Zechariah the Priest (Luke 1-2)

Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist, the story of whose birth is connected with that of Jesus in Luke’s infancy narrative (Luke 1-2). Zechariah is described in Luke 1:5 as “a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah” (NRSV). Elizabeth, his wife, is described as being a descendent of Aaron (the original priest and brother of Moses). On this occasion it was the description of Zechariah as belonging “to the priestly order of Abijah” that got me thinking. There are parts of the Bible (usually in the Old Testament) that are very boring for the modern reader. One of these is the long genealogies which detail generations upon generations of Israelites, most of whom are never mentioned again. The most extensive are found in 1 Chronicles. I couldn’t help wondering whether these genealogies would enlighten who Abijah, the ancestor of Zechariah who gives his name to the order, was.

A quick search for the name “Abijah” in the Bible brought up many Old Testament verses. There are a handful of people in the Old Testament who bore the name Abijah, but initially one stood out. This was the second son of Samuel, the prophet who anointed Saul and David as kings. This Abijah is mentioned in 1 Sam 8:2 and 1 Chr 6:28. But both of these verses merely mention that he was the second son of Samuel and provide no other information about him. Also, Samuel was from the tribe of Ephraim (1 Sam 1:1) not the priestly tribe of Levi. So this counts his son Abijah out. 

There was also Abijah the son of Rehoboam, king of Judah. He is called Abijam in the Kings narrative (1 Kgs 14:31-15:8) and Abijah in Chronicles (2 Chr 11:18-13:22). However, he is from the tribe of Judah not Levi, so could not have established a priestly order. He is also given a negative review by the author of Kings for leading the people of Judah into sin just like his father Rehoboam did (1 Kgs 15:3).

So things were not looking very promising so far. Was Zechariah’s ancestor mentioned at all in the Old Testament? 

There was an Abijah listed in the descendants of Benjamin (1 Chr 7:8) and King Hezekiah’s mother was also named Abijah (2 Chr 29:1). So it looks like the name can be used for either gender. All very interesting information but not useful here. King Jeroboam I also had a son called Abijah (1 Kgs 14:1). And there was an Abijah among those listed as having signed an agreement in Nehemiah (Neh 10:7). 

It is in Nehemiah that a glimmer of hope appears. In chapter 12 there is a list of the priests and Levites who returned to Israel with Zerubbabel. An Abijah is listed among the priests in Neh 12:4. However, several verses later there is a list of the priests in the days of Joiakim according to their ancestral houses (Neh 12:12-21). The names of the ancestral houses is similar (but not identical) to the list of priests in 12:1-7.  In 12:17 there is “of Abijah, Zichri.” This means that Zichri is the priest who is from the house Abijah. So could this be the ancestral house which Zechariah belongs to? Possibly.

But there is also one other possibility. Back in 1 Chronicles 24, David organises the priests according to their duties. They are organised under 24 heads of their houses, 16 descended from Aaron’s son Eleazar and 8 descended from his son Ithamar, because the descendants of Eleazar were more numerous than the descendants of Ithamar by the time of David. They are drawn by lot, and in 1 Chr 24:10 the eighth lot falls to a priest called Abijah. According to verse 6, the lots were drawn one from the descendants of Eleazar and then one for Ithamar, alternating through. If this was the case, then Abijah would have been a descendant of Ithamar. Once the 24 heads of their houses have been appointed the story is finished with: “These had as their appointed duty in their service to enter the house of the LORD according to the procedure established for them by their ancestor Aaron, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him” (NRSV). So it appears that under David, the priests were divided into 24 groups, each to take their turn in taking care of the temple and the sacrifices that took place there. 

So this leaves us with two possibilities for the ancestor of Zechariah. Unfortunately the lists of heads of priestly houses in 1 Chr 24 and Neh 12 are not very similar. While this counts against the likelihood of them referring to the same divisions, it is not impossible as the same names have been known to be spelled differently in different books of the bible (as shown with Rehoboam’s son Abijam/Abijah). 

If we go back to Luke 1, the text says that Zechariah belonged to “the priestly order of Abijah,” and in 1:8 “Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty...” (NRSV). From what I can see, this appears to be referring to is the division of the priests under David into different houses to share the duty of serving as priests in the temple. When Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the temple, his section, the descendants of Abijah, is on duty. 

So in searching for this mysterious ancestor of Zechariah, light has been cast on the rotation of priests in the first century and linked back to the time of David. It is likely that the reference to the ancestral houses in Nehemiah also points to the same idea, a rotation of the priests so that all could serve at the temple before the Lord as was their appointed duty.