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Zechariah

ZECHARIAH (Heb. זְכַרְיָה; "YHWH has remembered"; end of ninth century B.C.E.), the priest, son of Jehoiada. According to II Chronicles 24:20–22, Zechariah admonished the people in the courtyard of the Temple. They plotted against him and stoned him at the command of *Joash, king of Judah. The latter had forgotten that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had once saved his life and made him king (II Chron. 22:11ff.). As Zechariah died he said: "May the Lord see it, and avenge it." (The historicity of the incident is questioned by H.L. Ginsberg.) The tombstone over the alleged grave of Zechariah son of Jehoiada stands in the Valley of Kidron opposite the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Ginsberg, in: JBL, 80 (1961), 347; de Vaux, Anc Isr., 346, 377, 385. IN THE AGGADAH: S. Baeck, in: MGWJ, 76 (1932), 313–9; H.S. Blank, in: HUCA, 12–13 (1937–38), 327–46; Ginzberg, Legends, 4 (19475), 304; (19463), 396–7.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.