“Upon you
May come
All the righteous blood
Shed on earth.
This included
From the blood
Of the righteous Abel,
To the blood
Of Zechariah,
The son of Barachiah,
Whom you murdered
Between the sanctuary
And the altar.”
ὅπως ἔλθῃ ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς πᾶν αἷμα δίκαιον ἐκχυννόμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος Ἅβελ τοῦ δικαίου ἕως τοῦ αἵματος Ζαχαρίου υἱοῦ Βαραχίου, ὃν ἐφονεύσατε μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.
This is a saying unique to Matthew. Jesus said to these Pharisees and Scribes that all the righteous blood that was shed on earth would come upon them (ὅπως ἔλθῃ ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς πᾶν αἷμα δίκαιον ἐκχυννόμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς). This would be from the blood of the righteous Abel (ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος Ἅβελ τοῦ δικαίου) to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah (ἕως τοῦ αἵματος Ζαχαρίου υἱοῦ Βαραχίου). He was murdered between the Temple sanctuary and the sacrificial altar (ὃν ἐφονεύσατε μεταξὺ τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου). Abel was the brother that Cain killed in Genesis, chapter 4:8. His just blood would cry out from the ground. This Zechariah was a little more complicated. 2 Chronicles, chapter 24:20-22, has a Zechariah, the son of the priest Jehoiada who was stoned to death in the Temple courtyard. As he was dying, he asked God to avenge his death. However, Zechariah, the son of Barachiah in Zechariah, chapter 1:1, was a 6th century BCE prophet from a priestly family. Genesis was the first book of the Hebrew Bible and 2 Chronicles was considered the last book of the Jewish Bible. Thus, all the innocent blood from the beginning of the world throughout Israelite history would be upon these Pharisees. There would be a continuation of this innocent blood with Jesus himself.