- 22-
- In Matthew 23:35 (R.V.) he is called the son of "Barachiah." From the great age of
Jehoiada at the time of his death, there is every internal reason for believing that he was
succeeded, not by his son, but by his grandson.
The princes and people conspired; and at the command of the king, unmindful not only of
his duty to God, but even of the gratitude he owed to his former preserver and counselor,
the grandson of Jehoiada was stoned to death "between the temple and the altar."
All things combined to mark this as a crime of no ordinary guilt, specially typical of what
befell the last and greatest Prophet of Israel, the Christ of God. The death inflicted on
Zechariah was that which the law had appointed for idolatry and blasphemy (Leviticus
20:2; 24:23). Thus the murderers of the high-priest, as those of Christ, unrighteously
inflicted the punishment which was due to themselves. Again, in the one case as in the
other, the crime was provoked by faithful admonitions and warnings sent directly of God.
In both instances the crime was national, the rulers and people having equal part in it; in
both, also, it was connected with the Temple, and yet the outcome of national apostasy.
Lastly, in both instances the punishment was likewise national. Yet there is marked
difference also. For, as Zechariah died, "he said, Jehovah, look upon it, and require it,"
while our Lord, when referring to this event as parallel to what was about to befall Him,
implied no personal resentment when He uttered this prediction: "Behold your house is
left unto you desolate." And yet further, unlike the words of Zechariah, those of Christ
ended not with judgment, but with the promise of His return in mercy and the prospect of
Israel's repentance (Matthew 23:39). Jewish tradition has preserved, although with many
legendary additions,* the remembrance of this national crime, fabling that the blood of
the high-priest spilt on the Temple pavement could neither be wiped away nor be at rest,
but was still bubbling up when more than two and a half centuries later Nebuzar-adan
entered the Temple, till God in His mercy at last put it to rest after the slaughter of many
priests.
- The story is told, though with some variations, both in the Babylonian Talmud (Sanh.
96 b; Gitt. 57 b) and in the Jerusalem Talmud (Jer. Taan. 69 a, b), also in the Midrash on
Ecclesiastes and on Lamentations. According to Jewish tradition, the sin had been
sevenfold: they had murdered one who was priest, prophet, and judge; they shed innocent
blood in the court of the Temple, and it was the Sabbath, and also the Day of Atonement.
See the Targum on Lamentations 2:20. It deserves special notice that there Zechariah is,
exactly as in Matthew 23:35, designated "the son of Iddo" (comp. Ezra 5:1; 6:14), who
was really the omitted (as in Genesis 29:5; 2 Kings 9:20), perhaps because Zechariah
succeeded Iddo (Nehemiah 12:4, 16).
The judgment predicted upon Judah was not long delayed. Joining together the notices in
the Books of Chronicles and of Kings, we learn that exactly a year after the murder of
Zechariah, Hazael, the king of Syria, made a victorious raid into Judah. We cannot be
mistaken in connecting this with the expedition of the king of Damascus into the northern
(^)