Book Intro › Minor Prophets

Zechariah

זְכַרְיָה Zekharyah, “Yahweh remembers”. Visions and prophetic oracles. 14 chapters, 211 verses.

Night visions encourage the builders of the second temple, and later prophecies look ahead to a humble king, a pierced one and the day when Yahweh will be King over all the earth.

Read Zechariah 1 →

Overview

Zechariah began to prophesy in 520 BC, two months after Haggai (1:1), with a call to the people to return to God and a promise that he would return to them (1:3). Three months later he saw eight visions in one night (1:7): horsemen patrolling the earth, horns and craftsmen, a man measuring Jerusalem, the high priest Joshua given clean clothes, a golden lampstand between two olive trees, a flying scroll, a woman in a basket carried off to the land of Shinar, and finally four chariots. An angel explains each one. At their centre is God’s word to Zerubbabel: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (4:6).

A question about fasting two years later (7:1) brings a call to justice and a picture of Jerusalem at peace, its streets “full of boys and girls playing” (8:5) and the nations seeking God. Chapters 9–14 change style. They contain two undated oracles, or prophetic messages, each headed “A revelation” (9:1, 12:1). A king comes to Zion “lowly, and riding on a donkey” (9:9); a shepherd is paid off with “thirty pieces of silver” (11:12); Jerusalem mourns for one “whom they have pierced” (12:10); and at the last “Yahweh will be King over all the earth” (14:9).

Author and date

The book names Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Iddo (1:1), from a priestly family that returned from Babylon (Nehemiah 12:16). Whether he wrote chapters 9–14 is the main question.

Traditional view

Zechariah · 520–518 BC and later

Zechariah wrote the whole book, chapters 1–8 during the rebuilding and chapters 9–14 later in his life, which would account for the change of style and subject. Holders of this view point to themes shared by both halves: Jerusalem, the nations, cleansing and a coming king.

Academic view

Chapters 1–8 by Zechariah · 9–14 by later prophets

Most academic scholars attribute chapters 1–8 to Zechariah and treat 9–14 as separate collections, often called Second Zechariah and sometimes divided again at chapter 12. Proposed dates range from before the exile to the Greek period. The mention of Greece in 9:13 is one reason many place them in the 5th century BC or later. The heading “A revelation” also opens Malachi, and some see the three collections as a related group.

Both views recognise that the two halves differ. Chapters 1–8 have dates, visions and named leaders; chapters 9–14 have none of these and look further into the future.

Audience and setting

Zechariah spoke to the same community as Haggai: returned exiles in Jerusalem, a small province of the Persian empire, rebuilding the temple under Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the high priest. Chapters 9–14 speak to a people still waiting for the promises of the first half. The nations around them, from Damascus and Tyre to Philistia, are drawn into God’s purposes.

Genre, and how to read it

Zechariah is eleventh in the Twelve, the shorter prophets gathered on one scroll in the Hebrew Bible, and with Hosea the longest of them. Its visions are some of the most symbolic writing in the Old Testament, close in style to the visions of Daniel and Revelation. The prophet sees something strange and asks what it means, and an angel explains. The explanations do not settle every detail, and readers still debate many of them.

• 1:1 Eighth month, second year of Darius
• 1:7 The night visions
• 7:1 Fourth year of Darius
• 9:1 First “revelation”
• 12:1 Second “revelation”

The Gospels draw heavily on chapters 9–14 in telling the last week of Jesus’ life: the entry to Jerusalem on a donkey (Matthew 21:5, John 12:15), the thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 27:9–10), the sheep scattered when the shepherd is struck (Mark 14:27), and the pierced one (John 19:37). In the book’s closing scene even the bells on the horses are inscribed “HOLY TO YAHWEH” (14:20).

In the reign of Darius

Outline

Visions for the builders (1–8)

• 1:1–1:6 Return to me — A call to learn from the ancestors who would not listen
• 1:7–1:21 Horsemen, horns and craftsmen — The first two night visions
• 2:1–2:13 The measuring line — Jerusalem without walls, and God dwelling within
• 3:1–4:14 Joshua and the lampstand — The high priest cleansed, and Zerubbabel strengthened by the Spirit
• 5:1–6:8 Scroll, basket and chariots — Wickedness removed, and God’s patrols sent out
• 6:9–6:15 The crowning — A crown for Joshua, and the man called the Branch who will build the temple
• 7:1–8:23 Fasting and feasting — Justice demanded, Jerusalem restored, and the nations seeking God

Two oracles (9–14)

• 9:1–11:17 The king and the shepherds — A humble king, a flock betrayed, and thirty pieces of silver
• 12:1–14:21 That day — Jerusalem besieged and cleansed, the pierced one mourned, Yahweh King over all

Key themes

Return

“Return to me,” says God, “and I will return to you” (1:3). The former prophets said the same, and the fathers did not listen (1:4).

God’s Spirit

The temple will be finished “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (4:6).

Justice

“Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother” (7:9). Fasting matters less to God than how people treat one another.

The coming king

The Branch will build the temple (6:12), and Zion’s king comes “righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey” (9:9).

The nations

Ten men from every language will take hold of a Jew’s robe and say, “We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you” (8:23), and the nations will keep the feast of booths in Jerusalem (14:16).

At a glance

25 people and 33 places named.

Most mentioned: Joshua, David, Zechariah, Zerubbabel, Darius

Main places: Jerusalem, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Ekron

In the Almanac: Pieces of silver