But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of Yahweh’s house.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.
- NASB So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the house of the Lord.
- NLT Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and King Joash ordered that they stone him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
At the king's command, the people stoned Zechariah in the temple courtyard. Joash repaid faithful warning with murderous ingratitude, sinking to terrible depths of sin.
Overview
The prophet was killed in the very temple Joash had restored, by the king whose life his father had saved. This act of shedding innocent, righteous blood marks the climax of Judah's apostasy. Jesus later cites Zechariah's martyrdom as representative of the prophets killed by an unbelieving people (Matthew 23:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Acts 7:58–59They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
- Neh 9:26But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Jer 11:19For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
- Jer 38:4–6Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.”
- Matt 21:35But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
- Jer 18:18Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
- Matt 23:34–37Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 24:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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