Zechariah 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Zechariah, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. As the first of the total 14 chapters in the book, this chapter is a part of a section consisting of Zechariah 1-8. It records an introduction and the first two of eight visions received by the prophet.
There are some differences in [|verse numbering] of this chapter in English Bibles and Hebrew texts: This article generally follows the common numbering in Christian English Bible versions, with notes to the numbering in Hebrew Bible versions.
This chapter contains two "date formulas", in [|verses 1] and 7, which place the recorded events in the year of 520-519 BCE, "in the second year of Darius", the king of Persia. Accordingly, Zechariah was a contemporary of the prophet Haggai, confirming the records in and.
Verse 1: "in the eighth month" corresponds to mid October–mid November 520 BCE.
Verse 7: "the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month" corresponds to a date between mid-January and mid-February 519 BCE.
Preface (1:1–6)
Verses 1–6 serve as an "Introduction" to the subsequent visions and prophecies received by Zechariah with a call for the people to repentance. This section together with chapters 7 and 8 form an editorial frame of the book.
Verse 1
"In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius": corresponds to mid October-mid November 520 BCE. Two months before, "in the sixth month", Haggai, conjointly with Zechariah, exhorted Zerubbabel and the people to resume the intermitted building of the temple, despite the partial discouragement of the Persian Government, and "in the seventh month" Haggai conveyed the magnificent promise about 'the later glory of the temple'. However, Haggai also warned them, that the conversion was not complete, and Zechariah "in the eighth month", as well as Haggai "in the ninth month", urges a “thorough and inward repentance,” as the condition of receiving God’s promises.
"The eighth month": it was called Bul before the Captivity, and afterward Marchesvan; corresponds to parts of October and November, usually a time of rain in the area.
"Darius": Darius son of Hystaspes, and the third Persian monarch: see Haggai 1:1; and ; not to be confused with Darius the Mede. but.
"Zechariah": The name 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. He is called "the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo" ; but simply "the son of Iddo" in and. 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. 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. This was mentioned by Jesus Christ as recorded in : "...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". There is another Zechariah son of the priest Jehoiada that was murdered as recorded in, 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.
"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.
Vision of horses (1:7–17)
This section records the first of Zechariah's eight night visions, which are his primary and most distinctive feature, with a high literary form and a standardized format, structured in a concentric pattern. In the first vision, the earth is peaceful and expectant, patrolled by the four horsemen. The 'seventy years of the Lord's withholding mercy' are fulfilled, the people are returned and the temple is to be rebuilt.
Verse [|7]
"the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month... in the second year of Darius": Corresponds to mid-January to mid-February 519 BCE, exactly five months after the building of the temple was resumed, and two months after Haggai's last prophecy.
"the month Sebat": The Hebrew month "Shevat" answered to parts of January and February. It was three months since Zechariah had been called to the prophetical office, and two months after Haggai delivered his final prophecies, so now Zechariah carries on the revelation. The term is Chaldee, meaning a "shoot," namely, the month when trees begin to "shoot" or "bud". Called Sabat in the Septuagint version, and in the Apocrypha.
Verse 12
Cross reference:,,,
Vision of the horns and craftmen (1:18–21)
The second vision contains the symbolism of the 'powerful nations that have terrorized the chosen people' and the 'counterforces raised by YHWH'.
Verse 20
"Craftsmen" : from Hebrew חָרָשִֽׁים, ; KJV: "carpenters"; NET Bible: "blacksmiths"; a generic term which can mean "metalworker, smith, armorer".
Verse 21
"These four craftsmen": lit. "these", referring to the four persons in [|previous verse]. As the horns are perhaps made of strong metal, they can only be cut off by "craftsmen" or "blacksmiths", who represent 'deliverers whom the Lord raises up, such as kings like Cyrus of Persia '.
