Zechariah the prophet (Ezra 5:1–2; Ezra 6:14–15; Zechariah 1:1–6; Zechariah 1:7–17; Zechariah 1:18–21; Zechariah 2:1–13; Zechariah 3:1–10; Zechariah 4:1–14; Zechariah 5:1–11; Zechariah 6:1–15; Zechariah 7:1–14; Zechariah 8:18–19)

Son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, to whom the word of the LORD came in the second year of Darius

The prophet to whom the word of the LORD came in the second year of Darius, who was told to call the people to return, saw visions in the night and asked the angel that talked with him what they were, brought the word on fasting, and prophesied with Haggai while the house was built.

The book that bears his name opens: “In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet” (Zechariah 1:1). Ezra names him differently: “Zechariah the son of Iddo” (Ezra 5:1). The text gives no wife, children, birth or death. The word that first comes to him is a call: “Return unto me, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I will return unto you” (Zechariah 1:3).

Then, on the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, he says, “I saw in the night” (Zechariah 1:8). Through the visions of chapters 1 to 6 he asks “the angel that talked with me” (Zechariah 1:9) what he sees: “What are these, my lord?” (Zechariah 4:4). He sees Joshua the high priest clothed anew (Zechariah 3:1-5), hears the word to Zerubbabel, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6), and is told to make crowns and set them on the head of Joshua (Zechariah 6:11). In the fourth year of Darius men of Beth-el ask whether to keep weeping in the fifth month, and the word of the LORD comes to him again (Zechariah 7:1-8).

Ezra records that “Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem” (Ezra 5:1), and that the elders “builded and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo” (Ezra 6:14). Chapters 9 to 14 of the book are headed “The burden of the word of Jehovah” (Zechariah 9:1); the text does not say when they came. Matthew gives words like those of Zechariah 9:9, a king “riding upon an ass” (Matthew 21:5), as spoken “through the prophet” (Matthew 21:4), without naming him.

Strengths

• Asking what he does not know
• Helping the builders

Themes

• Return to the LORD
• Visions in the night
• The house rebuilt
• Joshua and Zerubbabel
• True fasting
• Prophets with Haggai

The word to return (Zechariah 1:1–6)

In the eighth month of the second year of Darius the word of the LORD comes to Zechariah, saying the LORD was sore displeased with the fathers and bidding the people return.

The horseman among the myrtle-trees (Zechariah 1:7–17)

In the night Zechariah sees a man on a red horse among the myrtle-trees; the angel that talked with him tells him to cry the LORD's word of jealousy and mercy for Jerusalem.

The horseman among the myrtle-trees

On the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah (Zechariah 1:7). He says, “I saw in the night, and, behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom; and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white” (Zechariah 1:8).

“Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these are” (Zechariah 1:9). The riders report, “all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest” (Zechariah 1:11), and the angel of the LORD asks how long the LORD will not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (Zechariah 1:12).

“And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me with good words, even comfortable words. So the angel that talked with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy” (Zechariah 1:13-14). The word goes on: “I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my house shall be built in it” (Zechariah 1:16).

Four horns and a measuring line (Zechariah 1:18–21; Zechariah 2:1–13)

Zechariah sees four horns and four smiths, then a man with a measuring line, and asks what they are; Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls.

Joshua the high priest in filthy garments (Zechariah 3:1–10)

Zechariah is shown Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD with Satan at his right hand; the filthy garments are taken away and Joshua is clothed anew.

Joshua the high priest in filthy garments

“And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary” (Zechariah 3:1). “Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the angel” (Zechariah 3:3).

The angel says to those who stood before him, “Take the filthy garments from off him” (Zechariah 3:4) and to Joshua, “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with rich apparel” (Zechariah 3:4). Zechariah says, “Let them set a clean mitre upon his head. So they set a clean mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah was standing by” (Zechariah 3:5).

Then the angel of the LORD protests to Joshua: “If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts” (Zechariah 3:7), and the word adds, “I will bring forth my servant the Branch” (Zechariah 3:8).

The candlestick and the word to Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:1–14)

The angel wakes Zechariah, who sees a golden candlestick and two olive-trees, asks what they are, and hears the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel.

The candlestick and the word to Zerubbabel

“And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep” (Zechariah 4:1). Asked what he sees, Zechariah answers, “a candlestick all of gold, with its bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon” (Zechariah 4:2), and two olive-trees by it (Zechariah 4:3).

“What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord” (Zechariah 4:4-5). The angel replies, “This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

“Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:8-10). When he asks a second time, about the olive-branches, he again answers, “No, my lord” (Zechariah 4:13), and is told, “These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:14).

The flying roll, the chariots and the crowns (Zechariah 5:1–11; Zechariah 6:1–15)

Zechariah sees a flying roll, a woman called Wickedness in an ephah, and four chariots from between mountains of brass, and the word bids him make crowns and set them on the head of Joshua.

The question about fasting (Zechariah 7:1–14; Zechariah 8:18–19)

In the fourth year of Darius men of Beth-el ask whether to keep weeping in the fifth month; the word of the LORD asks if they fasted unto him and bids them execute true judgment.

The question about fasting

“It came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month” (Zechariah 7:1). Men of Beth-el had sent to “speak unto the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?” (Zechariah 7:3).

The word of the LORD to Zechariah asks, “When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?” (Zechariah 7:5). It continues, “Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor” (Zechariah 7:9-10).

Of the fathers it says, “they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear” (Zechariah 7:11). A later word says the fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months “shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love truth and peace” (Zechariah 8:19).

Prophesying while the house is built (Ezra 5:1–2; Ezra 6:14–15)

Ezra tells that Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews, the prophets helped Zerubbabel and Jeshua as they began to build, and the elders prospered through their prophesying until the house was finished.

The LORD (Zechariah 1:1; Zechariah 1:14; Zechariah 7:8)

The word of the LORD came to Zechariah, and the angel told him what to cry in the LORD's name.

The angel that talked with me (Zechariah 1:9; Zechariah 4:4–5; Zechariah 6:4–5)

Zechariah asks him what the visions are, and he answers.

Haggai (Ezra 5:1; Ezra 6:14)

Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem.

Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:6–9; Ezra 5:2)

The angel gave Zechariah the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua began to build with the prophets helping them.

Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3:1–5; Zechariah 6:11)

Zechariah saw him clothed anew before the angel of the LORD and was told to set crowns on his head.

Major sections

• Zechariah 1–6
• Zechariah 7–8
• Zechariah 9–14
• Ezra 5:1–6:15

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