Hilkiah

HILKIAH hil-ki'-a (chilqiyah, "Yah is my portion" or "Yah's portion"):

The name of 8 individuals in the Old Testament or 7, if the person mentioned in Nehemiah 12:7,21 was the same who stood with Ezra at the reading of the Law (Nehemiah 8:4). The latter appears as Ezecias (the King James Version) in 1 Esdras 9:43. Five of this name are clearly associated with the priesthood, and the others are presumably so. The etymology suggests this. Either interpretation of the name expresses the person's claim on Yahweh or the parents' recognition of Yahweh's claim on him.

(1) The person mentioned above (Nehemiah 8:4, etc.).

(2) A Levite of the sons of Merari (1 Chronicles 6:45).

(3) Another Levite of Merari, son of Hosah (1 Chronicles 26:11). Is he the "porter," i.e. "doorkeeper" of 1 Chronicles 16:38?

(4) Father of the Gemariah whom Zedekiah of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 29:3).

(5) The man in 2 Kings 18:18 who is evidently more famous as the father of Eliakim, the majordomo of Hezekiah's palace (Isaiah 22:20; 36:3). Probably the father's name is given in this and similar cases to distinguish between two persons of otherwise identical name.

(6) A priest of Anathoth, father of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1).

(7) The son of Shallum, and the best known of the name (1 Chronicles 6:13). He is great-grandfather of Ezra through his son Azariah (1 Esdras 8:1; compare 1 Chronicles 9:11; Nehemiah 11:11). He discovered the lost Book of the Law during the repairing of the Temple (2 Kings 22:4,8); became chief leader in the ensuing reformation in 621 BC (2 Kings 23:4; 2 Chronicles 34:9; 35:8). He showed the recovered book to Shaphan the scribe, who, in turn, brought it to the notice of the king. At Josiah's request he led a deputation to Huldah the prophetess to "inquire of the Lord" concerning the new situation created by the discovery. The book discovered is usually identified with the Book of Deuteronomy.

See DEUTERONOMY.

Henry Wallace

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'HILKIAH'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.