Adikam

Also known as: Akuz · Family: Egyptians · Role: son and successor of Malol · First appears: A Bloody Remedy

Malol chose Adikam, second son of Malol and Alfar’anit, to succeed him, and Adikam was made king in his place. When he was ten, he married Gedidah, daughter of Abilat, who bore him four sons. As king, he went to Goshen and increased the Israelites’ labor, demanding harsher brick quotas; when they fell short, taskmasters forced Israelite fathers to build their children into the walls.

Adikam refused Moses and Aaron’s demand to let Israel go, saying, “Had I Jacob-Israel himself here before me, I should put trowel and bucket on his shoulder.” During the plagues, he repeatedly resisted releasing the Israelites, despite at times promising to do so; he also declared that his god Baal-zephon would oppose them. After the hail, he confessed his and his people’s wickedness and promised to let Israel go, but abandoned that resolve when the hail stopped. He later permitted the people to leave only if their flocks and herds stayed behind, and threatened Moses with death.

After the slaying of Egypt’s first-born, Adikam released the Israelites from bondage. His sibling Thermutis spoke of seeing “the king, my brother” amid the calamity. Pharaoh and his host were later drowned in the Red Sea.