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.

Moses and Elijah in Luke

Over the last few weeks, I have been studying the transfiguration of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 9:28-36). In these verses, Jesus goes up on a mountain to pray with three of his disciples, Peter, John and James. While Jesus is praying, the appearance of his face changes and his clothes glow white. Moses and Elijah appear and talk with him. Peter suggests they build three shelters for them, just before the entire group is engulfed in a cloud. A voice speaks from the cloud declaring, “This is my Son, the chosen, listen to him.” The cloud vanishes and Moses and Elijah have gone. Jesus and the disciples descend the mountain. 

Salome

Today I came across an idea which I had never heard before; that the apostles James and John, the sons of Zebedee are the cousins of Jesus, as their mother is Salome, who is Mary’s sister. I was beginning to wonder how I had managed to read the Bible and do several years of biblical studies (including papers in Luke and John) without encountering this idea before. It was distracting me so much that I had to go and find out where it came from. As it turns out, it is fairly simple, traditional view, albeit a tad presumptive.

The Greek Old Testament

Old Testament Texts Translated into Greek

As discussed in the previous post (here), the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and passed down for thousands of years to form the basis of our Old Testaments today. However, the New Testament was written in Greek, as by the first century AD the common language of the Roman Empire – which Israel was a part of – was Greek and a majority of the people spoke it (often in addition to their indigenous languages). When the New Testament authors came to quote the Old Testament (their Bible), they would quote from a Greek translation known today as the Septuagint. It had existed alongside the Hebrew for several hundred years by the first century AD.  

The Hebrew Old Testament

It has been my experience that most churches today prefer to preach from the New Testament and almost totally ignore the Old. It is true that the material in the New Testament is more familiar to congregations and appears easier to handle than some Old Testament passages. But if it is barely ever mentioned in church (other than Sunday school), then the average Christian is also less likely to read it themselves. This means they miss out on having the stories and wisdom of the Old Testament explained to them and being able to engage with it in their own reading. After all, without it the New Testament makes little sense.