Barachias is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Barachias is identified in the King James Bible as the father of Zechariah, the man whom Jesus names as a martyr. He appears only once in all of Scripture, in Matthew 23:35, where Jesus pronounces judgment on the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and violence against God’s messengers. In that verse, Jesus declares that upon that generation would come “all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.”
The setting of this mention is the temple in Jerusalem, the center of Jewish worship and the place where Zechariah was killed. Jesus is speaking near the close of His public ministry, delivering a series of woes against the religious leaders. He reaches back across the centuries of Israel’s history, from the first murder in Genesis to the most recent martyrdom in the temple courts, and He holds that generation accountable for the whole pattern of righteous bloodshed.
Scripture tells us nothing else about Barachias himself. He does not speak, act, or appear in any narrative. He is named only as the father of a murdered man, a silent figure standing behind a son whose death became a byword for the persecution of the righteous. What we know of him is entirely bound up in his son’s fate.
The Name
The name Barachias is the Greek form of a Hebrew name, most likely Barachiah, which is commonly understood to mean “Yahweh has blessed” or “blessed of the Lord,” built from the Hebrew root *barak*, meaning “to bless.” This meaning is well established and is consistent with how the name appears in other contexts. It is worth noting that the name carries no hint of the tragedy attached to his son; it speaks only of blessing.
A Closing Thought
Barachias never speaks a word in Scripture, yet his name is preserved forever in the mouth of Jesus. He is remembered not for anything he did, but for the son he raised and the death that son endured. There is a quiet comfort in this. Many faithful parents live and die unnoticed by the world, their names never written in any record but God’s. Yet heaven keeps its own account, and the Lord who numbers the hairs of our heads also remembers the fathers and mothers behind every faithful life.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: New
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Matthew 23:35 — That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.