The Father of the Officer Who Sought to Seize Jeremiah
Abdeel (Hebrew: עַבְדְּאֵל, `Abde’el) is an obscure figure in the Old Testament, mentioned only once in the Book of Jeremiah. His name, meaning “Servant of God”, stands in sharp contrast to the actions of his son, which placed his family squarely on the side of royal power and against the authority of the prophet of the Lord.
Context: The Prophecy of Doom
Abdeel is known only as the father of Shelemiah, a high-ranking official in the court of King Jehoiakim of Judah. This period, around 605 B.C., was a time of intense confrontation between the unrepentant king and the prophet Jeremiah, who was delivering God’s final warnings before the Babylonian captivity.
| Historical Figure | Role in the Narrative | Significance |
| Jeremiah | The faithful prophet, recording God’s words of warning on a scroll. | His message was rejected by the corrupt political establishment. |
| King Jehoiakim | The wicked King of Judah, hostile to God’s warnings. | He commanded the destruction of the prophetic scroll and the arrest of the prophet. |
| Shelemiah (Son of Abdeel) | One of the three officials commanded to carry out the arrest. | His participation aligns Abdeel’s family with the oppressive government. |
The King’s Command and God’s Protection
Abdeel’s son, Shelemiah, was given the critical task of arresting Jeremiah and his scribe, Baruch, after the king had angrily cut and burned the scroll containing God’s warnings (Jeremiah 36:23).
The Attempted Arrest
Shelemiah, son of Abdeel, was appointed along with two other officials—Jerahmeel, the king’s son, and Seraiah, the son of Azriel—to apprehend the two men.
“But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.” (Jeremiah 36:26)1
A Striking Contrast
The mention of Abdeel’s name, meaning “Servant of God,” immediately precedes the account of his son’s mission to suppress God’s word and seize His prophet. This juxtaposition provides a subtle theological point: that a lineage or name dedicated to the Lord does not guarantee the fidelity of the descendants, particularly when they choose to serve a wicked, temporal king.
The immediate conclusion of the verse—”but the LORD hid them”—reasserts God’s supreme sovereignty over all political schemes, confirming the ultimate failure of the mission undertaken by Abdeel’s son and his associates. Abdeel’s family, though in a position of authority, was ultimately powerless against the purposes of the “Servant of God” whom they sought to arrest.