From passage 12,10 the evangelist John extracts a text that applies to Jesus on the cross, pierced by the spear: “They will turn their eyes towards the one they pierced…; it is a rather dark and undoubtedly dense text, like all these chapters, brimming with messianic and eschatological expectations.
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BI BL.: Ackroyd PR, The Book of Hagal and Zechariah 1- VIII, in “Journal of Jewish Studies” 3 (1952) 151-156; Bernini G., Aggeo, Zacearia, Malachia, Ed. Paoline 19853; Beuken, Hag-gai, Secharjah, Assen 1967; Chary Th., Aggée, Zacharie, Malachie, Paris 1969; Deissler ?., Delcor M., Les petits Prophetes, Paris
1964; Elliger K., Das Buch derzwolfkleinen Pro-pheten, Göttingen 19645; RadG. von., Theology of OT II,
Follow me, Salamanca 19763, 357-360; Rinaldi G., Lucian]F., / Profetiminori, III. Michea, Nahum, Abacuc,
Sofonia, Aggeo, Zacearia, Malachia, Marietti, Turin 1969; SchOkel ?., Twelve Minor Prophets, in Prophets
II, Christianity, Madrid 1980, 1141-1203; Stuhl-mueller C, Zacarías, in Comen!, bibi. Saint Jerome II,
Christianity, Madrid 1971, 142-1 64.
L. Moraldi
Source: Catholic Dictionary of Biblical Theology
Introduction
THE BOOK
Zack’s book. naturally divides into two parts: chs. 1–8 and 9–14. The first eight chapters clearly come from Zechariah son of Berechiah, son of Ido, dated between the eighth month of the second year of Darius (520 BC JC BC) and the fourth day of the ninth month of the fourth year of his death. reign (518 a. of JCa of JC Before Jesus Christ).
The chaps. 9–14 are very different in style from the first part of the book. They are further divided into two parts, 9–11 and 12–14, each subtitled †œAn Oracle† (or †œCharge† ; see commentary). The book of Malachi begins with the same word.
THE PROFIT
Zechariah’s grandfather was probably the “Gone” listed in Neh. 12:4 among the leaders of the priests and Levites who returned from exile to Jerusalem. He seems to have been a man of importance given the way he is referred to in Esd. 5:1 and 6:14, “Zechariah son of Ido.” Zacarias’s father is omitted from this list, but his grandfather is included. If this relationship is correct, then Zacharias himself was both priest and prophet.
Matthew makes reference to “Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar” (23:35). If this is the same Zacharias, then he clarifies the meaning of Zac. 12:10 and 13:7 (see comment below).
The name Zechariah means “Yah remembers” (“Yah” is an abbreviation for “Yahweh” which translates “the Lord”). The name was well known; probably as many as 30 different individuals had that name in the ATAT Old Testament. However, it was an appropriate name for the prophet, since he called the people to remember the past and, therefore, to change their behavior (1: 2-6; 7: 5-14; 8: 14-17 ).
Zechariah probably returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in 538 BC. de JCa de JC Before Jesus Christ He prophesied since 520, along with Haggai, urging the people to rebuild the temple, and thus show that they had put God first in their thoughts (cf.cf. Confer (lat.) , compare Hag. 1:9). To leave the temple a useless ruin was to show that they really did not care whether God dwelled in their midst or not.
In the chaps. 9–14 there are no biographical data concerning the writer. See below (under †œThe Compilation† ) a discussion of the authorship of these chapters.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In 538 BC de JCa de JC Before Jesus Christ, King Cyrus conquered Babylon and issued a decree allowing exiles from many countries, including Judah, to return to their homes. The Jews had permission to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1–4) and returned full of joy and hope, under the leadership of Zerubbabel (who may have been called Sheshbazzar; cf. cf. Confer (lat.), compare Ezra 3:8; 5:14–16). They were able to lay the foundation for the temple, but were hindered in their work by neighboring peoples throughout the reign of Cyrus (538–522 BC BC; Ezra 4:4, 5).
Zechariah and Haggai encouraged the people to rebuild again; Tatnai, governor of Beyond the River province, and Setar-Boznai and his associates objected to this work and demanded to know what authority they had to carry it out (Ezra 5:3). The authorities investigated the royal archives in Babylon and found the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 6:1–5), which not only allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem, but detailed that financial aid should be given from the royal treasury ( v. 4), and that the gold and silver from the temple should be returned (v. 5). So it was Darius himself who encouraged the Jews, conforming to the previous decree, paying for the reconstruction, providing sacrificial animals (vv. 8–10), and discouraging others who wanted to impede the work (v. 11).
Zechariah placed great emphasis on the completion of the temple under Zerubbabel’s direction (4:9, 10; 6:12). It would be a sign that God would have returned to dwell among his people (2:10; 8: 8; cf. cf. Confer (lat.), Compare 1:17; 2:12). Therefore, there was great rejoicing when, in 516 B.C. de JCa de JC Before Jesus Christ, the temple was completed (Ezra 6:14–16). The people resumed their dedication to God and looked forward to a time of blessing. Unfortunately, their expectations were not met. They assumed that life would be wonderful, but it turned out to be very hard. The golden age did not dawn, and many began to wonder if God was truly with them after all.
Our knowledge of the history of the post-exilic period is very limited. Some of the few sources of knowledge we have cannot be dated exactly. However, we can assure you that throughout the period when Judah was part of the Medo-Persian Empire they visibly remained an insignificant and weak population, facing opposition from their neighbors (eg Eg Ezra 4:6–24 ). This followed when the Greek Empire was established by Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great.
Adding to this uncertainty is the fact that we cannot be certain of the date of chaps. 9–14, and it is quite clear that we cannot specify the historical background of these chaps with much precision. later. We have to be satisfied with a rather general knowledge of the whole period, and remember that there may have been many variations in the situation, and many events for which we have no data.
The outline of events can be given as follows:
538–536
Cyrus’ decree
Many exiles return to Jerusalem.
They begin to rebuild, but are forced to cease and are discouraged
522
Darius comes to the throne
520
Haggai and Zechariah revive the people in rebuilding the temple.
516
Temple reconstruction completed
486–465
The reign of Xerxes
Opposition is mentioned in Esd. 4:6
465–424
The reign of Artaxerxes
Opposition is mentioned in Esd. 4:7–23
445
Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls
333
The beginning of the Greek Empire
See also the schematic
TEXT AND CANON
The text of chaps. 1–8 is generally clear and free from the errors that often result from copying from mss.mss. Manuscripts over several centuries. The grammatical sense is almost always clear, although the precise meaning of the prophet is sometimes obscured (eg eg eg 2:8, 9; 3:8, 9; 4:10b; 5:6). The chaps. 9–14 are much more obscure (eg eg eg 11:13; 12:10) and many have suggested ‘corrections’ to the text. Some scholars have also proposed a new arrangement of the book’s sections to make it more logical. For example, some would remove the section from ch. 4 beginning with †œThen he explained to me saying †¦† (v. 6) and ends with †œ †¦ the hand of Zerubbabel† (v. 10). The effect of this would be to restore the connection between “Then he explained to me saying † ¦ † (v. 6) and the second part of v. 10. But given the careful arrangement of the text by the author and/or editor, this would not seem to be a wise action (see comment). Other changes are suggested in chaps. 9–14, and 13:7–9 is sometimes placed at the end of ch. 11 so as to hold the “shepherd” passages together.
In Eclus. 49:10 (c. 180 BC BC) refers to “the twelve prophets”, suggesting that the prophetic canon was already fixed by the beginning of the second century BC. de JCa de JC Before Jesus Christ The order of the so-called “minor” prophets varies between different mss.mss. Manuscripts, but chs. Zechariah 1–14 are always found together in mss.mss. manuscripts
THE COMPILATION
The thickness of the chaps. 1–6 consists of a series of eight visions (1:7–6:8) to which other oracles have been added (2:6–13; 6:9–15; cf. cf. Confer (Lat.), compare 4:6–10a).
The chaps. Verses 7 and 8 consist of a question about fasting put to the prophet by some men from Bethel. Zacarias responds with a lengthy rebuke, a command, and a promise, before finally answering the question.
There is no doubt that the basic material of chaps. 1–8 come from Zechariah himself. There may be passages that come from an editor or editors (eg e.g. For example 1:1; 1:6b; 2:6–13; 4:6–10; 6:9–15; and parts of Zech. 7), although the most likely explanation for the additions to the visions is that they came from the prophet himself at a later time.
It has been most hotly disputed in the last six chapters. Conservative scholars have generally held that they came from the same author as chs. 1–8, Zechariah the prophet. Liberal scholars have universally denied this, often arguing that this section of the book is like a patchwork of prophecies that are often unrelated; and that they come from a vast historical period long after 520 BC. de JCa de JC Before Jesus Christ
A change of environment occurred with the studies of P. Lamarche, who argued that the whole of Zac. 9–14 forms an intricate structure where the “Messianic” passages occur in certain places that correspond to each other and can be accepted together to give a picture of the Messiah. This study received a generally warm acceptance, and was especially appreciated by conservative scholars.
Although there are reasons why this cannot be accepted in detail (see the Introduction above) there is a unity in these chapters. They deal with recurring themes, such as: judgment and blessing through military action, and the leadership of the people of God…