I. The Prophet: The name of the Prophet Zechariall occurs several times in the book called after him (i. 1, 7, vii. 1, 8) and also in Ezra v. 1, vi. 14. Berechiah, the Son o£ Iddo, is mentioned as his father, while he himself is called in Ezra v. 1, vi. 14 "the son of Iddo," these passages evidently giving his genealogy in abridged form. If the Iddo alluded to in Neh. xii. 4, 16 is identical with the father of Zechariah, the prophet was of a priestly family; the statement of Ezra that he was active at the same time as Haggai under Darius Hystaspia agrees with the dates in the first part of the book, which includes the period from Nov., 520, to Dec., 518.

II. The Book.-I. Chapters i.-viii.: The book which bears the name of Zechariah consists of two principal parts: chaps. i.-viii. and chaps. ix.-xiv.

These divisions are so sharply defined i. Analysis that each must be,treated separately: and the first, containing frequent mention

of the prophet's name and numerous dates, consists of a short introduction, i. 1-5, and a series of visions, i. 6-vi. 8, with au addition, vi. 9-15, and a discourse regarding the continuance of the fasts, chapters vii.-viii. The introduction, i. 1-5, dated in the eighth month of the second year of Darius'. reign, that is, Nov., 520, a few months later than Haggai's first discourse (i. l), contains a solemn warning not to follow the example of the fathers who would not listen to the prophet's admonitions and therefore had to be forced to believe in the truth of the prophetic sayings by the misfortunes that befell them. Then follows a series of eight

visions, skilfully combined. The date at the beginning, the twenty-fourth of the eleventh month of the year in question (Feb., 519), refers undoubtedly to all the visions. The theme is the approaching deliverance from the oppression under which Israel suffers. Israel's oppressor, the world-power Babylon, is to feel the divine punishment, Israel is to be delivered, Yahweh's temple is to be rebuilt, and Zerubbabel will be installed as a secular and Joshua as a religious ruler, and everything that delays the period of salvation, above all, the people's sin, shall be removed. The visions are in the main easily understood, but there are some obscurities in the details, resulting doubtless from corruption of the text. For instance, in the first vision (i. 8-17), Ewald omits the words "riding upon a red horse," and adds a horse of a fourth color to the three mentioned later on. Part of the fourth vision is also somewhat obscure. It is stated that Joshua and his companions (the other priests) are signs that God's premise will be fulfilled. This promise runs: "I will bring forth my servant the Branch" (cf. Isa. xxiii. 5). As elsewhere in Zechariah and in Haggai, the messianic hope centers about Zerubbabel; hardly any other person can be meant by "the Branch." However, in this case the words "I will bring forth" are rather strange, since Zerubbabel was then in Jerusalem. Previous attempts to solve this problem are not satisfactory and the supposition is forced that the original text, which alluded to Zerubbabel, was later revised in a messianic sense. In the seventh vision v. 6 should read "their sin" instead of " their resemblance "; this sin is represented as a woman, who is borne in a closed ephah-measure by two angels to Babylon. The idea is, therefore, that Israel is to be purified from sin, while the guilt and its consequent punishment shall fall upon Babylon.

What was the connection between these visions and the contemporary political situation in western Asia? Did historical events induce the prophet to

expect the fall of Babylon; or was he 2. Relation influenced by the general trend of proto Political

Darius, there were several revolts, threatening the destruction of the Persian empire. In Babylon, Nidintubal assumed the name of Nebuchadrezzar and sought to reestablish the Babylonian empire. Darius, indeed, succeeded in crushing this usurper (Babylon was taken between Oct., 521, and Feb., 520), but during this campaign most of the other provinces rebelled, especially Media and Persia. While Darius marched against these provinces, Babylon revolted anew, under another Nebuchadrezzar, but in 519 the city was again taken, and by the spring of that year the other revolts had been suppressed. Syria was never involved in these troubles. It might be conjectured that in the book of Zechariah Babylon signifies the Persian empire as heir to the Babylonian, but when there are taken into account the part played by Cyrus in DeuteroIsaiah as the conqueror of Babylon and the dependence of Zechariah and Haggai upon Deutero-Isaiah it appears that the prophets of the time still saw in Babylon the great enemy and found in the new hostilities against that city a fulfilment of the older

prophecies. Hence they did not am in DanW an enemy of Israel, but rather an instrument of divine vengeance who would bring the heathen world into subjection to Israel's God and to his vicegerent Zerubbabel.

The recital of a symbolical action of the prophet (vi. 9) is appended to the visions. Here also the text. appears corrupt. The original text probably

salem, gold and silver, and to make thereof a crown for Zerubbabel; for the latter was to complete the Temple and rule as king in perfect concord with the high-priest Joshua. The fact that this promise was not fulfilled led to the changes in the text, so that now Joshua takes the place of Zerubbabel and the crown is to be preserved in the Temple for a future time. The first division of the book closes with a prophetic discourse (vii.-viii.), dated on the fifth day of the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius (i.e., Dec., 518). The Temple was nearly completed (Ezra vi. 15) and the question arose whether the fasts in memory of the downfall of the nation should be continued; as, however, the messianic promise of the previous chapter had not been fulfilled, the people hesitated to abandon their mourning. Zechariah declares that God does not require fasting, but justice and neighborly love, and that precisely the neglect of this command brought destruction upon Israel; he then proceeds to encourage the people in their messianic faith by the assurance of Yahweh's love and of the coming messianic salvation. The present time is the turningpoint; a great change will take place; fasting will no longer be necessary, and all their sorrow will be turned to joy.

In these chapters there is a clear picture of Zechariah. He did not express any new prophetic ideas, but only repeated those of his great predecessors; nevertheless, he grasped those ideas in all their purity, and the discourse in chaps. vii.-viii. must be regarded as a typical specimen of prophetic preaching. Although both Haggai and Zechariah were disappointed in the hopes they associated with Zerubbabel, their importance for the postexilic period can not be overestimated, since they reawakened the faith of the people at a time when the latter were discouraged and on the point of abandoning the messianic hope. A new element in angelology appears in this book, namely, the interpreting angel, who explains the visions to the prophet; there is also a tendency to personify the active forces as is shown in the representation of one side of the concept of justice by Satan.

2. Chapters ix.-xiv.: In the second division the reader enters an entirely new world. The name of the prophet and exact dates are lacking, instead there exist only the titles ix. 1 and xii. 1 with the

peculiar formula: "The burden of the 1. Chapters word of the Lord," which appears else-

ix.-xl. where only in the book of Malachi. There are no direct references to the events of the years 520-518 and the whole train of thought is dissimilar. Syria, Phenicia, and Philistia are denounced, ix. 1-8; Zion is to rejoice over its nice-

2. Chapters xii.-xiv.

In xii. 1-xiii. 6 it appears that Jerusalem is now attacked by the whole heathen world, but the heathen nations themselves are destroyed and Jerusalem is not captured. Chap. xiv. describes anew the last battle for Jerusalem, with the singular discrepancy, however, that the city is first taken and plundered before the judgment of God overtakes the heathen. God, surrounded by his angels, appears on the Mount of Olives, which is rent by an earthquake. Now begins the messianic age, which is like a perpetual day without cold or burning heat. The outlines of the land are changed, it becomes an immense plain above which rises Jerusalem alone; ever-flowing streams issue from the city and run toward the east and the west. Those heathen who have survived the dreadful defeat recognize Yahweh's rule and come yearly to Jerusalem for the feast of tabernacles.

3. Authorship

For a long time these chapters were believed to be by the same hand as chapters i.-viii.; it was only the citation of Zech. xi. 12-13 in Matt. xxvii. 9-10 as a word of Jeremiah that gave rise to a different view. Joseph Mede, in Dissertationum ecclesiasticarum triga (London, 1653), conjectured that chaps. ix.-xi. were by Jeremiah. This hypothesis, although valueless, led to a closer study of the book and at the present time but few critics attribute chaps. ix.-xiv. to Zechariah. Indeed, it seems almost impossible that the same author could have written i.-viii. and ix.-xiv. The marked characteristics of the earlier chapters are lacking in the later, and the political situation, as well as the prophetic quality, is totally unlike. Of these chapters,. xii.-xiv. (excepting xiii. 7-9) appear to constitute a typical specimen of the deuteroprophetic literature. A conclusive proof of the late composition of this section is the announcement of the cessation of prophecy (xiii. 2-3), since this indicates a period when the prophets who appeared in public (not purely literary prophets like the author) were degenerate and deceivers; that is, a period when literary study had taken the place of immediate prophetic inspiration. It is, however, unlikely that xii. 1-xiii. 6 is by the same hand as xiv., especially since Jerusalem is said to have been taken in xiv., while the contrary is stated in xii.

4. Isolated Passages.

Strange to say, the portions ix. 1-ix. 17 and xiii. 7-9 are thought by some critics to constitute one of the earliest prophetic writings (from the period before 722 B.C.), while others place this section in the second century B.C. In x. 6-9 the departure of Ephraim and Judah, and in ix. 11 that of the whole people, is assumed as having already taken place. A still more important point is that in ix. 13, â€æthe sons of Yawan,” that is the Greeks, appear as enemies whose destruction marks the beginning of the messianic era. This can signify only that the Greeks were then a world-power and that this verse was written after the appearance of Alexander the Great. It is true that the mention of Egypt and Assyria as the two great world-powers recalls Hosea (cf. viii. 13, ix. 3-6); but this name may just as well signify the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae (cf. also Isa. xxvii. 13), since in later prophetic writings designations from the older prophets are freely adapted to contemporary conditions. The repeated mention of Ephraim alongside of Judah is more significant, but not decisive; for in x. 6 sqq. it appears that Ephraim must first return from captivity. The conclusion therefore follows that some passages in chaps. ix.-x. belong to the Greek period, while nothing certainly proves that the remainder is of earlier date. Chap. xi., with its continuation xiii. 7-9, offers much greater difficulties. Kuenen and others have rightly asserted that the words â€æto break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel” are incompatible with a postexilic origin. It can not be denied that the condition of the Ephraimitic kingdom under Pekah, when the Ephraimites in alliance with the Arameans attacked Judah, suits this perfectly. The shepherds killed within a month (verse 8) might then be explained by the murders of Zechariah and Shallum (II Kings xv. 8, 13). However, the designation of an Ephraimitic king as â€æthe man that is my fellow,” xiii. 7, would be strange. Two Septuagint manuscripts read Israel instead of Jerusalem in verse 14, and in this case the text would refer to conflicts between the capital and the rest of the country; while these can not be proved, they are quite possible in the Greek period (cf. also xii. 7), so that this chapter might also be referred to that epoch. Any satisfactory result as to chapter xi. is therefore impossible, but this has nothing to do with the date of the other chapters, since it can not

501

be proved that they are by the same writer. Thus it appears probable that Zech. ix.-xiv. is composed of at least four prophetic writings or fragments, of which chapters ix., x., and xii.-xiv. at least belong to a late time; the former probably to the Greek and the latter to either the Persian or the Greek period.

(F. Buhl.)

Bibliography: For questions of introduction recourse is to be had to the works named in and under Biblical Introduction; also: E. W. Hengstenberg, Dissertations an the Genuineness of Daniel and the Integrity of Zechariah, New York, 1858; E. F. J. von Ortenberg, Die Bestandtheile des Buches Sacharja, Gotha, 1859; B. Stade, in ZATW, i (1881), 1 sqq., ii (1882), 151 sqq., 275 sqq.; C. H. H. Wright, Zechariah and h%a Prophecies . . . in Relation to Modern Criticism, London, 1879 (holds to the unity of the book); W. Stark, Unlersuchungen über d%e Composition and Abfaaaungazeit van Zach 9-1/,, Halle, 1891; B. Blake, How to Read the Prophets, part 1, New York, 1892; G. K. Griitsmaeher, Unteravchung über den Ursprung der in Zach. ix.--x%v. vorl%egenden Prophetien. Heidelberg, 1892; N. J. Rubinkam, Second Part of . . Zechariah, Basel, 1892; W. H. Kosters, Widerheratellung Israels, Heidelberg, 1895; T. K. Cheyne, Jewish Religaoua Life after the Exile, New York, 1898; E. Sellin, Stud%en zur Entatehungsgeschichte der jüdischen Gemeinde, u. 83 sqq., Leipsic, 1900; J. Boehmer, in NKZ, 1901, pp. 717 sqq.; A. van Hoonaeker, in Revue biblique, 1902, pp. 161 sqq.; J. W. Rothstein, Die Nachtgesichte des Sacharja. Studien zur Sacharjaprophet%e and zur jvd%achen Geschichte %m 1. rtachexil%schen Jahrhundert, Leipsic, 1910; Smith, Prophets; DB, iv. 967-970; EB, iv. 5390-95; JE, xii. 845-647.

Commentaries are: J. D. F. Burger, etudes exEg6tiques et critiques our Is proph9te Zacharie, Strasburg, 1841; J. Calvin, Eng. transl., in Minor Prophets, 5 vols., Edinburgh, 1846-49; T. V. Moore, The Prophets of the Restoration, New York, 1856; W. Neumann, Stuttgart, 1860; A. Kohler, 2 vols., Erlangen, 1861-63; R. Wardlaw, in Posthumous Works, vol. vii., Edinburgh, 1862; L. Reinke, Münster, 1864 H. Cowles, Minor Prophets, New -York, 1866; E. Henderson, Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, new ed., Andover, 1868; C. F. Keil, Edinburgh, 1868; E. B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, new ed., Oxford, 1877, New York, 1885; C. J. Bredenkamp, Erlangen, 1879; W. J. Deane, in Pulpit Commentary, New York, 1880; H. Ewald, Commentary on the Prophets, vol. v., London, 1881; E. G. King, The Yalkut on Zechariah, Cambridge, 1882; J. van Eaton, Expository . . . Lectures on . . . Zechariah, Pittsburg, 1883; W. L. Alexander, Zechariah, his Visions and Warnings, London, 1885; T. T. Perowne, in Cambridge Bible, New York, 1888; S. Lasserre, Montauban, 1891; C. von Ore11i, The Twelve Minor Prophets, New York, 1893 G. A. Smith, in Expositor's Bible, London, 1896-97; K. Marti, Freiburg, 1892, and Tübingen, 1904.