Identification with Zechariah from Matthew Origen suggested that the Zechariah mentioned in as having been killed between the temple and the altar may be the father of John the Baptist.
Death during the
Massacre of the Innocents; and the
Flight of Elizabeth, as depicted in a
miniature from the
Paris Gregory, a 9th-century manuscript codex The
Gospel of James, a 2nd-century
apocryphal work, recounts that, at the time of the
massacre of the Innocents, when King
Herod ordered the slaughter of all males under the age of two in an attempt to prevent the prophesied Messiah from coming to Israel, Zechariah refused to divulge the whereabouts of his son - who was in hiding, and he was therefore murdered by Herod's soldiers. This account is also present in subsequent Eastern Orthodox tradition.
Commemoration The Catholic Church commemorates him as a
saint, along with Elizabeth, on September 23 as it is believed that his temple duty before John the Baptist's conception took place on the Day of Atonement. He is also venerated as a prophet in the
Calendar of Saints of the
Lutheran Church on 5 September. The
Armenian Apostolic Church venerates him on September 5th as well, along with his wife Elizabeth. The
Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates the
feast day of Zechariah
on September 5, together with
Elizabeth, who is considered a matriarch. Zechariah and Elizabeth are invoked in several prayers during the Orthodox
Mystery of Crowning (Sacrament of Marriage), as the priest blesses the newly married couple, saying "Thou who didst... accept Zechariah and Elizabeth, and didst make their offspring the
Forerunner..." and "...bless them, O Lord our God, as Thou didst Zechariah and Elizabeth...". In the
Greek Orthodox calendar, Zechariah and Elizabeth are also commemorated on June 24.
Relics veneration , built in the 1st century CE in the
Kidron Valley; an inscription added three centuries later claims that it is Zechariah's tomb.
San Zaccaria, Venice claims to house the relics of Zechariah, entombed alongside those of
Athanasius of Alexandria.
Armenians believe that the
Gandzasar monastery in
Nagorno-Karabakh contains his relics; however, his relics were also kept in the
Hagia Sophia of
Constantinople, where they were brought by the
præfectus urbi Ursus on 4 September, 415. His relics' uncovering is commemorated by
Greek Orthodox Church on 11 February. Commemoration of his,
James and
Simeon relics' translation in 351 occurs on 1 December, and 25 May is the commemoration of their relics' discovery in 351.
Tomb venerated in Byzantine period In 2003, a 4th-century inscription on the so-called
Tomb of Absalom, a 1st-century monument in Jerusalem, was deciphered as, "This is the tomb of Zachariah, the martyr, the holy priest, the father of John." This suggests to some scholars that it is the burial place of Zechariah the father of John the Baptist. Professor Gideon Foerster at the
Hebrew University states that the inscription tallies with a 6th-century Christian text by a pilgrim named Theodosius which states that Zechariah was buried with Simon the Elder and
James the brother of Jesus, and believes that both are authentic. Zias and Puech suggest the inscription may refer to another 'Zekariah' mentioned by
Josephus and the
Talmud who was martyred in the time of Vespasian. They also suggest the inscription casts doubt on the tomb being Absalom's. Although it was referred to as such in the 1st century, Absalom had lived centuries earlier. == In Islam ==