Zacharias

The father of John the Baptist. According to Luke 1:5, Zacharias was a priest of the division of Abijah (I Chr 24:10) which periodically served in the Temple. These divisions served in rotation and their duty was to conduct the sacrificial service on weekdays. (Those who did not live in or around Jerusalem went up to the holy city and stayed there during their service). Zacharias' wife, Elizabeth, was of priestly descent and the couple were noted for their devoutness.

Elizabeth was barren and the couple advanced in years. One day as Zacharias was serving in the Temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and announced that he and his wife would have a son, who would be called John. Because Zacharias doubted this message, he was struck with dumbness until the birth of his son (Luke 1:5-20).

At the circumcision, when the child was eight days old, the people wanted to name him after his father, Zacharias. As he could not yet speak, Zacharias wrote on a tablet that the name should be John. At that moment he regained the power of speech and praised God, uttering the prophecy which is known as the "Benedictus" in Christian liturgy.

The exact whereabouts of the tomb of Zacharias is unknown, but later Byzantine tradition places it at the Tomb of John the Baptist at Samaria. A Greek Byzantine inscription referring to Zacharias as the "father of John" was recently found on the so-called Tomb of Absalom in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem.