Abdeel

Abdeel is a person known exclusively from the book of Jeremiah as the father of Shelemiah. His son was one of three court officials whom King Jehoiakim sent to arrest the prophet Jeremiah and the scribe Baruch after the king, in anger, had burned the scroll containing Jeremiah's prophecies (Jer 36:26). Abdeel himself does not play an active role in the narrative, but the fact that his name is preserved as a patronym suggests that his family likely held an official position at the court in Jerusalem. The event took place during a critical period around 605–604 BC, when the power of the Neo-Babylonian Empire was growing rapidly under Nebuchadnezzar. The name Abdeel means 'servant of God' in Hebrew, a designation that testifies to religious devotion within the naming tradition.