Zechariah (Hebrew prophet)

Not to be confused with Zechariah (New Testament figure) or Zechariah of Israel.

Zechariah
Zechariah as depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Diedc. 6th century BCE
OccupationProphet
Known forAuthor of the Book of Zechariah
FatherBerechiah (likely)

Zechariah[a][1] was a person in the Hebrew Bible traditionally considered the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the Twelve Minor Prophets.

Prophet

Zechariah as depicted by James Tissot

The Book of Zechariah introduces him as the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo.[2] The Book of Ezra names Zechariah as the son of Iddo,[3] but it is likely that Berechiah was Zechariah's father, and Iddo was his grandfather.[4] The Targum of Lam 2:20 names this Zechariah son of Iddo and It reads that he was stoned as Matthew 23:35 reads. This is not the same person as Iddo the Seer, who lived during the reigns of King Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah[5] and is most likely the Iddo mentioned in Ezra 8:17.[6] His prophetical career probably began in the second year of Darius the Great, king of the Achaemenid Empire (520 BCE).[4] His greatest concern appears to have been with the building of the Second Temple.[4]

Liturgical commemoration

On the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar, his feast day is 8 February. He is commemorated in the calendar of saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on the Tuesday after the fifth Sunday of Pentecost[7] and, with the other Minor Prophets, on 31 July. The Roman Catholic Church honors him with a feast day assigned to 6 September.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Pronounced /zɛkəˈraɪ.ə/; Hebrew: זְכַרְיָה‎, Modern: Zəḵarya, Tiberian: Zăḵaryā, "Yah has remembered"; Arabic: زكريّا Zakariyā or Zakariyyā; Biblical Greek: Ζαχαρίας Zakharias; Latin: Zacharias.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Khan, Geoffrey (2020). The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. Open Book Publishers. ISBN 978-1783746767.
  2. ^ Zechariah 1:1
  3. ^ Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14
  4. ^ a b c Hirsch, Emil G. (1906). "Zechariah". In Cyrus Adler; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  5. ^ 2nd Chronicles 9:29, 12:15, and 13:22
  6. ^ Ezra 8:17
  7. ^ Domar: the calendrical and liturgical cycle of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Theological Research Institute, 2003

Bibliography