ZECHARIAH zĕk’ ə rī’ ə (זְכַרְיָ֥ה and זְכַרְיָ֨הוּ; LXX and NT, Ζαχαρίας, G2408, “Jehovah remembers”). Four times it is spelled Zachariah in KJV OT (2 Kings 14:29; 15:8, 11; 18:2) and besides the eight occurrences in Luke 1 in KJV NT in Matthew 23:35; Luke 3:2; 11:51.
1. A Benjaminite of the family of Jeiel (KJV, Jehiel) at Gibeon (1 Chron 9:35, 37); called Zecher (KJV Zacher; in 1 Chron 8:31). The latter is prob. a short form of Zechariah.
2. A Levite of the Kohathites of the house of Izhar through Ebiasaph. He was Meshelamiah’s eldest son. He was porter at the tent of meeting in David’s reign (1 Chron 9:21, 22; 26:2). He was an able counselor (26:14). Another Levite of this name played the psaltery in the procession of the Ark to Jerusalem; afterward he served in the Tabernacle David constructed for the Ark (15:18, 20; 16:5).
3. A priest who was trumpeter in the procession of the Ark from the home of Obededom (1 Chron 15:24).
4. A Levite of the family of Kohath of the house of Uzziel. Son of Isshiah, he lived during the reign of David (1 Chron 24:25).
5. Another Levite of the Merarites and son of Hosah, a doorkeeper in David’s reign (1 Chron 26:10, 11).
6. A Manassite from Gilead and father of Iddo, he lived in the reign of David (1 Chron 27:21).
7. A Levite of the Asaphites and of the family of Gershon (2 Chron 20:14).
8. A prince whom Jehoshaphat sent to teach the people in Judah (2 Chron 17:7).
9. Fourth son of Jehoshaphat (2 Chron 21:2).
10. Son of Jehoiada the high priest in the reign of Joash of Judah. A godly man, he denounced the apostasy of the people from the Lord after his father’s death. Joash ordered him stoned to death in the Temple court (2 Chron 24:20-22). It is generally held that he is meant by the Lord’s reference in Luke 11:51. Scripture mentions no other as slain in this way.
11. A man who understood the visions of God and counseled Uzziah, who heeded him for a time (2 Chron 26:5).
12. King of Israel and last of Jehu’s dynasty. He ruled in Samaria six months. He was the son of Jeroboam II and was murdered at Ibleam by Shallum who succeeded to the throne (2 Kings 14:29; 15:11). His reign fulfilled the prediction that Jehu’s dynasty would rule for four generations (10:30).
13. A chief of the tribe of Reuben (1 Chron 5:7).
14. Son of Jeberechiah, he witnessed Isaiah’s writing of words later illuminated by a prophecy (Isa 8:2).
15. Maternal grandfather of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:1, 2).
16. A Levite of Asaph. He aided in the Temple cleansing in Hezekiah’s reign (2 Chron 29:13).
17. Another Levite of the family of Kohath, who oversaw the workmen who repaired the Temple in Josiah’s reign (2 Chron 34:12).
18. A ruler and priest in the Temple in Josiah’s reign (2 Chron 35:8).
19. A Judean of the family of Shelah (Neh 11:5).
20. Another Judean of the family of Perez (Neh 11:4).
21. A priest from Passhur of the house of Malchijah (Neh 11:12).
22-26. Five contemporaries of Ezra: a descendant of Parosh who returned from Babylon with others under Ezra (Ezra 8:3); a son of Bebai who returned with Ezra (8:11); one of the leaders Ezra sent to obtain Levites and Nethinim to accompany the returning exiles (8:16); one of those who stood beside Ezra at the public reading of the law (Neh 8:4); and a son of Elam, ordered by Ezra to put away his foreign wife (Ezra 10:26).
27. A Levite, son of Jonathan an Asaphite. He led the Levitical musicians at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:35, 36).
28. A priest trumpeter at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem (Neh 12:41).
29. A priest who was head of the father’s house of Iddo in the time of the high priest Joiakim (Neh 12:16). See below.
30. In the NT Zacharias is the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5). He was of the priestly division of Abijah (1 Chron 24:17-19). There is a mention of a Zacharias in Matthew 23:35, who is thought to be the prophet. However, there are some who see here a reference to the slaying of Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada (2 Chron 24:20-22).
31. The prophet Zechariah. He was the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo (Zech 1:1). His first prophecy was delivered in the second year of Darius Hystaspis in 520 b.c. (Ezra 4:24; 5:1; Zech 1:1). He was a contemporary of Haggai the prophet, Zerubbabel the governor, and Joshua the high priest (Ezra 5:1, 2; Zech 3:1; 4:6; 6:11). He was born in Babylon of the tribe of Levi, thus a priest as well as a prophet (Neh 12:1, 4, 7, 10, 12, 16). Ezra calls him the son of Iddo, prob. because his father Berechiah died early, and he attained to the position of head of the household and successor to his grandfather. It has been thought by many from Zechariah 2:4 that he was a young man at the beginning of his prophetic ministry. (See Book of Zechariah.)