Ahikam, in Hebrew "My brother has risen". One of the five whom Josiah sent to consult the prophetess Huldah in connection with the discovery of the book of the law. 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. On one occasion he protected Jeremiah against the fury of Jehoiakim. It was in the chamber of another son (Germariah) of Shaphan that Baruch read in the ears of all the people Jeremiah's roll.