The Mulekites—Who Were They? Part I

Tzidkiyahu, which means “My righteousness is Yahweh,” called Zedekias in Greek, and Zedekiah in English, was the last king of Judah before its destruction by the kingdom of Babylon. In 597 B.C., he was installed at the age of 21 or 22 as the king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem, to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and ten days.

Zedekiah’s reign is stated as beginning in 597 B.C. and ending in 587 B.C. (some claim 586 B.C.) The prophet Jeremiah was his counselor, yet “he did evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 24:19-20; Jeremiah 52:2-3). Despite warnings from Jeremiah, Barush ben Neriah and other family advisors, Zedekiah revolted against Babylon, and entered into an alliance with Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt. Since Judah was a tributary to Babylon at the time, Nebuchadnezzar responded by invading Judah (2 Kings 25:1) and beginning a siege of the city in January of 589 B.C.

During this siege, which lasted about thirty months, "every worst woe befell the devoted city, which drank the cup of God's fury to the dregs" (2 Kings 25:3; Lamentations 4:4, 5, 9). In the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar succeeded in capturing Jerusalem. Zedekiah and his followers attempted to escape, making their way out of the city, but were captured on the plains of Jericho, and were taken to Riblah. There, after seeing his sons put to death, his own eyes were put out, and, being loaded with chains, he was carried captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-7; 2 Chronicles 36:12; Jeremiah 32:4,-5; 34:2-3; 39:1-7; 52:4-11; Ezekiel 2:12), where he remained a prisoner until he died.

About 400 years before Zedekiah, King Saul had wives and concubines (2 Samuel 3:7), the next king, David, had seven wives and at least ten concubines (2 Samuel 20:3), and his son, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings). David’s son, Absalom, who had many wives and concubines, became the forefather, on their mother's side, of all of the succeeding kings of Judah until the Babylonian exile. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines. So it stands to reason that Zedekiah, a later king of Judah, had both wives (Jeremiah 38:23) and concubines, named “women who were left in the king of Judah’s house” (Jeremiah 38:22).

At the time of his capture, Zedekiah would have been 31 or 32 years of age. During the last days of the city before the Babylonians conquered, it would seem likely that one of these wives or concubines gave birth to a baby boy. When the city fell, this baby, no doubt entrusted in the hands of servants and guardians, was hustled out of the city for safety. Unknown to most, especially the Babylonians, he was not known as one of Zedekiah’s sons who were put to death before his eyes.

Thus, this baby, was safe from the Babylonians and in the care of a small group of people who were sworn to protect him. How they escaped the city, how they managed to keep the baby out of sight, and where they immediately went, is not known. But revelation has shown us that this baby, Helaman identified as Mulek, a son of Zedekiah (Helaman 6:10), and those who went with him, escaped capture by the Babylonians and eventually sailed to the Land of Promise as stated in the Book of Mormon.

(See the next post, "The Mulekites—Who Were They? Part II," to see where the Mulekites landed in the Land of Promise and where they settled)