Zechariah 1 Study Notes

1:1 Zechariah and Haggai began their ministries only two months apart (Hg 1:1) in the fall of 520 BC, nineteen years after Cyrus, king of Persia, issued an edict giving the Israelites permission to return from exile to their homeland. Both prophets were instrumental in the temple being rebuilt; completed in 516/515 BC (Ezr 5:1-2; 6:14).

1:2 The Assyrians destroyed Samaria and the northern ten tribes, and the Babylonians demolished Jerusalem and the southern two tribes (2Kg 17:5-23; 25:8-21; 2Ch 36:17-20). The pain and suffering, the loss of homes, lives, and cities, the deportation to foreign lands, and especially the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem raised troubling questions about God’s covenant promises and justice. But the prophets were united in their assessment of the Lord’s extreme anger. The blast of God’s judgment was completely deserved.

1:3 Return (or “turn, repent,” Hb shuv) is a key motif throughout Zechariah (cp. v. 4, “turn”; v. 6, “repent”; v. 16; 8:3, “return”; 13:7, “turn”). It applied to the Israelites in two senses: a return from captivity (a spatial return) and a return to the Lord (a spiritual return). It applied to God in two senses. After withdrawing his presence and blessing from Jerusalem for a time, “return” referred to showing favor again. God’s “turn” could also denote the change from judging the people to blessing them. God’s offer to return was contingent on the people returning to him, a consistent feature of the covenant (Gn 17:1-2,9; Jr 18:7-10).

1:4 They did not listen or pay attention to me are some of the saddest words in the Bible. For more than two hundred years the prophets described disobedience in all its ugliness (3:3-4; cp. Is 57:3-9). They pictured the blessings of faithfulness in fantastic images of a perfect world, though expressed more simply in Zch 1:3 as “I will return to you” (but see the expansion in vv. 16-17; 3:8-10). But nothing worked to penetrate the cold hearts of sinners (7:11-12; 2Kg 17:14-23; 2Ch 36:15-16; Jr 5:11-13; Mal 3:7).

1:5-6 By recalling the earlier prophets and their role, Zechariah placed himself on the same stage preaching the same sermon. It was a message with enduring significance because the chosen people had an ongoing challenge—living a life of faith. Shockingly he asked, Where are your ancestors now? The futility of disobedience could hardly be clearer. The wasted effort of heroes must not be repeated.

1:7 In a society that was reinventing itself—after its leaders, cities, and the Jerusalem temple were destroyed, and after being in exile for many years—the need for vision and hope ran deep. A means to penetrate the very core of the human spirit and transform deepest feelings was necessary. The solution was pictures and visions. The string of visions that came to the prophet Zechariah brought to life the answer for people on the brink of despair: God is in control and is on your side.

1:8-11 The scene unfolds gradually, with clues appearing along the way and with the angel (or “messenger”) interpreting certain details. The man riding on a chestnut horse is the one standing among the myrtle trees, and he is the angel of the Lord. Horses may suggest speed, but the Hebrew construction translated patrol (also “walk”) suggests control (cp. 10:3). Finding the world calm and quiet underscored the contrast with the turbulence that the people of Israel faced. Some details of the vision (myrtle trees in the valley and chestnut, brown, and white horses) may have been included to enhance the sensory vividness of the scene rather than to convey symbolic meaning.

1:8 I looked out in the night apparently introduces all eight of the prophet’s visions. They offer a mix of the ordinary and the surreal—a world somewhere between heaven and earth. Like the apocalyptic visions of Daniel or Revelation, symbolism is commonplace, often requiring an interpreter.

1:12-13 When Jerusalem was destroyed, God’s glory departed (Ezk 10:1-19), and for nearly seventy years (likely a round number) God’s people had no temple to rally around or a central place of worship. Though the prophets had predicted that Jerusalem would become a wasteland (Is 32:14; Jr 9:11), they also painted images of restoration (Is 2:2-5; Ezk 40-48). Thus, the angel’s question of how long the mercy of the Lord would be withheld was one that God’s people were eager to have answered.

1:14-17 God being extremely jealous for Jerusalem suggests the intensity of his love as well as his high expectations for his people (Ex 20:5). News that the Lord’s anger was turning against the nations, who had unjustly abused the chosen few, and that God was returning to Jerusalem, denoting the end of judgment and the resumption of blessing, would have been very encouraging to Zechariah’s audience. The declaration that my house will be rebuilt suggests that the function of this vision and the ones to follow was to energize the people to unite in rebuilding God’s temple. On a measuring line, see note at 2:1-5.

1:18-21 This scene continues the theme of reversal (v. 15). Whereas God had used the nations to judge Israel, now he turns against those nations (cp. Hab 2). The imagery of four horns that scattered the people so that no one could raise his head suggests the terrifying power and merciless ruin enacted by Israel’s enemies. The craftsmen designate skilled artisans (blacksmiths, if the horns were iron) who could cut off or carve up horns for various purposes. With the horns in the vision removed, the chosen people could return to the promised land.