וְאָעִ֣ידָה לִּ֔י עֵדִ֖ים נֶאֱמָנִ֑ים אֵ֚ת אוּרִיָּ֣ה הַכֹּהֵ֔ן וְאֶת־זְכַרְיָ֖הוּ בֶּ֥ן יְבֶרֶכְיָֽהוּ׃
내가 진실한 증인 제사장 우리야와 여베레기야의 아들 스갸랴를 불러 증거하게 하리라 하시더니
Akeidat Yitzchak
Talmud Makkot 24, tells the following stories. Once Rabbis Gamliel, Joshua, Eleazar ben Azzaryah and Akiva were travelling together. While still a hundred kilometers from Antipatris, they heard the sound of the multitudes from that city. The first three Rabbis began to weep, whereas Rabbi Akiva began to laugh. When the three Rabbis asked Rabbi Akiva why he was laughing, he asked them the reason they had begun to cry. They said "when the pagans who worship idols live in peace and affluence, and the holy temple of the Lord lies in ruins, should we not cry? Another time, the same four Rabbis were on their way to Jerusalem when they saw a fox darting out of the ruins on the Temple Mount. Again the other Rabbis began to weep, whereas Rabbi Akiva began to laugh. When the Rabbis asked Rabbi Akiva why he was laughing, he responded by asking them why they were crying. They said to him that it says in the Torah that any alien, (non priest) who enters the holy precincts of the temple will be executed, and now this site has become the home of foxes and we should not cry? Rabbi Akiva said to them that this was the very reason he laughed. It is written in Isaiah 8,2 "I will have two reliable witnesses testify for you, Uriah the priest and Zachariah the son of Berechyah." How can these two people be paired as witnesses? The first one lived during the period of the first temple, whereas Zachariah lived during the period of the second temple. What is meant is that the prophecies of Zachariah are just as trustworthy as those of Uriah. Concerning Uriah it is written: "on your account Zion will be ploughed over and Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble" (Michah 3,12) In Zachariah 8,4, it is written "Old people will yet dwell in the streets of Jerusalem." As long as I had not seen the prophecy in Michah fulfilled, I entertained some doubts about the prophecy in Zachariah concerning the rebuilding of Zion. Now that I have seen the first prophecy fulfilled, I am reassured about the validity of the second prophecy also. Upon hearing this, the other Rabbis exclaimed: "Akiva you have comforted us, Akiva you have comforted us!"