Zechariah 1

Zechariah 1
The beginning part of the Book of Zechariah (1:1–6:15) in Latin in Codex Gigas, made around 13th century.
Book Book of Zechariah
Bible part Old Testament
Order in the Bible part 38
Category Nevi'im

Zechariah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] This book contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Zechariah, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.[3][4]

Text

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

Structure

NKJV groups this chapter into:

Verse 1

In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius,
came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet,
saying,[7]
  • "In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius" The date joins on Zechariah's prophecy to those of Haggai. Two months before, "in the sixth month" Haggai 1:1, had Haggai, conjointly with Zechariah Ezra 5:1–2, exhorted Zerubbabel and the people to resume the intermitted building of the temple. These had used such diligence, notwithstanding the partial discouragement of the Persian Government, that God gave them "in the seventh month" Ezra 5:3–5, the magnificent promise of the later glory of the temple through the coming of Christ Haggai 2:1–9. Still, as Haggai too warned them, the conversion was not complete. So Zechariah "in the eighth month", as Haggai "in the ninth month" (Haggai 2:10–14), urges upon them the necessity of thorough and inward repentance, as the condition of partaking of those promises.[8]
  • "The eighth month": This was called Bul before the Captivity (1 Kings 6:38), and afterwards Marchesvan (Josephus, 'Antiquities,' 1:3 3); it answered to parts of October and November, and was a time of rain. Haggai had first prophesied two months earlier.[9]
  • "The second year of Darius": 520 B.C.; not Darius the Mede,[10] but Darius son of Hystaspes, and the third Persian monarch: see Haggai 1:1; and again Zechariah 1:15.[11]
  • "Zechariah": The name Zechariah 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 (Zechariah 6:13). He is called "the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo" (Zechariah 1:1); but simply "the son of Iddo" in Ezra 5:1; 6:14. Probably his father died when he was young; and hence, as sometimes occurs in Jewish genealogies, he is called "the son of Iddo," his grandfather. Iddo was one of the priests who returned to Zerubbabel and Joshua from Babylon (Nehemiah 12:4).[11] 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.[12] This was mentioned by Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthew 23:29–36: "...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..."[13] There is another Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada that was murdered as recorded in 2 Chronicles 24:20–21, 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.[13]
  • "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 2 Chronicles 9:29.[10]

Verse 7

Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius,
came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet,
saying,[14]
  • "the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month... in the second year of Darius": Exactly five months after the building of the temple was resumed Haggai 2:15, and two months after Haggai's last prophecy Haggai 2:20.[8]
  • "the month Sebat": The Hebrew month "Shevat" (called here by its Chaldean name) answered to parts of January and February.[9] It was three months since Zechariah had been called to the prophetical office. Meantime Haggai had concluded his mission by uttering his final prophecies two months ago, and now Zechariah carries on the revelation.[9] The term is Chaldee, meaning a "shoot," namely, the month when trees begin to "shoot" or "bud".[11] Called Sabat in the Septuagint version, and in the Apocrypha (1 Maccabees 16:14).[10]

Verse 12

Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said, “O Lord of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?” (NKJV)[15]

Cross reference: Jeremiah 25:12, Jeremiah 29:10, Daniel 9:2, Zechariah 7:5

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Collins 2014.
  2. ↑ Hayes 2015.
  3. ↑ Metzger, Bruce M., et al. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
  4. ↑ Keck, Leander E. 1996. The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume: VII. Nashville: Abingdon.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Dead sea scrolls – Zechariah
  6. ↑ Timothy A. J. Jull; Douglas J. Donahue; Magen Broshi; Emanuel Tov (1995). "Radiocarbon Dating of Scrolls and Linen Fragments from the Judean Desert". Radiocarbon. 38 (1): 14. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Zechariah 1:1
  8. 1 2 Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Old Testament. London, Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. 1 2 3 Joseph S. Exell; Henry Donald Maurice Spence-Jones (Editors). The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. 1 2 3 John Gill. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Exposition of the Old and New Testament. Published in 1746–1763. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. 1 2 3 Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset; David Brown. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary on the Whole Bible. 1871. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. ↑ [http://www.targum.info/meg/tglam.htm Targum Lamentations. Translated by C. M. M. Brady; based upon the text of MS Urb. 1.
  13. 1 2 Which Zechariah was murdered in the temple? 7 February 2009 – Accessed 20 December 2016]
  14. ↑ Zechariah 1:7
  15. ↑ Zechariah 1:12

Bibliography

  • Collins, John J. (2014). Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Fortress Press. ISBN 9781451469233.
  • Hayes, Christine (2015). Introduction to the Bible. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300188277.

Jewish

Christian

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.