Barachiah, Barachias

The name given to Zechariah’s father in the New Testament (Matthew 23:35). Zechariah was executed in the temple by order of King Joash, but was said to be the son of Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 24:20–22). “Son of Barachiah” might be a copyist’s addition, since in a similar passage in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 11:51) the name does not appear in the most reliable manuscripts. A copyist may have confused the martyred Zechariah with the prophet Zechariah, whose father was Berechiah (Zechariah 1:1, 7).