Hilkiah was a Hebrew Priest at the time of King Josiah. His name is mentioned in II Kings. He was the High Priest and is known for finding a lost copy of the Book of the law at the Temple in Jerusalem at the time that King Josiah commanded that the Holy Temple be refurbished (2 Kings 22:8). His preaching may have helped spur Josiah to return Judah to the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Hilkiah may have been the same Hilkiah who was the father of Jeremiah the prophet. As such he would have lived in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, and was the father of an influential family in the Kingdom of Judah.[1]
The "Book of the law"[]
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Some[who?] identify the rediscovered book as the Book of Deuteronomy. Some[who?] argue that the Deuteronomic Code differs in tone and narrative style from the preceding four books of the Pentateuch while still referring to them throughout. Scrolls and books of later antiquity, particularly those of the Greco-Roman rule in Judea, were summarily discounted by Hebrew biblical redactors. Conversely this book, whose discovery is touted in 2 Kings, was therefore believed to have been of an early enough authorship to validate, not only its inclusion, but the book's ultimate placement as the 5th of the "Five Books of Moses".
References[]
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- ↑ It is unsure whether the Hilkiah that is the father of Jeremiah, is the same Hilkiah that is the Father of Eliakim (see 2 Kings 18:18, 18:26, 18:37; Isaiah 22:20, 36:3, 22)
| Preceded by Shallum |
High Priest of Israel circa 600s BC |
Succeeded by Azariah IV |
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