Ancient literary text
Matthew 23:35
Gospel of Matthew. His article does not name an edition. The Latin checked here is the public-domain Vulgate.
The verse names Abel and Zacharias. It does not date them.
- Citation
- Matthew 23:35 in the Latin Vulgate issued by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library from the Unbound Bible, public domain, file dated 2002. The copy supplied is that text. It is Latin, not an English translation. Ellis does not say he used this file.
- Locator
- Matthew 23:35
What the source says
The Latin says that all the just blood shed on the earth may come upon them, from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom they killed between the temple and the altar.
Why it is here
He cites it, with Luke 11:51, in Jesus, King of Edessa.
Ralph’s interpretation
The Zacharias of this verse is read as a man killed in the AD 60s, and that is used as evidence that the gospel scene is not set in the AD 30s.
Alternative readings
The usual reading places the verse in the ministry that is dated to the AD 30s, and it does not identify Zacharias as a figure of the Jewish Revolt. That usual reading is not a refutation printed in his file.