Eliakim, son of Abiud

Eliakim is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Church as a Holy Patriarch and celebrated during the second part of the Sunday of the Holy Fathers between 18 and 24 of December.[1]

Eliakim is present in churches namely Padova Church of St. Francesco and the most known is the painting of Eliakim in the Sistine Chapel delineated by Michelangelo.

Lunette in the Sistine Chapel with Eliakim and his father Abihud and his grandfather Zerubbabel

According to Matthew 1:1–17, Eliakim, was the son of Abihud and the father of Azor.[2] Therefore, he is of the Davidic Lineage. He is also not to be confused with the Eliakim of Luke's Genealogy whose son is Jonam and father is Melea. Like any other generations after Zerubbabel, he was not mentioned in the Old Testament through the Davidic Lineage. Robert H. Gundry suggests that Matthew simply made up these names in order to fill up the space between the return from the exile and the time of Christ.[3] But the chances of this is unlikely. Gundry conjectures that his name can refer to a priest from the tribe of Levi, namely Eliezer. Eliezer (Eliakim) succeeded Abihu (Abihud) as priest shortly after his death. According to Gundry, Matthew modifies the name once again due to the fittingness of the name to the figure's ancestor.[3] Some scholars speculate that the names of Eliakim's era were merged.

It is unknown when Eliakim died or when he was born because he is briefly even mentioned in the Bible only as being the son of Abihud and the father of Azor.