GEDALIAH gĕd’ ə lī’ ə (גְּדַלְיָ֡הוּ, גְּדַלְיָ֣ה, Yah [i.e. Yahweh] is great). Name of several men.

1. Gedaliah, a Jeduthunite, a Temple musician under David (1 Chron 25:3, 9).

2. Grandfather of Zephaniah, the prophet (Zeph 1:1).

3. Gedaliah, son of Pashhur, one of Jeremiah’s opponents (Jer 38:1-3).

4. A priest in Ezra’s time who had married a foreign wife (Ezra 10:18).

5. Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, governor of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:22-26; Jer 40:6-41:18). His family’s political moderation, shown by his father’s protection of Jeremiah, prob. made him acceptable to the Babylonians (Jer 26:24). Mizpah, his headquarters during his two month rule, served as a rallying point for various groups of Heb. soldiers and nobility. He avoided political intrigue in rejecting the scheme of Johanan, son of Kareah, to murder Ishmael, son of Nethaniah. He, many Jewish leaders, and the Babylonian garrison, were assassinated by Ishmael. Gedaliah’s partisans, fearing Babylonian reprisals, then fled to Egypt forcing Jeremiah the prophet to go with them. The events associated with his death made it impossible for a Jewish community to survive in Pal. under Babylonian control. The Jewish community, in effect, disappeared until the return of new leadership from Babylon. Jewish tradition recognizes the importance of his death in remembering its anniversary as a fast day. A contemporary seal inscribed “of Gedaliah who is over the house,” has been found at Lachish.

Bibliography J. H. Greenstone, “Gedaliah,” Jew Enc (1901).