6 others in the registry answer to the name Hilkiah. Every Hilkiah in the Bible
- verses
- 19
- first named
- 2 Kings 22:4
- last named
- Jeremiah 29:3
- period
- Divided Monarchy
- tribe
- Levi
Description
Who was Hilkiah?
Hilkiah was the high priest during the reign of King Josiah of Judah (2Kings 22-23, 2Chronicles 34-35). He is most notable for his discovery of the Book of the Law in the temple, which led to a significant religious reform and renewal in Judah.
In the 18th year of Josiah's reign, Hilkiah was involved in the repair and restoration of the temple. During this process, he found the Book of the Law, which had been lost or neglected for some time (2Ki.22.8, 2 Chronicles 2Ki.34.14). Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan the scribe, who then brought it to King Josiah.
Upon hearing the words of the Law, Josiah was deeply troubled and sought to inquire of the Lord. Hilkiah, along with others, was sent to consult with the prophetess Huldah, who confirmed the authenticity of the book and prophesied about the judgment that would come upon Judah for their disobedience (2Ki.22.12-20, 2 Chronicles 2Ki.34.20-28).
Following this, Josiah initiated a comprehensive religious reform, removing idolatry, destroying pagan shrines, and restoring proper worship according to the Law. Hilkiah played a key role in this process, as he was entrusted with the task of cleansing the temple and overseeing the observance of the Passover (2Ki.23.4-24, 2 Chronicles 2Ki.35.1-19).
Hilkiah is also mentioned in the genealogies of the Levites and priests (1Ch.6.13, 9:11).
Relations
Direct connections
Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.
The 10 best-attested of 16 are drawn. All 16 are listed below.
Places
Where this happens
A person is placed by the events they take part in, and an event has to clear three things to place them: it must say where it happened, that place must be one the gazetteer can put a coordinate on, and the verse must report it rather than foretell, command or ask it. Nothing anchored here clears all three. Where the text names a setting no gazetteer surveys — a vineyard, a palace, a plot of ground — it is left off rather than guessed at; where a place is named only in a prophecy, the map does not draw what was said to be coming as though it had happened; and a place reached only through a relation is not inherited, because standing beside somebody is not being somewhere.
No verse Atlas has read as a report puts this person anywhere.
Not read yet
The pattern
Where Hilkiah is named
Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.
19 verses across 6 of 66 books; 60 write the name nowhere. Named in 2 Kings (7), 1 Chronicles (2), 2 Chronicles (7), Ezra (1), Nehemiah (1) and Jeremiah (1).
Read it
Where to read it
Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 19, across 6 books. The name is written 22 times in them.
Onward
Where this page goes
Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.
Where they appear
Chapter by chapter
Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.
- 2 Kings 22Hilkiah was charged with the temple money, found the Book of the Law, and went with the king’s messengers to Huldah.
- 2 Kings 23Hilkiah the high priest was commanded to clear the temple of its forbidden articles and had found the book whose words Josiah carried out.
- 2 Chronicles 34Hilkiah received the temple money, found the Book of the Law, and joined the inquiry sent to Huldah.
Sources