Jehucal

Jehucal — also spelled Jucal — son of Shelemiah, is a court-officer of Zedekiah named twice in the closing chapters of Jeremiah. He carries the king's request for prayer to the prophet, then turns up among the princes who hear and want to silence him.

Sent to Ask Jeremiah for Prayer

In the late siege Zedekiah dispatches a two-man delegation to the prophet: "And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now to Yahweh our God for us" (Jer 37:3). Jehucal is paired here with the priest Zephaniah and given the king's commission to ask for intercession.

Among the Princes Who Hear Jeremiah

The same Shelemiah-son returns under the variant spelling Jucal in the next chapter, in a hostile group: "And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people" (Jer 38:1). The princes hearing him then go to the king to demand his death: "Then the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray you, be put to death; since he weakens the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt" (Jer 38:4). The same officer who once carried the king's prayer-request to Jeremiah is by chapter 38 among those calling for the prophet's execution.