Zechariah 1


Zechariah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Zechariah. In the Hebrew Bible it forms a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. As the first of the 14 chapters in the book, this chapter is a part of a section consisting of Zechariah 1-8. It records an introduction and the first two of the eight visions received by the prophet. These visions are the book's primary and most distinctive feature, with a highly literary and standardized format, structured in a concentric pattern.

Text

The original text was written in the Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 21 verses in English Bibles. There are some differences between the chapter and verse numbering of this chapter in English Bibles and in Hebrew texts:
This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis, the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets, and Codex Leningradensis.
Fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, including: 4Q80 with extant verses 4–6, 8–10, 13–15, and Mur88 with extant verses 1–4.
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Marchalianus. Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., [Greek Minor Prophets Scroll from Nahal Hever|Naḥal Ḥever 8Ḥev1 with extant verses 1–4, 12–14, 19–21

Time

This chapter contains two dating formulae, in verses 1 and 7, which place the recorded events in the year of 520-519 BCE, "in the second year of Darius", the king of Persia. Accordingly, Zechariah was a contemporary of the prophet Haggai, confirming the records in Ezra 5:1 and Ezra 6:14.
  • Verse 1: "in the eighth month" corresponds to mid October–mid November 520 BCE.
  • Verse 7: "the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month" corresponds to a date between mid-January and mid-February 519 BCE.

    Preface (1:1–6)

Verses 1–6 serve as an introduction to the subsequent visions and prophecies received by Zechariah with a call for the people to repentance. This section and chapters 7 and 8, form an editorial frame for the first section of the book.

Verse 1

  • "The eighth month, in the second year of Darius" corresponds to mid October-mid November 520 BCE. Two months before, "in the sixth month". However, Haggai also warned them, that the conversion was not complete, and Zechariah "in the eighth month", as well as Haggai "in the ninth month",), urges a "thorough and inward repentance", as the condition of receiving God's promises.
  • "The eighth month" was called Bul before the Captivity, and afterward Marchesvan; corresponds to parts of October and November, usually a time of rain in the area.
  • "Darius": Darius son of Hystaspes, and the third Persian monarch:; not to be confused with Darius the Mede.
  • "Zechariah": The name means "one whom Jehovah remembers": a common name, four others of the same name occurring in the Old Testament. Like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, he was a priest as well as a prophet, which adapts him for the sacerdotal character of some of his prophecies. He is called "the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo He was murdered on a [Day of Atonement in the Second Temple in Jerusalem, because of his admonishment, according to the Targum Lamentations 2:20. This was mentioned by Jesus Christ as recorded in : "...shedding the blood of the prophets... from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar". There is another Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada that was murdered as recorded in, but this Zechariah is from the 9th century, during the First Temple period, before the exile to Babylon, and he was killed by officials of Judah who wanted to worship pagan deities, not by priests.
  • "The son of Iddo the prophet": the word "prophet", as Kimchi observes, belongs to Zechariah; not but that his grandfather Iddo might be a prophet too; and the same writer takes notice, that in the Midrash mention is made of Iddo the prophet; and so there is an Iddo that is called the seer and the prophet in.

    Verse 4

The reference to the "former prophets" or "earlier prophets" probably includes "the whole body of prophets" prior to time of Haggai and Zechariah.

Vision of horses (1:7–17)

In the first of Zechariah's eight night visions, a dialogue takes place involving the prophet, the angel of the and the Lord of Hosts. The earth is peaceful and at rest, patrolled by the four horsemen. The 'seventy years' of the Lord's withholding mercy are fulfilled, the people are to return to Jerusalem, and the temple is to be rebuilt.

Verse [|7]

  • "The four and twentieth day of the eleventh month... in the second year of Darius" corresponds to mid-January to mid-February 519 BCE, exactly five months after the building of the temple was resumed, and two months after Haggai's final prophecy.
  • "the month Sebat": The Hebrew month "Shevat" answered to parts of January and February. It was three months since Zechariah had been called to the prophetical office, and two months after Haggai delivered his final prophecies, so now Zechariah carries on the revelation. The term is Chaldee, meaning a "shoot", namely, the month when trees begin to "shoot" or "bud". Called Sabat in the Septuagint version, and in the Apocrypha.

    Verse 8

The Jerusalem Bible adds reference to a black horse.

Vision of the horns and craftsmen (1:18–21)

The second vision contains the symbolism of the 'powerful nations that have terrorized the chosen people' and the 'counterforces raised by YHWH'.

Verse 20

  • "Craftsmen" : from Hebrew חָרָשִֽׁים, ; KJV: "carpenters"; NET Bible: "blacksmiths"; a generic term which can mean "metalworker, smith, armorer".

    Verse 21

  • "These four craftsmen": lit. "these", referring to the four persons in previous verse. As the horns are perhaps made of strong metal, they can only be cut off by "craftsmen" or "blacksmiths", who represent 'deliverers whom the Lord raises up, such as kings like Cyrus of Persia'.

    Jewish

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  • Christian

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