Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SHAPHAN

(Heb. šāpān)

1. The son of Aziliah; a scribe to King Josiah (2 Kgs. 22:9; 2 Chr. 34:15). His grandfather Meshullam and three of his sons — Ahikam, Elasah, and Gemariah — were also scribes (2 Kgs. 22:3, 12; Jer. 29:3; 36:10). Shaphan’s grandson Gedaliah was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar as governor of Judah after the fall of Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 25:22).

Josiah commissioned Shaphan to distribute wages to workers who were renovating the Jerusalem temple in 622 b.c.e. While Shaphan was at the temple, the workers discovered “the book of the law.” Hilkiah the high priest gave the book to Shaphan, who read it to Josiah. Josiah tore his clothes when he heard the words of the law and commanded Shappan and a number of others to take the book to Huldah the prophetess to verify its authenticity as the word of the Lord (2 Kgs. 22:13-20; 2 Chr. 34:20-30). Josiah then instituted cultic reforms to purify the worship of Yahweh at the Jerusalem temple (2 Kgs. 23).

2. The father of Jaazaniah (Ezek. 8:11), one of the 70 elders whom in a vision Ezekiel saw committing idolatrous acts in the temple in Jerusalem (vv. 10-12). This Shaphan may be the same as 1 above, but, if so, Jaazaniah has departed from the beliefs of his father.

Nancy L. de Claissé-Walford

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SHAPHAN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)