Ahikam

Biblical Record

Ahikam is introduced as "the son of Shaphan." His Hebrew name is usually interpreted to mean "my brother has risen." Scripture directly records his actions in two places.

• Envoy to Huldah: During the reign of King Josiah, the book of the law was found in the temple. So that the LORD might be consulted about its words, the king sent Ahikam, together with Hilkiah the priest, Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah the king's servant, to the prophetess Huldah (2 Kings 22:12-14; 2 Chronicles 34:20).
• Protection of Jeremiah: When Jeremiah warned in the temple court that Jerusalem would be destroyed, the priests and the prophets sought to put him to death. Ahikam protected him and kept him from being handed over to the people to be killed: "the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death" (Jeremiah 26:24). The same chapter also records that Urijah, who had prophesied in a similar manner, was put to death by King Jehoiakim (Jeremiah 26:20-23).

Elsewhere, Ahikam's name appears mostly as a means of identifying his son Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the governor whom Nebuchadnezzar appointed after the Babylonian exile to rule over the people left in the land of Judah (2 Kings 25:22; Jeremiah 40-41). The text does not mention Ahikam's birth, his death, or the title of his office.

Significance in Scripture

Ahikam is portrayed as a royal official who respected the word of a prophet. Placed alongside the account of Urijah's death, his story shows that Jeremiah survived because an influential official protected him. His son Gedaliah also took Jeremiah into his care (Jeremiah 39:14; 40:6). Ahikam is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretive Issues

• His father Shaphan: 2 Kings 22 names both "Ahikam the son of Shaphan" and "Shaphan the scribe." Most commentators regard the two as father and son and understand Ahikam to be the son of Shaphan the scribe.
• The house of Shaphan: The Book of Jeremiah also mentions Gemariah (Jeremiah 36:10-12) and Elasah (Jeremiah 29:3), each called "the son of Shaphan." Some scholars regard them as Ahikam's brothers and see the house of Shaphan as a family of officials who supported Josiah's reforms and were sympathetic toward Jeremiah. Because the text does not state all of these relationships explicitly, however, this view is best regarded as conjecture.
• Motive for protection: The text does not explain why, or by what authority, Ahikam protected Jeremiah. Explanations that emphasize a motive of faith belong to the realm of interpretation.

In the Korean Church

Sermons devoted specifically to Ahikam are relatively rare. He is usually mentioned in connection with Jeremiah 26 or the account of Josiah's discovery of the book of the law (2 Kings 22). In such contexts he is often presented as an example of one who protected a person proclaiming the word of God at great risk.