Huldah

This article is about a character in the Bible. For the feminine given name, see Hulda (given name).
Huldah prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem. Print by Caspar Luyken, 1708.

Huldah (Hebrew: חֻלְדָּה Ḥuldā) is a prophetess mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in 2 Kings 22:14–20 and 2 Chronicles 34:22–28. After the discovery of a book of the Law during renovations at Solomon's Temple, on the order of King Josiah, Hilkiah together with Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah approach her to seek the Lord's opinion.

She was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath (also called Tikvah), son of Harhas (also called Hasrah), keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the Second District or Second Quarter. The King James Version of the Bible calls this quarter "the college", and the New International Version calls it "the new quarter".[1]

According to Rabbinic interpretation, Huldah and Deborah were the principal professed woman prophets in the Nevi'im (Prophets) portion of the Hebrew Bible, although Miriam is referred to as such in the Torah and an unnamed prophetess is mentioned in Isaiah.[2] "Huldah" derives from the Hebrew lemma חלד, meaning to abide or to continue.[3]

The Huldah Gates in the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount are named for her.[4]

Holyland Model of Jerusalem, to the south of the Temple Mount, a pyramidal building represents the supposed tomb of the prophetess Huldah. However, archaeological excavations have shown that there was no tomb there.
  1. ^ BibleGateway.com, Translations of 2 Chronicles 34:22
  2. ^ Isaiah 8:3
  3. ^ Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon
  4. ^ Hershel Shanks, Jerusalem an Archaeological Biography. Random House, 1995, p. 143.