Which Zechariah is being referred to?

Matthew 23:35 (ESV)

35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

In short

Which Zechariah is referred to?

Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees, calling them a brood of vipers. They claim that if the prophets had been sent to them, they would not have killed them, but Jesus knows that’s a lie. Jesus says that he will send prophets to the scribes and Pharisees and they will kill them. Because of this, the blood of Abel to Zechariah son of Barachiah will be on their heads. So who is Zechariah son of Barachiah?

The first thing to note is that the book of Zechariah was written by a prophet named Zechariah son of Barachiah (Zech. 1:1). Still, there is no indication that the prophet Zechariah of the book of Zechariah was killed, and some indication that he died a peaceful death. On the other hand, there is another Zechariah mentioned in 2 Chronicles 24:21 who was murdered in the temple court. The Spirit of the Lord fills Zechariah and he prophesies against the people. The people then stone him to death in the temple court and as he is dying, he asks for God to avenge his death. While we do not have good reason to think that Jesus refers to Zechariah son of Barachiah, the prophet who wrote the book of Zechariah, we do have good reason to think that he refers to Zechariah from 2 Chron 24:21 for the following reasons.

First, Chronicles is the last book of the Hebrew Old Testament, and so the Zechariah of 2 Chronicles 24:21 is the last innocent prophet murdered. At the same time, Abel is the first innocent person murdered. Thus, when Jesus says that the blood of Abel to Zechariah will be on the scribes' and Pharisees' heads, Jesus has in mind the innocent blood shed from the beginning of the Hebrew Bible to the end.

Second, there is a strong literary connection in the details of Genesis 4:8, 2 Chronicles 24:1, and 2 Chronicles 23:35. Specifically, when Abel is murdered, we read that the ground cries out to God. In other words, the ground cries for justice to be served. Relatedly, when Zechariah is murdered in 2 Chronicles, he calls for God to avenge his death. Now, when we reach Matthew 23:35, Jesus is saying that justice will be served for the shedding of Abel and Zechariah’s blood because their blood is on the shoulders of the scribes and Pharisees.

Third, we know from 2 Chronicles 24:21 that Zechariah is stoned in the temple court, and Jewish history has it that Zechariah was murdered near the altar. This is an important detail because Jesus says that the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, who was murdered between the sanctuary and the altar, is on their heads. Thus, we have good reason to think that when Jesus says the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah is on the scribes and Pharisees’ heads, we have good reason to believe he refers to the Zechariah murdered in the temple as recorded in 2 Chronicles 24:21.

There is one plausible objection to this view, and it is that Jesus refers to Zechariah son of Barachiah, while the Zechariah stoned at the temple in 2 Chronicles 24:21 is Zechariah son of Jehoiada. So how do we explain this discrepancy? Why would Jesus refer to Zechariah son of Jehoiada as Zechariah son of Barachiah? There are three responses available to us.

First, we can simply say that we do not know why Jesus refers to Zechariah son of Jehoiada as Zechariah son of Barachiah, but we can be sure that the Zechariah whom Jesus refers to is Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

Second, we know the people could be referred to by either their father or their grandfather’s name. For example, the Zechariah who wrote the book of Zechariah is sometimes referred to as Zechariah son of Barachiah, and other times, Zechariah son of Iddo. We can apply this line of thinking to the Zechariah murdered in 2 Chronicles 24:21. There he is referred to as Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and Jehoiada might have been his grandfather. Maybe his father was named Barachiah, so Matthew refers to him as Zechariah son of Barachiah.

Third, it was not uncommon for writers to mix up the Zechariahs of the Hebrew Bible by recoding the wrong father. It is possible that Jesus had in mind Zechariah son of Jehoiada, but Matthew made the simple mistake of mixing up the Zechariahs and recorded the incorrect lineage. In either case, there are plausible explanations for why Matthew records Zechariah son of Barachiah, when Jesus is referring to Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

Given all our evidence, we have good reason to think that when Jesus says the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah is on the scribes and Pharisees’ heads, he is referring to the murder of Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

Interpretation 1:
The Zechariah referred to is Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

Summary:

The first person murdered in the Bible was Abel, and the last prophet murdered in the Hebrew Bible was Zechariah son of Jehoiada. Jesus says that because they reject God’s messengers, all the innocent blood shed from Abel to Zechariah will be on the heads of the scribes and Pharisees.

Just as God spoke through the prophets, so God speaks to us through the Bible, preachers, elders, and the Holy Spirit. We must not ignore God’s message, which is that we have sinned against God and will only find salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Advocates:

Donald Carson
Ulrich Luz
Leon Morris
John Nolland
David Turner
Jakob van Bruggen

Minor differences:

Matthew recalls Jesus’ saying, recording that the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah is on the Pharisees’ heads. Zechariah son of Barachiah is mentioned in Zechariah 1:1, but there is no evidence that this Zechariah was murdered. On the other hand, in 2 Chronicles 24:21 we read that Zechariah son of Jehoiada was murdered in the temple. Our authors agree that Jesus has Zechariah son of Jehoiada in mind, so why does Matthew record Zechariah son of Barachiah? Over this, there is some disagreement from our authors.

Ulrich Luz and Jakob van Bruggen point out that it was common in Jewish literature to mistake the various Zechariahs by associating them with the incorrect father.^1,2 If this is right, then Matthew made a simple mistake, and the context helps us identify the correct Zechariah. Others, such as Donald Carson and Leon Morris, suggest that Jehoiada is the name of Zechariah’s grandfather, and that he had a father named Barachiah.^3,4 In 2 Chronicles 24:1 Zechariah is identified by his grandfather, while Matthew identifies him with his father. Since people could be identified by either their father or grandfather, there is no discrepancy.

Arguments

Explanation:

To understand which Zechariah Jesus refers to in Matthew 23:35, we need to understand the context. Jesus is speaking against the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:29). He explains that although the scribes and Pharisees say that if they lived when the prophets were sent, they would not have killed the prophets, the scribes and Pharisees are a brood of vipers (Matthew 23:30–33). In other words, the scribes and Pharisees are not more righteous than those who killed the prophets. In fact, Jesus explains, all the righteous blood shed on earth, from Abel to Zechariah, is on the heads of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:35). We know that Abel was the first innocent person killed in the Bible (Genesis 4:8). We also know that the last book of the Hebrew Bible is 2 Chronicles 1:1 – 36:23. In 2 Chronicles 24:20–21, we read that the Spirit of God took possession of Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and he preached against the people, so they conspired against him and stoned him in the temple court. Zechariah son of Jehoiada is the last recorded prophet to be murdered in the Hebrew Bible. So Abel is the first innocent person in the Bible and Zechariah son of Jehoiada is the last murdered prophet.

We know from the context that Jesus’ point against the Pharisees is that they would not have listened if a prophet were sent to them. Of course, Jesus is not only a prophet but God himself, and the scribes and Pharisees are against Jesus. So, Jesus identifies their hypocrisy by saying that the innocent blood from Abel to Zechariah son of Jehoiada is on their heads.⁵ In other words, the rejection of Jesus is the culmination of hardheartedness that resulted in the innocent shedding of Abel’s blood to the stoning of Zechariah son of Jehoiada. Thus, Jesus likely has Zechariah son of Jehoiada in mind.

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that the text says that the innocent blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah is on the scribes and Pharisees. We know from Zechariah 1:1 that Zechariah the prophet was the son of Barachiah. We also know that Zechariah son of Barachiah is not the same person as Zechariah son of Jehoiada. Thus, Jesus does not have Zechariah son of Jehoiada in mind but Zechariah son of Barachiah, because that is what the text says.

Response to counterargument:

It is true that the text says that the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah is on the heads of the scribes and Pharisees. Still, given the context, it seems that we can at least rule out the prophet Zechariah son of Barachiah mentioned in Zechariah 1:1 as the Zechariah whom Jesus has in mind. First, there is no account of Zechariah from Zechariah 1:1 being killed. Second, some traditions have it that he died a peaceful death.⁶ At the same time we know that Zechariah son of Jehoiada is murdered in the temple court and that the event is recorded in the last book of the Hebrew Bible. Thus, if all Matthew had recorded was that the blood of Zechariah is on the scribes and Pharisees’ heads, we would immediately conclude that Jesus refers to Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

As for why, if Jesus had Zechariah son of Jehoiada in mind, Matthew recorded Zechariah son of Barachiah, there are plausible explanations. It sometimes happened that writers mix up the Zechariahs in the Bible.⁷ It is not unlikely that Matthew made this same simple mistake. Further, people could be identified by either their father or grandfather. For example, Zechariah son of Barachiah (Zechariah 1:1) is sometimes referred to as Zechariah son of Iddo, after this grandfather (Ezra 5:1). It could be that Jehoiada was Zechariah’s grandfather, but that his father’s name was Barachiah. The writer of Chronicles refers to him after his grandfather, who was the priest, while Matthew refers to him by his father’s name.⁸ In any case, that Matthew records Jesus as referring to Zechariah son of Barachiah does not mean that Jesus refers to the prophet Zechariah from Zechariah 1:1. Rather, we have good reason to think that Jesus refers to Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and plausible explanations for why Matthew identifies Zechariah son of Jehoiada as Zechariah of Barachiah.

Explanation:

There is a literary connection between the account of Abel and Zechariah son of Jehoiada’s death, and Jesus’ point in Matthew 23:35. Jesus says that the scribes and Pharisees are a brood of vipers because, although they say they would not have killed the prophets who were sent to their fathers, they will kill prophets and wise men sent by God. Because of their hypocrisy, Jesus says that the innocent blood from Abel to Zechariah will be on them. In other words, justice will be served on behalf of Abel and Zechariah because the blood of their murders will fall on the scribes and Pharisees. What is important to note is the connection between Jesus’ pronouncement that justice will be served, and the call for justice from both Abel and Zechariah son of Jehoiada.⁹

When God confronts Cain in Genesis 4:1–26, we read that the blood of Abel cries up to God from the ground. In other words, Abel was murdered as an innocent man, and his blood calls to God for justice. Similarly, in 2 Chronicles 24:22 we read that Zechariah son of Jehoiada is stoned, and as he is dying he says, May the Lord see and avenge! Thus, in the murder of Abel and Zechariah son of Jehoiada, justice is called for, and in Matthew 23:35 Jesus says that justice will be had because the scribes and Pharisees will carry the innocent blood from Abel to Zechariah.

Counterargument:

The assumption behind this argument is that when Jesus says the blood of Abel to Zechariah is on the shoulders of the scribes and Pharisees, he only has the Hebrew Bible as a source in mind. It could be that there was another Zechariah son of Barachiah who was killed, whose murder is not recorded in the Hebrew Bible because it happened after the Hebrew Bible was written.

Response to counterargument:

There are two problems with this argument. For one, it overlooks the literary connection between the murders of Abel and Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and the fact that Jesus uses this connection when he condemns the scribes and Pharisees. This counterargument does not refute this connection but introduces other possibilities where there is no literary connection. Still, since there is a literary connection between the murders of Abel and Zechariah son of Jehoiada, a connection that Jesus seems to exploit, it is more suitable that Jesus refers to Zechariah son of Jehoiada than to an unknown Zechariah with no literary connection.

Second, it makes sense that Jesus would use the Hebrew Bible as his source because his audience, the scribes and the Pharisees, would easily understand his point and the connection.

Explanation:

When Jesus says that the blood from Abel to Zechariah will be on the shoulders of the scribes and Pharisees, he points out that Zechariah was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary (Matthew 23:35). Jewish tradition has it that Zechariah son of Jehoiada was murdered in the court of the priests close to the altar.¹⁰ Thus, Jesus likely refers to Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

Counterargument:

While it might be that Jewish tradition has it that Zechariah son of Jehoiada was killed in the court of the priests near the altar, there was another Zechariah that was killed in the temple. Josephus records that a Zechariah son of Baruch was murdered in the temple by two zealots around AD 70.¹¹ Further, we know that the book of Matthew was likely written sometime in the mid-80s AD.¹² Thus, it could be that Matthew has Zechariah son of Baruch in mind.

Response to counterargument:

The problem with this counterargument is that Jesus is the one who is speaking in Matthew 23:35, not Matthew. This is a problem because Jesus was put to death in AD 33. Thus, Jesus could not say that the blood of Zechariah son of Baruch was on the scribes' and Pharisees' shoulders because Zechariah son of Baruch had not yet been killed.

Possible weaknesses:

The one possible weakness of this view is that we must accept a certain level of ignorance when it comes to why Matthew records Zechariah as the son of Barachiah, when the writer of Chronicles records him as the son of Jehoiada. We can attempt to resolve this difficulty by saying that Jehoiada was Zechariah’s grandfather, and Barachiah his father, but then we lose the literary connection. An important argument for accepting that Jesus has Zechariah son of Jehoiada in mind is the literary connection between Genesis 4:8, 2 Chronicles 24:21 and Matthew 23:35. Of course, if the literary connection is important, we should expect Matthew to retain the details of 2 Chronicles 24:21, including the fact that Zechariah is son of Jehoiada. Of course, the other explanation for why Matthew refers to Zechariah as the son of Barachiah, when Jesus had in mind Zechariah son of Jehoiada, is that Matthew made a simple mistake. The notion that a biblical writer made a simple mistake may be seen as a weakness to some.

Interpretation 1:The Zechariah referred to is Zechariah son of Jehoiada.

Interpretation 1:
The Zechariah referred to is Zechariah son of Jehoiada.