Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)

Not to be confused with Zechariah (New Testament figure) or Zechariah of Israel.

Zechariah^[a][1] was a person in the Hebrew Bible traditionally considered the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the Twelve Minor Prophets.

Zechariah as depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Prophet

 

Zechariah as depicted by James Tissot

The Book of Zechariah introduces him as the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo.^[2] The Book of Ezra names Zechariah as the son of Iddo,^[3] but it is likely that Berechiah was Zechariah's father, and Iddo was his grandfather.^[4] His prophetical career probably began in the second year of Darius the Great, king of the Achaemenid Empire (520 BCE).^[4] His greatest concern appears to have been with the building of the Second Temple.^[4]

Possible allusion by Jesus

Main article: Zechariah ben Jehoiada § Possible allusion by Jesus

He was probably not the "Zacharias" mentioned by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke^[5][6] and the Gospel of Matthew, "from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar".^[7] Jesus' words are interpreted as: from the first victim of a murder (Abel), to the last martyr (Zechariah), by which Zechariah ben Jehoiada was more likely meant, as representing the last of the martyrs recorded in the Masoretic Text.^[6] However, some scholars still identify him with the later prophet Zechariah, rather than the priest Zechariah of the 9th century BCE, as the Gospel of Matthew records his name as "Zechariah son of Berechiah", and the prophet Zechariah is indeed listed as the son of Berechiah.^[8]

Liturgical commemoration

On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is 8 February. He is commemorated in the calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on the Tuesday after the fifth Sunday of Pentecost^[9] and, with the other Minor Prophets, on 31 July. The Roman Catholic Church honors him with a feast day assigned to 6 September.

See also

• Tomb of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi
• Zechariah (given name) for the derivation and translations of his name
• Zechariah (priest), the father of John the Baptist in the New Testament

Notes

1. Pronounced /zɛkəˈraɪ.ə/; Hebrew: זְכַרְיָה‎‎, Modern: Zəḵarya, Tiberian: Zăḵaryā, "YHWH has remembered"; Arabic: زكريّا Zakariyā or Zakariyyā; Greek: Ζαχαρίας Zakharias; Latin: Zacharias.

References

Footnotes

1. Khan, Geoffrey (2020). The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. Open Book Publishers. ISBN 978-1783746767.
2. Zechariah 1:1
3. Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14
4. Hirsch, Emil G. (1906). "Zechariah". In Cyrus Adler; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co. from the original on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
5. Luke 11:51
6. Pao, David W.; Schnabel, Eckhard J. (2007). G. K. Beale; D. A. Carson (eds.). Luke 11:49-51. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Baker Academic. ISBN 9781441210524. Retrieved 8 August 2021. most identify this figure with the Zechariah of 2 Chron. 24:20–25, who was killed in the temple court
7. Matthew 23:35
8. Zech. 1:1
9. Domar: the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2003

Bibliography

•   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "Zechariah". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.

External links

•   Media related to Zechariah (prophet) at Wikimedia Commons