Zechariah

Zechariah, persons in the Bible

Zechariah (zĕk'ərī`ə), in the Bible.

1 Prophet and author of the book of Zechariah.

2 Prophet who, with the connivance of King Jehoash, was stoned to death for his public rebuke of idolatry. In the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke it is apparently this martyred Zechariah (NT Zacharias) to whom Jesus referred. See also Berechiah (7.)

3 Prophet in the reign of Uzziah.

4 King, the same as Zachariah (1.)

5 Maternal grandfather of King Hezekiah. Zacharias, Zachariah, and Zachary are forms of the name Zechariah.

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Zechariah, book of the Bible

Zechariah (zĕk'ərī`ə), prophetic book of the Bible, which dates from 520 B.C.–518 B.C. at Jerusalem. The prophet was associated with Haggai in a movement to restore the Temple. The book, after an introduction, proceeds with eight visions, prophetic of the restitution of Israel, and a symbolic crowning of the high priest. An address follows on the observance of the commandments and the rewards for doing so. The remainder of Zechariah, very different in tone, consists of prophecies concerning trouble and threat from invading armies and the eventual redemption of Jerusalem. Scholars date this section to a later period (4th or 3d cent. B.C.).

Bibliography

See studies by F. A. Tafford (1971), J. Baldwin (1972), and C. and M. Myers (1987).

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Zechariah

(flourished 6th century BC) One of the 12 Minor Prophets of the Hebrew scriptures, whose prophecies are recorded in the book of Zechariah. (The work is part of a larger book, The Twelve, in the Jewish canon.) His visions concern the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile, the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, and the world's recognition of Israel's God. The book also includes his apocalyptic visions of the end of time.