Lives of Scripture

Elkanah held the position "next to the king" in the court of King Ahaz of Judah -- likely his chief minister or highest-ranking courtier, second in authority only to Ahaz himself. He is named only once, as a casualty in one of Judah's darkest military defeats. Because Ahaz "had made Judah act with abandon and had been very unfaithful to the LORD" (2 Chronicles 28:19), God allowed King Pekah of Israel to strike Judah severely, killing 120,000 in a single day (28:5-6). In that catastrophe, an Ephraimite warrior named Zichri killed three men from Ahaz's inner circle by name: Maaseiah, one of the king's own sons; Azrikam, the ruler of the royal household; and Elkanah, "next to the king" (28:7). Israel's army went on to carry off 200,000 women and children as plunder, until the prophet Oded confronted the victorious army -- warning that their own guilt before God was no less than Judah's -- and Ephraimite chiefs intervened to clothe, feed, and return the captives instead (28:9-15). Elkanah's brief, grim appearance, named among the highest-ranking casualties of the disaster, underscores how completely Ahaz's covenant unfaithfulness cost his kingdom, striking down even the men standing closest to the throne.