Iddo

Iddo is the name of several distinct biblical figures. (1.) A Gershonite Levite, son of Joah, ancestor of the musician Asaph (1 Chronicles 6:21). (2.) The son of Zechariah and officer over the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead under David (1 Chronicles 27:21). (3.) A prophet and seer during the reigns of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah whose visions and chronicles are cited as source documents in 2 Chronicles 9:29; 12:15; and 13:22 — making him one of the prophetic historians whose works do not survive independently but were incorporated into the materials behind Chronicles. (4.) The grandfather of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah 1:1; Ezra 5:1; 6:14; Nehemiah 12:4, 16), whose family returned from the Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel.

The prophetic Iddo of Solomon's era is particularly notable because his "visions" and "commentary" are named alongside those of Nathan and Ahijah as records of the events of Solomon's reign. The grandfather of Zechariah adds further significance to the name, as Zechariah's visionary prophecies became foundational texts for understanding the post-exilic restoration and, later, messianic expectation in the New Testament.