ZACHARIAS
1. A person mentioned in Mat 23:35 Luk 11:51, and most probably designating the son of the high-priest Jehoida, or Barachias, who was stoned to death by order of king Joash for publicly rebuking the king, his court and the people for their growing corruption, 2Ch 24:20-22 . Some suppose the prophet Zechariah to be intended; but history gives no account of his death. Others refer it to a Zacharias the son of Baruch, who was put to death just before the destruction of Jerusalem; but it seems unnatural and unnecessary to suppose that Christ here spoke prophetically.2. A priest belonging to the eighth course or class, called that of Abia, 1Ch 24:1-31, the husband of Elisabeth, and father of John the Baptist. His residence, when not on duty, was in the hillcountry south of Jerusalem. He is known to us by his pious and blameless life; his vision of Gabriel in the temple, promising him a son in his old age; his hesitancy in believing, for which he was visited by a temporary dumbness; his miraculous restoration at the circumcision of his son; and his noble and prophetic song of praise, Luk 1:52 ; 67-79.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Zacharias
(Heb. zekharyahu and zekharyah; meaning “Yahweh remembers”, Sept. Zacharia and Zacharias), son of Barachias, son of Addo, a Prophet who rose in Israel in the eighth month of the seventh year of the reign of King Darius, 520 B.C. (Zechariah 1:1) just two months after Aggeus began to prophesy (Agg., i, 1). The urgings of the two Prophets brought about the building of the second temple (Ezra 5 and 6). Addo was one of the chief priests who, in the first year of the reign of Cyrus 538 B.C., returned with Zorobabel from captivity (Nehemiah 12:4). Sixteen years thereafter, during the high priesthood of Joacim (verse 12), Zacharia, of the family of Addo (Heb. of verse 16), is listed as a chief priest. This Zacharia is most likely the Prophet and author of the canonical book of the same name. It is not at all probable that the Prophet Zacharias is referred to by Christ (Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51) as having been slain by the Jews in the Temple; that Zacharias was the son of Joiada (2 Chronicles 24:20). Moreover, the Jews of Zorobabel’s time obeyed the Prophet Zacharias (Zechariah 6:7); nor is there, in the Books of Esdras, any trace of so heinous a crime perpetrated in the Temple court.
The prophecy of Zacharias is one of the books admitted by both Jews and Christians into their canon of Sacred Writings, one of the Minor Prophets. This article will treat its contents and interpretation, canonicity, author, time, place, and occasion.
I. CONTENTS AND INTERPRETATION
A. Part First (Chapters 1-8)
Introduction. The purpose of the book, the return of the people to Yahweh (i, 1-6).
(1) The eight visions of the Prophet, on the night of the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of the rule of Darius in Babylon (i, 7-vi, 8). The horsemen in the myrtle grove (i, 7-17). Their mounts are chestnut, bay, and white. They bring the news from far and wide; all lands are at rest, nor is there any sign of an impending upheaval of the nations such as is to precede the liberation of Israel from thraldom. And yet Yahweh will comfort Sion, He will rebuild the city and the Temple. The four horns and four smiths (i, 18-21). The former are the nations that have tossed to the winds Juda and Israel and Jerusalem; the latter are the powers that in their turn will batter down the foes of Yahweh. The man with the measuring line (ii, 1-13). He is bidden not to measure Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem will have no need of walls; Yahweh Himself will be unto it a wall of fire, He will dwell within it. The vision now becomes Messianic, extends far beyond the immediate future, and represents all the nations of the world about the new Jerusalem. Jesus the high priest before the angel of Yahweh (iii, 1-10). Clothed in filthy garments, accused by Satan, the high priest stands in shame. His shame is taken away. Clean raiment is put upon him. The promise is made to the rehabilitation of the high priest in the temple that Zorobabel is to build; and the Messianic forecast is uttered of the sprout (Heb. çémáh), the servant of Yahweh (cf. Isaiah 4:2; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15), who will be sent in the stead of the Levitic priesthood. The seven branched lamp of the temple (iv, 1-14). An olive tree on either side feeds the lamp. The seven lamps and their lights are the seven eyes of Yahweh that run to and fro over the whole earth (verse 10). The olive trees are “the two sons of oil”, the anointed priest Jesus and King Zorobabel. The picture is that of the providence of Yahweh and His two agents in the theocratic government of restored Jerusalem; this providence is a type of the economy of grace in the Messianic kingdom. Verses 6b-10a seem to be out of place and to belong rather to the end of the chapter or after iii, 10; this latter is the opinion of Van Hoonacker, “Les douze petits prophètes” (Paris, 1908). The flying parchment-roll (v, 1-4). Upon it is the curse of Yahweh that enters in to consume the house of every thief and perjurer. The scene of the prophetic vision has shifted backward several hundred years to the days of the thunderings and denunciations of Isaias, Amos, and Osee; from that distant viewpoint are seen the effects of Israel’s sins and Yahweh’s maledictions — the Babylonian exile. The woman in the epha (v, 5-11). She is forced into the measure, the lid is shut to, a leaded weight is laid thereon; she is hurried off the land of Sennaar. The picture is symbolic of the wickedness of Israel transported perforce to Babylon. The four chariots (vi, 1-8). Bearing the wrath of Yahweh, to the four corners of the earth they are driven; and the one that goes to the north takes the vengeance of Yahweh upon the nations of the North who have kept His chosen people in captivity. It is to be noted that this series of eight visions begins and ends with similar pictures — the horses of varied hues whose riders bring back work that all the earth is at rest and whose drivers, in like manner, are the bearers of the message of Yahweh.
(2) Sequel to the eight visions
As a sequel to the eight visions, especially to the fourth and fifth, Yahweh bids Zacharias take of the gold and silver brought from Babylon by a deputation of Jews of the captivity, and therewith to make crowns; to place these crown upon the head of Jesus the high priest, and then to hang them as a votive-offering in the Temple (vi, 9-15). The critics generally insist that it was Zorobabel and not Jesus who was to be crowned. They err in missing the prophetic symbolism of the action. It is the high priest rather than the king that is the type of the priest of the Messianic kingdom, “the Man Whose name is the Sprout” (Heb. text), Who shall build up the Temple of the Church and in Whom shall be united the offices of priest and king.
(3) The prophecy of the fourth day of the ninth month of the fourth year of the rule of Darius in Babylon (vii and viii)
Almost two years after the eight visions, the people ask the priests and Prophets if it be required still to keep the fasts of the exile. Zacharias makes answer as revealed to him; they should fast from evil, show mercy, soften their hard hearts; abstinence from fraud and not from food is the service Yahweh demands. As a motive for this true service of God, he pictures to them the glories and the joys of the rebuilt Jerusalem (vii, 1-9). The Prophet ends with a Messianic prediction of the gathering of the nations to Jerusalem (viii, 20-23).
B. Part Second (Chapters 9-14): The Two Burdens
Many years have gone by. The temple of Zorobabel is built. The worship of Yahweh is restored. Zacharias peers into the faraway future and tells of the Messianic kingdom.
(1) First burden, in Hadrach (ix-xi) The coming of the king (ix-x). The nations round about will be destroyed; the lands of the Syrians, Phoenicians, and Philistines will fall into the hands of invaders (ix, 1-7). Israel will be protected for the sake of her king, Who will come to her “poor and riding upon an ass”. He Who was spoken of as the Sprout(iii, 8; vi, 12) will be to the new Jerusalem both priest and king (iii, 8; vi, 3). The shepherds of the nations (xi). The literal, and typical meanings of this passage are very obscure, and variously interpreted by commentators. The spoilation of the pride of the Jordan, the destruction of the land from the cedars of Lebanon to the oaks of Basan, south of the Sea of Galilee (verses 1-3) seems to refer to an event long passed — the breaking up of the independence of the Jewish state 586 B.C. — in the same was as does Jer., xxii, 6, 7. The allegory of the three shepherds cut off in one month (verses 4-8) is remarkably like to Jer., xxii and xxiii. Probably these wicked rulers are: Sellum, who was deported into Egypt (Jeremiah 22:10-12); Joakim, son of Josias, who was “buried with the burial of an ass” (ibid., 12-19); and his son Jechonias who was cast out into the land of the stranger (ibid., 24-30). The foolish shepherd (verses 15-17) is probably Sedecias. In verses 9-14 we have Zacharias impersonating the shepherd of Juda and Israel, trying to be a good shepherd, falling outcast, sold for thirty pieces of silver, and in all this typifying the Good Shepherd of the Messianic kingdom.
(2) Second burden, the apocalyptic vision of Jerusalem’s future (xii-xiv) The nations shall be gathered against Jerusalem (xii, 1-3); but Yahweh shall smite them in His power, by means of the house of David (verses 4-9); and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will mourn as one mourneth for an only son (verses 10-14). The prayers of the people of Jerusalem to Yahweh, Who says “they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced”, and their grief at the wrongs that they have done Him are all typical of the Messianic kingdom. Yahweh is the type of Jesus, the prayers and mourning of Jerusalem are the type of the prayers and mourning that Jesus will inspire in the Church while its members look upon Him Whom they have pierced (cf. John 19:37). As a result of Yahweh’s victory over the nations, idolatry will be stamped out of Juda (xiii, 1-6). The theme of the shepherds is taken up again. Yahweh’s shepherd shall be smitten; the sheep shall be scattered; two-thirds of them shall perish; one-third shall be gathered, to be refined as silver and tested as gold (xiii, 7-9). The prophetic scene suddenly shifts. Zacharias vividly depicts the details of the destruction of Jerusalem. In the first part of his burden, he had foreseen the transference of the Holy City from Seleucids to Ptolemys and back again, the hellenizing and paganizing of Judaism under Antiochus Epiphanes (168 B.c.), the profanation of the temple by Pompey and its sacking by Crassus (47 B.C.). Now, after the casting out of the shepherd of Yahweh, the city is again in the power of the enemy; but, as of after “the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one”. The punishment of the foe shall be terrible (verses 8-19). All things shall be holy to Yahweh (verses 20-21).
II. CANONICITY
Zacharias is contained in the canons of both Palestine and Alexandria; Jews and all Christians accept it as inspired. The book is found among the Minor Prophets in all the canonical lists down to those of Trent and the Vatican. The New Testament writes often refer to the prophecies of the Book of Zacharias as fulfilled. Matthew (xxi, 5) says that in the triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the details were brought to pass that Zacharias (ix, 9) had predicted; and John (xii, 15) bears like witness. Although, in xxvii, 9, Matthew makes mention of Jeremias only-yet he refers to the fulfilment of two prophecies, that of Jeremias (xxxii, 6-9) about the purchase of the potter’s field and that of Zacharias (xi, 12, 13) about the thirty pieces of silver, the price set upon the type of the Messias. John (xix, 37) sees in the Crucifixion a fulfilling of Zacharias’s words, “they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced” (xii, 10). Matthew (xxvi, 31) thinks that the Prophet (xiii, 7) foretold the scattering of the Lord’s disciples.
III. AUTHOR
In the foregoing analysis of the contents of Zacharias, we have stated the author, time, place and occasion of the book. The author of the entire prophecy is Zacharias. The time of part first is the second and fourth years of the reign of Darius in Babylon (520 and 522 B.C.). The time of part second is probably toward the end of the reign of Darius or the beginning of that of Xerxes (485 B.C.). The place of the entire prophecy is Jerusalem. The occasion of the first part is to bring about the building of the second Temple; that of the second part is perhaps the approach of the Prophet’s death. The traditional view taken by Catholic exegetes on the unity of authorship of the book is due in part to the witness of all manuscripts of the original text and of the various versions; this unanimity shows that both in Judaism and the Church there has never been a serious doubt in the matter of the unity of authorship of Zacharias. Solid reason, and not mere conjecture, are necessary to shake confidence in this traditional view. No such solid reasons are forthcoming. Internal evidence is appealed to; but internal evidence does not here favour divine criticism. Quite the reverse; scope and style are one in the prophecy.
A. Unity of scope
The entire prophecy has the same scope; it is permeated throughout with the very same Messianic forecasting. The kingdom and priesthood of the Messias are obscurely depicted in the visions of the first part; vividly in the two burdens of the second part. Both sections insist upon the vengeance to be wrought against foes of Juda (cf. i, 14, and vi, 8, with ix, 1 sq.); the priesthood and kingship united in the Christ (cf. iii, 8 and vi, 12 with ix, 9-17); the conversion of the gentiles (cf. ii, 11; vi, 15, and viii, 22, with xiv, 16, 17); the return of Israel from captivity (cf. viii, 7, 8, with ix, 11-16; x, 8 sq.); the holiness of the new kingdom (cf. iii, 1, and v, 1 sq., with xiii, 1); its prosperity (cf. i, 17; iii, 10; viii, 3 sq., with xi, 16; xiv, 7 sq.).
B. Unity of style
Whatever slight differences there are in the style of the two sections can be readily enough explained by the fact that the visions are in prose and the burdens in poetry. We can understand that one and the same writer may show differences in form and mode of expression, if, after a period of thirty-five years, he works out in exultant and exuberant poetical form the theme which, long before and under very different circumstances, he had set forth in calmer language and prosaic mould. To counterbalance these slight stylistic differences, we have indubitable evidence of unity of style. Modes of expression occur in both parts which are distinctive of Zacharias. Such are, for instance: the very pregnant clause “and after them the land was left desolate of any that crossed over and of any that returned into it” — Heb. me’ober umisshab (vii, 14, ad ix, 8); the use of the Hiphil of ‘abar in the sense of “taking away iniquity” (iii, 4, and xiii, 2); the metaphor of “the eye of God” for His Providence (iii, 9; i, 10; and ix, 1); the designations of the chosen people, “house of Juda and house of Israel”, “Juda, Israel, Jerusalem”, “Juda and Ephraim”, “Juda and Joseph” (cf. i, 2, 10; vii, 15 etc., and ix, 13; x, 6; xi, 14 etc.). Moreover, verses and portions of verses of the first part are identical with verses and portions of verses of the second part (cf. ii, 10, and ix, 9; ii, 6, and ix, 12, 13; vii, 14, and ix, 8; viii, 14, and xiv, 5).
C. Divisive Criticism
It is generally allowed that Zacharias is the author of the first part of the prophecy (chapters i-viii). The second part (ix-xiv) is attributed by the critics to one or many other writers. Joseph Mede, and Englishman, started the issue, in his “Fragmenta sacra” (London, 1653), 9. Wishing to save from error Matt., xxvii, 9, 19, he attributed the latter portion of Zacharias to Jeremias. In this exegesis, he was seconded by Kidder, “The demonstration of the Messias” (London, 170), 199, and Whiston, “An essay towards restoring the true text of the Old Testament” (London, 1722), 92. In this way was the Deutero-Zacharias idea begotten. The idea waxed strong as was prolific. Divisive criticism in due time found many different authors for ix-xiv. By the end of the eighteenth century, Flugge, “Die Weissagungen, welche den Schriften des Zacharias beigebogen sind” (Hamburg, 1788), had discovered nine disparate prophecies in these six chapters. A single or a manifold Deutero-Zacharias is defended also by Bauer, Augusti, Bertholdt, Eichorn (4th. ed.), De Wette (though not after 3rd ed.), Hitzig, Ewald, Maurer, Knobel, Bleck, Stade, Nowack, Wellhousen, Driver etc. The critics are not agreed, however, as to whether the disputed chapters are pre-exilic or post-exilic. Catholic Biblical scholars are almost unanimous against this view. The arguments in its favour are given by Van Hoonacker (op. cit., pp. 657 sq.) and answered convincingly.
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The prophecy of Zacharias has been interpreted by ST. EPHRAIM and ST. JEROME; cf. the commentaries on the Minor Prophets by RIBERA (Antwerp, 1571, etc.); MONTANUS (Antwerp, 1571, 1582); DE PALACIO (Cologne, 1588); MESSAN (Antwerp, 1597); SANCTIUS (Lyons, 1621); DE CASTRO (Lyons, 1615, etc.); DE CALANO (Palermo, 1644); MAUCORPS (Paris, 1614); SCHOLZ (Frankfurt, 1833); SCHEGG (Ratisbon, 1854 and 1862); TROCHON (Paris, 1883); KNABENBAUER (Paris, 1886); GRIESBACH (Lille, 1901); LEIMBACH in Bibl. Volksbucher, IV (Fulda, 1908), PATRIZI (Rome, 1852) treated the Messianic prophecies of Zacharias. The Protestant commentaries have been mentioned in the course of the article. The Catholic writers of general introductions are of service in regard to the authorship of Zacharias; cf. CORNELY; KAULEN, GIGOT.
WALTER DRUM Transcribed by Michael T. Barrett
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Zacharias
(), the Greek form of the Heb. name Zechariah; applied to several men in the Apocrypha and New Test., besides those mentioned in the Old Test.: the priest in Josiah’s reign.(l Esdr. 1:8), the lesser prophet (1Es 6:1; 1Es 7:3) the adviser of Ezra (1Es 8:44; comp. Ezr 8:16), the son of Pharosh (1Es 8:30; comp. Ezr 8:3), the son of Bebai. (1Es 8:37; comp. Ezr 8:11), a son of Elam (1Es 9:27; comp. Ezr 10:26), and one (1Es 1:15) who is properly called Heman (2Ch 35:15), and another (Eapaianc, 1Es 5:8) properly called Azariah, or Seraiah (Ezr 2:2; Neh 7:7).
1. Son of Barachias, who, our Lord says, was slain by the Jews between the altar and the Temple (Mat 23:35; Luk 11:51). There has been much dispute who this Zacharias was. There is no reason to identify him with the Zechariah son of Jeberechiah mentioned in 1Sa 8:2. It is singular that Josephus (War, 4:5,4) mentions another Zacharias, son of Baruch, who was slain by the Jews in the Temple shortly before the last siege of Jerusalem began (see Whiston’s note, ad loc.). From the time of Origen, who relates that the father of John the Baptist was killed in the Temple, many of the Greek fathers have maintained that this is the person to whom our Lord refers. The name of the father of Zacharias not being mentioned by Luke, some unwarrantably suppose that the name of Barachias crept into the text of Matthew from a marginal gloss, a confusion having been made between Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, and Zacharias the prophet, the son of Barachias (Berechiah). There can be little or no doubt that the allusion is to Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada (2Ch 24:20-21). As the book of Chronicles-in which the murder of this Zechariah occurs-closes the Hebrew canon, this assassination was the last of the murders of righteous men recorded in the Bible, just as that of Abel was the first (see Renan, Vie de Jesus, p. 353). SEE ZECHARIAH.
2. Father of Joseph, a leader in the first campaign of the Maccabaean war (1 Macc. 5, 18, 56-62).
3. Father of John the Baptist (Luke 1, 5, etc.). B.C. ante 8.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Zacharias (2)
pope from A.D. 741 to 752. He induced the Lombard king Luitprand to restore the cities taken from Rome in 739, to conclude a truce for twenty years, and subsequently to desist from the siege of Ravenna and restore all the territory taken from the exarchate. He was equally successful in influencing Luitprand’s successor, Rachis, as respects the interruption of his conquests, and even received that monarch and his queen and daughter into the number of his clergy (749) after their abdication of the throne. He also consecrated Carloman to the clerical office (747). He advised the Byzantine emperor Copronymus to replace the images in the churches. Boniface, the apostle to the Germans, found in Zacharias an energetic and able manager of-the interests of Rome, and became his agent in the elevation of the Carlovingian dynasty. Zacharias held a synod in 743 at which fifty-nine bishops were present, and which dealt with questions of discipline. He translated the Dialogues of Gregory the Great into Greek, and purchased the liberty of many slaves destined by the Venetians for Africa. See Jaff, Regesta Pontificum; Migne, Patrologie, tom. 89; Wrtwein and Giles, collections of Boniface’s letters, St. Bonij. Opera (Lond. 1845), vol. 1; Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s v.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Zacharias
(1.) A priest of the course of Abia, the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priests had been originally divided by David (1 Chr. 23:1-19). Only four of these courses or “families” of the priests returned from the Exile (Ezra 2:36-39); but they were then re-distributed under the old designations. The priests served at the temple twice each year, and only for a week each time. Zacharias’s time had come for this service. During this period his home would be one of the chambers set apart for the priests on the sides of the temple ground. The offering of incense was one of the most solemn parts of the daily worship of the temple, and lots were drawn each day to determine who should have this great honour, an honour which no priest could enjoy more than once during his lifetime.
While Zacharias ministered at the golden altar of incense in the holy place, it was announced to him by the angel Gabriel that his wife Elisabeth, who was also of a priestly family, now stricken in years, would give birth to a son who was to be called John, and that he would be the forerunner of the long-expected Messiah (Luke 1:12-17). As a punishment for his refusing to believe this message, he was struck dumb and “not able to speak until the day that these things should be performed” (20). Nine months passed away, and Elisabeth’s child was born, and when in answer to their inquiry Zacharias wrote on a “writing tablet,” “His name is John,” his mouth was opened, and he praised God (60-79). The child (John the Baptist), thus “born out of due time,” “waxed strong in spirit” (1:80).
(2.) The “son of Barachias,” mentioned as having been slain between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:51). “Barachias” here may be another name for Jehoiada, as some think. (See ZECHARIAH)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Zacharias
1. Father of John the Baptist. (Luk 1:5). (See JOHN THE BAPTIST.) Of the course of Abia or Abijah, eighth of the 24 (1Ch 24:10); walking with Elizabeth his wife “in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” His lot was to burn incense, the embodiment of prayer (from whence also during the burning of incense the whole people prayed: Rev 8:3-4; Psa 141:2), and esteemed so honourable an office that the same person (say the rabbis) was not allowed to discharge it twice. His unbelief (“whereby shall I know this, seeing I am old?” etc.) at the angel’ s announcement of John’s birth was retributively punished by dumbness (contrast Psa 116:10; 2Co 4:13), a warning to Israel whose representative he was of the consequences of unbelief if the nation should reject the gospel just coming; just as Mary on the contrary was an example of the blessedness which would flow if they believed (Luk 1:45; Luk 1:38).
Faith (dictating the name for his son given by the angel: Luk 1:13; Luk 1:63-64) opened his mouth, as faith shall cause Israel in the last days to confess her Lord, and the veil on her heart shall be taken away (2Co 3:15-16). Then followed his song of thanksgiving under the Holy Spirit, as Israel shall sing when turned to the Lord according to “the oath which He sware to our father Abraham,” etc. (Luk 1:68-80; Isa 12:1-3; Zec 12:10,) “The horn of salvation in the house of David” contrasts beautifully with “the little horn” or antichrist destroying Israel before Messiah shall appear for Israel’s help (Dan 7:8; Dan 8:9-14; Dan 8:11; Dan 12:1-3).
2. Son of Barachias (Mat 23:35). The same as the sire of Jehoiada; Joash ungratefully forgetting that he owed his throne to Jehoiada slew Zacharias for his faithful reproof: “Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken Jehovah, He hath also forsaken you.” By Joash’s command they stoned Zacharias “in the court of the house of Jehovah!” And to it the tradition may be due which assigns the tomb in the valley of Jehoshaphat to Zacharias. Contrast Jehoiada’s reverent care not to slay Athaliah in the temple precincts (2Ch 23:14; 2Ch 24:20-22; 2Ch 24:25). Joash slew other “sons” of Jehoiada besides Zacharias.
“The Lord look upon it and requite it” was the martyr’s dying sentence, which Jesus refers to as about to be executed on Israel; “that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar,” i.e. in the interior court of the priests, in which was the altar of burnt offerings. As Zacharias’ prayer for vengeance is the judicial side of God’s word by His prophets (Rev 6:9-11; Luk 18:7), so Stephen’s prayer is the gospel loving side of it (Act 7:60). Though Urijah was slain subsequently to Zacharias (Jer 26:23), yet Zacharias is the last as the canon was arranged, Chronicles standing in it last; Christ names Zacharias as the last and Abel as the first martyr in the Scripture canon. Barachias may have been a second name of Jehoiada, meaning “the blessed,” because he preserved David’s house in the person of Joash from the murderous Athaliah, slew her, and restored the rightful king. However, as “son of Barachias” does not occur in Luk 11:51, perhaps the words in Matthew were a marginal gloss, confusing this Zacharias with Zechariah the prophet, son of Berechiah.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Zacharias
ZACHARIAS ().Father of John the Baptist (Luk 1:5-25; Luk 1:57-80); a Jewish priest, who was an old man at the close of the reign of Herod the Great [Note: reat Cranmers Great Bible 1539.] (b.c. 4). The strawberry grows underneath the nettle, and, even in that evil time of wickedness in high places in Church and State, there lived in Palestine no inconsiderable number of just and devout persons both among priests and people. Of such was Zacharias. A Jewish priest, a member of the family of Abijah, Zacharias had been so careful to observe the law regarding the marriage of priests (Lev 21:7-14), that he chose for wife one of the sacerdotal house, a daughter of Aaron (Luk 1:5), named after Aarons wife (Exo 6:23), Elisabeth, who was as pious as himself. They were righteous not only in the sight of men but of God, and blameless in their care to observe all His commandments and ordinances; but notwithstanding this, and the promise of God by Jeremiah (Jer 33:18), and their eager desire, and Zacharias lifelong prayer (Luk 1:18), their union was not blessed with offspring. It was due to Elisabeths barrenness (Luk 1:7); and she keenly felt the reproach which it occasioned (Luk 1:25), for it was a common opinion among the Jews that childlessness was Gods punishment for guilt. They had both reached old age when the miraculous event occurred which surpassed all they could have looked for.
Zacharias had left his home in the hill-country of Judah to fulfil in the Temple at Jerusalem his week of service; and it fell to his lot to perform the very special duty of burning incense in the Holy Place, separated only by the veil from the Holy of Holies. It was a very notable occasion in a priests life, which did not come at all to many a priest (it is said there were 20,000 of them altogether about this period), and it was not likely the lot would ever fall on him again to offer it. The offering of incense was symbolical of prayer (Rev 5:8); the people worshipping in the courts outside were praying while the smoke was rising from his censer within (Luk 1:10); it was impossible that he should not be praying too, and if only by the force of long habit, the old petition rose once more to his lips. Suddenly there stood in front of him, on the right side of the altar of incense (Luk 1:11), where no mortal man should be, an angel of the Lord. In the presence of the supernatural, Zacharias feared and trembled; but the angel reassured him, told him that his prayer was heard, that his wife Elisabeth should bear him a son, whom he should live to see, and name John (= the grace of Jehovah), which would be no barren title, but describe his character and mission: he shall be great in the sight of the Lord (cf. Mat 11:11, Luk 7:28). This son must be brought up as a Nazirite in the highest form of Levitical devotion (Num 6:4, Jdg 13:4, Lam 4:7, Amo 2:12); he should, like another Elijah (1Ki 18:37), turn many of the children of Israel unto the Lord, and be the forerunner, as foretold by Malachi, to Messiah Himself (Luk 1:15-17).
Zacharias had not the faith of Abraham, who staggered not through unbelief (Rom 4:19) at a promise of God exactly similar, involving human generation, but prophetically announced and supernatural (Alford). He asked for a sign ( ;), and pointed out the difficulties in the way. Some (e.g. Bruce) have expressed surprise that so natural a hesitation should be treated, and punished, as a sin; but to whom much is given, of him much shall be required. Others have asked why Zacharias should be censured here, and not the virgin Mary (Luk 1:34-35), not observing that hers was not a question of doubt, Whereby shall I know? but a request for direction ( ;), How is it to be brought about?a question implying faith as to the event itself. She got a sign too, though she had not asked one; but hers was joyful, Zacharias punitive, yet merciful. Thou shalt be dumb, not only as one stupefied with wonder, but also unable to speak; yet for a season merely, till, at the proper time, the promise has its fulfilment. Thus, on the threshold of the Gospel, at the very outset of its great series of miracles, is unbelief chastised. The soul that will not believe shall not be allowed to speak (cf. 2Co 4:13).
It was not, the Talmudists inform us, the custom of the priests, when officiating inside the Holy Place, to make their own devotions long, lest the people outside should be anxious; but Zacharias interview with Gabriel, and perhaps the feelings it awakened, caused him to delay. The worshippers in the Temple courts marvelled why he tarried so long; the thought likely to occur to them was that God had slain the priest as unworthy (Bruce); and when at last he did make his appearance, he could neither explain the reason for his delay, nor give them the Aaronic benediction (Num 6:22-24), which was pronounced after every morning and evening sacrifice by the priest with uplifted hands, the people responding to it with a loud Amen (Keil, Bibl. Archol.). Like the dying St. Columba before the altar at Iona, though for a different reason, Zacharias signed with his hand the blessing which he could not speak (Num 6:22). As soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he returned to his home; the tokens of his wifes pregnancy soon added a sign of joy to the sign of punishment which he bore about with him. The promised child was born, but the chastisement was not taken off till the hour arrived when he had his predicted function to fulfil, by calling the infant by his appointed name.
Godet remarks on the pleasant picture of family life presented by the scene of the Baptists circumcision, It had been a custom since the birth of Isaac (who received his name at his circumcision) to give a child his name on the same day in which he was signed as one of Gods people: for a similar reason, Christian children are named on the occasion of their entrance by baptism into the Church. A difficulty which some have felt, that Zacharias was dumb only and not deaf, yet is treated by the company as if unable to hear, is met by Olshausen with the remark that these two afflictions go so frequently together, that men easily accustom themselves to treat dumb persons as deaf.
The heart of Zacharias had been gathering thoughts to itself through all those months of silence, and no sooner was his mouth opened than he poured forth to God the hymn of priestly thanksgiving which we call, from its first word in the Latin version, Benedictus (wh. see). Here we need only note in it an evident allusion to his own name (signifying Remembered by Jehovah) and his wifes (Elisabeth = Eli-sheba = the oath of God)to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham (Luk 1:72-73).
Nothing is said of Zacharias after this. The statement of several of the Fathers (Origen, Greg. Nyss., Cyr., and Pet. Alex. [Note: Alexandrian.] ), though accepted by Baronius, that this Zacharias was slain by Herod between the Temple and the brazen altar, has no historical basis; it is a mere guess to explain the difficulty, that whereas many of the prophets were martyred at a later date than Zechariah the son of Jehoiada (2Ch 24:20), yet our Lord, summing up the list of such murders, begins with Abel and ends with Zechariah (Mat 23:35). See Barachiah. Zacharias having been by this mistake made a martyr, his relies were forthcoming, and Cornelius a Lapide speaks of seeing and venerating his head in the Lateran basilica at Rome.
James Cooper.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Zacharias (1)
zak-a-ras (, Zacharas):
(1) One of the rulers of the temple at the time of Josiah’s Passover (1 Esdras 1:8) = Zechariah of 2Ch 35:8.
(2) One of the holy singers at Josiah’s Passover (1 Esdras 1:15); the name stands in place of Heman in 2Ch 35:15.
(3) In 1 Esdras 6:1; 7:3 = the prophet Zechariah.
(4) One of the sons of Pharos who returned with Ezra at the head of his family (1 Esdras 8:30) = Zechariah of Ezr 8:3, and perhaps identical with (5).
(5) One of the men of understanding with whom Ezra consulted when he discovered the absence of priests and Levites (1 Esdras 8:44) = Zechariah of Ezr 8:16, and perhaps identical with (6).
(6) Zacharias (omitted in the King James Version), who stood on Ezra’s left hand as he expounded the Law (1 Esdras 9:44) = Zechariah of Neh 8:4.
(7) One of the sons of Babi who went up at the head of his family with Ezra (1 Esdras 8:37) = Zechariah of Ezr 8:11.
(8) One of the sons of Elam who had taken foreign wives (1 Esdras 9:27) = Zechariah of Ezr 10:26.
(9) The father of Joseph, one of the leaders of the people under Judas (1 Macc 5:18, 56).
(10) The King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) Zarains (1 Esdras 5:8).
(11) The King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) Zachariah of Mat 23:35.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Zacharias (2)
(, Zacharas): Father of John the Baptist (Luk 1:5, etc.). He was a priest of the course of ABIJAH (which see), of blameless life, who in his old age was still childless. But on one occasion when it was the turn of the course of Abijah to minister in the temple (see TEMPLE), Zacharias was chosen by lot to burn incense. While engaged in this duty he was visited by Gabriel, who announced to him that he should become the father of the precursor of the Messiah. Zacharias received the promise incredulously and was punished by being stricken mute. When, however, the child was born and Zacharias had obeyed the injunction of Gabriel by insisting on the name John, his powers of speech returned to him. According to Luk 1:67-79, Zacharias was the author of the hymn Benedictus, which describes God’s deliverance of Israel in language drawn entirely from the Old Testament, and which is unaffected by the later Christian realization that the Kingdom is also for Gentiles.
Elisabeth, his wife, was of the daughters of Aaron (Luk 1:5) and kinswoman of the Virgin (Luk 1:36; the relationship is altogether obscure). According to Luk 1:42-45, she was one of those who shared in the secret of the Annunciation. A few manuscripts in Luk 1:46 ascribe the Magnificat to her, but this seems certainly erroneous. See especially Zahn, Evangelium des Lucas, 98-101 and 745-751 (1913).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Zacharias
[ZECHARIAH]
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Zacharias
[Zachari’as]
1. Son of Barachias, who was slain between the temple and the altar. Mat 23:35; Luk 11:51. This probably refers to Zecharias the son of Jehoiada, who was thus slain by order of the king. 2Ch 24:20-22; ‘son’ in one of the places may signify ‘grandson.’ As the Book of Chronicles closes the Hebrew Bible, this assassination of a righteous man may well be deemed the last as that of Abel was the first.
2. Priest of the course of Abia, and father of John the Baptist. Because of his unbelief he was dumb until the child was born. When his son was circumcised, his voice was restored, and being full of the Holy Ghost he praised God and prophesied. His friends proposed the same name for his son; but he objected, and the babe was named John, as directed by the angel. Luke 1.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Zacharias
G2197
1. A man slain by the Jews, referred to by Jesus
Mat 23:35; Luk 11:51
2. Father of John the Baptist:
– General references
Luk 1:5-80; Luk 3:2 Elizabeth; John, 1. The Baptist
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Zacharias
Zacharias (zak’a-r’as). Greek form of Zachariah. 1. Father of John the Baptist. Luk 1:5, etc. He was a priest of the course of Abia, the eighth of the 24 courses who ministered at the temple in turn. 2. Son of Barachias, who, our Lord says, was slain by the Jews between the altar and the temple. Mat 23:35; Luk 11:51. There has been much dispute who this Zacharias was, but there can be little or no doubt that the allusion is to Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, 2Ch 24:20-21; and he may have been called “the son” of Barachias from his grandfather. He is mentioned as being the martyr last recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, as Abel was the first2d Chronicles being placed last in their Old Testament Scriptures.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Zacharias
Zachari’as. (Greek form of Zechariah).
1. Father of John the Baptist. Luk 1:5 etc. He was a priest of the course of Abia, the eighth of the twenty-four courses, who ministered at the Temple in turn. He probably lived at Hebron. His wife’s name was Elisabeth. John was born to them in their old age, and the promise of this son was communicated to Zacharias by an angel while he was offering incense and praying in the Temple.
2. Son of Barachias, who, our Lord says, was slain by the Jews between the altar and the Temple. Mat 23:35; Luk 11:61. There has been much dispute who this Zacharias was. Many of the Greek fathers have maintained that the father of John the Baptist is the person to whom our Lord alludes, but there can be little or no doubt that the allusion is to Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, 2Ch 24:20-21, and he may have been called “the son” of Barachias, from his grandfather. (B.C. 838). He is mentioned as being the martyr last recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures (as Abel was the first), Chronicles being the last book in their canon.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
ZACHARIAS
(1) Or, Zechariah, slain by Jews
2Ch 24:20; Mat 23:35; Luk 11:51
(2) Father of John the Baptist
Luk 1:5; Luk 1:13; Luk 1:21; Luk 1:62; Luk 1:67