Zacharias (G2197) is the Greek form of the Hebrew Zechariah (YHWH remembers). In the New Testament, it names the father of John the Baptist — a priest struck mute for unbelief and loosed for praise at his son's birth. The name itself is a theological declaration: God does not forget.
Zacharias the priest is one of Luke's great figures of transition. His encounter with Gabriel (Lk 1:11-20) is the first angelic visitation in the New Testament — nine months of silence following four centuries of prophetic silence. When his tongue is loosed at John's naming, his song (the Benedictus, Lk 1:68-79) pours out: 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.' The name proves true: God remembered His covenant promises. Nine months of enforced silence produced one of Scripture's great doxologies. Sometimes God's silence is the gestation of great praise.