Full Answer
A priest of the course of Abia, the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priests had been originally divided by David ( 1 Chronicles 23:1-19 ). Only four of these courses or "families" of the priests returned from the Exile ( Ezra 2:36-39 ); but they were then re-distributed under the old designations.
The “course of Abia” refers to the one of the 24 divisions responsible for worship in the Temple. Zechariah was of the priesthood division of “Abia” or “Abijah”. This is quoted from “The Interpreter’s Bible”, vol. 8, page 30:
Abiathar was deposed (the sole historical instance of the deposition of a high priest) and "banished to his home at Anathoth by Solomon, because he took" part in the attempt to raise Adonijah to the throne. The priesthood thus passed from the house of Ithamar (1 Sam. "2:30-36; 1 Kings 1:19; 2:26, 27).
They base this on the following reasoning, quoted from the scriptures. The “course of Abia” refers to the one of the 24 divisions responsible for worship in the Temple. Zechariah was of the priesthood division of “Abia” or “Abijah”. This is quoted from “The Interpreter’s Bible”, vol. 8, page 30:
When David ascended the throne of Judah, Abiathar was appointed High Priest and the "king's counselor". Meanwhile, Zadok, of the house of Eleazar, had been made High Priest. Another version says he was Co-Pontiff with Zadok during King David.
Role in the TempleDivisionNameScriptural ReferenceFirstJehoiarib1 Chronicles 24:7SecondJedaiah1 Chronicles 24:7ThirdHarim1 Chronicles 24:8FourthSeorim1 Chronicles 24:820 more rows
Abiathar, in the Old Testament, son of Ahimelech, priest of Nob. He was the sole survivor of a massacre carried out by Doeg. Fleeing to David, he remained with him throughout his wanderings and his reign. He was loyal through the rebellion of Absalom, but he supported Adonijah against Solomon.
AbiatharThe only person to escape from the infamous massacre of the priests of Nob by King Saul, Abiathar fled to David, bringing with him the sacred ephod, which he used on several occasions to provide David with crucial advice from God.
In the Bible he is the father of John the Baptist, a priest of the sons of Aaron in the Gospel of Luke (1:67–79), and the husband of Elizabeth who is a relative of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:36)....Zechariah (New Testament figure)Saint ZechariahFeastSeptember 5 – Eastern Orthodox September 5 – Lutheran September 23 – Roman Catholic6 more rows
seven priestsDuring the Battle of Jericho, the Ark was carried around the city once a day for six days, preceded by the armed men and seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.
Definition of Zadokite (Entry 2 of 2) 1 : of or relating to Zadok or a line of priests of the highest rank descended from him the Zadokite priesthood. 2 : of, relating to, or constituting a Jewish rigorist sect seceding from Orthodox Judaism and settling in Damascus in the second century b.c.
EliBiblical narrative. Eli was the high priest (kohen gadol) of Shiloh, the second-to-last Israelite judge (succeeded only by Samuel) before the rule of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
In the Bible David deceives the high priest Ahimelech, who replies in innocence to Saul interrogation. Saul then orders Doeg the Edomite to execute the priests of Nob.
Bible Gateway 1 Samuel 22 :: NIV. David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader.
Saul is later informed by his head shepherd, Doeg the Edomite, that high priest Ahimelech assisted David, giving him the sword of Goliath, which had been kept at the temple at Nob. Doeg kills Ahimelech and eighty-five other priests and Saul orders the death of the entire population of Nob.
Immediately Zacharias was able to speak and then he gave the prophecy we just read. Now keep in mind that Mary the mother of Jesus had just spent 3 months with Zacharias and Elisabeth, having begun her visit in the 6 th month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
As many of you know the feast of Tabernacles falls in the 7 th Biblical month. According to this chart that would have been the 14 th priestly course of Jeshebeab, a name which means “dwelling of the father”. Appropriately Isaiah 7:14 tells us that one of the names for the coming Messiah is Immanuel or “God with us”.
– Luke 1:67-73. This prophecy of Zacharias was given on the 8 th day after the birth of John the Baptist.
The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
Appropriately Isaiah 7:14 tells us that one of the names for the coming Messiah is Immanuel or “God with us”. Here take a look. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14.
But this not the only evidence which supports the birth of Yeshua during the Feast of Tabernacles. The apostle John beautifully describes Yeshua in the following passage: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
Zadok now became sole high" "priest. In Mark 2:26, reference is made to an occurrence in "the" "days of Abiathar the high priest.". But from 1 Sam. 22, we learn" "explicitly that this event took place when Ahimelech, the father" "of Abiathar, was high priest.
Abiathar was deposed (the sole historical instance of the deposition of a high priest) and "banished to his home at Anathoth by Solomon, because he took" part in the attempt to raise Adonijah to the throne.
The priests served at the temple twice each year, and only for a week each time. Zacharias's time had come for this service. During this period his home would be one of the chambers set apart for the priests on the sides of the temple ground.
The offering of incense was one of the most solemn parts of the daily worship of the temple, and lots were drawn each day to determine who should have this great honour, an honour which no priest could enjoy more than once during his lifetime.
Bible Dictionaries - Easton's Bible Dictionary - Zacharias. Zacharias [S] A priest of the course of Abia , the eighth of the twenty-four courses into which the priests had been originally divided by David ( 1 Chronicles 23:1-19 ). Only four of these courses or "families" of the priests returned from the Exile ( Ezra 2:36-39 );
According to Luke 1:67-79, Zacharias was the author of the hymn Benedictus, which describes God's deliverance of Israel in language drawn entirely from the Old Testament, and which is unaffected by the later Christian realization that the Kingdom is also for Gentiles.
The child (John the Baptist), thus "born out of due time," "waxed strong in spirit" ( 1:80 ). The "son of Barachias," mentioned as having been slain between the temple and the altar ( Matthew 23:35 ; Luke 11:51 ). "Barachias" here may be another name for Jehoiada, as some think. (See ZECHARIAH .)
He was a priest of the course of ABIJAH (which see), of blameless life, who in his old age was still childless. But on one occasion when it was the turn of the course of Abijah to minister in the temple (see TEMPLE), Zacharias was chosen by lot to burn incense.
The day following the end of the "Course of Abia" being a Sabbath (Sivan 19), he would not be able to leave Jerusalem before the 20th.
This was the eighth and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles = the "Great Day of the Feast" (John 7:37), and was a Sabbath (Lev. 23:39) The first course fell by lot to Jehoiarib, and the eighth to Abia or Abijah (1Chron. 24:10).
The sacred year was six months later, and began on 1st Nisan. (*2) The "city" is not named (possibly Juttah, some 30 miles to the south of Jerusalem). (*3) The conception of John the Baptist was, in view of Luke 1:7, as miraculous as that of Isaac; but it is not necessary to insist upon the complete period of forty sevens (p.198) ...
The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses ( Hebrew: מִשְׁמָר mishmar) are the groups into which Jewish priests were divided for the purposes of their service in the Temple in Jerusalem . The 24 priestly divisions are first listed in the Biblical Book of Chronicles, though according to Maimonides, the separation of priests into divisions was ...
Following the Temple's destruction at the end of the First Jewish Revolt and the displacement to the Galilee of the bulk of the remaining Jewish population in Judea at the end of the Bar Kochva Revolt, Jewish tradition in the Talmud and poems from the period record that the descendants of each priestly watch established a separate residential seat in towns and villages of the Galilee, and maintained this residential pattern for at least several centuries in anticipation of the reconstruction of the Temple and reinstitution of the cycle of priestly courses. Specifically, this Kohanic settlement region stretched from the Beit Netofa Valley, through the Nazareth region to Arbel and the vicinity of Tiberias. In subsequent years, there was a custom of publicly recalling every Sabbath in the synagogues the courses of the priests, a practice that reinforced the prestige of the priests' lineage. Such mention evoked the hope of return to Jerusalem and reconstruction of the Temple.
The passage states that this was done because of the greater number of leaders among Eleazar's descendants.
The change between shifts took place on Shabbat at midday, with the outgoing shift performing the morning sacrifice, and the incoming shift the afternoon sacrifice. According to 1 Chronicles 24, the divisions were originally formed during the reign of King David.
The Book of Chronicles refers to these priests as "descendants of Aaron." In the biblical traditions upon which the Chronicler drew, Aaron had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. However, Nadab and Abihu died before Aaron and only Eleazar and Ithamar had sons. In Chronicles, one priest, Zadok, from Eleazar's descendants and another priest, Ahimelech, from Ithamar's descendants, were designated by King David to help create the various priestly work groups. Sixteen of Eleazar's descendants were selected to head priestly orders, while only eight of Ithamar's descendants were so chosen. The passage states that this was done because of the greater number of leaders among Eleazar's descendants. Lots were drawn to designate the order of ministering for the heads of the priestly orders when they entered the Temple.
Field not redeemed in a Jubilee year · 24. The property of the foreigner with no heir. The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses ( Hebrew: מִשְׁמָר mishmar) are the groups into which Jewish priests were divided for the purposes of their service in the Temple in Jerusalem .