Hilkiah
portion of Jehovah. (1.) 1 Chr. 6:54. (2.) 1 Chr. 26:11. (3.)
The father of Eliakim (2 Kings 18:18, 26, 37). (4.) The father
of Gemariah (Jer. 29:3). (5.) The father of the prophet Jeremiah
(1:1).
(6.) The high priest in the reign of Josiah (1 Chr. 6:13; Ezra
7:1). To him and his deputy (2 Kings 23:5), along with the
ordinary priests and the Levites who had charge of the gates,
was entrusted the purification of the temple in Jerusalem. While
this was in progress, he discovered in some hidden corner of the
building a book called the "book of the law" (2 Kings 22:8) and
the "book of the covenant" (23:2). Some have supposed that this
"book" was nothing else than the original autograph copy of the
Pentateuch written by Moses (Deut. 31:9-26). This remarkable
discovery occurred in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign
(B.C. 624), a discovery which permanently affected the whole
subsequent history of Israel. (See JOSIAH; SHAPHAN.)
(7.) Neh. 12:7. (8.) Neh. 8:4.