Zechariah
Bible References
- The eleventh in order of the twelve minor prophets. He is called in his prophecy the son of Berechiah and the grandson of Iddo, whereas in the book of Ezra (Ezra 5:1; 6:14) he is said to have been the son of Iddo. It is natural to suppose, as the prophet himself mentions his father’s name, whereas the book of Ezra mentions only Iddo, that Berechiah had died early and that there was now no intervening link between the grandfather and the grandson. Zechariah, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel before him, was priest as well as prophet. He seems to have entered upon his office while yet young (Zechariah 2:4) and must have been born in Babylon, whence he returned with the first caravan of exiles under Zerubbabel and Jeshua. It was in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, that he first publicly discharged his office. In this he acted in concert with Haggai. Both prophets had the same great object before them: Both directed all their energies to the building of the second temple. To their influence we find the rebuilding of the temple in a great measure ascribed. If the later Jewish accounts may be trusted, Zechariah, as well as Haggai, was a member of the Great Synagogue. The genuine writings of Zechariah help us but little in our estimate of his character. Some faint traces, however, we may observe in them, of his education in Babylon. He leans avowedly on the authority of the older prophets, and copies their expressions. Jeremiah especially seems to have been his favorite: hence the Jewish saying that “the spirit of Jeremiah dwelt in Zechariah.” But in what may be called the peculiarities of his prophecy, he approaches more nearly to Ezekiel and Daniel. Like them he delights in visions; like them he uses symbols and allegories rather than the bold figures and metaphors which lend so much force and beauty to the writings of the earlier prophets. Generally speaking, Zechariah’s style is pure and remarkably free from Chaldaisms.
- Son of Meshelemiah or Shelemiah a Korhite, and keeper of the north gate of the tabernacle of the congregation (1 Chronicles 9:21)
- One of the sons of Jehiel (1 Chronicles 9:37)
- A Levite of the second order in the temple band as arranged by David, appointed to play “with psalteries on Alamoth” (1 Chronicles 15:18, 20)
- One of the princes of Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:7)
- Son of the high priest Jehoiada, in the reign of Joash king of Judah (2 Chronicles 24:20) and therefore the king’s cousin. After the death of Jehoiada Zechariah probably succeeded to his office, and in attempting to check the reaction in favor of idolatry which immediately followed he fell a victim to a conspiracy formed against him by the king and was stoned in the court of the temple. He is probably the same as the “Zacharias son of Barachias” who was slain between the temple and the altar (Matthew 23:35) (see Zacharias, 2)
- A Kohathite Levite in the reign of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:12)
- The leader of the sons of Pharosh who returned with Ezra (Ezra 8:3)
- Son of Behai (Ezra 8:11)
- One of the chiefs of the people whom Ezra summoned in council at the river Ahava (Ezra 8:16). He stood at Ezra’s left hand when he expounded the law to the people (Nehemiah 8:4)
- One of the family of Elam who had married a foreign wife after the captivity (Ezra 10:26)
- Ancestor of Athaiah or Uthai (Nehemiah 11:4)
- A Shilonite, descendant of Perez (Nehemiah 11:5)
- A priest, son of Pashur (Nehemiah 11:12)
- The representative of the priestly family of Iddo in the days of Joiakim the son of Jeshua (Nehemiah 12:16), possibly the same as Zechariah the prophet, the son of Iddo
- One of the priests, son of Jonathan, who blew with the trumpets at the dedication of the city wall by Ezra and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 12:35, 41)
- A chief of the Reubenites at the time of the captivity by Tiglath-pileser (1 Chronicles 5:7)
- One of the priests who accompanied the ark from the house of Obed-edom (1 Chronicles 15:24)
- Son of Isshiah or Jesiah, a Kohathite Levite descended from Uzziel (1 Chronicles 24:25)
- Fourth son of Hosah of the children of Merari (1 Chronicles 26:11)
- A Manassite (1 Chronicles 27:21-22)
- The father of Jahaziel (2 Chronicles 20:14)
- One of the sons of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 21:2)
- A prophet in the reign of Uzziah who appears to have acted as the king’s counsellor, but of whom nothing is known (2 Chronicles 26:5)
- The father of Abijah or Abi, Hezekiah’s mother (2 Chronicles 29:1)
- One of the family of Asaph in the reign of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29:13)
- One of the rulers of the temple in the reign of Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:8)
- The son of Jeberechiah, who was taken by the prophet Isaiah as one of the “faithful witnesses to record” when he wrote concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:2). He may have been the Levite of the same name who in the reign of Hezekiah assisted in the purification of the temple (2 Chronicles 29:13). Another conjecture is that he is the same as Zechariah the father of Abijah, the queen of Ahaz.
Smith's Bible Names Dictionary (1866).