Discovery BoxZechariah 2:8-9 
Context2:8 For the Lord who rules over all says to me that for his own glory 1 he has sent me to the nations that plundered you – for anyone who touches you touches the pupil 2 of his 3 eye. 2:9 “I am about to punish them 4 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,’ 5 says the Lord who rules over all.”
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, 6 who will sprout up from his place and build the temple of the Lord.
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. 7 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 8 months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’
Zechariah 12:1
Context12:1 The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord – he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person 9 – says,
Zechariah 12:4
Context12:4 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 10 of the nations 11 with blindness.
Zechariah 13:7-8
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; 12
I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.
13:8 It will happen in all the land, says the Lord,
that two-thirds of the people 13 in it will be cut off and die,
but one-third will be left in it. 14
1 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
2 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
3 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
4 tn Heb “I will wave my hand over them” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “raise my hand against them.”
5 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).
6 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).
7 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
8 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
9 tn Heb “who forms the spirit of man within him” (so NIV).
10 tn Heb “every horse.”
11 tn Or “peoples” (so NAB, NRSV).
12 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
13 tn The words “of the people” are supplied in the translation for clarity (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
14 sn The fractions mentioned here call to mind the affliction of God’s people described by Ezekiel, though Ezekiel referred to his own times whereas Zechariah is looking forward to a future eschatological age. Ezekiel spoke of cutting his hair at God’s command (Ezek 5:1-4) and then of burning a third of it, striking a third with a sword, and scattering the rest. From this last third a few hairs would survive to become the nucleus of a new Israel. It is this “third” Zechariah speaks of (v. 9), the remnant who will be purified and reclaimed as God’s covenant people.
