Zacharias the Priest

When was Zacharias active?

Zacharias the Priest is dated fl. c. 5 BC (death unrecorded in Scripture) in the archive, which places Zacharias in the Apostolic Age (AD 4–70). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

Which early sources mention Zacharias?

Zacharias the Priest is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Luke and Anonymous. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Zacharias from?

The archive associates Zacharias the Priest with the hill country of Judaea, Jerusalem. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.

Who were Zacharias’ contemporaries?

The archive links Zacharias the Priest to 5 other figures, including John the Baptist, Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Jesus of Nazareth. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. … And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God … And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words.

And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people … And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.

23. And Herod searched for John, and sent officers to Zacharias, saying: Where have you hid your son? And he, answering, said to them: **I am the servant of God in holy things, and I sit constantly in the temple of the Lord: I do not know where my son is.** … And Herod was enraged, and said: His son is destined to be king over Israel. And he sent to him again, saying: Tell the truth; where is your son? For you know that your life is in my hand. And Zacharias said: **I am God’s martyr, if you shed my blood; for the Lord will receive my spirit, because you shed innocent blood at the vestibule of the temple of the Lord.** And Zacharias was murdered about daybreak. … 24. … he saw clotted blood beside the altar; and he heard a voice saying: Zacharias has been murdered, and his blood shall not be wiped up until his avenger come. … and the fretwork of the temple made a wailing noise, and they rent their clothes from the top even to the bottom. **And they found not his body, but they found his blood turned into stone.** … And after the three days, the priests consulted as to whom they should put in his place; **and the lot fell upon Simeon. For it was he who had been warned by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he should see the Christ in the flesh.** [The earliest narrative of the martyrdom, and the passage that ties Zacharias to Simeon the God-Receiver: Simeon of Luke 2 is made his successor in the temple. Whether Christ’s words at Matthew 23:35 refer to John’s father is disputed — see the profile.]

The Protoevangelium of James, c. AD 145–160 — held in this library. English: Alexander Walker, Ante-Nicene Fathers 8 (1886), public domain. Text verified identical across New Advent, the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (Schaff, ANF08), and two further carriers. Schaff records a variant at this point: “Another reading is: And was rent from the top, etc.”

Zacharias, the martyr of Matthew 23:35

Origen and Chrysostom report the identification of the Zacharias slain “between the temple and the altar” with John’s father, and the Protoevangelium of James narrates it. Against it: Luke’s parallel at 11:51 gives no patronymic; “son of Barachias” belongs to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah; and the man stoned in the temple court at 2 Chronicles 24:21 is Zechariah son of Jehoiada — Chronicles standing last in the Hebrew ordering, so that “from Abel to Zechariah” spans the first and last murders of the Scriptures. Recorded, not adopted.