Jeberechiah
Jeberechi'ah (Heb. Yeberekyah', only in the paragogic form Yeberekya'hu, יבֶרֶכיָהוּ, blessed by Jehovah; Sept. Βαραχίας), the father of Zechariah, which latter Isaiah took as one of the witnesses of his marriage with "the prophetess" (Isa 8:2). B.C. cir. 739. Both the Sept. and the Vulg. give the name in its ordinary form, Barachiah, and, as we do not find it elsewhere, the initial י is probably an error, which may be accounted for by supposing the preceding word בו to have been originally plural, בני, the two witnesses being both sons of Barachiah, and the final letter, by a mistake of the copyist, to have been prefixed to the following word. The same pair of names seems to have been of no unfrequent occurrence in the priestly houses. Zechariah the prophet was son of Berechiah (Zec 1:1), and we have "Zacharias, son of Barachias" (Mt 23:3,5). Josephus also (War, 4:5, 4) mentions another Zacharias, son of Baruch. SEE ZECHARIAH.
