Shaphan

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SHAPHAN (‘coney’ or ‘rock-badger’; an old totem clan-name so W. R. Smith). 1 . ‘The scribe’ (secretary of state) of Josiah in 621 b.c., ‘son of Azaliah,’ who laid before the king the law-book discovered by Hilkiah (wh. see) in the Temple (  2 Kings 22:3-11 =   2 Chronicles 34:8-18 ). Shaphan appears to have been the chief lay leader in the execution of Josiah’s reforms. His family for two following generations played a worthy part as servants of Jehovah, and friends of the prophet Jeremiah: the Ahikam of   2 Kings 22:12-14 (=   2 Chronicles 34:20-22 ) and   Jeremiah 26:24 , the Gemariah of   Jeremiah 36:12;   Jeremiah 36:25 , and Elasah (  Jeremiah 29:3 ) were Shaphan’s sons; the Micaiah of   Jeremiah 36:11-12 , and Gedaliah (wh. see), whom the Chaldæans made governor of Judæa after the Captivity of 586 b.c., his grandsons. 2 . The ‘Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan,’ denounced in   Ezekiel 8:11 as ringleader in idolatry, was possibly, but not certainly, a son of the same Shaphan.

G. G. Findlay.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("the jerboa'.)  2 Kings 22:3;  2 Kings 22:12;  Jeremiah 29:8;  Jeremiah 36:10-12;  Jeremiah 39:14;  Jeremiah 40:5;  Jeremiah 40:9;  Jeremiah 40:11;  Jeremiah 41:2;  Jeremiah 43:6;  Ezekiel 8:11. Sent by king Josiah, With the governor of the city and the recorder, to Hilkiah to take account of the money collected for repairing the temple. Hilkiah gave the discovered copy of the law to Shaphan who read it to the king. Josiah then sent Shaphan, etc., to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of the Lord His will. Shaphan must have been then an old man, for his son Ahikam was then a man of influence at court. Ahikam was Jeremiah's friend; hence Gemariah gives the prophet and Earuch a friendly warning to hide, and intercedes that Jehoiakim should not burn the roll ( Jeremiah 36:12;  Jeremiah 36:19;  Jeremiah 36:25).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Son of Azaliah and perhaps father of Ahikam, Gemariah, Elasah, and Jaazaniah: he was scribe or secretary to king Josiah. He presented to the king the book of the law that had been found in the temple.  2 Kings 22:3-14;  2 Kings 25:22;  2 Chronicles 34:8-20;  Jeremiah 26:24;  Jeremiah 29:3;  Jeremiah 36:10-12;  Jeremiah 39:14;  Jeremiah 40:5-11;  Jeremiah 41:2;  Jeremiah 43:6;  Ezekiel 8:11 .

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Sha'phan. (Coney). The scribe, or secretary, of King Josiah.  2 Kings 22:3;  2 Kings 22:14;  2 Chronicles 34:8;  2 Chronicles 34:20. (B.C. 628). He appears on an equality, with the governor of the city, and the royal recorder.  2 Kings 22:4;  2 Chronicles 34:9.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. A scribe or secretary under King Josiah, to whom he read from the newly found autograph roll of the book of the law,  2 Kings 22:12;  Jeremiah 29:3;  36:10;  Ezekiel 8:11 .

2. The father of Ahikam,  2 Kings 22:12;  25:22;  Jeremiah 26:24 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 22:1 2 Kings 22:14AhikamElasahJaazaniah

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 22:3-7

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Shaphan', שָׁפָן , Coney ; Sept. Σαφἀν v.r. Σαπφάν , and Σαφφάν in 2 Kings 22), the scribe or secretary of king Josiah, and the father of another of his principal officers. B.C. cir. 628. He was the son of Azaliah ( 2 Kings 22:3,  2 Chronicles 34:8), father of Ahikam ( 2 Kings 22:12;  2 Chronicles 34:20), Elasah ( Jeremiah 29:3), and Gemariah (36:10-12), and grandfather of Gedaliah (39:14; 40:5, 9, 11; 41:2; 43:6), Michaiah (36:11), and probably of Jaazaniah ( Ezekiel 8:11). There seems to be no sufficient reason for supposing, as many have done, that Shaphan the father of Ahikam, and Shaphan the scribe, were different persons. The history of Shaphan brings out some points with regard to the office of scribe which he held. He appears on an equality with the governor of the city and the royal recorder, with whom he was sent by the king to Hilkiah to take an account of the money which had been collected by the Levites for the repair of the Temple and to pay the workmen ( 2 Kings 22:4;  2 Chronicles 34:9; comp.  2 Kings 12:10).

Ewald calls him minister of finance ( Gesch. 3 , 697). It was on this occasion that Hilkiah communicated his discovery of a copy of the law, which he had probably found while making preparations for the repair of the Temple. Shaphan was intrusted to deliver it to the king. Whatever may have been the portion of the Pentateuch thus discovered, the manner of its discovery, and the conduct of the king upon hearing it read by Shaphan, prove that for many years it must have been lost and its.contents forgotten. The part read was apparently from Deuteronomy, and when Shaphan ended, the king sent him with the high priest Hilkiah, and other men of high rank, to consult Huldah the prophetess. Her answer moved Josiah deeply, and the work which began with the restoration of the decayed fabric of the Temple quickly took the form of a thorough reformation of religion and revival of the Levitical services, while all traces of idolatry were for a time swept away. Shaphan was then probably an old man, for his son Ahikam must have been in a position of importance, and his grandson Gedaliah was already born as we may infer from the fact that thirty-five years afterwards he was made governor of the country by the Chaldaeans, an office which would hardly be given to a very young man. Be this as it may, Shaphan disappears from the scene, and probably died before the fifth year of Jehoiakim, eighteen years later, when we find Elishama was scribe ( Jeremiah 36:12). There is just one point in the narrative of the burning of the roll of Jeremiah's prophecies by the order of the king which seems to identify Shaphan the father of Ahikam with Shaphan the scribe. It is well known that Ahikam was Jeremiah's great friend and protector at court, and it was therefore consistent with this friendship of his brother for the prophet that Gemariah the son of Shaphan should warn Jeremiah and Baruch to hide themselves, and should intercede with the king for the preservation of the roll (36:12, 19, 25).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

shā´fan ( שׁפן(naf , shāphān , "rockbadger," English Versions of the Bible "coney"; Σαφφάν , Saphphán ): An old totem clan name (so W.R. Smith; compare, however, the article Totemism; Gray, Gray, Studies in Hebrew Proper Names , 103 ff, and Jacob's Studies in Biblical Archaeology , 84 ff).

(1) Son of Azaliah and scribe of King Josiah. He received from Hilkiah the Book of the Law which had been found in the Temple ( 2 Kings 22:3 ff; 2 Ch 34:8-28). It was from Shaphan's lips that Josiah heard the Law read. Shaphan was also one of those sent by the king to the prophetess Huldah (2 Ki 22; 2 Ch 34). He was undoubtedly one of the staunchest supporters of Josiah in his work of reform. He was the father of Ahikam (  2 Kings 22:12;  2 Chronicles 34:20;  Jeremiah 26:24 ), who befriended and protected the prophet Jeremiah. Another son, Elasah, was one of the two men entrusted by Jeremiah with his letter to the captives in Babylon ( Jeremiah 29:3 ). A third son, Gemariah, vainly tried to prevent King Jehoiakim from burning "the roll" ( Jeremiah 36:10 ,  Jeremiah 36:11 ,  Jeremiah 36:12 ,  Jeremiah 36:25 ). The Micaiah of  Jeremiah 36:11 ,  Jeremiah 36:12 , and Gedaliah, the governor of Judea after the captivity of 586 BC, were his grandsons ( Jeremiah 39:14 ).

(2) Perhaps the father of Jaazaniah, one of the 70 men whom Ezekiel saw, in his vision of the Temple, sacrificing to idols ( Ezekiel 8:11 ).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Sha´phan, the scribe or secretary of King Josiah (;;; comp. ). Contemporary with him was a state officer named Ahikam, constantly mentioned as 'the son of Shaphan' (;;;; and perhaps 39:3); but this Shaphan, the father of Ahikam, can hardly be the same with Shaphan the scribe, although the heedless reader may be apt to confound them.