
Answering The Atheist
August 26, 2007 / Volume 7, Issue 34

Was Zechariah Iddo's son or grandson? Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 says he was Iddo's son, but Zechariah 1:1 says he was his grandson. Is there a contradiction?

The Aramaic word bar, used in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 to identify Zechariah's relationship to Iddo, as well as it's Hebrew counterpart (ben), are used to describe the relationship of either a son or grandson. Generically, it speaks of offspring.

That Ezra refers to Zechariah as the son (offspring) of Iddo is of no concern. He is the offspring of Iddo. We find in Zechariah's own account, that it was not Iddo who was his father, but rather Iddo's son, Berechiah. We should expect that Zechariah is more precise than Ezra would be in giving his ancestry.

There is no contradiction.

This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible