Man living at the time of Divided Monarchy
Abijah was the head of the eighth priestly division established during King David's reign, and Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to this division.
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Also known as Abia
Abijah was the head of one of the twenty-four priestly divisions established during the reign of King David (1Ch.24.10). These divisions were responsible for serving in the temple in rotation. The priests were divided into twenty-four groups, each headed by a leading priest, and they would serve in the temple for a week at a time, twice a year.
In the New Testament, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is mentioned as belonging to the priestly division of Abijah (Luk.1.5). This indicates that the priestly division named after Abijah continued to function even during the time of Jesus, several centuries after its establishment. Zechariah was serving in the temple when he received the announcement from the angel Gabriel that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son, John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for the Messiah (Luk.1.8-17).
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2 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0029
the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.