Merodach-Baladan

King of Babylon, Isa. x29, l. - - signifying sorrow.

Mero’dach-bal’adan. (worshipper of Baal). Merodach-baladan is mentioned as king of Babylon, in the days of Hezekiah, both, in the Second Book of Kings, 2Ki 20:12, and in Isaiah, Isa 39:1. In the former place, he is called Berodach-baladan.

The name of Merodach-baladan has been recognized in the Assyrian inscriptions. It appears, there were two reigns of this king, the first from B.C. 721 to B.C. 709, when he was deposed; and the second, after his recovery of the throne in B.C. 702, which lasted only half a year.

There is some doubt as to the time at which, he sent his ambassadors to Hezekiah, for the purpose of inquiring as to the astronomical marvel, of which Judea had been the scene, 2Ch 32:31, but it appears to have been B.C. 713.

From the idol Merodach and Baladan ("Bel is his lord"). Read in the Assyrian inscriptions Mardoc Erapad, or Empalin Ptolemy’s canon, Merodach Baldan in Polyhistor (Eusebius, Chron. Can. 1; 5:1). Reigned twice in Babylon with an interval between. Warred with Sargon and Sennacherib successively, having thrown off allegiance to them; so naturally drawn to Hezekiah who also had cast off the Assyrian yoke. Inquiry about the astronomical wonder, the recession of the dial shadow, was the pretext; an alliance between Egypt (Isa 20:1;Isa 20:1-6), Babylon, and Judaea was the motive of the embassy (2Ch 32:31). Hezekiah’s display was to show his ability to support a war. G. Rawlinson (Hist. Illustr. Old Testament) thinks his embassy after Hezekiah’s sickness, if in 713 B.C. as the Hebrew numbers make it (the 14th year of Hezekiah; Isa 38:5; 2Ki 18:13), was in his first reign (721-709 B.C.) contemporary with Sargon.

His second reign was in 703 B.C., lasting six months and followed by Belibus in 702 B.C. It is an undesigned coincidence confirming Scripture that precisely at the time that Babylon revolted, though before and afterwards subject to Assyria, it mentions Merodach Baladan. (See BABEL; BABYLON; HEZEKIAH.) Sargon in the inscriptions says that in the 12th year of his reign he drove Merodach Baladan from Babylon after ruling 12 years. Sennacherib says in his first year he drove him out (Merodach Baladan fleeing to Nagitiraggus, an island in the sea: Isa 20:6), setting up Belib. Merodach Baladan it seems headed the popular party in seeking national independence. Baladan was his ancestor; but his father according to the inscriptions was Yagin or Jugaeus in Ptolemy’s canon.

His sons, supported by the king of Elam, continued the struggle against Assyria under Esarhaddon, Sennacherib’s son, and his grandsons against Asshur-bani-pal, Esarhaddon’s son. Inscriptions say that Merodach Baladan, having been conquered in battle by Sargon, and Babylonia having been ravaged, fled to "the islands at the mouth of the Euphrates." Belib put him to death (Polyhistor, Eusebius Chron. Can. 1:5). Hincks suggests reasonably that "Sennacherib" should be omitted after "king of Assyria" (2Ki 18:13), Sargon reigning "in the 14th year of Hezekiah." Thus, Hezekiah’s sickness and the embassy of Merodach Baladan would be at this time, in the first reign of Merodach Baladan.

Merodach-baladan (me-rô’dak-băl’a-dăn), worshipper of Baal. King of Babylon. 2Ki 20:12; Isa 39:1. In the former passage he is called Berodach-baladan. The name Merodach-baladan has been found in the Assyrian inscriptions. It appears there were two reigns of this king, the first from b.c. 721 to b.c. 709, when he was deposed; and the second after his recovery of the throne in b.c. 702, which lasted only half a year. He sent ambassadors to Hezekiah, 2Ch 32:31, about b.c. 713.

By: Solomon Schechter, Louis Ginzberg, A. Peiginsky

King of Babylon (712 B.C.), who sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, King of Judah, when the latter had recovered from his sickness. Hezekiah, delighted with the courtesy, shows the messengers all his treasures, withholding nothing from them. Whereupon the prophet Isaiah, hearing of the visit, comes to Hezekiah and reproves him for the display he has made of his riches. He foretells the destruction of Hezekiah's kingdom, and the Babylonian captivity (Isa. xxxix.). In the parallel account in II Kings xx. 12-19 the name of this king is given as Berodachbaladan.

According to the Talmud, Baladan's face was changed to that of a dog, he being thereby compelled to abdicate the throne in favor of his son Merodach. Out of reverence, Merodach in all his edicts and ordinances added his name to that of his father in order to indicate that he really was only the representative of the latter (Sanh. 96b).

MERODACH-BALADAN (Isa 39:1; misspelt [in MT [Note: Massoretic Text.] , but not in LXX [Note: Septuagint.] ] Berodach-b. in 2Ki 20:12).—In Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] the name is written Marduk-bal-iddina, and means ‘Merodach has given a son.’ For his history see p. 66 f.

mḗ-rō´dak-bal´a-dan, mer´ṓ-dak-b. (בּלאדן מראדך, m^ero’dhakh bal’ădhān; Μαρωδὰχ Βαλαδάν, Marōdách Baladán): The son of Baladan, is mentioned in Isa 39:1, as a king of Babylon who sent an embassy to Hezekiah, king of Judah, apparently shortly after the latter’s illness, in order to congratulate him on his recovery of health, and to make with him an offensive and defensive alliance. This Merodach-baladan was a king of the Chaldeans of the house of Yakin, and was the most dangerous and inveterate foe of Sargon and his son Sennacherib, kings of Assyria, with whom he long and bitterly contested the possession of Babylon and the surrounding provinces. Merodach-Baladan seems to have seized Babylon immediately after the death of Shalmaneser in 721 BC; and it was not till the 12th year of his reign that Sargon succeeded in ousting him. From that time down to the 8th campaign of Sennacherib, Sargon and his son pursued with relentless animosity Merodach-Baladan and his family until at last his son Nabushumishkun was captured and the whole family of Merodach-Baladan was apparently destroyed. According to the monuments, therefore, it was from a worldly point of view good politics for Hezekiah and his western allies to come to an understanding with Merodach-Baladan and the Arameans, Elamites, and others, who were confederated with him. From a strategical point of view, the weakness of the allied powers consisted in the fact that the Arabian desert lay between the eastern and western members of the confederacy, so that the Assyrian kings were able to attack their enemies when they pleased and to defeat them in detail.