Hilkiah

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Hilkiah was a Hebrew Priest at the time of King Josiah. His name is mentioned in II Kings. He was the High Priest over the Temple of priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, and was the father of an influential family in the Kingdom of Judah. He is known for finding a lost copy of the Book of the Torah at the Temple in Jerusalem at the time that King Josiah commanded that the Holy Temple be refurbished. Hilkiah was the father of Jeremiah the prophet, and possibly Ezekiel the priest, whose mother was Buzi (from the Hebrew root "Buz" which means contempt). His preaching may have helped spur Josiah to return Judah to the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel.

Many believe that the discovered "book" was ultimately added to the Hebrew canon as the Book of Deuteronomy. Scholars note that the so-called Deuteronomic Code differs in tone and narrative style from the preceding 4 books of the Pentateuch while still referring to them throughout. Scrolls and books of later antiquity, particularly those of the Greco-Roman overrule in Judea, were summarily discounted by Hebrew biblical redactors. Conversely this "book"'s discovery, as touted in II 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".

- - 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, 26, 37; Isaiah 22:20, 36:3, 22)