Who was Mattan in the Bible?

Mattan was the father of Shephatiah, a royal official in the court of King Zedekiah of Judah during the final days before the Babylonian exile. He is only mentioned once in the Bible in relation to his son's opposition to the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:1).

Why is Mattan mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah?

Mattan is mentioned to identify his son, Shephatiah, who was among the officials who opposed Jeremiah and persuaded King Zedekiah to have the prophet thrown into a cistern (Jeremiah 38:1-6). This highlights the conflict between Jeremiah's prophecies and the royal court.

What can we learn from Mattan's story?

While Mattan himself is not a central actor, his mention shows how family lineage was used to identify influential figures. It reminds us that our choices, like his son's opposition to God's prophet, have consequences and are recorded as part of biblical history.

Mattan

Old TestamentDivided MonarchyMaleFather

Mattan was the father of Shephatiah, one of the officials who opposed the prophet Jeremiah (Jer.38.1).

Mattan

Biography

Mattan was the father of Shephatiah, one of the Judean officials who fiercely opposed the prophet Jeremiah during the final years of Jerusalem before the Babylonian conquest (Jeremiah 38:1). Shephatiah was among the princes who accused Jeremiah of undermining the city's morale by prophesying that Jerusalem would fall to Nebuchadnezzar and urged King Zedekiah to put the prophet to death. These officials succeeded in having Jeremiah lowered into a muddy cistern to die, though the Ethiopian official Ebed-melech subsequently rescued him. While Mattan himself does not appear as an active character in the narrative, his identification as Shephatiah's father places him within the ruling class of late monarchic Judah during one of the nation's most turbulent periods.

Significance

Mattan's significance derives entirely from his son Shephatiah's role in persecuting Jeremiah, one of the most dramatic confrontations between prophetic truth and political power in the Old Testament. The naming of Mattan establishes that Shephatiah was not a mere bureaucrat but a man of identifiable lineage within Judah's leadership. This family connection to the opposition against Jeremiah illustrates how entire households could align against God's prophetic word when it conflicted with their political interests. The episode underscores the recurring biblical theme that rejecting God's messenger leads to national catastrophe, as Jerusalem fell precisely as Jeremiah had warned, vindicating the prophet his persecutors sought to silence.

Verse Appearances (1)

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 38:1

References

Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

View all sources & licensing →

See our editorial standards →

Content compiled from public domain scholarship, academic sources, and verified references. Editorial standards · View all sources