SHAPHAN

sha'-fan (shaphan, "rockbadger," English Versions of the Bible "coney"; Saphphan): An old totem clan name (so W.R. Smith; compare, however, the article TOTEMISM; Gray, Gray, Studies in Hebrew Proper Names, 103;, and Jacob's Studies in Biblical Archaeology, 84;).

(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 2 Chronicles 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 Kings 22 2 Chronicles 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, 11, 12, 25). The Micaiah of Jeremiah 36:11, 12, and Gedaliah, the governor of Judea after the captivity of 586 B.C., 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).

Horace J. Wolf