Zechariah

Authorship

Zechariah claims to be the author of this book (Zech. 1:1, 7; 7:1). His name means “Yahweh has remembered.” He is the son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo (1:1). He is a younger prophet (2:4). He was both a prophet and priest (Neh. 12:10-16).

Nehemiah mentions that he was friends with Zerubbabel at the presence of the Temple’s rebuilding (Neh. 12:4). He was also a colleague of Haggai during the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra 5:1; Zech. 1:12). He was martyred by a mob (Mt. 23:35; 2 Chron. 24:20-21), because of criticizing the immorality of the people.

First and Second Zechariah?

Critics claim that chapters 1-8 are written by Zechariah 1, and chapters 9-14 are written by Zechariah 11 (much like higher criticism of Isaiah). They base this skepticism on two primary reasons:

First, chapters 9-14 are heavily apocalyptic. Critics see this genre as the latest in Hebrew literature. Once the Jews realized that they were not going to be liberated, they “invented” this genre of future liberation.

Second, there are language dissimilarities between the first and second half (1-8; 9-14). This, they argue, serves as evidence that these are actually two authors—not one.

Defense of singular authorship

Like the arguments for a dual authorship of Isaiah (see “Authorship of Isaiah”), these arguments for Zechariah are inconclusive for a number of reasons:

First, there are more similarities between the two halves than differences. The expression “says Yahweh” occurs 14 times in the first half and 6 times in the second half. The expression “the eyes of Yahweh” occurs twice in the first half and once in the second. The title “Yahweh of hosts” occurs three times in both halves. The Hebrew verb yasab (“to dwell”) occurs twice in both halves. Archer notes, “Very seldom does this verb have that meaning outside of Zechariah.” Moreover, Zechariah is written “pure Hebrew.” If it was written after Alexander’s conquest, we would expect many more Greek influences on the text.

Second, because this book was written over a 30 to 40 year span, we should expect language differences. An old Zechariah is not going to write the exact same way as a young Zechariah.

Third, because this book was written before and after the rebuilding of the Temple, we should expect differences. Since the first half deals with the rebuilding of the Temple in one scenario and the second half deals with the future of Israel in another scenario, we should expect differences in the content and style of the book.

Date

Zechariah most likely wrote chapters 1-8 between 520-519 BC, and he chapters 9-14 in 480 BC. He predicts the Grecian Empire (9:13), but this shouldn’t mean that he wrote after Greece was established as an empire, unless we believe predictive prophecy is impossible (see “Predictive Prophecy”).

What is Zechariah all about?

Zechariah wrote after the exile from Israel. He encouraged the people to rebuild the Temple (with his friend Haggai). These two were like a tag team that helped rally the Jews into building their Temple. Zechariah’s main message is that Israel will survive the Exile, because they are the people of the Messiah. The Messiah will come and judge the Gentile nations for their brutality against the people of Israel. It is a book of hope and trust that God will set things right. This is why chapters 9-14 “constitute the Old Testament section most quoted in the passion narratives of the canonical Gospels.” Chapters 1-8 are all messages that Zechariah gave during the rebuilding of the Temple.