Riblah

A town in the territory of Hamath on the Orontes River that became the headquarters of two Near Eastern superpowers as they unraveled Judah. Pharaoh Necho summoned King Jehoahaz here in 609 BCE, deposed him, and put Jehoiakim on the throne instead (2 Kings 23:33). Twenty-two years later, Nebuchadnezzar made Riblah his command base during the siege of Jerusalem — and when King Zedekiah was captured trying to flee the burning city, the Babylonians brought him to Riblah, executed his sons in front of him, then put out his eyes and led him in chains to Babylon (2 Kings 25:6-7, 20-21; Jeremiah 39:5-6; 52:9-11). Riblah is also one of the boundary points in Ezekiel's vision of restored Israel (Ezekiel 6:14, where "Diblah" is widely emended to Riblah).