Zacharias

• 1 min. read • grade level: 8

1. Son of Barachias, who was slain between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35³⁵That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (Matthew 23:35); Luke 11:51⁵¹From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. (Luke 11:51)). This probably refers to Zecharias the son of Jehoiada, who was thus slain by order of the king (2 Chron. 24:20-22²⁰And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you. ²¹And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord. ²²Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it. (2 Chronicles 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).

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