Zechariah 1:3

1:3 Therefore say to the people: ¹  The Lord who rules over all ²  says, “Turn ³  to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will turn to you,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Zechariah 1:8

The Content of the First Vision

1:8 I was attentive that night and saw a man seated ⁴  on a red horse that stood among some myrtle trees ⁵  in the ravine. Behind him were red, sorrel, ⁶  and white horses.

Zechariah 1:16

The Oracle of Response

1:16 “‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ⁷  toward Jerusalem ⁸  and will rebuild my temple ⁹  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

Zechariah 2:9

2:9 “I am about to punish them ¹⁰  in such a way,” he says, “that they will be looted by their own slaves.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

Zechariah 3:4-5

3:4 The angel ¹¹  spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you ¹²  in fine clothing.” 3:5 Then I spoke up, “Let a clean turban be put on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby.

Zechariah 3:8

3:8 Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you ¹³  are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch. ¹⁴ 

Zechariah 5:6

5:6 I asked, “What is it?” And he replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain ¹⁵  that is moving away from here.” Moreover, he said, “This is their ‘eye’ ¹⁶  throughout all the earth.”

Zechariah 5:9

5:9 Then I looked again and saw two women ¹⁷  going forth with the wind in their wings (they had wings like those of a stork) and they lifted up the basket between the earth and the sky.

Zechariah 8:3

8:3 The Lord says, ‘I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. ¹⁸  Now Jerusalem will be called “truthful city,” “mountain of the Lord who rules over all,” “holy mountain.”’

Zechariah 8:10

8:10 Before that time there was no compensation for man or animal, nor was there any relief from adversity for those who came and went, because I had pitted everybody – each one – against everyone else.

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 8:21

8:21 The inhabitants of one will go to another and say, “Let’s go up at once to ask the favor of the Lord, to seek the Lord who rules over all. Indeed, I’ll go with you.”’

Zechariah 9:7

9:7 I will take away their abominable religious practices; ¹⁹  then those who survive will become a community of believers in our God, ²⁰  like a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.

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 11:5

11:5 Those who buy them ²¹  slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

Zechariah 11:12-13

11:12 Then I ²²  said to them, “If it seems good to you, pay me my wages, but if not, forget it.” So they weighed out my payment – thirty pieces of silver. ²³  11:13 The Lord then said to me, “Throw to the potter that exorbitant sum ²⁴  at which they valued me!” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter ²⁵  at the temple ²⁶  of the Lord.

Zechariah 12:3

12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden ²⁷  for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; ²⁸  yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it.

Zechariah 13:7

13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who is my associate,”

says the Lord who rules over all.

Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; ²⁹ 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

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¹ tn Heb “to them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn The epithet Lord who rules over all occurs frequently as a divine title throughout Zechariah (53 times total). This name (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yÿhvah tsÿva’ot), traditionally translated “Lord of hosts” (so KJV, NAB, NASB; cf. NIV, NLT “Lord Almighty”; NCV, CEV “Lord All-Powerful”), emphasizes the majestic sovereignty of the Lord, an especially important concept in the postexilic world of great human empires and rulers. For a thorough study of the divine title, see T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 123-57.

³ tn The Hebrew verb שׁוּב (shuv) is common in covenant contexts. To turn from the Lord is to break the covenant and to turn to him (i.e., to repent) is to renew the covenant relationship (cf. 2 Kgs 17:13).

⁴ tn Heb “riding,” but since this verb in English is usually associated with horses in motion rather than standing still, the translation uses “seated.” Cf. NAB “the driver of a red horse.”

⁵ tc The LXX presupposes הֶהָרִים (heharim, “mountains”) rather than the MT הַהֲדַסִּים (hahadassim, “myrtles”), probably because of reference to the ravine. The MT reading is preferred and is followed by most English versions.

⁶ sn The Hebrew שְׂרֻקִּים (sÿruqqim) means “red” (cf. NIV, NCV, NLT “brown”). English translations such as “speckled” (KJV) or “dappled” (TEV) are based on the reading of the LXX (ψαροί) that attempts to bring the color of this horse into conformity with those described in Zech 6:2-3. However, since these are two different and unrelated visions, this is a methodological fallacy.

⁷ tn Heb “I have turned.” This suggests that the Lord has responded to the “turning” (i.e., repentance) of the people (v. 6) and now, with great love and forgiveness, allows construction of the temple to proceed.

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Heb “house.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “I will wave my hand over them” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “raise my hand against them.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the angel, cf. v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn The occurrence of the infinitive absolute here for an expected imperfect 1st person common singular (or even imperative 2nd person masculine plural or preterite 3rd person masculine plural) is well-attested elsewhere. Most English translations render this as 1st person singular (“and I will clothe”), but cf. NAB “Take off…and clothe him.”

¹³ tn Heb “these men.” The cleansing of Joshua and his elevation to enhanced leadership as a priest signify the coming of the messianic age.

¹⁴ sn The collocation of servant and branch gives double significance to the messianic meaning of the passage (cf. Isa 41:8, 9; 42:1, 19; 43:10; 44:1, 2, 21; Ps 132:17; Jer 23:5; 33:15).

¹⁵ tn Heb “[This is] the ephah.” An ephah was a liquid or solid measure of about a bushel (five gallons or just under twenty liters). By metonymy it refers here to a measuring container (probably a basket) of that quantity.

¹⁶ tc The LXX and Syriac read עֲוֹנָם (’avonam, “their iniquity,” so NRSV; NIV similar) for the MT עֵינָם (’enam, “their eye”), a reading that is consistent with the identification of the woman in v. 8 as wickedness, but one that is unnecessary. In 4:10 the “eye” represented divine omniscience and power; here it represents the demonic counterfeit.

¹⁷ sn Here two women appear as the agents of the Lord because the whole scene is feminine in nature. The Hebrew word for “wickedness” in v. 8 (רִשְׁעָה) is grammatically feminine, so feminine imagery is appropriate throughout.

¹⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ tn Heb “and they will be a remnant for our God”; cf. NIV “will belong to our God”; NLT “will worship our God.”

²¹ sn The expression those who buy them appears to be a reference to the foreign nations to whom Israel’s own kings “sold” their subjects. Far from being good shepherds, then, they were evil and profiteering. The whole section (vv. 4-14) refers to the past when the Lord, the Good Shepherd, had in vain tried to lead his people to salvation and life.

²² sn The speaker (Zechariah) represents the Lord, who here is asking what his service as faithful shepherd has been worth in the opinion of his people Israel.

²³ sn If taken at face value, thirty pieces (shekels) of silver was worth about two and a half years’ wages for a common laborer. The Code of Hammurabi prescribes a monthly wage for a laborer of one shekel. If this were the case in Israel, 30 shekels would be the wages for 2 1/2 years (R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 76, 204-5). For other examples of “thirty shekels” as a conventional payment, see K. Luke, “The Thirty Pieces of Silver (Zech. 11:12f.), Ind TS 19 (1982): 26-30. Luke, on the basis of Sumerian analogues, suggests that “thirty” came to be a term meaning anything of little or no value (p. 30). In this he follows Erica Reiner, “Thirty Pieces of Silver,” in Essays in Memory of E. A. Speiser, AOS 53, ed. William W. Hallo (New Haven, Conn.: American Oriental Society, 1968), 186-90. Though the 30 shekels elsewhere in the OT may well be taken literally, the context of Zech. 11:12 may indeed support Reiner and Luke in seeing it as a pittance here, not worth considering (cf. Exod 21:32; Lev 27:4; Matt 26:15).

²⁴ tn Heb “splendor of splendor” (אֶדֶר הַיְקָר, ’eder hayqar). This expression sarcastically draws attention to the incredibly low value placed upon the Lord’s redemptive grace by his very own people.

²⁵ tn The Syriac presupposes הָאוֹצָר (ha’otsar, “treasury”) for the MT הַיּוֹצֵר (hayyotser, “potter”) perhaps because of the lack of evidence for a potter’s shop in the area of the temple. The Syriac reading is followed by NAB, NRSV, TEV. Matthew seems to favor this when he speaks of Judas having thrown the thirty shekels for which he betrayed Jesus into the temple treasury (27:5-6). However, careful reading of the whole gospel pericope makes it clear that the money actually was used to purchase a “potter’s field,” hence Zechariah’s reference to a potter. The MT reading is followed by most other English versions.

²⁶ tn Heb “house” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

²⁷ tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”

²⁸ sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.

²⁹ sn Despite the NT use of this text to speak of the scattering of the disciples following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27), the immediate context of Zechariah suggests that unfaithful shepherds (kings) will be punished by the Lord precisely so their flocks (disobedient Israel) can be scattered (cf. Zech 11:6, 8, 9, 16). It is likely that Jesus drew on this passage merely to make the point that whenever shepherds are incapacitated, sheep will scatter. Thus he was not identifying himself with the shepherd in this text (the shepherd in the Zechariah text is a character who is portrayed negatively).