38:8 Ebed-melech. Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch in the king’s court, was presumably black. There is no indication as to how he happened to be one of Zedekiah’s main servants, but it is significant that this black eunuch was the only defender of the Jewish prophet at this time, and the one who saved his life. He had put his trust in the God of Israel (Jeremiah 39:15-18), and God therefore spared Ebed-melech’s life when the city was destroyed by the Babylonians.