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Topic:
Persons Of The Bible --
Zacharius
The name "Zacharias" is the Greek form of Zechariah.
(1.) Father of John the Baptist. (Luke 1:5) A priest of the course of
Abia, the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priests had
been originally divided by David (1 Chr. 23:1-19). Only four of these
courses or "families" of the priests returned from the Exile
(Ezra 2:36-39); but they were then re-distributed under the old
designations. The priests served at the temple twice each year, and only
for a week each time. Zacharias's time had come for this service. During
this period his home would be one of the chambers set apart for the
priests on the sides of the temple ground. The offering of incense was
one of the most solemn parts of the daily worship of the temple, and
lots were drawn each day to determine who should have this great honour,
an honour which no priest could enjoy more than once during his
lifetime. While Zacharias ministered at the golden altar of incense in
the holy place, it was announced to him by the angel Gabriel that his
wife Elisabeth, who was also of a priestly family, now stricken in
years, would give birth to a son who was to be called John, and that he
would be the forerunner of the long-expected Messiah (Luke 1:12-17). As
a punishment for his refusing to believe this message, he was struck
dumb and "not able to speak until the day that these things should
be performed" (20). Nine months passed away, and Elisabeth's child
was born, and when in answer to their inquiry Zacharias wrote on a
"writing tablet," "His name is John," his mouth was
opened, and he praised God (60-79). The child (John the Baptist), thus
"born out of due time," "waxed strong in spirit"
(1:80).
(2.) Son of Barachias, who, our Lord says, was slain by the Jews between
the altar and the temple. (Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:61) There has been
much dispute about 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, (2 Chronicles 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) -d Chronicles
being the last book in their canon.
Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible Dictionaries
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