Martyrdom of Zechariah

Passio de Zacharias

Standard abbreviation: Mart. Zech.

Other titles: Martyrdom and Perfection of the Holy Prophet Zechariah, the Father of the Forerunner (complete title)

Clavis numbers: ECCA 509; CANT 180.1/180.4

Category: Hagiographa

Related literature: Birth of John the Foreunner, Life and Conduct of John the Baptist, Life of John the Baptist by Serapion, Life and Martyrdom of John the Baptist, Decapitation of John the Forerunner, Protevangelium of James

Compiled by Sarah Veale, University of Toronto

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Veale, Sarah. “Martyrdom of Zechariah.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-zechariah/.

Posted April 2017. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

Mart. Zech. appears to be an expansion of the Decapitation of John the Forerunner, augmented with flashbacks, homiletic asides, and the occasional prophetic interlude. The story begins with the Slaughter of the Innocents. Joseph, commanded by an angel, retreats to Egypt with Mary and Jesus, and lives with a fellow Christian for twelve months, thus saving Jesus from Herod. Meanwhile, Elizabeth flees to the mountains with John (as conveyed in Prot. Jas. 22:3) and Zechariah is killed by Herod’s soldiers (as in Prot. Jas. 23-24). The story then returns to Elisabeth’s flight. Narrowly escaping Herod’s henchmen, she is led by Uriel to a shadowy place in a mountain. There Uriel makes water appear from out of nowhere and produces bread for her to eat. John, still nursing, is fed on Elisabeth’s breast milk. Herod’s search party arrives at the mountain but they are deterred by a chasm which separates Elizabeth and John from their pursuers.

The story then shifts to the perfection of Zacharias. The Lord (Jesus?) and his four archangels—Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael—enter the temple during the night, consecrate Zechariah’s body and bury it below the altar. We then receive more details on John’s infancy, including his first steps and weaning. When John is two years old, an angel tells Elizabeth to return to Nazareth, since Herod the Great is dead. This serves as a family reunion of sorts, as Elizabeth and John meet up with Mary, Jesus, and Joseph in Nazareth.

The narrative then moves forward to John’s adulthood and his confrontation with Herod Antipas over his relationship with Philip’s wife. This irritates Herod, who scourges John and throws him in prison. The story is broken by a flashback recounting Jesus’ baptism by John and the receiving of John’s ministry. This section is contextualized by suggesting that Jesus knew that the conflict between John and Herod would transpire and therefore he sought out John for baptism beforehand.

A perfunctory account of Herod’s birthday party follows (based on Mark 6:19–29//Matt 14:5–12). The fate of John’s head is summarily related: Herodias gives the head to her mother, who gives it to some dogs, who bring it to John’s disciples. The Lord informs Elizabeth of John’s death, and tells her that John was buried in the temple facing his father, Zechariah. A voice then comes to Elizabeth, promising to avenge the murders of her husband and son. After recounting the unfortunate fates of Herod and his family, the text concludes with the identification of the author, John’s disciple Eurippus, and a call to observe the festival of the remembrance and resting-place of John on August 29.

Named historical figures and characters: Alphaeus (of Egypt), Archelaus, Elizabeth, Eurippus, Gabriel (angel), Herod (the Great), Herod Antipas, Herodias, John (the Baptist), Jesus Christ, Joseph (of Nazareth), Michael (angel), Philip (tetrach), Prokla (wife of Herod Antipas), Raphael (angel), Salome (daughter of Herodias), Uriel (angel), Zechariah (priest).

Geographical locations: Bethlehem, Galilee, Judea, Nazareth.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Greek (BHG 831/833f)

M  Messina, Biblioteca Universitaria, San Salvatoris 30, fol. 9v–10v (dated 1307/1308)

A  Athens, Ethnikê Bibliothêkê tês Hellados, gr. 1007, fol. 210r–213v (17th cent.)

Delehaye, Hippolite and Paul Peeters, eds. Acta Sanctorum Novembris. Vol. 3 (=Acta Sanctorum vol. 65). Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1910 (Zacchaeus and Elizabeth traditions are presented by Peeters pp. 5–22 with partial publication of  Messina, S. Salv. 30 and Athens, gr. 1007, pp. 16–17).

Kirpičnikov, Aleksandr I. Review of Apocrypha anecdota by M. R. James. Vizantinskij Vremennik (Byzantina Chronika) 1.1 (1896): 181–204 (excerpt from Athens, gr. 1007, pp. 185–86).

3.1.2 Church Slavic

Entry for September 5 in the Great Mineja (Velikiye Chet’yi-Minei), the official Russian Orthodox menaion compiled by the Metropolitan Makarius of Moscow (r. 1542–1563), published in 1868 based on three manuscripts:

Moscow, State Historical Museum, Synodal Coll. 796 (174), fols. 190–195 (16th cent.)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, Dormition Cathedral 784 (986), fols. 135–136 (16th cent.)

The Sophia manuscript of 1541 from the Cathedral in Novgorod, now in the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy

Archeografičeskaja Kommissîja. Velikîja minei četîi. Sentjabrǐ, dni 1–13. Saint Petersburg: Tipografǐja Imperatorskoj Akademǐi Naukǔ, 1868 (see cols. 278–81).

Berendts (1904) lists also:

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Wuk 48, fols. 132r–135r (14th cent.; = de Santos Otero 4)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Solovetsky Monastery, 473, fol. 222r (17th cent.; = de Santos Otero 46); chaps. 5:1–6:3 only

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Solovetsky Monastery, 617, fols. 45r–47v (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 47)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Solovetsky Monastery, 647, fols. 322r–326r (16th/17th cent.; = de Santos Otero 52)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, A. S. Uvarov 1051 (409), fols. 21v–24r (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 82)

Moscow, Russian State Library, Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 664 (404), fols. 6r–9r (17th cent.; = de Santos Otero 109)

Moscow, Russian State Library, Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, 665, fols. 6r–9r (1627)

Vilnius, Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, 79 (192), fols. 40v–43r (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 145)

To Berendts’s list, de Santos Otero (1978) adds:

Kyiv, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Metropolitan Makarius Coll., 27 (Aa. 105), fols. 9r–12r, 134r–135r (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 9)

Lviv, Ivan Franko National University, Cod. I, F. 15 (Zamojs’k. ruk.), fols. 10r–12r (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 57)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Society of Lovers of Ancient Literature Coll., 185 (5460), fols. 9r–10v (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 42)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Solovetsky Monastery, 643, fols. 395v–400r (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 52)

Moscow, Moscow University Library, 262, fols. 171r–175r (17th cent.; = de Santos Otero 123)

Moscow, State Historical Museum, P. I. Ščukin 432, fols. 6r–10r (1548; = de Santos Otero 61)

Moscow, Russian State Library, I. Ja. Lukaševič 89 (1073), fols. 539v–541r (17th cent.; = de Santos Otero 102)

Moscow, Russian State Library, V. M. Undol’skij 590, fols. 17v–21r (16th cent.; =de Santos Otero 118)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, A. F. Gil’ferding 42, fols. 170r–174r (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 160)

Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, F.I.869, fols. 36v–39r (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 157)

Francis Thomson adds:

Vilnius, Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, 103 (227), fols. 79r–85v, 56r–57v (16th cent.; = de Santos Otero 146)

Franko, Ivan. Apokrifi î legendy z ukraïnsǐkich rukopisiv. 5 vols. Lviv: Nakladom Naukovoho Tovaristva îmeni Ševčenka, 1896–1910 (publication of Lviv Cod. I, F. 15 in vol. 2, pp. 146–47).

Santos Otero, Aurelio de. Die handschriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen. 2 vols. PTS 20 and 23. Berlin: De Gruyter, 1978–1981 (manuscripts listed under Protevangelium of James, vol. 2, pp. 1–32).

Speranskîj, Michail N. “Slavjanskîja apokrifičeskîja evangelîja.” Pages 73–92, 137–43 in vol. 2 of Trudy VIII archeologičeskogo sǔezda vǔ Moskvě, 1890. Moscow: Tovariščestvo tip. A.I. Mamontova, 1895 (includes a description of Moscow, Undolǐskij 590).

Thomson, Francis J. Review of Aurelio de Santos Otero, Die handscriftliche Überlieferung der altslavischen Apokryphen, vol. 2. Slavonic and East European Review 63 (1980): 79–98 at 74 (with corrections to de Santos Otero).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Burke, Tony, and Sarah Veale. “The Martyrdom of Zechariah.” Pages 140–57 in vol. 3 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. 3 vols. Edited by Tony Burke with Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016–2023.

3.2.2 German

Berendts, Alexander. Studien über Zacharia-Apokryphen und Zacharias-Legenden. Leipzig: Deichert, 1895 (German translation of the text from the Great Mineja, pp. 71–80)

3.3 General Bibliography

Berendts, Alexander. Studien über Zacharia-Apokryphen und Zacharias-Legenden. Leipzig: Deichert, 1895.

__________. Die handschriftliche Überlieferung der Zacharias- und Johannes-Apokryphen. TU, N. F. 26.3. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1904.

James, M. R. The Lost Apocrypha of the Old Testament. New York: Macmillan, 1920 (brief discussion with summary based on Berendts’ work on the Church Slavic recension, pp. 74–77).