Helkai

Helkai is a priest in the post-exilic register of Jerusalem, identified once as a head of a priestly house in the time of the high priest Joiakim.

A Head of a Father's House Under Joiakim

Nehemiah's roster pairs each priestly house with the man who led it in Joiakim's generation. Helkai's name falls in the middle of the list, attached to the house of Meraioth: "of Harim, Adna; of Meraioth, Helkai" (Ne 12:15). The wider register frames the office — these are "priests, heads of fathers' [houses]" serving in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua (Ne 12:12) — and Helkai's single mention is exactly this leadership of his ancestral house among the returned priestly families.