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Tamid: Zacharias and the Second Temple
Abstract: This essay follows Zacharias’ biography from entering the priesthood till the day the angel Gabriel appeared to him in Herod’s temple. After recounting the procedures to become a priest, Brown focuses on the day when Zacharias prepared to bring one of the two central standing offerings. He points out that likely, a priest would only have a once in a lifetime chance to partake in the core of this ceremony, entering the Holy Room and burning incense on the Inner Altar. Brown paints a very visual picture of this day, immersing us in the ritual of the time, a ritual that became even more significant for Zacharias by seeing an angel in the temple, something that has not happened before nor after in the Second Temple.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See Lisle G. Brown, “Tamid: Zacharias and the Second Temple,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 241–78. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.]
Many Latter-day Saints who read Luke’s account of Zacharias’s visitation of Gabriel while offering incense at the golden inner altar of the second temple (see Luke 1:5–23) likely view it as a requisite prelude to Gabriel’s more momentous annunciation to Mary later in the chapter (see Luke 1:26–37).1 It probably does not occur to them to ask [Page 340]how Zacharias came to be in the temple for that important event. They may think that this was just to be expected because it was part of the normal duties of temple priests. Some may feel that it was not uncommon for him to offer incense and that it was just an ordinary day for Zacharias at the temple — until Gabriel appeared to him. After all, he was a priest, so it would not be surprising that he would be found ministering in the temple. But these assumptions are most assuredly not the case. Even if Gabriel had not appeared to Zacharias, it would have remained the most significant day of his lengthy temple labors. Indeed, he would have never forgotten the day when he offered incense in the house of the Lord!
Unfortunately, most Church members have little, if any, idea how the Jewish priesthood functioned during the first Christian century.2 Few know how Zacharias became a priest or why it was extraordinary for him to be offering incense in the temple at all.
Organization of the Jewish Priesthood in New Testament Times
The Gospels refer to a cadre of men associated with the temple at Jerusalem as the “chief priests” (see Matthew 27:1, 6; Mark 15:1, 10, 11; Luke 22:2, 4; John 19:6, 15).3 The book of Acts also described these leaders as “the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests” (Acts 5:24). The War Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, uses similar words to describe them: “the high priest an...
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Abstract: This essay follows Zacharias’ biography from entering the priesthood till the day the angel Gabriel appeared to him in Herod’s temple. After recounting the procedures to become a priest, Brown focuses on the day when Zacharias prepared to bring one of the two central standing offerings. He points out that likely, a priest would only have a once in a lifetime chance to partake in the core of this ceremony, entering the Holy Room and burning incense on the Inner Altar. Brown paints a very visual picture of this day, immersing us in the ritual of the time, a ritual that became even more significant for Zacharias by seeing an angel in the temple, something that has not happened before nor after in the Second Temple.
[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.
See Lisle G. Brown, “Tamid: Zacharias and the Second Temple,” in Temple Insights: Proceedings of the Interpreter Matthew B. Brown Memorial Conference, “The Temple on Mount Zion,” 22 September 2012, ed. William J. Hamblin and David Rolph Seely (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 241–78. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/temple-insights/.]
Many Latter-day Saints who read Luke’s account of Zacharias’s visitation of Gabriel while offering incense at the golden inner altar of the second temple (see Luke 1:5–23) likely view it as a requisite prelude to Gabriel’s more momentous annunciation to Mary later in the chapter (see Luke 1:26–37).1 It probably does not occur to them to ask [Page 340]how Zacharias came to be in the temple for that important event. They may think that this was just to be expected because it was part of the normal duties of temple priests. Some may feel that it was not uncommon for him to offer incense and that it was just an ordinary day for Zacharias at the temple — until Gabriel appeared to him. After all, he was a priest, so it would not be surprising that he would be found ministering in the temple. But these assumptions are most assuredly not the case. Even if Gabriel had not appeared to Zacharias, it would have remained the most significant day of his lengthy temple labors. Indeed, he would have never forgotten the day when he offered incense in the house of the Lord!
Unfortunately, most Church members have little, if any, idea how the Jewish priesthood functioned during the first Christian century.2 Few know how Zacharias became a priest or why it was extraordinary for him to be offering incense in the temple at all.
Organization of the Jewish Priesthood in New Testament Times
The Gospels refer to a cadre of men associated with the temple at Jerusalem as the “chief priests” (see Matthew 27:1, 6; Mark 15:1, 10, 11; Luke 22:2, 4; John 19:6, 15).3 The book of Acts also described these leaders as “the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests” (Acts 5:24). The War Scroll, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, uses similar words to describe them: “the high priest an...