Huldah

Huldah was a prophetess in Jerusalem during the reign of King Josiah, the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, keeper of the wardrobe. When the high priest Hilkiah found the book of the Law in the temple during Josiah's restoration project, the king sent a delegation of the highest officials—including Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah—to inquire of the LORD through a prophet. Rather than consulting Jeremiah or Zephaniah (both of whom were active at this time), they went to Huldah.

Huldah's response was authoritative and specific: she confirmed the authenticity of the book and pronounced that the judgments written in it would indeed fall on Judah because the people had abandoned God, but that because Josiah's heart was tender and he had humbled himself before the LORD, he would be gathered to his fathers in peace before the disaster came. Her oracle set in motion Josiah's sweeping religious reforms and the great Passover celebration of 621 BC. Huldah's central role in one of the most momentous events of late Judean history makes her one of the most significant female prophetic figures in the Old Testament.