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About the Author

Historical Background: Zechariah was a prophet who ministered in Judah during the early postexilic period, around 520 to 480 BC, shortly after the Babylonian exile. He was a contemporary of the prophet Haggai and worked closely with the returning Jewish community as they resettled Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple.

Zechariah identifies himself as “the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo” (Zechariah 1:1). Many scholars believe he came from a priestly family, since a man named Iddo is listed among the priests who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel (Nehemiah 12:4, 16). If this identification is correct, Zechariah would have been both a prophet and a priest, giving him unique insight into worship, temple restoration, and covenant faithfulness.

He began his prophetic ministry in the second year of King Darius of Persia, just two months after Haggai started prophesying (Zechariah 1:1; compare Haggai 1:1). This places him among the generation of Jews who returned from Babylonian captivity under Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest. Little else is known about the personal details of his life, family circumstances, or the specific years of his birth and death, and much of what can be said about him comes primarily from the content of his prophecies rather than direct biographical narrative.

The book was written to a community that had returned from seventy years of Babylonian exile but remained under Persian rule. The temple, destroyed in 586 BC, still lay in ruins by the time Zechariah began prophesying in 520 BC. The people were disheartened, distracted by their own needs, and uncertain whether God’s promises to Israel still stood.

Zechariah addressed this discouraged remnant directly, calling them to repentance, faithfulness, and renewed commitment to rebuilding the temple. His purpose was twofold: to motivate immediate action in completing the temple, and to lift the people’s eyes toward a much greater future hope, the coming Messiah who would establish justice, peace, and God’s eternal reign over all nations.

Introduction

Zechariah chapter 1 opens the prophetic book of Zechariah, written during the early years of the Persian period after the Jewish exiles had begun returning to Jerusalem. The chapter begins with a call to repentance, urging the people to turn back to God rather than repeating the failures of their ancestors. It then presents two significant visions given to the prophet.

The first vision features a man riding among myrtle trees, surrounded by horses of different colors, symbolizing divine messengers sent to observe the state of the earth. This vision reassures the people that God has not forgotten Jerusalem and promises comfort, restoration, and renewed favor toward the city and the temple.

The second vision involves four horns and four craftsmen. The horns represent the nations that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, while the craftsmen symbolize God’s power to bring down those oppressive forces. Together, these visions convey a message of hope, assuring the returning exiles that God is actively working to restore His people and rebuild what was lost.

Chapter 1 (BBE)

1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
2 The Lord has been very angry with your fathers:
3 And you are to say to them, These are the words of the Lord of armies: Come back to me, says the Lord of armies, and I will come back to you.
4 Be not like your fathers, to whom the voice of the earlier prophets came, saying, Be turned now from your evil ways and from your evil doings: but they did not give ear to me or take note, says the Lord.
5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they go on living for ever?
6 But my words and my orders, which I gave to my servants the prophets, have they not overtaken your fathers? and turning back they said, As it was the purpose of the Lord of armies to do to us, in reward for our ways and our doings, so has he done.
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
8 I saw in the night a man on a red horse, between the mountains in the valley, and at his back were horses, red, black, white, and of mixed colours.
9 Then I said, O my lord, what are these? And the angel who was talking to me said to me, I will make clear to you what they are.
10 And the man who was between the mountains, answering me, said, These are those whom the Lord has sent to go up and down through the earth.
11 And the man who was between the mountains, answering, said to the angel of the Lord, We have gone up and down through the earth, and all the earth is quiet and at rest.
12 Then the angel of the Lord, answering, said, O Lord of armies, how long will it be before you have mercy on Jerusalem and on the towns of Judah against which your wrath has been burning for seventy years?
13 And the Lord gave an answer in good and comforting words to the angel who was talking to me.
14 And the angel who was talking to me said to me, Let your voice be loud and say, These are the words of the Lord of armies: I am greatly moved about the fate of Jerusalem and of Zion.
15 And I am very angry with the nations who are living untroubled: for when I was only a little angry, they made the evil worse.
16 So this is what the Lord has said: I have come back to Jerusalem with mercies; my house is to be put up in her, says the Lord of armies, and a line is to be stretched out over Jerusalem.
17 And again let your voice be loud and say, This is what the Lord of armies has said: My towns will again be overflowing with good things, and again the Lord will give comfort to Zion and take Jerusalem for himself.
18 And lifting up my eyes I saw four horns.
19 And I said to the angel who was talking to me, What are these? And he said to me, These are the horns which have sent Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem in flight.
20 And the Lord gave me a vision of four metal-workers.
21 Then I said, What have these come to do? And he said, These are the horns which sent Judah in flight, and kept him from lifting up his head: but these men have come to send fear on them and to put down the nations who are lifting up their horns against the land of Judah to send it in flight.

Important Verses

  • Verse 3: God calls the people to return to Him, promising that if they do, He will return to them, a foundational theme of repentance and restoration.
  • Verse 6: A reminder that the words and warnings given through earlier prophets came true, reinforcing the reliability of God’s message.
  • Verse 14: The Lord expresses His deep jealousy and concern for Jerusalem and Zion, showing His enduring love for His people.
  • Verse 16: A promise that God will return to Jerusalem with mercy and that His house will be rebuilt, signaling hope for restoration.
  • Verse 17: God declares that His cities will again overflow with prosperity, and He will comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem once more.

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