Again it happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Akiva went up to Jerusalem. When they reached Mt. Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies. The others started weeping; Rabbi Akiva laughed.
Said they to him: "Why are you laughing?"
Said he to them: "Why are you weeping?"
Said they to him: "A place [so holy] that it is said of it, 'the stranger that approaches it shall die,'1 and now foxes traverse it, and we shouldn't weep?"
Said he to them: "That is why I laugh. For it is written, 'I shall have bear witness for Me faithful witnesses—Uriah the Priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.'2 Now what is the connection between Uriah and Zechariah? Uriah was [in the time of] the First Temple, and Zechariah was [in the time of] the Second Temple! But the Torah makes Zachariah's prophecy dependent upon Uriah's prophecy. With Uriah, it is written: 'Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field; [Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest.]'3 With Zachariah it is written, 'Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem.'4
"As long as Uriah's prophecy had not been fulfilled, I feared that Zechariah's prophecy may not be fulfilled either. But now that Uriah's prophecy has been fulfilled, it is certain that Zechariah's prophecy will be fulfilled."
With these words they replied to him: "Akiva, you have consoled us! Akiva, you have consoled us!"
Rabbi Akiva seems to be mistaken here and confuses Zechariah son of Jeberekiah with the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, son of Iddo. These two Zechariahs were separated by a period of roughly 200 years. How could Isaiah, who is clearly speaking about two individuals living in his time (8th Century BC - 1st Temple), be speaking about the prophet Zechariah (6th Century BC - 2nd Temple) some two hundred years later? The names are also different. This isn't the first time that two Zechariahs are confused, for even Targum Lamentations 2:20 confuses Zechariah the son of Berekiah, son of Iddo with Zechariah son of Jehoiada.
It seems clear from the context that there is but on Zechariah (the father's names are too similar to be believed to be different people), and that Isaiah is predicting that which Zechariah will one day prophesy in the future.
Thank you for your response!
When I read this passage, it seems that the context is speaking about an event that would happen within a year of the child, Maher Shalal Chash Baz's, birth. The name itself means "Swift [is] Spoil, Speedy [is] Plunder" and seems to point directly to Isa. 8:4 which speaks to the plundering of Damascus and Samaria by Tiglath-Pileser III. Both Uriah and Zechariah mentioned in Isa. 8:2 are said to be the Lord's "faithful witnesses" to the prophecy of this particular event. How does Zechariah son of Berekiah some 240 years later or so relate to this in any way? He lived in different circumstances with different people and experienced different events.
Thanks,
Thank you