Jucal is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Jucal was an officer in the court of King Zedekiah of Judah. He is identified in the text as “Jucal the son of Shelemiah,” and he appears among a small group of royal officials who heard the words that the prophet Jeremiah had spoken to all the people. The setting is the final, desperate period of the kingdom of Judah, when Jerusalem stood under the threat of Babylon and Jeremiah was proclaiming the word of the Lord to a people and a king who did not want to hear it.
Jucal is named alongside Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashur, and Pashur son of Malchiah. These men are described as hearing Jeremiah’s public message, and the source note tells us that Jucal was among those sent to consult the prophet on the king’s behalf. In other words, Jucal was not a distant observer but a man with access to the throne, entrusted with carrying the king’s questions to God’s messenger.
Scripture records only this single mention of Jucal by name. He is not shown speaking, repenting, or believing; he is shown standing among the officials who heard the word of the Lord. What Scripture says of him is brief and factual: he was there, he was an officer of Zedekiah, and he was part of the group that dealt with Jeremiah. His story is a reminder that many people in the Bible appear only in a single verse, yet their position and their response to God’s word still matter.
The Name
The name “Jucal” is a Hebrew name, and its meaning is not clearly recoverable from the text itself. Some have suggested a connection to a root meaning “Yahweh is able” or “Yahweh is mighty,” but this is not firmly established, and the name is sometimes regarded as a shortened or variant form. Because the meaning is uncertain, it is best to say plainly that the precise sense of the name is not clearly known rather than to assign it a meaning the text does not give.
A Closing Thought
Jucal stood close enough to power to be sent on the king’s errand, yet Scripture remembers him in a single verse. He heard the words of the Lord through Jeremiah, and that hearing was the great opportunity of his life. It is a quiet warning and a quiet comfort: we are not all named in many places, but every one of us stands somewhere near the word of God, and what we do with what we hear is what truly matters. May we not merely hear, as Jucal did, but turn and obey.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Jeremiah 38:1 — Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,