(3.) A son of Asaph, and chief of one of the courses of singers as arranged
by David (1 Chronicles 25:2, 10).
(4.) Son of Imri (Nehemiah 3:2).
(5.) A Levite (Nehemiah 10:12).
(6.) The son of Mattaniah (Nehemiah 13:13).
- ZACHARIAH remembered by the Lord. (1.) Son of Jeroboam II., king of
Israel. On the death of his father there was an interregnum of ten years, at
the end of which he succeeded to the throne, which he occupied only six
months, having been put to death by Shallum, who usurped the throne.
“He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had
done” (2 Kings 14:29; 15:8-12). In him the dynasty of Jehu came to an
end.
(2.) The father of Abi, who was the mother of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:2).
- ZACHARIAS (1.) A priest of the course of Abia, the eighth of the
twenty-four courses into which the priests had been originally divided by
David (1 Chronicles 23:1-19). Only four of these courses or “families” of
the priests returned from the Exile (Ezra 2:36-39); but they were then
re-distributed under the old designations. The priests served at the temple
twice each year, and only for a week each time. Zacharias’s time had come
for this service. During this period his home would be one of the chambers
set apart for the priests on the sides of the temple ground. The offering of
incense was one of the most solemn parts of the daily worship of the
temple, and lots were drawn each day to determine who should have this
great honour, an honour which no priest could enjoy more than once during
his lifetime.
While Zacharias ministered at the golden altar of incense in the holy place,
it was announced to him by the angel Gabriel that his wife Elisabeth, who
was also of a priestly family, now stricken in years, would give birth to a
son who was to be called John, and that he would be the forerunner of the
long-expected Messiah (Luke 1:12-17). As a punishment for his refusing
to believe this message, he was struck dumb and “not able to speak until
the day that these things should be performed” (20). Nine months passed
away, and Elisabeth’s child was born, and when in answer to their inquiry
Zacharias wrote on a “writing tablet,” “His name is John,” his mouth was