ACHBOR

ACHBOR (Heb. עַכְבּוֹר), the name of two biblical figures. (1) Achbor was the father of Baal-Hanan, king of Edom (Gen. 36:38–39; I Chron. 1:49). Some scholars maintain that the father's name is not Achbor, but a duplication of Beor (Gen. 36:32), because the king's native city is not given (as in all the other cases, rather than their father's name). Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the name existed. It can denote a mouse (akhbar), as it is normal for biblical persons to bear animal names. Furthermore, there may also be a cultic connotation for this name, as is proved by the discovery of sacrificial mice (cf. also the golden mice in I Sam. 6:4, 5, 11), and the reference in Isaiah 66:17 to a non-Yahwistic cultic practice in which mice were eaten. This is in addition to the preservation of a tradition by Maimonides that the Horites sacrificed mice. It is further interesting to note that a seal bearing the words "Hananyahu ben Akhbor" was found in Jerusalem. (2) Achbor, the son of Micaiah, was one of the men sent by King Josiah to consult the prophetess huldah (II Kings 22:12–14; in II Chron. 34:20, he is called abdon , probably a corruption of Achbor). On the mission he is believed to have represented the pro-Egyptian families, who were influential in the last days of the Kingdom of Judah (see ahikam ). His son, elnathan , was one of the ministers in the time of Jehoiakim (Jer. 26:22; 36:12). Possibly "K-(-)iahu son of Elnathan," an army officer mentioned in one o f the Lachish ostraca (no. 3, 1.15), was Achbor's grandson in the time of Zedekiah. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Albright, in: JBL, 51 (1932), 79–80; Yeivin, in: Tarbiz, 12 (1940/41), 253, 255.