Zechariah 1:12
1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, 1 how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem 2 and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” 3
Zechariah 8:13
8:13 And it will come about that just as you (both Judah and Israel) were a curse to the nations, so I will save you and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid! Instead, be strong!’
Zechariah 8:19
8:19 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth 4 months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’
Zechariah 9:7
9:7 I will take away their abominable religious practices; 5 then those who survive will become a community of believers in our God, 6 like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.
Zechariah 9:13
9:13 I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! 7 I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, 8 like a warrior’s sword.
Zechariah 10:3
10:3 I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats. For the Lord who rules over all has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse.
Zechariah 12:4-5
12:4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses 9 of the nations 10 with blindness.
12:5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a means of strength to us through their God, the Lord who rules over all.’
1 sn Note that here the angel of the Lord is clearly distinct from the Lord who rules over all himself.
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 sn The seventy years refers to the predicted period of Babylonian exile, a period with flexible beginning and ending points depending on the particular circumstances in view (cf. Jer 25:1; 28:1; 29:10; Dan 9:2). Here the end of the seventy years appears to be marked by the completion of the temple in 516 b.c., exactly seventy years after its destruction in 586.
4 sn The fasts of the fifth and seventh months, mentioned previously (7:5), are listed here along with the observances of the fourth and tenth months. The latter commemorated the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians on January 15, 588 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1), and the former the breach of the city walls on or about July 18, 586 b.c. (Jer 39:2-5).
5 tn Heb “and I will take away their blood from their mouth and their abominations from between their teeth.” These expressions refer to some type of abominable religious practices, perhaps eating meat with the blood still in it (less likely NCV “drinking blood”) or eating unclean or forbidden foods.
6 tn Heb “and they will be a remnant for our God”; cf. NIV “will belong to our God”; NLT “will worship our God.”
7 tn The words “my arrow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the imagery for the modern reader (cf. NRSV, NLT).
8 tn The word “Zion” is not repeated here in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the statement refers to Zion and not to Greece.
9 tn Heb “every horse.”
10 tn Or “peoples” (so NAB, NRSV).