Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

EVIL-MERODACH

(Heb. ʾĕwîl mĕrōḏaḵ; Akk. Amel-Marduk)

Son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar II as king of Babylon in 562 b.c.e. He reigned as the third king of the Chaldean dynasty for two years. Unlike Neriglissar and Nabonidus, nothing is known of his activities prior to becoming king. Likewise, no cuneiform text detailing any military campaign the king may have conducted is yet known. In 2 Kgs. 25:27-30; Jer. 52:31 Evil-merodach is said to have released the king of Judah, Jehoiachin, from a 37-year captivity and given him an allowance. Indeed, cuneiform texts survive detailing rations given Jehoiachin while he was in Babylon. According to Berossus’ Babyloniaca Evil-merodach was the victim of a plot organized by his brother-in-law Neriglissar (Akk. Nergal-šarra-uṣur). To date, no cuneiform text confirming this familial relationship has been discovered, although it is widely held that the account is true.

Evil-merodach’s name is prominent in both Classical Greek and Latin sources, as well as the rabbinic commentaries. There are also indications in Babylonian apocalyptic literature and the contract tablets that Nebuchadnezzar may have established a coregency with Evil-merodach prior to his death. Berossus asserts that Evil-merodach’s administration was “arbitrary and licentious,” but rabbinic sources contradict this claim. Jewish folklore is replete with stories of problems involving his succession to the throne, as well as his removal of his father’s body from its resting place. These stories, however, may be the result of an attempt to cast Evil-merodach in a favorable light as opposed to his father, who was forever remembered as the architect of the Babylonian Captivity and the destroyer of Solomon’s temple.

Bibliography. R. H. Sack, Amel-Marduk — 562-560 b.c. AOAT Sond 4 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1972).

Ronald H. Sack

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

EVIL-MERODACH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)