Zakharia 1:6

1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ¹  Then they paid attention ²  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

Zakharia 1:4

1:4 “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.

Zakharia 13:5

13:5 Instead he will say, ‘I am no prophet – indeed, I am a farmer, for a man has made me his indentured servant since my youth.’ ³ 

Zakharia 11:16

11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. ⁴  Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep ⁵  and tear off their hooves.

Zakharia 1:3

1:3 Therefore say to the people: ⁶  The Lord who rules over all ⁷  says, “Turn ⁸  to me,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and I will turn to you,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Zakharia 1:16

The Oracle of Response

1:16 “‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ⁹  toward Jerusalem ¹⁰  and will rebuild my temple ¹¹  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’

Zakharia 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; ¹² 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

Zakharia 7:11

7:11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear.

Zakharia 9:8

9:8 Then I will surround my temple ¹³  to protect it like a guard ¹⁴  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.

Zakharia 10:10

10:10 I will bring them back from Egypt and gather them from Assyria. ¹⁵  I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, for there will not be enough room for them in their own land.

[1:6]  ¹ tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.

[1:6]  ² tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”

[13:5]  ³ tn Or perhaps “for the land has been my possession since my youth” (so NRSV; similar NAB).

[11:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “the broken” (so KJV, NASB; NRSV “the maimed”).

[11:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fat [ones].” Cf. ASV “the fat sheep”; NIV “the choice sheep.”

[1:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “to them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:3]  ⁷ 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.

[1:3]  ⁸ 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).

[1:16]  ⁹ 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.

[1:16]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “house.”

[13:7]  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 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).

[9:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[9:8]  ¹⁴ 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 Lord as a protector.

[10:10]  ¹⁵ sn I will bring them back from Egypt…from Assyria. The gathering of God’s people to their land in eschatological times will be like a reenactment of the exodus, but this time they will come from all over the world (cf. Isa 40:3-5; 43:1-7, 14-21; 48:20-22; 51:9-11).