Mattan
The Name Mattan
The name Mattan means "a gift" in Hebrew. Ironically, both men who bear this name in Scripture are connected to opposition against God's will. The name may have been relatively common in ancient Israel and Judah, and its meaning carries no negative connotation. Yet the stories of these two individuals reveal the darker side of Israel's history, involving idolatry and the persecution of God's prophets.
Mattan the Priest of Baal
The first Mattan was a priest serving in the temple of Baal in Jerusalem during the reign of Queen Athaliah. After Athaliah seized the throne by murdering the royal family, she promoted Baal worship in Judah. When the priest Jehoiada orchestrated a coup to restore the rightful heir Joash to the throne, the people rose up against Baal worship. They tore down the temple of Baal, smashed its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest before the altars (2 Kings 11:18; 2 Chronicles 23:17). His death marked the end of official Baal worship in Jerusalem under Athaliah's patronage.
The Significance of Mattan's Death
The killing of Mattan was not merely an act of political revolution but a decisive moment of religious reform. Athaliah had introduced Phoenician Baal worship into Judah, likely influenced by her mother Jezebel's legacy in the northern kingdom. Jehoiada's revolution restored the worship of Yahweh and renewed the covenant between God, the king, and the people (2 Kings 11:17). Mattan's death before the altar of Baal symbolized the complete rejection of idolatry and the reassertion of Israel's covenant faithfulness.
Mattan the Father of Shephatiah
The second Mattan lived approximately two centuries later, during the final years of the kingdom of Judah. He was the father of Shephatiah, one of the officials who opposed the prophet Jeremiah during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Shephatiah and his allies accused Jeremiah of undermining the war effort by telling the people to surrender to Babylon (Jeremiah 38:1-4). They convinced King Zedekiah to hand Jeremiah over, and they cast the prophet into the cistern of Malchiah, where he sank into the mud and would have died without rescue (Jeremiah 38:6).
Two Men, One Pattern
Though separated by centuries, both Mattans are connected to resistance against God's purposes. The first served a false god whose worship was destroying Judah from within. The second raised a son who tried to silence God's prophet during Judah's darkest hour. Together, their stories illustrate the recurring biblical theme that opposition to God's word, whether through idolatry or persecution of His messengers, ultimately leads to destruction. Mattan the priest perished in Jehoiada's reform, and Shephatiah's generation witnessed the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon, exactly as Jeremiah had warned.
Biblical Context
Mattan the priest of Baal appears in the accounts of Jehoiada's revolution in 2 Kings 11:18 and 2 Chronicles 23:17, where he is killed during the overthrow of Queen Athaliah and the restoration of Davidic kingship. Mattan the father of Shephatiah appears in Jeremiah 38:1, where his son is named among the officials who persecuted Jeremiah and threw him into a cistern (Jeremiah 38:6).
Theological Significance
The two Mattans represent different forms of opposition to God. The first embodied institutional idolatry, serving as a priest of a false deity. The second, through his son, represented political opposition to prophetic truth. Both stories demonstrate that God's purposes cannot be thwarted by human resistance. Jehoiada's reform restored true worship, and Jeremiah's prophecies of Babylonian conquest were fulfilled despite attempts to silence him.
Historical Background
Baal worship in Judah during Athaliah's reign reflected the religious influence of Phoenicia, transmitted through Athaliah's connection to the house of Omri and Jezebel. Archaeological evidence from sites across ancient Israel confirms the widespread presence of Baal worship, including altars, figurines, and inscriptions. The political situation during Jeremiah's ministry is well documented in both biblical and Babylonian sources, with the Babylonian Chronicles confirming the siege and fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.