links open new window Zacharias, Detail from th... 18x24 Gicl...

Zacharias Zachari'as. Greek form of Zechariah (remembered by Jehovah). 1. Father of John the Baptist. Luk_1:5There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Luk 1:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.   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.