offspring [Zedekiah] and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath (he had taken away the chief men of the land), so that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and that by keeping his covenant it might stand. But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, in order that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Can one escape who does such things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape? As I live, says the Lord God, surely in the place where the king resides who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke—in Babylon he shall die. (17:13-16)

Since Ezekiel and God aren't particularly huge fans of their corrupt people, they're not fans of their corrupt leaders either. In this case, Zedekiah is condemned for trying to get in good with a pagan ally—Egypt—instead of turning to the one ally he should really be clinging to: God. So exile and worse is their punishment. Zedekiah's a pretty good example of what God finds so despicable in a leader.