person · P0069
Chuldah HaNeviah חולדה הנביאה
Chuldah is the Jerusalem prophetess consulted after a Torah scroll was found during Yoshiyahu's Temple repairs. She authenticates the warning contained in the scroll and announces both national punishment and a personal reprieve for the king. Rabbinic sources count her among the seven prophetesses and discuss why she, rather than Yirmiyahu, was approached.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- חולדה הנביאה
- Also known as
- Huldah the Prophetess
- Era
- bible
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 3303 AM, in Yoshiyahu's eighteenth regnal year
- Academic
- fl. late 7th century BCE, during King Josiah's reign.
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈10 years
- Precision
- approximate
III. Where
- Places
- Jerusalem
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| The royal delegation found Chuldah the prophetess, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, living in Jerusalem's Mishneh quarter.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Chuldah declared that the calamities written in the discovered book would come upon Judah because of idolatry, while Yoshiyahu would be gathered to his grave in peace and not see the disaster.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Chronicles preserves a parallel consultation and oracle in the eighteenth year of Yoshiyahu's reign.
Directly stated in the cited source. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The Bavli counts Chuldah among seven prophetesses and asks why Yoshiyahu consulted her rather than Yirmiyahu, offering explanations including Yirmiyahu's absence and the expectation that a woman would be compassionate.
The Bavli records multiple explanations rather than a single uncontested historical reason.
|
rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| Her husband Shallum son of Tikvah son of Charchas held the office of keeper of the wardrobe.
The husband's genealogy and occupation are explicit; whether the wardrobe was royal or of the Temple is not specified.
|
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The royal delegation that consulted Chuldah after the Torah scroll was found consisted of Chilkiyahu the high priest, Achikam, Achbor, Shafan, and Asayah.
The delegation's names and purpose are directly narrated. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The Bavli preserves a lineage tradition that Chuldah descended from Rachav.
The derivation is rabbinic and based partly on verbal associations.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★☆☆ | |
| A tannaitic tradition states that Chuldah's grave was located within Jerusalem alongside the graves of the House of David.
An early burial tradition, but it does not identify the grave's precise location or authenticate any modern shrine.
|
rabbinic tradition | ★★★★☆ | |
| The traditional placement c. 3303 AM, in Yoshiyahu's eighteenth regnal year, is a schematic Mesorah Atlas reconstruction from her consultation in Yoshiyahu's eighteenth regnal year; the cited sources do not state an absolute AM range.
The cited sources establish relative chronology or regnal duration; they do not state the absolute AM range.
|
tradition reconstruction | ★★☆☆☆ |