Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

ZECHARIAH (Person)

Extremely popular name in the Bible; it means “the Lord remembers.”

1. Son of King Jeroboam II; the 15th king of Israel and the last of Jehu’s dynasty. Beginning his rule in 753 BC, the 38th year of Azariah’s reign in Judah (792–740 BC), Zechariah ruled in Samaria for only six months before he was murdered at Ibleam in a conspiracy masterminded by Shallum, his successor (2 Kgs 14:29; 15:8-11). The Lord’s promise to Jehu, that his descendants would rule to the fourth generation (10:30), was fulfilled with Zechariah’s reign.

2. Father of Abi (or Abijah, 2 Chr 29:1). Abi was the mother of Hezekiah, who later ruled Judah for 29 years (2 Kgs 18:2).

3. Reubenite and leader of his tribe (1 Chr 5:7).

4. Korahite Levite, firstborn of Meshelemiah’s seven sons and a wise counselor, selected by lot to oversee the gatekeepers of the sanctuary’s northern entrance during David’s reign (1 Chr 9:21; 26:2, 14).

5. Benjaminite and descendant of Jeiel (1 Chr 9:37). He is alternately called Zeker, perhaps an abbreviation of Zechariah, in 1 Chronicles 8:31.

6. One of the eight Levites assigned to play a harp before the ark of God in the procession led by David when the ark was brought from Obed-edom’s house to Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:18, 20; 16:5).

7. One of the priests assigned to blow a trumpet in the procession led by David when the ark was brought to Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:24).

8. Levite and a descendant of Isshiah, who served in the sanctuary during David’s reign (1 Chr 24:25).

9. Merarite Levite and Hosah’s son, who served as one of the gatekeepers of the sanctuary’s western entrance, at the gate of Halleketh, during David’s reign (1 Chr 26:11-12, 16).

10. Father of Iddo. Iddo was the chief officer of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead during David’s reign (1 Chr 27:21).

11. One of the officials sent by King Jehoshaphat (872–848 BC) to teach the law in the cities of Judah (2 Chr 17:7).

12. Gershonite Levite and Jahaziel’s father (2 Chr 20:14).

13. One of King Jehoshaphat’s seven sons and the brother of Jehoram. Jehoram became sole regent of Judah (848–841 BC) at his father’s death (2 Chr 21:2).

14. Son of Jehoiada the priest, who rebuked the princes of Judah for turning against the Lord and worshiping false gods. Enraged by Zechariah’s rebuff, they conspired against him, and at King Joash’s command, stoned him to death in the court of the sanctuary (2 Chr 24:20-22). The Lord, however, avenged Zechariah’s death by allowing the Syrians to defeat Judah, kill the princes, and severely wound Joash, who was subsequently killed by two of his own servants.

In his castigation of his own generation of Jewish leaders, Jesus alluded to Zechariah’s shameful murder in the temple’s sacred precincts: “You will become guilty of murdering all the godly people from righteous Abel to Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary” (Mt 23:35, NLT). Abel was the first and Zechariah the last of the recorded prophets of God who were unjustly slain, according to the OT.

15. Man who counseled King Uzziah of Judah to walk in the fear of God (2 Chr 26:5).

16. Abijah’s father. Abijah was the mother of King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Chr 29:1).

17. Gershonite Levite descended from Asaph, who along with Mattaniah his kinsman was chosen by King Hezekiah to help cleanse the house of the Lord (2 Chr 29:13).

18. Kohathite Levite who was appointed to oversee the repair of the temple during King Josiah’s reign (2 Chr 34:12).

19. One of the chief officers of the house of God who generously gave animals to the priests for the celebration of the Passover feast during King Josiah’s reign (2 Chr 35:8).

20. Prophet, Berechiah’s son and the grandson of Iddo, who began prophesying as a young man in 520 BC during the reign of King Darius I of Persia (Zec 1:1; cf. 2:4). Little is known about the prophet. He ministered with Haggai, his contemporary, in postexilic Jerusalem during the days of Zerubbabel, the governor, and Jeshua, the high priest (Ezr 5:1). He exhorted the Jews to finish building the second temple (6:14) and headed Iddo’s priestly family during Joiakim’s term as high priest (Neh 12:16). Like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Zechariah served as both priest and prophet (Zec 1:1, 7; 7:1, 8).

Numerous suggestions have been offered to resolve the discrepancy of Zechariah’s pedigree. In the Ezra and Nehemiah passages, Iddo is listed as his father, whereas in Zechariah, Berechiah is the father. Some conclude that Berechiah and Iddo were different names for the same person, or that Berechiah’s name (Zec 1:1, 7) was a later scribal emendation that confused Jeberechiah’s son with Iddo’s son (cf. Is 8:2). A more plausible theory identifies Iddo as Zechariah’s grandfather, the renowned head of his family, who returned to Jerusalem from exile in 538 BC. Either by Berechiah’s early death or by the precedence of his grandfather’s name, Zechariah was considered Iddo’s successor.

21. Parosh’s descendant and the head of his father’s household. He returned with Ezra to Judah following the exile during the reign of King Artaxerxes I of Persia (Ezr 8:3).

22. Bebai’s son and the head of a household. He returned with Ezra to Judah following the exile during the reign of King Artaxerxes I of Persia (Ezr 8:11).

23. One of the Jewish leaders whom Ezra sent to Iddo, the man in charge at Casiphia, to gather Levites and temple servants for the caravan of Jews returning to Palestine from Babylon (Ezr 8:15-17).

24. One of the six descendants of Elam who was encouraged by Ezra to divorce his foreign wife during the postexilic period (Ezr 10:26).

25. One of the men who stood to Ezra’s left when Ezra read the law to the people (Neh 8:4).

26. Descendant of Perez and an ancestor of a Judahite family headed by Athaiah living in Jerusalem during the postexilic period (Neh 11:4).

27. Descendant of Shelah and an ancestor of a Judahite family headed by Maaseiah living in Jerusalem during the postexilic era (Neh 11:5).

28. Priest, descendant of Malkijah and an ancestor of a family of priests headed by Adaiah living in Jerusalem during the postexilic period (Neh 11:12).

29. Jonathan’s son, a descendant of Asaph. He led a group of the priestly musicians who played trumpets at the dedication of the Jerusalem wall in Nehemiah’s day (Neh 12:35).

30. Priest who played a trumpet at the Jerusalem wall’s dedication (Neh 12:41).

31. Jeberechiah’s son and undoubtedly a man of distinction who, along with Uriah the priest, publicly witnessed Isaiah’s writing of the puzzling expression “Maher-shalal-hash-baz,” which later prophetically revealed God’s intended judgment on Damascus and Samaria (Is 8:2).

32. John the Baptist’s father, priest of Abijah’s division, and the husband of Elizabeth, a woman of priestly descent. His story is recounted in Luke 1. They lived in the Judean hill country during King Herod the Great’s reign (37–4 BC; Lk 1:5). Zechariah and Elizabeth both lived righteous and pious lives; however, they were advanced in years and still had no children.

As priest, Zechariah was one of the men chosen to represent his division in its yearly appointed session of service in the Jerusalem temple (the priests of Israel were divided into 24 orders, each being assigned an annual two-week period of service in the temple). One day while serving in Jerusalem, Zechariah was selected by lot to burn incense in the temple’s Holy Place, a privilege granted to a priest only once in his lifetime. While performing this temple duty, the angel Gabriel appeared to him, telling him that Elizabeth his wife, though barren, would bear him a son, whose name would be called John and who would prepare the way for the Messiah. As a sign confirming the angel’s report, Zechariah was made mute for his disbelief that, in their old age, he and Elizabeth would produce a child. When Zechariah returned to the temple court, the gathered multitude perceived that the gesturing priest had seen a vision.

Elizabeth became pregnant as promised and in her sixth month was visited by her relative Mary, who was also with child. Later, shortly after the baby’s birth, Zechariah affirmed that his son’s name would be John, at which time his speech was restored and he was filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesying and praising God for the work that he was about to do in Israel.

33. Original name proposed for John the Baptist after his father’s name (Lk 1:59). See John the Baptist.