Nebuchadnezzar himself was then at Riblah, at the upper end of the valley of Lebanon, some thirty-five miles beyond B.aalbek, and therefore about ten days' journey from Jerusalem. Thither Zedekiah and his sons were despatched ; his daughters were kept at Jeru- salem, and shortly after fell into the haixls of the no- torious Ishmael at Mizpah. When he was brought be- fore Nebuchadnezzar, the great king reproached him in the severest terms, first for breaking his oath of alle- giance, and next for ingratitude (Josephus). He then, with a refinement of cruelty characteristic of those cruel times, ordered his sons to be killed before him, and last- ly his own eves to be thrust out. See Eve. He wa.s loaded with brazen fetters, and at a later period taken to Babylon, where he died. We are not told whether he was allowed to communicate with his brother Jehoi- achin, who at that time was also in captivity there; nor do we know the time of his death; but from the omission of his name in the statement of Jehoiakiin's release by Evil-JMerodach, twenty-six years after the fall of Jerusalem, it is natural to infer that by that time Zedekiah's sufferings had ended.
The fact of his interview with Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and his being carried blind to Babylon, recon- ciles two predictions of Jeremiah and P>.ekiel, which at the time of their delivery must have appeared conflict- ing, and which Josephus indeed particularly states Zed- ekiah alleged as his reason for not giving more heed to Jeremiah. The former of these (Jer. xxxii, 4) states that Zedekiah shall "speak with the king of Babylon mouth to moutli, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;" the latter (Ezek. xii, 13), that "he shall be brought to Babylon, yet siiall he not see it, though he die there." The whole of this prediction of Ezekiel, whose prophe- cies appear to have been delivered at Babylon (i, 1-3; xl. 1). is truly remarkable as describing almost exactly the circumstances of Zedekiah's flight.— Smith.
4. A son of Jehoiachin or Jeconiah, and grandson of JehoiaUim, king of Judah (1 Chron. iii, 16). B.C. 598 or later. As nothing further is recorded of liipi, and he is not mentioned subsequently among the royal lin- eage (ver. 17), Kcil conjectures {CommfuL ad loe.) that lie ma^' have dio<l prior to the deportation of the royal family; but in that case he must have been only an infant.
5. The son of Maaseiah, a false prophet in Babylon among the captives who were taken with Jeconiah (Jer. xxix, 21, 22). He was denounced in the letter of .ler- emiah (595) for having, with .\hab the son of Kolaiah, buoyed up the people with false hopes, and for profane and flagitious conduct. Their names were to become a by-word, and their terrible fate a warning. Of this fate we have uo direct intimation, or of the manner in
ZEEB
1080
ZEMARAIM
which they incurred it; the prophet simply pronounces that thev should tall into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and be burned to death. In the Targiini ot H. Joseph on 2 Chron. xxviii, 3, the storj' is told that Joshua the son of Jozadak the hiyh-priest was cast into the fur- nace of lire with Ahab and Zedekiah, but that, while they were consumed, he was saved for his righteous- ness' sake. — Smitli,
6. The first named of the princes who sealed the sa- cred covenant with Nehemiah (_Neh. x, 1, A. V. " Ziki- jah"). B.C. 410.
Zeeb. See Wolf.
Ze'eb (Ileb. Zeeb', 2Xt, wolf, as often; Sept. 6 Zi)(3, Vulg. Zeb}, one of the two "princes" (C'^tJ) of Midian in the great invasion of Israel — inferior to the " kings" Zebah and Zalraunna. He is always named with Oreb (Judg. vii, 25; viii,<J; Psa. Ixxxiii, 11). The name signifies in Hebrew "wolf," just as Oreb does "crow," and the two are appropriate enough to the customs of predatory warriors, who delight in conferring such names on their chiefs. Zeeb and Oreb were not slain at the first rout of the Arabs below the spring of Harod, but at a later stage of the struggle, probably in crossing the Jordan at a ford farther down the river, near the passes which descend from Jlount Ephraim. An enor- mous mass of their followers perished with them. See OuEB. Zeeb, the wolf, was brought to bay in a wine- press which in later times bore his name — "the wine- press of Zeeb" (3NT w]|5|^ ; Sept. 'laKt(pZt]ip v. r. 'Ia«0- Z^»//3, Vulg. Torcular Zeb). — Smith. Down the Jordan valley, overlooking the plain of Jericho, is a sharp peak, still known as Ash el-Ghorub, i. e. "the Raven's, or Oreb's, Peak." Five miles nfirth-west of this is a wady and mound known as Triveel el-Diub, i. e. "the WolFs, or Zeeb's, Den," which Tristram accepts as the required localities {Bible Places, p. 2oO). Rabbi Schwarz's sug- gestion {Palest, p. 231) is inapposite.
Zekukith. See Ckystal.
Ze'lah (Heb. Tsela', vh'Z [in pause, "3S, in Sam.], a rib; Sept. in Josh. 27;X«, in Sam. IlXtj'pa), a city in the tribe of Benjamin (Josh, xviii, 28, where it is men- tioned in the south-western section between Taralah and Ha-Eleph); it contained the family tomb of Kish, the father of Saul (2 Sam. xxi, li), in which the bones of Saul and Jonathan, and also apparently of the two sons and five grandsons of Saul sacrificed to Jehovah on the hill of (iibeah, at last found their resting-place (comp. ver. 13). The ancient geogra]jhers seem igno- rant of the localit}' (Reland. Piihest. p. 1058) ; but mod- ern travellers are inclined to identify it with Beit Jala (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, i, 401;Bonar, Mission, p. 234), a considerable Christian village opposite Rachel's Tomb (Robinson, Bibl. Res. ii, 2 sq.). The suggestion of rabbi Schwarz {Palest, p. 128) is too vague. Lieut. Conder's suggestion of Piimman is equally a venture {Tent Wo)-k in Palest, ii, 340). See Zelzah,