Zechariah ''Zakariya''' or ''Zakkariya''; el, Ζαχαρίας ''Zakharias''; la, Zacharias. was a person in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Book of Zechariah The Book of Zechariah, attributed to the Hebrew prophet Zechariah, is included in the Twelve Minor Prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Historical context Zechariah's prophecies took place during the reign of Darius the Great and were contemporary ...

, the eleventh of the

Twelve Minor Prophets The Minor Prophets or Twelve Prophets ( he, שנים עשר, ''Shneim Asar''; arc, תרי עשר, ''Trei Asar'', "Twelve") ( grc, δωδεκαπρόφητον, "the Twelve Prophets"), occasionally Book of the Twelve, is a collection of propheti ...

Prophet

The Book of Zechariah introduces him as the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo. The

Book of Ezra The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible; which formerly included the Book of Nehemiah in a single book, commonly distinguished in scholarship as Ezra–Nehemiah. The two became separated with the first printed rabbinic bibles of the e ...

names Zechariah as the son of Iddo, but it is likely that Berechiah was Zechariah's father, and Iddo was his grandfather. His prophetical career probably began in the second year of

Darius the Great Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...

, king of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

(520 BCE). His greatest concern appears to have been with the building of the

Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...

Possible allusion by Jesus

He was probably not the "Zacharias" mentioned by Jesus in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascensi ...

and the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

, "from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar". Jesus' words are interpreted as: from the first victim of a murder (Abel), to the last martyr (Zechariah), by which

Zechariah ben Jehoiada Zechariah ben Jehoiada ''Zəḵaryā ben-Yǝhōyāḏāʿ''; ar, زكريّا بن يهوياداع ''Zakariya bin Yehuyada'') is a figure in the Hebrew Bible described as a priest who was stoned to death by Jehoash of Judah and may possibly h ...

was more likely meant, as representing the last of the martyrs recorded in the

Masoretic Text The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...

. 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.

Liturgical commemoration

On the

Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Passages of Holy Scripture, saints and events for commemoration are associated with each date, as are many times special rule ...

, his feast day is February 8. He is commemorated in the

calendar of saints The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context do ...

of the

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

on the Tuesday after the fifth Sunday of

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers ...

Domar: the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2003 and, with the other Minor Prophets, on July 31. The Roman

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

honors him with a feast day assigned to September 6.

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zechariah 6th-century BCE Jews 6th-century BC religious leaders Ancient apocalypticists Angelic visionaries Christian saints from the Old Testament