Zechariah Prophet

Description

Zechariah (/zɛkəˈraɪ.ə/; Hebrew: זְכַרְיָה, Modern Zekharya, Tiberian Zəḵaryā, “YHWH has remembered”; Arabic: زكريّا‎‎ Zakariya’ or Zakkariya; Greek: Ζαχαρίας Zakharias; Latin: Zacharias) was a person in the Hebrew Bible and traditionally considered the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He was a prophet of the two-tribe Kingdom of Judah, and, like the prophet Ezekiel, was of priestly extraction.

According to the Gospel of Luke, during the reign of king Herod, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the course of Abia, whose wife Elizabeth was also of the priestly family of Aaron. The evangelist states that both the parents were righteous before God, since they were “blameless” in observing the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. When the events related in Luke began, their marriage was still childless, because Elizabeth was “barren”, and they were both “well advanced in years” (Luke 1:5–7).

The duties at the temple in Jerusalem alternated between each of the family lines that had descended from those appointed by King David (1 Chronicles 24:1–19).[4] Luke states that during the week when it was the duty of Zechariah’s family line to serve at “the temple of the Lord”, the lot for performing the incense offering had fallen to Zechariah (Luke 1:8–11).

The Gospel of Luke states that while Zechariah ministered at the altar of incense, an angel of the Lord appeared and announced to him that his wife would give birth to a son, whom he was to name John, and that this son would be the forerunner of the Lord (Luke 1:12–17). Citing their advanced age, Zechariah asked with disbelief for a sign whereby he would know the truth of this prophecy. In reply, the angel identified himself as Gabriel, sent especially by God to make this announcement, and added that because of Zechariah’s doubt he would be struck dumb and “not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed”. Consequently, when he went out to the waiting worshippers in the temple’s outer courts, he was unable to speak the customary blessing (Luke 1:18–22). The time this occurred, according to theologian Adam C. English, “is September 24, based on computations from the Jewish calendar in accordance with Leviticus 23 regarding the Day of Atonement.