Zacharias son of Barachias

(Matthew 23:34-36)

The question arises as to who this personage was that our Lord speaks of. This is not of great importance to us and the desire to know may simply be thought of as a matter of curiosity. The corresponding passage in Luke's Gospel does not mention Barachias in the best manuscripts (Luke 11:49-51).

There are a number of possibilities as follows:-

1. Zechariah the son of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:20-22)

The reasons for saying he was the one Christ spoke of are:

a. He was stoned to death in the temple court.

b. His martyrdom is found in the last book of the Jewish Bible, that is, 2 Chronicles.

The reasons against it are:

a. He was son of Jehoiada, not Barachias (or Berechiah - the Hebrew form).

b. He was slain in the temple court. Christ is more specific, saying it was between the temple and the altar.

c. The stoning of Zechariah took place probably circa 850 BC. This is impossible to reconcile with Christ's statement: "Whom ye slew", implying something carried out by those addressed.

2. Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah (Isaiah 8:2)

Apart from the similarity of the name there is no evidence that this personage, who lived probably circa 740 BC, was the person Christ spoke of. There is no evidence that he was killed in the temple precincts. His father's name is not identical with that of the person Christ spoke of and he lived many years before Christ's time.

3. Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo (Zechariah 1:1 & 1:7)

The reasons for saying he was the one Christ spoke of are:

a. He was known as Zechariah son of Berechiah.

b. He lived nearer the time of Christ, close to the end of the Old Testament period, probably circa 520 BC.

c. He was a prophet and it was often the case that prophets were killed (Luke 11:49).

d. There is a Jewish Targum that states that Zechariah, the son of Iddo, a prophet and priest, was slain in the sanctuary.

The reasons against it are:

a. There is no Biblical evidence that he did not die a natural death, let alone be killed in the temple precincts.

b. He lived over half a millennium before the time of Christ. "Whom ye slew" again could not be true of him.

c. His prophecy was largely an encouraging one so that there would not appear to have been the same incentive to kill him as there would have been with some of the earlier prophets. See Ezra 5:1/2 and 6:14/15.

d. The Targum only speaks of him as being killed in the sanctuary, whereas Christ was more specific (see above).

4. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5)

The only reason for saying that he was the one Christ spoke of apart from his name is the fact that he lived in the time of Christ. One assumes his life had probably ended before Christ entered upon his ministry, because he was advanced in years when he is spoken of by Luke (Luke 1:7). There is no evidence that he was the son of a Barachias or suffered a martyr's death in the temple precincts.