In the Bible, Zechariah (Ζαχαρίας in Greek, Zacharias in KJV, Zachary in the Douay-Rheims Bible), is the father of John the Baptist, a priest of the sons of Aaron, a prophet in Luke 1:67–79, and the husband of Elisabeth who is the cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus.
In the Qur'an, Zechariah (Arabic: زكريا; Zakariya) plays a similar role as the father of John the Baptist and ranks him as a prophet alongside John and Jesus and his role as one of the men of God is frequently referenced in verses of the Qur'an.
According to the Gospel of Luke, during the reign of king Herod, there was "a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia", whose wife Elisabeth was also of the priestly family of Aaron. The evangelist states that both the parents were righteous before God, since they were "blameless" in observing the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. When the events related in Luke began, their marriage was still childless, because Elisabeth was barren and they were both very old (Luke 1:5–7).