Zach·a·ri·as /ˌzækəˈraɪəs/



 Zacharias
      n 1: a Hebrew minor prophet of the late 6th century BC [syn: Zechariah]
      2: an Old Testament book telling the prophecies of Zechariah
         which are concerned mainly with the renewal of Israel
         after the Babylonian Captivity [syn: Zechariah, {Book of
         Zachariah]


 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 Chr. 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 opened,
    and he praised God (60-79). The child (John the Baptist), thus
    "born out of due time," "waxed strong in spirit" (1:80).

      (2.) The "son of Barachias," mentioned as having been slain
    between the temple and the altar (Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:51).
    "Barachias" here may be another name for Jehoiada, as some
    think. (See ZECHARIAH.)