Discovery BoxZechariah 1:4 
Context1:4 “Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the Lord.
Zechariah 1:12
Context1:12 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 1:17
Context1:17 Speak up again with the message of the Lord who rules over all: ‘My cities will once more overflow with prosperity, and once more the Lord will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem.’”
Zechariah 2:8-9
Context2:8 For the Lord who rules over all says to me that for his own glory 4 he has sent me to the nations that plundered you – for anyone who touches you touches the pupil 5 of his 6 eye. 2:9 “I am about to punish them 7 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 4:6
Context4:6 Therefore he told me, “These signify the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ 8 says the Lord who rules over all.”
Zechariah 4:9
Context4:9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple, 9 and his hands will complete it.” Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you.
Zechariah 6:12
Context6:12 Then say to him, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Look – here is the man whose name is Branch, 10 who will sprout up from his place and build the temple of the Lord.
Zechariah 7:13
Context7:13 “‘It then came about that just as I 11 cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.
Zechariah 8:2-4
Context8:2 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much concerned for Zion; indeed, I am so concerned for her that my rage will fall on those who hurt her.’ 8:3 The Lord says, ‘I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. 12 Now Jerusalem will be called “truthful city,” “mountain of the Lord who rules over all,” “holy mountain.”’ 8:4 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘Old men and women will once more live in the plazas of Jerusalem, each one leaning on a cane because of advanced age.
Zechariah 8:19
Context8:19 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth 13 months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’
Zechariah 8:21
Context8:21 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 9:8
Context9:8 Then I will surround my temple 14 to protect it like a guard 15 from anyone crossing back and forth; so no one will cross over against them anymore as an oppressor, for now I myself have seen it.
Zechariah 9:15-16
Context9:15 The Lord who rules over all will guard them, and they will prevail and overcome with sling stones. Then they will drink, and will become noisy like drunkards, 16 full like the sacrificial basin or like the corners of the altar. 17 9:16 On that day the Lord their God will deliver them as the flock of his people, for they are the precious stones of a crown sparkling over his land.
Zechariah 10:3
Context10:3 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 12:5
Context12:5 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.’
Zechariah 13:7
Context13:7 “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; 18
I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.
Zechariah 14:16-17
Context14:16 Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, and to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. 19 14:17 But if any of the nations anywhere on earth refuse to go up to Jerusalem 20 to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, they will get no rain.
1 sn Note that here the angel of the
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
4 tn Heb “After glory has he sent me” (similar KJV, NASB). What is clearly in view is the role of Zechariah who, by faithful proclamation of the message, will glorify the
5 tn Heb “gate” (בָּבָה, bavah) of the eye, that is, pupil. The rendering of this term by KJV as “apple” has created a well-known idiom in the English language, “the apple of his eye” (so ASV, NIV). The pupil is one of the most vulnerable and valuable parts of the body, so for Judah to be considered the “pupil” of the
6 tc A scribal emendation (tiqqun sopherim) has apparently altered an original “my eye” to “his eye” in order to allow the prophet to be the speaker throughout vv. 8-9. This alleviates the problem of the
7 tn Heb “I will wave my hand over them” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “raise my hand against them.”
8 sn It is premature to understand the Spirit here as the Holy Spirit (the third Person of the Trinity), though the OT prepares the way for that NT revelation (cf. Gen 1:2; Exod 23:3; 31:3; Num 11:17-29; Judg 3:10; 6:34; 2 Kgs 2:9, 15, 16; Ezek 2:2; 3:12; 11:1, 5).
9 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NRSV).
10 tn The epithet “Branch” (צֶמַח, tsemakh) derives from the verb used here (יִצְמָח, yitsmakh, “will sprout up”) to describe the rise of the Messiah, already referred to in this manner in Zech 3:8 (cf. Isa 11:1; 53:2; Jer 33:15). In the immediate context this refers to Zerubbabel, but the ultimate referent is Jesus (cf. John 19:5).
11 tn Heb “he.” Since the third person pronoun refers to the
12 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
13 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
14 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
15 tn Though a hapax legomenon, the מִצָּבָה (mitsavah) of the MT (from נָצַב, natsav, “take a stand”) is preferable to the suggestion מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”) or even מִצָּבָא (mitsava’, “from” or “against the army”). The context favors the idea of the
16 tn Heb “they will drink and roar as with wine”; the LXX (followed here by NAB, NRSV) reads “they will drink blood like wine” (referring to a figurative “drinking” of the blood of their enemies).
17 sn The whole setting is eschatological as the intensely figurative language shows. The message is that the
18 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
19 sn Having imposed his sovereignty over the earth following the Battle of Armageddon, the
20 sn The reference to any…who refuse to go up to Jerusalem makes clear the fact that the nations are by no means “converted” to the
