Zakharia 11:12

11:12 Then I ¹  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. ² 

Zakharia 6:15

6:15 Then those who are far away ³  will come and build the temple of the Lord so that you may know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. This will all come to pass if you completely obey the voice of the Lord your God.”’”

Zakharia 8:6

8:6 And,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of the small community of those days, will it also appear difficult to me?’ asks the Lord who rules over all.

Zakharia 8:16

8:16 These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts. ⁴ 

Zakharia 13:6

13:6 Then someone will ask him, ‘What are these wounds on your chest?’ ⁵  and he will answer, ‘Some that I received in the house of my friends.’

Zakharia 3:7

3:7 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘If you live ⁶  and work according to my requirements, you will be able to preside over my temple ⁷  and attend to my courtyards, and I will allow you to come and go among these others who are standing by you.

Zakharia 8:13-14

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!’

8:14 “For the Lord who rules over all says, ‘As I had planned to hurt ⁸  you when your fathers made me angry,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘and I was not sorry,

[11:12]  ¹ 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.

[11:12]  ² 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).

[6:15]  ³ sn Those who are far away is probably a reference to later groups of returning exiles under Ezra, Nehemiah, and others.

[8:16]  ⁴ sn For a similar reference to true and righteous judgment see Mic 6:8.

[13:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “wounds between your hands.” Cf. NIV “wounds on your body”; KJV makes this more specific: “wounds in thine hands.”

[13:6]  sn These wounds on your chest. Pagan prophets were often self-lacerated (Lev 19:28; Deut 14:1; 1 Kgs 18:28) for reasons not entirely clear, so this false prophet betrays himself as such by these graphic and ineradicable marks.

[3:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “walk,” a frequent biblical metaphor for lifestyle or conduct; TEV “If you [+ truly CEV] obey.” To “walk” in the ways of the Lord is to live life as he intends (cf. Deut 8:6; 10:12-22; 28:9).

[3:7]  ⁷ sn The statement you will be able to preside over my temple (Heb “house,” a reference to the Jerusalem temple) is a hint of the increasingly important role the high priest played in the postexilic Jewish community, especially in the absence of a monarchy. It also suggests the messianic character of the eschatological priesthood in which the priest would have royal prerogatives.

[8:14]  ⁸ tn The verb זָמַם (zamam) usually means “to plot to do evil,” but with a divine subject (as here), and in light of v. 15 where it means to plan good, the meaning here has to be the implementation of discipline (cf. NCV, CEV “punish”). God may bring hurt but its purpose is redemptive and/or pedagogical.