Hilkiah

Hilkiah is a Hebrew name interpreted to mean "the LORD is my portion." Because several people in the Old Testament bear this name, readers must determine which Hilkiah is meant in each passage.

Biblical Record

The High Priest in the Time of Josiah

The best-known Hilkiah is the high priest during the reign of King Josiah. According to 2 Kings 22, he found the Book of the Law in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, while the Temple in Jerusalem was being repaired. He gave the book to Shaphan the scribe, who read it before the king. When the king heard its contents, he tore his clothes. The king then sent Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asahiah to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of the LORD (2 Kings 22:3–14).

At the king's command, Hilkiah then brought out of the temple the vessels made for Baal and Asherah and burned them (2 Kings 23:4). 2 Chronicles 34 records the same event and calls the book "a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses" (2 Chronicles 34:14). According to 2 Chronicles 35:8, Hilkiah contributed offerings when Josiah kept the Passover. According to 1 Chronicles 6:13 and Ezra 7:1, he was the great-grandfather of Ezra the scribe.

The Father of Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:1 introduces the prophet Jeremiah as "the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin."

Other Men Named Hilkiah

• The father of Eliakim, a palace official under King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:18; Isaiah 22:20)
• The father of Gemariah, whom King Zedekiah sent to Babylon (Jeremiah 29:3)
• A man who stood at Ezra's right hand when Ezra read the Law aloud (Nehemiah 8:4)
• The name of a priestly family that returned from exile (Nehemiah 12:7, 21)
• Men listed in a Levitical genealogy and in the roster of temple gatekeepers (1 Chronicles 6:45; 26:11)

The name also appears as that of Susanna's father in the story of Susanna, part of the Apocrypha (called the deuterocanonical books in Catholic usage) included in the Korean Common Translation.

Significance Within Scripture

The high priest Hilkiah is portrayed as the figure at the outset of Josiah's reform. The forgotten word of God is rediscovered, and a reform that removes idolatry follows in obedience to that word. In this process he plays his part as the priest responsible for the temple. The name Hilkiah does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• The identity of the Book of the Law: Many scholars regard this book as Deuteronomy or its core portion. Views differ, however, on how to understand its nature.
• Conservative interpreters hold that it was part of the Pentateuch that had been forgotten amid the apostasy of Manasseh's reign and was later rediscovered.
• Some critical scholars regard it as a document edited or composed around that time.
• Was he the same man as Jeremiah's father?: The text does not answer this question directly. The priests of Anathoth are thought to belong to the line of Abiathar, whom Solomon banished to Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26–27). The high priest Hilkiah, by contrast, belonged to the line of Zadok (1 Chronicles 6:12–13). For this reason, many hold that the two were different individuals.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Hilkiah is mentioned mainly in sermons and Bible studies on Josiah's reform. In these settings, the discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple is commonly presented under themes such as "the rediscovery of the Word" or restoration through the Word.