Ebed-melech

Ebed-melech (meaning the king's servant, likely an official title) was an Ethiopian eunuch in the service of King Zedekiah of Judah. He appears in a pivotal episode in Jeremiah 38: when the princes of Judah had cast Jeremiah into a muddy cistern to die, Ebed-melech interceded directly with the king and received permission to rescue the prophet, lowering ropes and worn rags to him so he could be drawn out safely. His intervention likely saved Jeremiah's life.

The account is notable for several reasons: it presents a foreigner and a court servant as a faithful defender of God's prophet while the princes of Judah sought Jeremiah's death. Because of this act of courage, Ebed-melech received a personal oracle of promise from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 39:15–18): in the fall of Jerusalem, his life would be preserved and he would not be given into the hands of those whom he feared, "because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD."