Son of Shaphan the scribe, sent by Josiah to Huldah the prophetess (2 Kings 22:12). In Jehoiakim's subsequent reign Ahikam successfully pleaded for Jeremiah before the princes and elders, that he should not be given to the people to be put to death for his fearless warnings (Jeremiah 26:16-24). God rewarded Ahikam by the honor put upon Gedaliah, his son, by Nebuchadnezzar's making him governor over the cities of Judah, and committing Jeremiah' to him, when the Babylonians took Jerusalem (Jeremiah 40:5; Jeremiah 39:14)