Encyclopedia entry · Person
Achbor
Curator's research file
Subject · person
Achbor
Identity
- Name meaning
- *mouse* or *jerboa* (Heb. akhbor)
Family
- Parent(s)
- —
- Spouse
- —
- Children
- —
- Tribe / people
- —
Era & origin
- Era
- Two distinct figures: c. 1900 BC (Edomite) and c. 622–605 BC (Judean officials)
- Region
- —
- Contemporary of
- —
Role
- Role
- Multiple OT figures: Edomite father of King Baal-hanan · Judean official under Josiah (and possibly Jeremiah-era)
- Notable for
- *Achbor* is a Hebrew name meaning *mouse* — an unusual personal name, found in scripture for two or three distinct figures depending on how the chronology is read.
Scripture
- First mention
- Genesis 36
- Most cited
- Genesis 36
Network
- Referenced by
- 3 entries
- Voices
- —
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Achbor is a Hebrew name meaning mouse — an unusual personal name, found in scripture for two or three distinct figures depending on how the chronology is read.
**1. The Edomite, father of Baal-hanan (Genesis 36:38-39; 1 Chronicles 1:49).** Father of the seventh king to reign in Edom *before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.* Named only in the Edomite king-list.
**2. Son of Michaiah, an official under King Josiah (2 Kings 22:12-14).** When the Book of the Law was discovered in the temple during Josiah's reform, the king sent five men — Hilkiah the high priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant — to consult Huldah the prophetess. The parallel verse at 2 Chronicles 34:20 calls him *Abdon son of Micah* (likely the same man under variant spellings of both names).
This Achbor may be the same as the *Achbor father of Elnathan* named twice in Jeremiah (26:22; 36:12) — Elnathan being an officer of Jehoiakim sent to extradite the prophet Urijah from Egypt and one of the princes who heard Baruch read Jeremiah's scroll. The chronology fits (a senior figure under Josiah would naturally have an adult son under his son Jehoiakim), but the identification is not certain.
Source · AI-drafted from biblical text and standard reference works (Smith's, Easton's, ISBE) — verify and refine against authoritative sources before publication.