Jehucal

Jehucal (also Jucal; meaning mighty or perfect) was an official of King Zedekiah of Judah who, together with the priest Pashhur, was sent to Jeremiah to ask the prophet to pray for Judah as Babylon threatened the city (Jeremiah 37:3). He later appears among the princes who heard Jeremiah's counsel that the city should surrender to Babylon and had the prophet thrown into a muddy cistern to silence him (Jeremiah 38:1).

Jehucal represents the court officials who selectively approached Jeremiah when convenient but suppressed his message when it conflicted with their political interests. His sending to ask for prayer while simultaneously opposing the prophet's call to surrender illustrates the hollow religious instrumentalism of Zedekiah's court in Jerusalem's final years.