The Name »Berechiah« in Sach 1

Abstract

Abstract The name »Berechiah« in Sach 1,1.7 is often regarded as the name of the father of the prophet Zechariah and part of the prophet’s patronymic information. However, it is more likely a reference to Baruch b. Neriah, the scribe symbolically associated with formation of much material in the book of Jeremiah. The present study considers the role that Baruch played in the lore associated with Jeremiah cultivated during the exilic period, and the status of Baruch as a patron saint of scribalism among the Yehudite literati of the Persian period. This, in turn, affected the redaction of reception of the developing book of Zechariah, where the name and memory of Baruch could lend authority to the work and those who shaped it.