BERECHIAH

(Ber·e·chiʹah) [blessed by Jehovah].

1. The son of Shimea, in the line of descent from Levi through Gershom. Berechiah’s son Asaph was the principal leader of the singers appointed by King David, and through him sprang many succeeding generations of temple singers. This Berechiah may have been the same as No. 2 below.—1 Chron. 6:39; 15:17; 25:1-9; Ezra 2:41; Neh. 7:44.

2. One of the four Levite gatekeepers for the Ark when David was king. He may have been the same as No. 1 above.—1 Chron. 15:23, 24.

3. The son of Meshillemoth. (2 Chron. 28:12) At the time that Ahaz was king of Judah this southern kingdom suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the northern kingdom, but when 200,000 were being taken captive to Samaria, Berechiah and three other headmen of Ephraim acted quickly on the counsel of Jehovah’s prophet Oded. Not only did they prevent the victors from enslaving their brothers; they went so far as to clothe, feed and assist in returning the captives.—2 Chron. 28:6-15.

4. A descendant of David through Solomon.—1 Chron. 3:1, 10, 20.

5. A Levite who lived after the Babylonian exile; the son of Asa.—1 Chron. 9:16.

6. The son of Meshezabel. Berechiah’s son Meshullam worked on the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls in Nehemiah’s time, and his granddaughter married the son of Tobiah.—Neh. 3:4, 30; 6:18.

7. The son of the prophet Iddo and the father of the prophet Zechariah.—Zech. 1:1, 7.