FN1:
[Jer 31:34 KJV] 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
[Jer 42:1, 8 KJV] 1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, ... 8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which [were] with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
[Jer 44:12 KJV] 12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, [and] fall in the land of Egypt; they shall [even] be consumed by the sword [and] by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, [and] an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
[Act 8:10 KJV] 10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
[Heb 8:11 KJV] 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
FN2:
[Jer 12:12 KJV] 12 The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the [one] end of the land even to the [other] end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.
[Deu 28:64 KJV] 64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and stone.
FN3:
[Exo 11:5 KJV] 5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that [is] behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
FN4:
[Jos 12:1 KJV] 1 Now these [are] the kings of the land, which the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the plain on the east:
[Jos 13:4-5, 9 KJV] 4 From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that [is] beside the Sidonians, unto Aphek, to the borders of the Amorites: 5 And the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrising, from Baalgad under mount Hermon unto the entering into Hamath. ... 9 From Aroer, that [is] upon the bank of the river Arnon, and the city that [is] in the midst of the river, and all the plain of Medeba unto Dibon;
[Jos 15:46 KJV] 46 From Ekron even unto the sea, all that [lay] near Ashdod, with their villages:
FN5:
[Num 3:40 KJV] 40 And the LORD said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
[Act 20:18 KJV] 18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
[Act 15:18 KJV] 18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
[Luk 11:50 KJV] 50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
FN6:
The martyrs in Revelation make a similar demand for justice:
Revelation 6:9-11
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled.
This demand is met in Revelation 15-16:
Revelation 15:1-16:7 KJV] And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous [are] thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true [are] thy ways, thou King of Nations. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for [thou] only [art] holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. … And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead [man]: and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, O Holy One! because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous [are] thy judgments.
I’ve corrected “and shalt be” to “O Holy One!” in Revelation 16:5 and similarly “Saints” to “Nations” in Revelation 15:3.
FN7:
For example, the Jewish encyclopedia states: “The Jewish canon comprises twenty-four books, the five of the Pentateuch, eight books of the Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Minor Prophets), and eleven Hagiographa (Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther,Daniel, Ezra, and Chronicles).” https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3259-bible-canon
FN8:
https://sanctushieronymus.blogspot.com/2012/02/canon-list-of-baba-bathra-14b.html
FN9:
2 Maccabees 7 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2maccabees/7
Origen’s commentary on Luke 11 seems to have been lost, but his commentary on Matthew remains, at least in a Latin translation. Origen The Commentary Of Origen On The Gospel Of St Matthew, vol. 1, p. 29: “There is an ancient Latin translation of the latter portion of the Commentary on Matthew, done perhaps in the sixth century by an unknown translator.”
https://archive.org/details/origen-the-commentary-of-origen-on-the-gospel-of-st-matthew-2/Origen%20-%20The%20Commentary%20of%20Origen%20on%20the%20Gospel%20of%20St%20Matthew%201/page/29/mode/2up
From The Series Commentariorum (On Matthew 22:34-27:66), volume 2 of Origen The Commentary Of Origen On The Gospel Of St Matthew.
(pp. 575-76)
Section 25:
But those who were reproached by Christ could not have killed “Zachariah son of Barachiah, one of the twelve prophets, whose writings we have in hand.[FN] But he means ‘Zachariah’ father of John, of whom we cannot show by the canonical Scriptures that he was either the son of ‘Barachiah’ or that the scribes and Pharisees killed him ‘between the temple and the altar. But a certain tradition has come to us that there is some place in the temple where virgins were permitted to stop and pray to God, but women who had experienced the bed of a man were not permitted to stop in that place. And after Mary had given birth to the Saviour, she entered and stopped to worship in that place of the virgins, and when those who knew that she had given birth to a son forbid her, Zachariah stopped and said to those forbidding her that she was worthy of the place of the virgins since she was still a virgin. Therefore, as ‘Zachariah’ was very clearly acting against the law and permitting a wife to stand in the place of the virgins, the men of that generation killed him “between the temple and the altar. Moreover, let us demand that those who do not accept a tradition of this kind provide an explanation of how Jesus reproached them because of Zachariah, not as the sons of those who killed “Zachariah immediately after the prophets, but as those who themselves killed Zachariah “between the temple and the altar’ If, therefore, the word Christ addressed to the Pharisees and scribes who were present at that time is true, ‘whom you killed between the temple and the altar} it is not possible to understand that ‘Zachariah’ who is one of the twelve prophets. Nor furthermore is it strange if it turns out that each ‘Zachariah and their fathers have the same name.
[FN The following is a parallel to this discussion in an anonymous Greek fragment in the Scholia Commentary of Peter of Laodicea: ‘For those now reproached by the Saviour could not have killed Zachariah the son of Barachiah who was numbered among the twelve prophets, but it is likely [as Joseppus says] that the Zachariah now mentioned was the father of John, of whom we are able to show from the Scriptures neither that he was the son of Barachiah nor that the scribes and Pharisees killed him “between the temple and the altar”. But some such tradition has reached us that at that time there was some place in the temple where virgins were permitted to enter and worship God, and those who had already experienced intercourse with a man were not permitted in that place. Mary, therefore, after giving birth to [our] Saviour went to worship and stood in the place of the virgins. And when those who knew she had given birth were forbidding her, Zachariah said to those forbidding her that she was worthy of the place of the virgins since she was still a virgin. Since, therefore, he was clearly contradicting the law and permitting a wife to be in the place of the virgins, those of that generation killed him “between the temple and the altar”. They are reproached by the Saviour, therefore, not as the sons of those who killed the prophets and Zachariah after the prophets, but as themselves having killed him. And it is not strange if it turns out that Zachariah, the father of John, has the same name as the one among the twelve prophets. So too the father of the father’.]
(p. 580)
Section 27
In this way, they also pour out the blood ‘of Zachariah, which means ‘Remembrance of God: For everyone who is eager to destroy the remembrance of God in those whom they cause to stumble is seen to pour out the blood ‘of Zachariah the son of Barachiah, whose name also means ‘the praising of God. For by the praising of God we are mindful of God. … The impious kill the remembrance of God ‘between the temple and the altar’ when the lewd corrupt the ‘temple’ of God, and its altar is polluted by the carelessness of disgraceful prayers, when the prayer of someone becomes his sin, as also it is said of the prayer of Judah, ‘Let his prayer be counted as his sin.
(pp. 580-81)
Section 28
It is worth investigating why, when the Saviour was speaking before hearers who included the scribes and Pharisees who boasted that they knew precisely what things belonged to the law and the prophets,'*" he said ‘Jerusalem’ had killed ‘the prophets’ and stoned ‘those sent’ to it when not much history of this kind is prophesied in the old Scriptures that are read in their synagogues. We read that Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern of mud;'*? he was not, however, killed in Jerusalem. But neither do we read that Isaiah, or Ezekiel, or any of the prophets suffered any such thing, so far as my memory recalls. But examining the second book of Chronicles, where many things are written about the illustrious prophets, I discovered that Asa, angered at the prophet Hanani who censured him, put him in jail, but he did nothing more against him.'** But also Ahab ordered Micaiah, who prophesied against him, to be imprisoned and to eat the bread of tribulation, but he did not kill him.'** But we read of one who was stoned, ‘Zechariah, son of the priest Jehoiada, when he censured the people.'** We do not, therefore, find more prophets killed in Jerusalem, or stoned (other than I mentioned) who had been sent to Jerusalem.
For this reason, we must see if perhaps we must explain the word of Christ from books that are more secret which are current among the Jews, and not only the word of Christ, but also that of his disciples, Stephen the first martyr, and Paul the apostle. For Stephen spoke as follows: ‘O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did, so also you. For which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced the coming of the Just One, of whom you are now his betrayers and murderers’; and after this ‘they cast him out of the city and they stoned Stephen, calling out and saying.’** And Paul says the following about the killing of the prophets in the first letter to the Thessalonians: ‘For you have become imitators of the churches of God that are in Judaea in Christ Jesus, because you yourselves have suffered the same things from your countrymen as they too from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and have persecuted us, and are not pleasing to God?**” And to the Hebrews as follows: “They were stoned, they were sawn in pieces, they were tempted, killed by the sword, they wandered in sheepskins, in goatskins, being in need, restricted, afflicted with pains, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, in mountains, in caves, and in pits of the earth.'** It is related, therefore, in unclear Scriptures that Isaiah was sawn in pieces and Zechariah and Ezekiel killed. And I think that Elijah, who wandered in the desert and in mountains, went around in sheepskins and goatskins. But assume that someone denies that the Epistle to the Hebrews is by Paul, and also denies the secret book of Isaiah; but what will he do with the words cited of Stephen, or Paul to the Thessalonians about prophets who were killed, or of our Lord himself? Or how will he deny that which Paul mentioned to Timothy, saying, ‘Just as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so also those resist the truth’?**? And if he should also look at what is related in the first letter to the Corinthians, ‘What eye has not seen, or ear heard, how will anyone be able to deny all these things?**°
We have said all these things discussing the remark, not unaware that there are many fabrications of secrets by the impious who speak ‘iniquity against the height:?*! The followers of Hypythianus’*? use certain fabrications, and those who are followers of Basilides use others. We must, therefore, give careful consideration so that we not accept all secret books that are passed off in the name of saints, because of the Jews who, to confirm false doctrines, have perhaps fabricated certain works to destroy the truth of our Scriptures; we must also be careful not to deny all works that relate to the explanation of our Scriptures. It is the mark of a great person to hear and do what is said: ‘Prove all things; hold on to what is good?!5? Nevertheless, because of those who are not able, as money-changers,’** to discern whether words are true or false, and are not able themselves to guard carefully that they hold the true in themselves, ‘let them abstain from every evil appearance.’** No one ought to use books outside the canonical Scriptures to confirm doctrines.
Nevertheless, if someone accepts the “To the Hebrews’ as an epistle of Paul, he will say that we ought not use the plural at all in many references. For not many were sawn in pieces, but Isaiah alone; nor were many stoned but only Zechariah, son of Jehoiada; and only Zechariah son of Barachiah was killed by the sword; so also Elijah went about in sheepskins and goatskins; and other similar examples.’*° But further, let us investigate what is written in Luke when the Lord says, ‘Because it is not possible that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem:’*” If, therefore, ‘it is not possible that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem; that is, be killed, you will ask if no one was a prophet after the destruction of Jerusalem, lest perhaps a prophet killed ‘outside Jerusalem’ prove Christ’s word false. And if the Scriptures, on account of Agabus and the daughters of Philip the evangelist (not because of the false prophets of Phrygia'**) compel us, let us ask whether every just person is perhaps in Jerusalem and is not ‘outside Jerusalem, because ‘it is not possible’ for one who is outside Jerusalem to be afflicted with sufferings for the sake of the Word.
https://archive.org/details/origen-the-commentary-of-origen-on-the-gospel-of-st-matthew-2/Origen%20-%20The%20Commentary%20of%20Origen%20on%20the%20Gospel%20of%20St%20Matthew%202/page/580/mode/2up
FN11:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0414.htm
FN12:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103514.htm
In like manner, too, did the Lord say to those who should afterwards shed His blood, All righteous blood shall be required which is shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. He thus points out the recapitulation that should take place in his own person of the effusion of blood from the beginning, of all the righteous men and of the prophets, and that by means of Himself there should be a requisition of their blood. Now this [blood] could not be required unless it also had the capability of being saved; nor would the Lord have summed up these things in Himself, unless He had Himself been made flesh and blood after the way of the original formation [of man], saving in his own person at the end that which had in the beginning perished in Adam.
FN13:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/14092.htm
Petilianus said: "In the third place, also, He calls the madness of persecutors in like manner by this name, ‘You generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them you shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 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 you slew between the temple and the altar.' Matthew 23:33-35 Are they then really the sons of vipers according to the flesh, and not rather serpents in mind, and three-tongued malice, and deadliness of touch, and burning with the spirit of poison? They have truly become vipers, who by their bites have vomited forth death against the innocent people."
FN14:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/200174.htm
FN15:
Thomas Aquinas, Golden Chain, https://isidore.co/aquinas/english/CALuke.htm#11
THEOPHYL. But our Lord shows that the Jews have inherited the malice of Cain, since he adds, From the blood of Abel, to the blood of Zacharias, &c. Abel, inasmuch as he was slain by Cain; but Zacharias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar, some say was the Zacharias of old time, the son of Jehoiadah the Priest. BEDE; Why He begins from the blood of Abel, who was the first martyr, we need not wonder; but why, to the blood, of Zacharias, is a question, since many were slain after him even up to our Lord’s birth, and soon after His birth the Innocents, unless perhaps it was because Abel was a shepherd, Zacharias a Priest. And the one was killed in the field, the other in the court of the temple, martyrs of each class, that is, under their names are shadowed both laymen, and those engaged in the office of the altar.
GREG NYSS. But some say that Zacharias, the father of John, by the spirit of prophecy forecasting the mystery of the immaculate virginity of the mother of God, in no wise separated her from the part of the temple set apart for virgins, wishing to show that it was in the power of the Creator of all things to manifest a new birth, while he did not deprive the mother of the glory of her virginity. Now this part was between the altar and the temple, in which was placed the brazen altar, where for this reason they slew him. It is said also, that when they heard the King of the world was about to come, form fear of subjection they designedly attacked him who bore witness to His coming, and slew the priest in the temple.
GREEK EX. But others give another reason for the destruction of Zacharias. For at the murder of the children the blessed John was to be slain with the rest of the same age, but Elizabeth, snatching up her son from the midst of the slaughter, sought the desert. And so when Herod’s soldiers could not find Elisabeth and the child, they turn their wrath against Zacharias, killing him as he was ministering in the temple.
FN16:
On the Matthew passage, Theophylact writes:
But of which Zechariah is he here making mention? Some say of the one numbered among the twelve prophets; others, of the father of the Forerunner. For a tradition has been handed down to us that there was a certain place in the temple where the virgins stood. Now Zechariah, being a high priest, after the birth of Christ placed the Mother of God in the place of the virgins. The Jews, becoming angry at this, killed him, as having assigned a woman who had given birth to a place among virgins. And it is not surprising if even the father of the Forerunner had a father named Barachiah, just as the one among the twelve prophets is called the son of Barachiah; for it is likely that just as their names coincided, so also did those of their fathers.
Ποίου δὲ Ζαχαρίου ἐνταῦθα μέμνηται; Οἱ μὲν τοῦ ἐν τοῖς δώδεκα προφήταις φασὶ συναριθμουμένου· οἱ δέ, τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ Προδρόμου· λόγος γὰρ ἔχει παραδοθεὶς ἡμῖν, ὅτι τόπος τις ἦν ἐν τῷ ναῷ, ἐν ᾧ ἵσταντο αἱ παρθένοι. Ὁ τοίνυν Ζαχαρίας ἀρχιερεὺς ὤν, καὶ μετὰ τὸ τεκεῖν τὸν Χριστὸν τὴν Θεοτόκον ἔστησεν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ τῶν παρθένων· ἀγανακτήσαντες δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ἀπέκτειναν αὐτόν, ὡς μετὰ τῶν παρθένων τάξαντα γυναῖκα γεννήσασαν· οὐδὲν δὲ θαυμαστόν, εἰ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Προδρόμου εἶχε πατέρα Βαραχίαν ὀνόματι, ὥσπερ καὶ ὁ ἐν τοῖς δώδεκα προφήταις Βαραχίου λέγεται υἱός· εἰκὸς γὰρ ὥσπερ τὰ τούτων ὀνόματα συνέδραμον, οὕτω καὶ τὰ τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν.
On the Luke passage, Theophylact writes:
Who, then, was this Zechariah whom they killed between the temple and the altar? Some say it was the ancient Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, whom they stoned, as can be learned from the Book of Kings. But others say it was the father of the Forerunner (John the Baptist), because he placed the Theotokos among the virgins after she had given birth to Christ, positioning her in the place where they stood; this place was between the temple and the outer bronze altar. Therefore, they killed him. For since certain people expected Christ to be their king, yet did not wish to be ruled, they murdered this holy man, because he affirmed that a virgin had given birth, and that Christ, the one who would become their king—something they rejected—had been born; for they wished to remain kingless.
Τίς δὲ ἦν ἄρα Ζαχαρίας, ὃν ἐφόνευσαν μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου; Οἱ μὲν λέγουσι τὸν ἀρχαῖον Ζαχαρίαν τὸν τοῦ Ἰωάδε, καὶ ὃν ἐλιθοβόλησαν, ὡς ἔστι μαθεῖν ἐκ τῆς βίβλου τῶν Βασιλειῶν· οἱ δὲ τὸν πατέρα τοῦ Προδρόμου, τοῦτον γὰρ τάξαντα τὴν Θεοτόκον μετὰ τῶν παρθένων μετὰ τὸ τεκεῖν τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ στήσαντα ταύτην ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐν ᾧ ἐκεῖναι ἵσταντο· ὁ δὲ τόπος ἦν μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ ἔξω τοῦ χαλκοῦ. Διὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν ἐφόνευσαν αὐτόν. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ προσεδόκων τινὲς τὸν Χριστὸν βασιλέα αὑτῶν ἐσόμενον, οὐκ ἤθελον δὲ βασιλευθῆναι, τούτου ἕνεκα ἐφόνευσαν τὸν ἅγιον, ὡς βεβαιοῦντα ὅτι παρθένος ἔτεκεν, καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐγεννήθη ὁ μέλλων αὐτῶν βασιλεύειν, ὅπερ ἀπεστρέφοντο· ἀβασίλευτοι γὰρ ἤθελον εἶναι.
FN17:
Romanos the Melodist, Hymn 15, vs. 12:
As the lawless ones sprinkle innocent blood
of the harmless infants, it was necessary to remember
Abel, who offered a sacrifice to God pure and undefiled,
and to comfort him; for he too was slain.
And again, it was necessary to look upon Zechariah,
how he there will bring an accusation before God
against those who killed him. For always the Jews
and their rulers are insolent and lawless,
murderers and senseless and transgressors of the Law;
they rejected Moses, and once even sawed Isaiah in half;
and now they slaughter Rachel’s infants; therefore she also laments
<because their power is quickly destroyed.>
Ῥαινόντων τῶν ἀνόμων ἀθῷον αἷμα
τῶν ἀκάκων νηπίων, ἔδει μνησθῆναι
Ἄβελ τοῦ προσάξαντος τὴν θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ καθαρὰν καὶ ἀμόλυντον,
καὶ παραμυθηθῆναι· κἀκεῖνος γὰρ ἐκτάνθη.
Καὶ πάλιν Ζαχαρίαν ἐχρῆν κατιδεῖν,
ὡς τῷ Θεῷ ἐκεῖ κατηγορίαν προσάξει
κατὰ τῶν τοῦτον ἀποκτεινάντων· ἀεὶ γάρ εἰσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι
καὶ οἱ τούτων ἀνάσσοντες ὑβρισταὶ καὶ παράνομοι,
φονευταὶ καὶ ἀσυνετοὶ καὶ νόμον παραβαίνοντες·
τὸν Μωϋσῆν ἠθέτησαν, Ἠσαΐαν δὲ αὐτοὶ μέσον ἔπρισάν ποτε·
καὶ τὰ βρέφη τῆς Ῥαχὴλ κατασφάττουσι νῦν· διὰ τοῦτο καὶ θρηνοῦν
<ὅτι τὸ κράτος αὐτοῦ καθαιρεῖται ταχύ.>
Abel is the first martyr in the Hebrew canon and Zacharias is the final martyr in the Hebrew canon.
FN17.5:
Interestingly, it is possible that the “son of Jehoiada” should be taken in some honorary way. After all, the location of killing of Zechariah is reminiscent of an account from the life of Jehoiada:
2 Chronicles 23:12-15
Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD: And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason. Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD. So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there.
However, the wording of account of the death of Zechariah is most naturally taken as referring to his natural son, particularly because of the use of “Jehoiada his father”:
2 Chronicles 24:15-22
But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old [was he] when he died. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house. Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon [it], and require [it].
FN18:
[Deu 13:13 KJV] 13 [Certain] men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;
[Jdg 19:22 KJV] 22 [Now] as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, [and] beat at the door, and spake to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.
[Jdg 20:13 KJV] 13 Now therefore deliver [us] the men, the children of Belial, which [are] in Gibeah, that we may put them to death, and put away evil from Israel. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel:
[1Sa 1:16 KJV] 16 Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
[1Sa 2:12 KJV] 12 Now the sons of Eli [were] sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.
[1Sa 10:27 KJV] 27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.
[1Sa 25:17, 25 KJV] 17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot speak to him. ... 25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, [even] Nabal: for as his name [is], so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
[1Sa 30:22 KJV] 22 Then answered all the wicked men and [men] of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them [ought] of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead [them] away, and depart.
[2Sa 16:7 KJV] 7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:
[2Sa 20:1 KJV] 1 And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name [was] Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel.
[2Sa 23:6 KJV] 6 But [the sons] of Belial [shall be] all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:
[1Ki 21:10, 13 KJV] 10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And [then] carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. ... 13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, [even] against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
[2Ch 13:7 KJV] 7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.
FN19:
Genesius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1296/kjv/wlc/0-1/
FN20:
[Incomplete] p. 219 of Roger T. Beckwith, “The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and its background in Early Judaism.”
FN21:
“Is the Canonical Bookends Argument Solid? (Lk 11:49-51; Mt 23:34-36),” Apocrypha Apocalypse channel, Gary Michuta, 10:12 into the video: https://youtu.be/vM85w_SF2gk?t=612
FN22:
https://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2025/04/john-chrysostom-and-jerome-on-zechariah.html
FN23:
Among the list of Solomon’s sons:
[1Ch 3:20 KJV] 20 And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushabhesed, five.
As a Levite:
[1Ch 9:16 KJV] 16 And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.
As Levites (specifically at the time of David):
[1Ch 15:17, 23 KJV] 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; ... 23 And Berechiah and Elkanah [were] doorkeepers for the ark.
FN24:
Aramaic Targum to Lamentations 2:20 (Christian M. M. Brady, trans.) [FN24] https://www.sefaria.org/Aramaic_Targum_to_Lamentations.2?lang=bi
FN25:
Multiple Targumim describe the martyrdom of Zechariah:
Gittin 57b:3; The William Davidson Talmud (Koren - Steinsaltz) https://www.sefaria.org/Gittin.57b.3?lang=bi
Nebuzaradan said to them: If you tell me whose blood this is, it will be well for you. But if not, I will comb your flesh with iron combs. They said to him: What shall we say to you? He was a prophet among us, who used to rebuke us about heavenly matters, and we rose up against him, and killed him (II Chronicles 24:20–22), and for many years now his blood has not settled.
Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 4:5:17; Heinrich W. Guggenheimer, 1999-2015 https://www.sefaria.org/Jerusalem_Talmud_Taanit.4.5.17?lang=bi