Zakharia 1:7

The Introduction to the Visions

1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat, in Darius’ second year, ¹  the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:

Zakharia 7:8

7:8 Again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah:

Zakharia 1:12

1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, ²  how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem ³  and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” ⁴ 

Zakharia 1:16

The Oracle of Response

1:16 “‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ⁵  toward Jerusalem ⁶  and will rebuild my temple ⁷  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

Zakharia 3:2

3:2 The Lord ⁸  said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, ⁹  rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

Zakharia 8:16

8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. ¹⁰ 

Zakharia 8:20

8:20 The Lord who rules over all says, ‘It will someday come to pass that people – residents of many cities – will come.

Zakharia 11:5

11:5 Those who buy them ¹¹  slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

[1:7]  ¹ sn The twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month…in Darius’ second year was February 15, 519 b.c.

[1:12]  ² sn Note that here the angel of the Lord is clearly distinct from the Lord who rules over all himself.

[1:12]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:12]  ⁴ sn The seventy years refers to the predicted period of Babylonian exile, a period with flexible beginning and ending points depending on the particular circumstances in view (cf. Jer 25:1; 28:1; 29:10; Dan 9:2). Here the end of the seventy years appears to be marked by the completion of the temple in 516 b.c., exactly seventy years after its destruction in 586.

[1:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “I have turned.” This suggests that the Lord has responded to the “turning” (i.e., repentance) of the people (v. 6) and now, with great love and forgiveness, allows construction of the temple to proceed.

[1:16]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[3:2]  ⁸ sn The juxtaposition of the messenger of the Lord in v. 1 and the Lord in v. 2 shows that here, at least, they are one and the same. See Zech 1:11, 12 where they are distinguished from each other.

[3:2]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:16]  ¹⁰ sn For a similar reference to true and righteous judgment see Mic 6:8.

[11:5]  ¹¹ sn The expression those who buy them appears to be a reference to the foreign nations to whom Israel’s own kings “sold” their subjects. Far from being good shepherds, then, they were evil and profiteering. The whole section (vv. 4-14) refers to the past when the Lord, the Good Shepherd, had in vain tried to lead his people to salvation and life.