Zechariah is divided into three major parts 1-6, 7-8, and 9-14.[1]
In the opening message (1:1-6) Zechariah reminded the people that Yhwh “was very angry with your fathers” (1:2). They were called on to not be like their fathers and to repent. The returned exiles were not idolators as their fathers had been. Webb highlights the nature of their sin:
It was the sin of behaving just like ordinary people who have no interest in the kingdom of God. In other words, it was of being normal! And the point of Zechariah’s strong language is that this was just as bad as the sins of idolatry and hypocrisy that the forefathers had been guilty of. It aroused God’s anger just as much, and was every bit as deserving of his judgment.[2]
Zechariah 1:7-6:15 is a series of eight visions that occurred on the night and early morning of February 14-15, 519 BC.[3] These visions were given five months after the exiles recommenced temple-building after opposition had halted their efforts (Hag. 1:14-15).[4] They occurred two months after Haggai predicted that Yhwh would “shake the heavens and the earth,” “destroy the strength of kingdoms,” and “overthrow the chariots and their riders” and the horses.[5]
In the first vision (1:7-17) Zechariah saw a man on a red horse among some myrtle trees. Behind him were horses of various colors (presumably with riders). Since the colors are mentioned some interpreters think they are symbolic. Others, however, note that in the interpretation that follows nothing is made of the colors.[6] Wolters astutely notes, “It is clear that the colors are an integral part of Visions 1 and 6, since the prophet took great care to note them, but it is best to resist the temptation to speculate as to their significance.”[7] Similarly, some understand the myrtle trees to symbolize Israel or blessing.[8] Others deny that the myrtles have symbolic significance[9] and may simply locate this scene in the Kidron valley.[10] Wolters proposes that the myrtle trees evoke the Persian “garden palace at Pasargadeae.” The referent of this garden palace symbolism is God’s heavenly throne room.[11]
Zechariah asked the man seated on the red horse who the other horsemen are.[12] The man identified them as those “whom Yhwh has sent to patrol the earth.” Wolters comments, “Their riders were couriers, heavenly counterparts of the mounted Persian couriers who were a familiar sight near Jerusalem in Zechariah’s day, who had been sent out by the Lord to report back to their divine commander on the conditions that prevailed on earth.”[13]
The patrol then gave their report to the man on the red horse, now identified as the Angel of Yhwh. They reported, “all the earth remains at rest” (1:11). Verse 12 reveals that this was a disappointing report. Some suggest that it is disappointing because Haggai had predicted that in a short time God would “shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land,” even “all nations” (Hag. 2:6-7). But instead, the nations were at rest and the Jews were still subjugated to a foreign power.[14] Though there was unrest early in Darius’s reign, the empire was now at rest. Several interpreters note that “the earlier prophets use[d] ‘quiet’ (šōqāṭet) to describe the situation that will accompany restoration after the exile (Isa. 14:7; 32:17; Jer. 30:10; 46:27; Ezek. 38:11–12).”[15] But even though the people have returned from exile, it is the nations, not God’s people, who are experiencing the quiet.
The reference to seventy years in verse 12 indicates that the angel of Yhwh still saw Israel as in some sense within the seventy-year exilic period. Jonathan Edwards observed,
It was several times foretold, that the duration of the captivity should be 70 years; and also, that after 70 years were accomplished, God would destroy Babylon (Jer. 25:11–12 ff.). But this period had manifestly several different beginnings, and several endings. Thus from Jehoiakim’s captivity [2 Chron. 36:5–8] to Cyrus’ decree, for the return of the Jews, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem [2 Chron. 36:22–23], was 70 years. And from Zedekiah’s captivity [2 Kgs. 25:1–7] to Darius’ decree (Ezra 6), 70 years. And from the last carrying away of all (Jer. 52:30), to the finishing and dedication of the temple [Ezra 6], was also 70 years.[16]
The duration from the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC to this vision in 520 BC is sixty-seven years.[17] The seventy years would end in 516 BC with the completion of the temple.[18]
Yhwh responded to the angel of Yhwh’s lament with “gracious and comforting words” that confirmed his intention to judge the nations, re-establish the temple, rebuild Jerusalem (cf. the measuring line),[19] and again choose Jerusalem (an allusion to Isaiah 14:1).[20] God did fulfill this word during the post-exilic period, but, as the allusion to Isaiah 14:1 indicates, a much fuller fulfillment remains future.
In the second vision (1:18-21) Zechariah saw four horns. The angel told Zechariah that those horns scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem (cf. Joel 3:1-2).[21] If the horns, which signify power, are seen as belonging to two animals, the four horns would represent Assyria and Babylon, which scattered the people in exile.[22] However, the vision may be more general, with the four horns representing any power that persecuted God’s people.[23] Zechariah was also shown four craftsmen who were to terrify and cast down those horns (metonymy for the beasts that have them). The craftsmen are not identified, but this is a further assurance to Zechariah that the nations will not remain at rest.
In the third vision (2:1-5) Zechariah saw a man with a measuring line going to measure Jerusalem. Boda notes that the second and third visions flow out of the first:
While the second vision report in 2:1–4(1:18–21) built on the oracle in the first vision report regarding Yahweh’s anger with the carefree nations (1:15), the vision report in 2:5–9(1–5) builds on the oracle in the first vision report regarding Yahweh’s promise to take up dwelling in Jerusalem and rebuild both temple and city. The reference to “a measuring line” in 1:16 is picked up here in the third vision report and developed in detail.[24]
The man with the measuring line was told that the city was going to expand beyond its walls. It would need no walls because Yhwh would be a wall of fire around the city, and he would be the glory in the midst of Jerusalem. This was ultimately an eschatological prediction. The glory of Yhwh did not return to the second temple, apart from Jesus’s brief visits to the temple—often in judgment. Furthermore, his departure from the temple just before the Olivet discourse is worded in such a way as to evoke Ezekiel’s vision of the departure of the glory of Yhwh from the temple to the Mount of Olives. Jesus, in the Olivet Discourse, predicted, not that Yhwh would be a wall of fire around Jerusalem, but that the Romans would destroy Jerusalem (which they did in AD 70).
Zechariah 2:6-13 is a message preached in light of the first three visions. Zechariah called on the people to flee from Babylon to Zion. Yhwh had promised to protect his people and judge those who have harmed them. The vision then looked to the last day when Yhwh would dwell in their midst—leading the people to rejoice and sing for joy. In that day “many nations shall join themselves to Yhwh,” and he will call them “my people.” This is an Old Testament indication that in the new covenant era, Gentiles would not need to become Jews to be part of the people of God. Even so, Yhwh “will again choose Jerusalem” as his dwelling place.
In the fourth vision (3:1-10) Zechariah saw Joshua, the high priest of his day, standing before the Angel or Messenger of Yhwh. The Messenger of Yhwh is Christ. Standing to Joshua’s right hand was the Accuser (the Satan, in Hebrew). Yhwh spoke to the Accuser: “Yhwh rebuke you, Accuser. Yhwh who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” For Yhwh to rebuke Satan by Yhwh is an Old Testament hint of God as Triune. Note also that Yhwh did not appeal to anything in Joshua to counteract Satan’s accusations. Rather, he appealed to his own work of salvation. Indeed, Joshua was standing there in excrement smeared garments. These garments symbolize iniquity—the iniquity of the nation which Joshua represents. The Angel/Messenger of Yhwh commanded these garments to be taken from him and commanded Joshua to be clothed with pure vestments. Surely it is significant that the Messenger of Yhwh, Christ, has the filthy garments removed and the pure vestments replaced—the clean garments needed to have access to God’s temple courts in order carry out the atoning work of the priesthood. In addition, it is significant that the high priest’s name is Joshua, which is the Hebrew name rendered in Greek as Jesus. He typified Jesus who bore our iniquities and who provided atonement for sin. He is told of the one whom he typified, “my servant the Branch.” A stone is probably collective, referring to multiple stones, and the seven pairs of eyes refer to fourteen surfaces on the stones.[25] This likely refers to the fourteen engraved stones that the high priest wore on his ephod (two on the shoulders, twelve on his chest). This symbolized the priest bearing the people into the presence of Yhwh. But this inscription refers to the removal of the iniquity of the land in a single day. This looks forward not to the accomplishment of redemption but to its application to Israel in the last day (cf. 12:10-13:1). This is made clear by the last verse of the chapter, which refers to the restoration of creation: “In that day, declares Yhwh of hosts, everyone of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree” (3:10).
The fourth vision spoke of a priest being prepared to make atonement; now the fifth vision (4:1-14) speaks of the rebuilding of the temple. Zechariah saw the temple lampstand being fed oil from two olive trees that stood on either side. When he asked the significance of the vision, he was told “This is the word of Yhwh to Zerubbabel [the governor of Judah in Zechariah’s day]: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Yhwh of hosts.” Zerubbabel was to lead the people in completing the building of the temple. This seemingly insurmountable task, which had halted, was going to be accomplished by Zerubbabel. The seven lamps on the lampstand represented the eyes of Yhwh, which range through the whole earth. This not only hearkens back to the first vision, but it indicates Yhwh’s omniscience and ability to know and meet any world events that could hinder the temple building. The two olive trees refer to two “sons of oil” (4:14, ESV, mg) that feed the lampstand. This may be a reference to Joshua and Zerubbabel, two anointed ones who led the temple rebuilding project, or to Haggai and Zechariah, two prophets who received prophetic words from the Spirit which were used to bring the temple project to completion.
In the sixth vision (5:1-4) Zechariah saw a flying scroll thirty feet by fifteen feet in size. It contained the curse of the covenant. Two sins are highlighted, stealing (a sin against other men) and swearing falsely (a sin against God’s name), which represent all sins.[26] Those who continue in these sins will come under the curses of the Mosaic covenant.
The seventh vision (5:5-11) is linked closely to the sixth. Zechariah saw a basket which contained a woman (possibly an idol of a goddess) which represented wickedness. This basket was picked up by two women with wings of a stork and flown to Shinar (Babylon) where it had a house/temple built for it. In Ezekiel, Israel’s wickedness drove Yhwh from the temple. In this vision Yhwh has wickedness removed from the land and returned to Babylon, which from Genesis to Revelation symbolizes the locus of opposition to God.
The eighth and final vision (6:1-8) sees the reappearance of the multicolored horses that featured in the first vision. This time they are pulling chariots—instruments of war.[27] They emerge from between two bronze mountains. The symbolism here is unclear, but because the chariots seem to be coming from the presence of God the mountains may symbolize the entrance to God’s abode, with the bronze composition recalling the two bronze pillars that stood at the entrance of the temple.[28] The horses and chariots are identified as “the four winds of heaven” (6:5). Four in connection with “winds” probably refers to the four points of the compass and indicates comprehensiveness.[29] The image of wind signifies “God’s destructive power” (Isa. 11:15; Eze. 1:4; Jer. 49:36).[30] The word translated winds can also be translated spirits. Though winds is the better translation given its appearance within idiom the idiom of “four winds,” the fact that the horses and chariots symbolize angelic powers indicate that the connotation of spirits is probably also intended.[31] The black horses went to the north, followed by the white horses. The dappled horses went to the south. The red horses seem to have remained behind as either the commander (cf. 1:8a) or as reserve (cf. 1:8b).[32] They were sent to execute judgment on the nations, especially on Babylon to the north, and probably on Egypt to the south.[33] Iain Duguid, linking this vision to the previous one, sees an eschatological fulfillment to this vision:
This vision thus answers the question implicit in the previous one, to which it is linked by the repeated use of ‘go out’ (yâṣâ’). In that vision, idolatry was driven (carried) out of God’s land to the land of Babel, where a temple was prepared for it (5:5-11). The focus there was on the purification of God’s people, with idolatry no longer existing in their midst as a threat to God’s presence. Now the focus shifts to answer the question: ‘Will these idolators possess Babylon for ever, in an ongoing enmity to God? Will there always be a threatening location from which to launch regular attacks on God’s people form the uttermost north, as Gog does in Ezekiel 38-39?’ To which Zechariah’s vision responds: ‘No, God will ultimately send out his power to the uttermost corners of the earth, and his Spirit will reign throughout the world, even in the place where now the seat of idolatry is located.’ The nations that at present feel secure in their opposition to God are in for an unpleasant surprise when God rouses himself to action (cf. 1:15, 20).[34]
The previous vision highlighted Babylon as the locus of opposition to Yhwh. This vision adds Egypt to Babylon. Within Revelation, the trumpet and bowl judgments are modeled from the Egyptian plagues, and Babylon plays a significant role in Revelation as the locus of opposition to God.
Zechariah 6:9-15 closes out this first major section with an undated commission for Zechariah to perform a sign prophecy. Zechariah was to take silver and gold from certain exiles, make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the high priest. He was then to say to Joshua, “Behold the man whose name is the Branch.” He is not calling Joshua the Branch. He is telling Joshua about the one whom he prefigures. This Branch will combine in his person the offices of priest and king. He will rule from the temple. This looks forward to the future reign of Jesus from Jerusalem. When the text says, “And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both,” either the offices of priest and king are being personified and pictured as joined together in a covenant[35] or the establishment of Jesus as priest-king is being rooted in a covenant of peace made between Yhwh and the Branch.[36]
Zechariah 7-8 is the next major section of the book. It is marked off with a superscription that dates it two years after the night visions. The section is introduced in 7:1-3 by a request for Zechariah to clarify whether some fasts that had been instituted to mourn the destruction of the temple should continue now that the seventy years and the construction of the temple were nearing an end. In the first part of his response to this question (7:4-14), Zechariah asked two rhetorical questions. His point is that they were not fasting from God when they fasted, and that since these were voluntary fasts, they could make their own decisions about fasting.[37] Yhwh then reminded them of what he had taught their forefathers: what God really valued was justice, kindness, mercy, and avoiding oppression of the vulnerable. When the people hardened their hearts and rejected this word, God exiled them. In the second part of his response to this question (8:1-19), Yhwh said that he would return to Zion to dwell. He described the prosperity of the people in those days. But most importantly, “they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and righteousness” (8:8). Thus, the days of fasting will be turned into days of feasting. In the final part of this section (8:20-23) Yhwh speaks of Gentile people coming to seek Yhwh in Jerusalem.
Zechariah 9-14 is the final part of the book. The organization of this major section is more opaque than the preceding parts of Zechariah. However, it can be organized into five major sections (9:1-17; 10:3-12; 11:4-16; 12:1-13:6; 14:1-21) separated by hinge sections (10:1-2; 11:1-3; 11:17; 13:7-9).[38]
Chapter 9 is the first section of this final part of Zechariah. It can be divided into three subsections: 9:1-8, 9-10, 11-17. Zechariah 9:1-8 details judgments against the nations, including Syria, Tyre and Sidon, and Philistia. These judgments may be historical. For instance, the progression of conquests is thought to match those of Alexander the Great.[39] However, verses 7-8 shifts to the salvation of the Gentiles. The Philistines will cease from abominations (like eating meat with the blood in it) and will become part of the people of God. In the time in which Yhwh is dwelling in his temple, no more oppressor will march through Philistia. Zechariah 9:9-10 calls on Zion to rejoice greatly because her king is coming. This passage was fulfilled in part when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, but it looks beyond the first coming to the day when war will end, and the King in Jerusalem will reign not only over Israel but over the entire earth. Zechariah 9:11-17 looks forward to the final return from the ultimate exile due to the blood of the new covenant. Some see in the reference to conflict with the Greeks, Israel’s struggle during the Hasmonean period.[40] If so, this would be typological of God’s eschatological defeat of Israel’s enemies. They are looking forward to the day when Yhwh will be their savior shepherd and they will be jewels in his crown as they rule with him in a flourishing creation.
Chapter 9 closed with the promise of agricultural prosperity in the new creation. The hinge section that begins Chapter 10 opens with command to ask this of Yhwh rather than to seek this of false gods and false prophets. (10:1-2).
These wicked shepherds or leaders in Judah will be judged by Yhwh (10:4-12). Yhwh will equip Israel to go forth in battle and will bring his people back to the land from all the nations.
Zechariah 11:1-3 is a hinge passage. The land is made desolate beginning in the north, adjacent to Lebanon and then heading down through Bashan and into the valley of the Jordan (the thicket of the Jordan).[41] The desolation of the land causes the wicked shepherds to “wail” because “their glory is ruined” (11:3). Given the following passage, this is likely a reference to Rome’s repression of Jewish rebels, including the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem.
In Zechariah 11:4-16 the prophet was commissioned to carry out a sign-act in which he represented two shepherds, one good and one foolish. The contrast between a good shepherd and foolish shepherds calls to mind Ezekiel 34 where Yhwh promised to displace the evil shepherds and shepherd Israel himself. However, in this passage the good shepherd does not rescue the flock from the bad shepherds. Instead, the good shepherd views the flock as deserving judgment. The flock will be handed over to the enemy (11:4-6). While the good shepherd did bring about the destruction of three evil shepherds (perhaps the chief priests, scribes, and elders who made up the Sanhedrin),[42] he was detested by the people and he was “weary” with their disobedience (11:8, NIV). So he rejected being their shepherd and gave them up to destruction (11:9). This mutual rejection most likely refers to the Jewish rejection of Jesus as their Messiah during his first advent and his delivery of them up to judgment, in the first place by the Romans. The first staff that the good shepherd had taken (11:7) was named “Favor,” and he broke it to signify that a covenant which restrained the nations from invading Israel was annulled (11:11). The good shepherd would not even require his wages before quitting, but they weighed out a slave wage (what he sarcastically called “the lordly price”). He threw the thirty pieces of silver into the temple, to the potter. This obscure statement alludes to Jeremiah 18-19: “In that book, ‘the potter’ signifies God’s right to judge Israel in exile. His appearance again in Zechariah signifies a repetition of the same event: Israel’s rejection of Messiah will cause the nation to enter deeper into the exile.”[43] This prophecy was fulfilled when Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, which he later threw back into the temple. Since it was blood money, the priests used it to buy a potter’s field (Mt 26:15; 27:3-10; Acts 1:16-19). Finally, the good shepherd broke his second staff, Union, “annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.” This is a reversal of the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 where two staffs representing Judah and Israel are joined. This is a sign that the exile would continue.[44]
Then Zechariah was to take up the equipment of a foolish shepherd. Dunham notes,
The fool is corrupt morally and religiously, more so than the inexperienced simpleton פְּתיִ) ) who is merely naïve. The fool is characterized by his arrogance (12:15; 14:13; 29:9), obstinacy (1:7; 15:5; 16:22; 27:22), aggression (12:16; 20:3), boastfulness (10:8, 10, 14; 27:3), and disregard for sacred things (1:7; 14:9). The fear of YHWH, the fundamental principle of Proverbs and linked there to knowing God (9:10), is a disposition the fool spurns (1:7).[45]
This characterization of the shepherd is a characterization of Antichrist.[46] Before Israel can experience the end of exile (Eze 37) and being shepherded by Yhwh (Eze 34), it will suffer under the shepherding of Antichrist, who will not care for the flock, but will devour it.
Zechariah 11:17 is a hinge verse. It continues the theme of the worthless shepherd from the previous section, but instead of looking at the harm he does to Israel, it turns to pronounce a woe upon him and to declare that His military power will be cursed by Yhwh.[47] The next section will see the military defeat of the nations that gather against Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12:1-13:6 begins by setting this section in a cosmic context: Thus declares Yhwh, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him. This emphasis on creation prepares the reader for the final chapters of the book which deal with the bringing about of the new creation. The next verses (12:2-9) envision Jerusalem under siege by “all the surrounding peoples.” And yet, the nations that come up against Jerusalem will be destroyed. Jerusalem will be protected and inhabited. In conjunction with this Yhwh says, “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication” (LSB), or, as most other translations read, “a spirit of grace and supplication” (NIV). In either case, this is a promise that the new covenant will be applied to Israel. Ezekiel, for instance, promised that the pouring out of the Spirit would result in a new spirit within the people. The result will be that “they will look to me, the one they have pierced” (net). Though most translations speak of looking on, the Hebrew most likely refers to looking to in faith and hope. The me that that they are looking to is Yhwh. How the original readers would have understood the idea of piercing Yhwh is unknown; it may have been a mystery to them. However, in light of the New Testament the meaning is clear. Yhwh was pierced in the person of Jesus, as he died on the cross. The people will mourn for their sin, and a fountain of cleansing will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem (another new covenant promise) (13:1). Chapter 12 was focused specifically on Jerusalem and the house of David, but chapter 13 indicates that this new covenant work will encompass the whole land. Idols and false prophets will be removed from the land on pain of death. False prophets will be executed, and those who were false prophets will claim otherwise.
Zechariah 13:7-9 is another hinge passage about the Shepherd. It first looks back to the one who was pierced by speaking of a sword that will strike the shepherd. This clarifies that the one pierced in 12:10 is the Shepherd. Zech. 3:8-9 said Yhwh’s servant the Branch would “remove the iniquity of this land in a single day,” which is what 12:10ff. recounted. Zechariah 6:12-13 revealed that the Branch would rebuild the temple and reign as a priest-king.[48] So the Shepherd is the Davidic Messiah. But the pierced one is also Yhwh, according to 12:10. And yet, in 12:10 Yhwh can refer to the pierced one in third person. And here in 13:7 he calls him “my associate” (NASB, LSB, CSB, NRSV). Who could be God’s associate other than another person of the Godhead. Thus, the Shepherd of Zechariah is Yhwh incarnate as the Davidic Son. The striking of the shepherd with the sword is the crucifixion and the scattering of the sheep is the scattering of the disciples, for this is how Jesus interpreted this verse in Matthew 26:31/Mark 14:27. This hinge passage then looks forward to “a future period when Israel will undergo a special purifying discipline, as silver and gold are refined (vv. 8-9). The surviving remnant will be the Lord’s people (v. 9).”[49] Thus this hinge passage clarifies the piercing of Yhwh by linking it to the shepherd, recaps the gist of chapter 12 in which Israel is being refined, in part, through an invasion.
Zechariah 14 begins with the invasion of Jerusalem by the nations described in chapter 12, but the first two verses indicate that initially Jerusalem suffers conquest. The turning point comes in verse 3 when Yhwh goes out to fight against the nations. Verse 4 clarifies that it is Yhwh in the person of Christ who will go out and fight against the nations, because his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which is the place where he ascended to heaven. The splitting of the Mount of Olives is consistent with other passages that indicate that at this time there will be “”a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake” (Rev 16:18; cf. Rev 11:13).[50] When Yhwh comes, “all the holy ones,” a reference to saints or angels or both, with come with him.
Verses 6-7 seem to speak of the new creation inaugurated by the return of Christ. Other passages indicate that the heavenly bodies were significantly affected during the day of Yhwh, and that may be what is in view with the statement, “in that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle” (NASB). When verse 7 says, “it shall be one day” (NKJV), it is alluding to the first day of creation “there was evening and there was morning, one day” (NASB, LSB; cf. CSB).[51] This day was dark, but because of Yhwh’s arrival on that day, there will be light at evening time. Thus, after the de-creation of the day of Yhwh, this marks the beginning of the first day of a new creation. In that day rivers will flow from Jerusalem just as rivers flowed from Eden. In that day Yhwh will be king over all the earth. Of course, Yhwh has always been king over all the earth, but the context here indicates that he will be king over all the earth in the person of the Son of Man. Further, the remainder of verse 9, with its allusion to the shema, indicates that finally the reality of that confession will be manifest to the whole earth.
Verses 10-11 speak of topographical changes in which Jerusalem is elevated while the land around it is flattened. The point seems to be the expansion of Jerusalem so that it is full of inhabitants. Verse 11 concludes that Jerusalem will down “be inhabited in security” and never again will it be “devoted to destruction” (LSB).
Verses 12-15 returns the focus to the nations attacking Jerusalem. They will be defeated by means of a plague, a word that calls to mind the plagues of Egypt. The striking of “all the peoples” at once may recall the destruction of the army of Assyria by the Angel of Yhwh (Isa 37:36).[52] The panic which leads the invaders to turn on one another recalls Yhwh’s defeat of Midian through Gideon. And the plundering of the nations recalls the plundering of the Egyptians in the exodus.
Verses 16-19 reveal that there were Gentiles from the nations that went up against Jerusalem that, with redeemed Israel, survived and entered into the new creation. Many of them are worshipers of Yhwh. Zechariah specifically highlights yearly worship connected with the Feast of Booths. Johann Gerhard, the great 17th century Lutheran theologian, captures well the significance of this feast:
On this day they lived in tents built of leafy branches in memory of God’s benefit when He caused the Israelites, whom He had led out of Egypt through the wilderness, to dwell in the very fertile and pleasant land of Canaan. This also served as a type of the very blessed and joyful dwelling place which the devout await in the eternal dwellings.[53]
This feast celebrated dwelling in the land of Canaan, a type of the new creation. Thus, just as Passover was transformed in the new covenant era into the regular observance of the Lord’s Supper, so the Feast of Booths, in this period, will be transformed into a yearly ordinance celebrating the inauguration of the new creation. However, these verses raise the possibility that some nations will fail to observe this ordinance and will suffer judgment: draught and plague. This indicates that these verses are describing the first phase of the new creation, which Revelation 20 identifies as the Millennium.
The final verses of the book speak of the pervasiveness of holiness in Jerusalem. The inscription “Holy to Yhwh” was worn on the forehead of the high priest. But now this inscription is found on the bells of the horses and every pot in Jerusalem and Judah. Holiness will be comprehensive in this day. The book closes with the statement, “And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of hosts in that day” (LSB). This is not saying that Rahab or other Canaanites who had believed on the Lord will be excluded from the house of Yhwh. The point is that Israel was supposed to purge the land of unbelieving Canaanites during the conquest, and in this day the conquest will be complete. The type is fulfilled. No unbeliever will be in the new creation, which is the house of Yhwh, in that day.[54]
[1] Wolters, HCOT, 26-27; Petterson, AOTC, 98. Some follow this basic outline while separating out 1:1-6 as an introductory segment: Boda, NICOT, viii-ix; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 366.
[2] Barry G. Webb, The Message of Zechariah (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2008), 64.
[3] Wolters, HCOT, 26.
[4] McComiskey 1998:1034; Klein 2008: 94.
[5] Hill 2008: 536.
[6] Calvin 1999: 33; Merrill 1994: 103; McComiskey 1998: 1034-35; Klein 2008: 98; Petterson 2015: 115; Boda 2015: 121.
[7] Wolters, 2014, 49.
[8] Klein 2008: 98.
[9] McComiskey 1999: 1034.
[10] Hill TOTC: 132.
[11] Wolters 2014: 45.
[12] McComiskey 1998: 1035-36.
[13] Wolters 2014: 45.
[14] KD, 10:514; Barker 1985: 611-12; Mackay 2003: 74; Klein 2008: 100-101; Hill 2012: 133-34.
[15] Petterson 2015: 116; cf. Barker 1985: 612.
[16] Edwards 1977: 408; cf. KD 10:514-15; Wolters 2014: 64-64; Boda 2015: 137.
[17] McComiskey 1998: 1039.
[18] Merrill 1994: 105; Klein 2008: 102; Wolters 2014: 64-64; Petterson 2015: 116-17; Boda 2015: 137.
[19] Klien 2008: 107.
[20] Wolters 2014: 69.
[21] Petterson, AOTC, 122.
[22] Boda, NICOT, 156, 160; Tully, Reading the Prophets as Christian Scripture, 367. However, if the horns represented Assyria and Babylon, they had already been destroyed.
[23] Klein, NAC, 110.
[24] Boda, NICOT, 167.
[25] Wolters, HCOT, 102-3. Klein suggests something similar. He takes the stone with seven pairs of eyes to refer to fourteen facets on a single stone. He also connects the image to the fourteen stones on the ephod. Klein, NAC, 149-50. Both views come to the same significance, but Wolters is to be preferred if he is correct that “the technique of faceting gems was unknown in antiquity.” Wolters, HCOT, 105.
[26] See Klein.
[27] Merrill 1994: 182-3; McComiskey 1998: 1106; Klein 2008: 184; Hill 2012: 171; Petterson 2015: 175; Boda 2016: 356, 369.
[28] Hill 2012; 171; Petterson 2015: 176; cf. Merrill 1994: 188; Klein 2008: 185; Wolters 2014: 173; Boda 2016: 360.
[29] McComiskey 1998: 1106; Hill 2012: 172; Petterson 2015: 175; Boda 2016: 360.
[30] McComiskey 1998: 1107.
[31] Wolters 2014: 175; cf. Hill 2012: 172.
[32] Merrill 1994: 185-86; McComiskey 1998: 1109; Boda 2016: 377; cf. Wolters 2014: 176.
[33] Wolters 2014: 172; Boda 2016:376.
[34] Duguid 2010: 124.
[35] Calvin, 160; Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible, 100; Vos, RD, 3:8; Barker, EBC, 772; Klein, NAC, 204; Hill TOTC, 177-78; Shepherd, KEL, 428.
[36] Witsius, XX; Wilhemus a Brakel, 1:”254-55; WJE 24:813-14; Kline, Glory in our Midst, 223-24; Fesko, The Trinity and the Covenant of Redemption, 53-77; Richard, “The Covenant of Redemption,” in Covenant Theology, 52-53; Marko Jauhiainen, “Turban and Crown Lost and Regained: Ezekiel 21:29-32 and Zechariah’s Zemah.” JBL 127 (2008): 501-11..
[37] See Wolters, HCOT, 220-21.
[38] Kyle C. Dunham, “Zechariah 11 and the Eschatological Shepherds,” DBTJ, 23 (2018): 11. Dunham arranges these sections chiastically, and I don’t follow him in that.
[39] Wolters, HCOT, 256.
[40] Wolters, HCOT, 257.
[41] Dunham, “Zechariah 11,” 13.
[42] Dunham, “Zechariah 11,” 25.
[43] Chou, “Zechariah 11:4-14,” Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, 1275.
[44] Chou, “Zechariah 11:4-14,” Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy, 1280.
[45] Dunham, “Zechariah 11,” 33.
[46] Dunham, “Zechariah 11,” 35.
[47] Dunham, Zechariah 11,” 38.
[48] See Petterson, AOTC, 264.
[49] Barker, EBC, 686
[50] The city in Revelation 11:13 is clearly Jerusalem. Many interpreters take the city in Revelation 16:18-19 to be Rome (=”Babylon”); however, I wonder if the city is Jerusalem.
[51] Merrill, WEC, 351-52.
[52] Klein, NAC, 417.
[53] Johann Gerhard, Theological Commonplaces, XVI, Treatise II, ch. 2, sec. 4, §22.
[54] This has to be looking beyond the millennium to the new creation. In the new creation, the new Jerusalem is the holy of holies and the rest of the creation is the temple of Yhwh.