NEBUZARADAN nĕb’ ə zə rā’ dən (נְבֽוּזַרְאֲדָ֣ן, Nabu has given offspring). Nebuchadnezzar’s officer in charge of the destruction of Jerusalem after its capture. He carried out the burning and destruction of the city and Temple, a month after its fall (2 Kings 25:8, 9), the deportation of the Jews to Babylonia (2 Kings 25:11; Jer 39:9; 52:15, 30), and the sending of the leading Jewish rebels to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah for execution (2 Kings 25:18-21; Jer 52:24-27).

He acted kindly to Jeremiah, entrusting him, together with royal princesses and other innocent people, to Gedaliah, the Jewish noble whom he appointed as governor (Jer 39:13, 14; 41:10; 43:6).

He is called rab tabbāḥîm (2 Kings 25:8, 11, 20; Jer 52:30), a term whose precise meaning cannot as yet be determined from the texts. It was a term given high foreign court officials of Egypt and Babylonia (cf. śar ṭabbāḥîm in Gen 37:36, and rab ṭabbāḥayyā in Dan 2:14).

Bibliography' J. A. Brinkman, Orientalia, 34 (1965), 249, n. 1.