Eliakim

Saint Eliakim is an ancestor of the Lord according to the flesh, mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew (1:13) as the son of Abiud and the father of Azor. He was the grandson of Zerubbabel and a descendant of the line of David. He is regarded as a saint in the Orthodox Church and in the Eastern Catholic Church, as a holy patriarch, and is commemorated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers of the Lord, before Christmas (between 18 and 24 December).

According to the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, Eliakim is the son of Abiud, the father of Azor and a descendant of the king of Israel, David. He should not be confused with the Eliakim of the genealogy given by Luke, whose son is Jonam and whose father is Melea. Like the others of the generations after Zerubbabel, he is not mentioned in the Old Testament in the line of David. It is not known when he died or when he was born, since he is mentioned briefly in the Bible only as the son of Abiud and the father of Azor.

His image is found in churches, among them the church of San Francesco in Padua, and the best known is his painting in the Sistine Chapel, made by Michelangelo, in which he appears with his father Abiud and his grandfather Zerubbabel.