Ahikam @ brother of support = helper, one of the five whom Josiah sent to consult the prophetess Huldah in connection with the discovery of the book of the law ( 2Kings:22:12-14; 2Chronicals:34:20). He was the son of Shaphan, the royal secretary, and the father of Gedaliah, governor of Judea after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians ( 2Kings:25:22; Jeremiah:40:5-16Jeremiah:43:6). On one occasion he protected Jeremiah against the fury of Jehoiakim Jeremiah:26:24). It was in the chamber of another son (Germariah) of Shaphan that Baruch read in the ears of all the people Jeremiah's roll.
