Book of Zechariah in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE
LITERATURE
Few books of the Old Testament are as difficult of
interpretation as the Book of Zechariah; no other book is as
Messianic. Jewish expositors like Abarbanel and Jarchi, and
Christian expositors such as Jerome, are forced to concede
that they have failed "to find their hands" in the
exposition of it, and that in their investigations they
passed from one labyrinth to another, and from one cloud
into another, until they lost themselves in trying to
discover the prophet's meaning. The scope of Zechariah's
vision and the profundity of his thought are almost without
a parallel. In the present writer's judgment, his book is
the most Messianic, the most truly apocalyptic and
eschatological, of all the writings of the Old Testament.
1. The Prophet:
Zechariah was the son of Berechiah, and the grandson of Iddo
(Zec 1:1,7). The same Iddo seems to be mentioned among the
priests who returned from exile under Zerubbabel and Joshua
in the year 536 BC (Neh 12:4; Ezr 2:2). If so, Zechariah was
a priest as well as a prophet, and presumably a young man
when he began to preach. Tradition, on the contrary,
declares that he was well advanced in years. He apparently
survived Haggai, his contemporary (Ezr 5:1; 6:14). He was a
poet as well as a prophet. Nothing is known of his end. The
Targum says he died a martyr.
2. His Times and Mission:
The earliest date in his book is the 2nd year (520 BC) of
the reign of Darius Hystaspis, and the latest, the 4th year
of the same king's reign (Zec 1:1,7; 7:1). Though these are
the only dates given in his writings, it is possible of
course that he may have continued active for several
additional years. Otherwise, he preached barely two years.
The conditions under which he labored were similar to those
in Haggai's times. Indeed, Haggai had begun to preach just
two months before Zechariah was called. At that time there
were upheavals and commotions in different parts of the
Persian empire, especially in the Northeast Jeremiah's
prophecies regarding the domination of Babylon for 70 years
had been fulfilled (Jer 15:11; 29:10). The returned captives
were becoming disheartened and depressed because Yahweh had
not made it possible to restore Zion and rebuild the temple.
The foundations of the latter had been already laid, but as
yet there was no superstructure (Ezr 3:8-10; Zec 1:16). The
altar of burnt offering was set up upon its old site, but as
yet there were no priests worthy to officiate in the ritual
of sacrifice (Ezr 3:2,3; Zec 3:3). The people had fallen
into apathy, and needed to be aroused to their opportunity.
Haggai had given them real initiative, for within 24 days
after he began to preach the people began to work (Hag
1:1,15). It was left for Zechariah to bring the task of
temple-building to completion. This Zechariah did
successfully; this, indeed, was his primary mission and
work...
Link: https://bible-history.com/isbe/Z/ZECHARIAH,+BOOK+OF/