(Eʹbed-melʹech) [Servant of the King].

An Ethiopian eunuch in the house of King Zedekiah who, by his course of action, demonstrated that he was in full agreement with the work of Jehovah’s prophet Jeremiah. When the princes of Judah falsely charged Jeremiah with sedition, Zedekiah surrendered the prophet into their hands. These princes then took Jeremiah and threw him into the miry cistern of Malchijah in the Courtyard of the Guard, there to die without food. (Jer 38:4-6) Courageously, notwithstanding the danger in which it placed him because of the prevailing bitter hatred for Jeremiah and his message, Ebed-melech publicly approached the king seated in the Gate of Benjamin and there presented an appeal in behalf of Jeremiah. Zedekiah responded favorably. Then Ebed-melech, at the king’s command, took 30 men to the cistern and let down ropes with worn-out rags and pieces of cloth for Jeremiah to place under his armpits in order to bring him up out of the cistern. (Jer 38:7-13) Likely Zedekiah directed Ebed-melech to take 30 men along, not that so many men were needed to get Jeremiah out of the cistern, but in order to effect a successful deliverance despite any possible interference on the part of the princes or the priests. Because of this righteous act toward God’s prophet, Ebed-melech was assured by Jehovah, through Jeremiah, that he would not perish during the Babylonian siege but  would be furnished an escape.​—Jer 39:15-18; see EUNUCH.