Zechariah, book of (Hastings' Dictionary)

I. The genuine prophecies of Zechariah (chs. I-8X U. The activity and significance of the prophet. Literature. Ui. Chs. 9-14: (1) Contents; (2) Relation of the rtiflerent parts to one another ; (;i) Date of the various com- ponents ; (4) Religious and theological value of these chapters. Literature. i. The oenui.ne Prophecies of Zechariah (Chs. 1-8). — The Book of Zechariah includes within it passa;.'es belonging to very diilerent dates and procee<ling from diiferent hands.

The super-scriptions that ajipear in 9' and 12' divide the book into two larger parts: (1) chs. 1-8, (2) chs. 9-14. For Zechariah, the contemporary of Haggai, who is named in 1', all that has to be taken into account is chs. 1-8, which fall into three divisions : (a) I'"" a call to repentance, based uijon an allusion to the impenitence of the fathers and the consequent judgment that overlook them. They f^""^' ''''o prophets are gone, but Cod's word still abides in force.

— (6) I'-O" the nocturnal visions of Zecha- riah, with an appendix 6'""'°. In eight visions, which are explained to him on each occasion by the angelu-1 interprcs, the prophet gives, as it were, a compendium of tlie e.schatological hopes that animated him. The exposition of these is followed up by the direction in B'""- to him to take of the silver and gold brought by the deputies of the Babylonian Jews, ana to have a crown made for the ^cmnh, i.e. for Zcrubbabcl.

This crown is then to be laid up in the temple as a memorial of tlio^o deputies Side by side with Zerubbabel is to be Joshua as priest, and peaceful relations are to subsist between the two. Then shall the peoples come from f.ar and help to build the temple of Jahweh. (The text of this passage has not come down to us intact, but has obviously undergone revision in order to obscure the dillerence between these hopes and the actual history.

By aid of the LXX the original text may be reconstructed). — (c) Chs. 7. 8. Taking occasion from the question addressed to the priests and prophets whether the fast-days observed during the Exile were still to be kept up, the prophet points to the impending Messianic time, for which a moral reformation is the inilispensable prerequisite.

Then shall the fast-days become joyous festivals, %\'lien men from all peoples shall join themselves to the Jews in their pilgrimages to Jahweh, because they have heard that God has fixed His d\\clling-i>lace with them. ii. The Activity and Sig.mficance of the Prophet. — According to l'-', Zechariah was a son of Berechiah and a grandson of 'Iddo, the latter of whom is mentioned as the head of a priestly tamily which returned from the Exile (Neh 1"^').

Zechariah will thus have been presumably somewhat young when he began his pro[)heticaI work amongst his people. We are told in 1' that he came forward, like Hagg.ai, in the second year of Darius (Hystas- pis), but two months later than that prophet ; he continued to labour till the 7tli month of the fourth year (cf. 7'). In this way liis whole activity would appear to have been confined to rather less than two years. The political back<jvound is the same .

as in Haggiii, njiniely, the violent commotions which the accession of Darius produced in the north-eastern portion of his empire. A feeling of profound depression had laid hold of the community at Jerusalem ; Jahweh, it was felt, had not yet had compassion upon His people, He yet remained far from them.

Zechariah strives to reanimate the hopes of his co-religionists, and to rekindle faith in the time of consummation, which will speedily set in ; and it would ajipear that he was at least parti- ally successful (cf. 7' •)• An indispensable condition of the arrival of the Messianic era is the building of the tem|jle ; for as the commencement of the judgment formerly showed itself when the glory of Jahweh was seen by Ezekiel (cf. ch.

lU) to forsake the temple, so upon the day when Jahweh once more makes His abode with His people all the dis- tress of the time shall come to an end ; in short, this dwelling of Jahweh in the temple is the sine qua non of the dawn of the Messianic age (cf. 8'°). Hence Zechariah, like Haggai, concentrates all his energies upon the task of inducing the people to undertake the work of building the teinjile.

It is from this point of view that one can understand Zechariah's view of the priesthood as the security for the coming of the Zfiiiah, i.e. the Messianic King(cf. 3"'-)- — Zechariah's endeavour to reanimate the hopes of his contemporaries explains also the central place which Messianic prophecy occupies in his book. The whole of the nocturnal visions turn essentially upon the Messianic expectations of the time, and in eh.

8 as well he has regard to these, so that from this book we can construct a pretty com- plete picture of the Messianic hopes that were then entertained. The central liguro is the Messianic King, whom Zechariah, with reference to Jer 23' (33"), calls the Zcmnh and ideiitilies with Zerub- babel, although a redactor, who had regard to the actually existing relations, has sought to sub- stitute the high priest Joshua for Zerubbabel.

It is true, indeed, tliat even with Zechariah himself the high priest holds a highlv sigiiilicant place: ho represents the community oefore Jahweh, and has at all times free access to lliiii. Cf. also the articles Ezra-Nehemiaii, Haogai, and Zerub- UAUEL. 968 ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF ZECHAEIAH, BOOK OF In Zeclmriah, as in Haggai, we note the dis- appearance of immediate proplietio inspiration.

Connecte<l willi tliis is the circumstance that the message is communicated to the propliet by the angel of Jaliweh (cf. Ezk 40-'"), and that his visions are no longer the outcome of intuition but ratlier of <leliberate reflexion. Hence the angelus interpres is a standing figure in them. Side by side with tlie angelus interpres we have the inaVakh Jahweh and the Satan, the latter of whom also is thus obviously to be tliought of as included among the messengers of God.

Tlie greater prominence thus assumed by angels is the result of the more transcendental character to which the idea of God has attained : Jahweh is One who is enthroned on high above men, and whose dealings with them must be through the medium of angels. Here for the lirst time we encounter /ui-sntan, still indeed as an aiipellative. It is not till 1 Ch 21 that it attains the character of a proper name.

The Book of Job appears, in its idea of the Satan, to occupy a position intermediate between tliese otlier t^^o. See, further, the article Satan, above, p. 408^ — Not without signihcance, perhaps, for further development is the conception here met with of Sin as an independently e.xisting power. Personi- fied as a woman, she is carried oli" to the land of Sliinar, i.e. the land of destruction (cf. 5").

This last designation is considered, indeed, to include not onlj' Shinar, but the whole heathen world ; in Zechariah, as in Haggai, the way is paved for the notion so clearly defined in Daniel of the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of the world.

Here tlie opposition is not yet sharply marked ; here, partly as an after-eti'ect of Deutero-Isaianic ideas, but partly also as a consequence of a vivid conscious- ness of being the Ijearers of the true religion and of being ' righteous,' in contrast with the 'ungodly Gentiles' (of. 1" 2'"), we meet with the thought that from all peoples those seeking for salvation shall flock to Jerusalem and dwell there, and that Jahweh will own them as His people (cf. 2"'- 8™"-). LrrERATrRK.

— A- Kohler, Die nachexitiachen Prophften^ 1861- 1863; K. Bredenkanip, Dn- frophet Sacharja, 1S79 ; C. H. H. Wright, Zec/iariah atid hia Fropkecies, 1379 ; W. H. Lowe, The Ucbt-ew Student's Com. wl Zechariah, lieb. and LXX, 1872 ; K. Marti, Der Prophet Zacharja, der Xeitfjennttge Serubbabels, 1892; J. Wellhausen, Die kleinen Frophcten, 1892 ; W. Nowack, Die kleinen Projihettn, 1897 ; O. A. Smith, The Book nf the Twelve Prophets, ii. 1898. Cf.

SelHn, Studien zitr Entstehumjs'ie- sehichte der yiid. Geineiiide nnch dem babylon. Exit, 1901 ; K. Marti in SE, 1892, pp. 207 fl., 716ff. ; J. Ley, ib. 1893, p. 771 fl. iii. Chapters 9-14.— (1) Contents.— C\\. 9 opens with the annount cment of judgment upon Damas- cus, Tyre, Zidon, and the Philistines. Jahweh Himself protects Jerusalem and its inhabitants. Jerusalem is to be the seat of the Messianic King, who will enter the city riding upon an ass, the animal of peace.

For He works not with secular resources, but by His word puts an end to the strife among the nations. For the sake of the blood covenant Jahweh brings back the captives of Zion. Judah and Ephraim, together with Zion, are to be the weapons wherewith He subdues the sons of Javan. Then will Jahweh feed His people like a flock in His land which is so good and fair.

— After a short interlude, in which the Israelites are called on to ask rain from Jaliweh, instead of turning to tuiaphim and soothsayers (lO', '), comes lO'-Il': J.-ihweh threatens tlie sheplierds and the goats ; He removes them, and native leaders put them- eelves at the head of Judah, which with Jahweh's help overcomes those that ride upon horses. But Jahweh will have pity on the house of Joseph and V ill bring them back, so that they shall be His as if He had never cast them oil'.

From E^ypt and Assyria He will bring them back to Gilead and the Lebanon district, but the land will not suffice for them. Jahweh will be their strength, and in Hia name shall they boast. But the cedars of Lebanon and the oaks of Bashan shall howl because the forest is destroved, the shepherds bewail the loss of pasturage, the lions roar because the glory of the Jordan Valley is gone. — In 11*"" we have a narrative of wli.

at has occurred in recent times ; the prophet is to put the contents of his preaching in pictorial form, as it were, before the eye. He receives the commission to take the place of the worthless shepherds in feeding the sheep. He took the two staves 'Graciousness' and 'Union,' in order to represent in a way the principles by which he meant to be guided. In like manner he cut oil' the three shepherds in one month. But soon he became disgusted with the sheep, and they abhorred him.

Therefore he broke the two staves, and now received the commission to act the part of a foolish shepherd, for such an one Jahweh is to set over them by way of punishment. The conclusion of this threatening of 11" is supplied by 13'"^ : Jahweh will smile the shepherd, so that the sheep shall be scattered. — 12'-13' form a whole : the heathen, and with them Judah, besiege Jerusalem, but from Judah judg- ment goes forth upon the heathen, while Jerusalem itself remains peacefully in its place.

Jaliweh has at first helped the Judahites, that the pride of the house of David and of the inhabitants of Jerusalem might not become too great. Then Jahweh pro- tects Jerusalem, the heathen who are moving against her are destroyed by Him. Then shall the inhabitants of Jerusalem look back to him whom they once pierced, and they lament over him as one does over an only son.

* Then Jahweh opens for the house of David and its inhabitants a fountain for purification, then He roots out the names of the idols, and destroys the prophets, and expels the spirit of uncleanness out of the land. — Ch. 14 begins once more with a reference to an attack by the nations upon Jeru.salem ; the city ia taken, the houses destroyed, half of the inhabit- ants go into captivity. Then Jahweh appears for her defence, treads upon the Mt.

of Olives, which divides under His feet, and the other half of the inhabitants make their escape through the new valley thus formed. There is no more interchange of light and darkness, of heat and cold, but one day. Living waters flow from Jerusalem eastwards and westwards. Jahweh rules as king over the whole earth.

The fle^h of the peoples who fight against Jerusalem shall moulder away while they are yet alive, but the remnant shall all come to Jerusalem to worship Jahweh and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (2) Relation of tlie different parts to one another.

— In seeking to answer this question, the circum- stance must be kept in mind that in these chapters events are frequently described not in their actual chronological order, but the final result emerges first, and the description follows of the way in which God brings about this result. Taking this into account, it will be seen that there is no occa- sion, with Rubinkam, to separate 9'"'° from vv."

*- ; the latter verses supply an account of the incidents that precede the aclvent of the peaceful King. On the other hand, 10'-^ has a very loose connexion with ch. 9. Itf"' might be from the same hand as ch. 9 ; in the latter there was only a passing allu- sion to the return of the captives, in 10^"- this has the central place ; as in Q'"- Syria is the subject of Divine judgment, so here it is isrs, which in lata Hebrew stands for Sj'ria.

It is very questionable, however, whether 11'"" and 13'"' are from the same hand as chs. 9 and 10. No decisive grounds can be alleged in favour of For tlie text of this passage, and the om mads ot It In i 1937, see art. Qcoiations, p. 184''. ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF ZECHAEIAH, BOOK OF 969 identity of authorship ; on the contrary, there is a niiirkeil dii'ersity in so far as it is only at U", which has its continuation in 13'"', that the outlook into the future begins. — Ch.

12 is not, as Cornill {Einleitiiug', p. 203) maintains, the neiessar}' com- plement of U'"- ; in fact, the striking ditrerence of diction makes it impossiUle to ascribe both chapters to the same hand. Seeing, further, that ch. 13 is undoubtedly closely bound up with ch. 12, a. material objection to Cornill's opinion emerges. In ch.

13 the writer liolds in abliorrence those who make a public claim to be prophets ; Jaliweh will make an end of such, just as He sweeps idolatry and the spirit of uncleanness out of the land. On the otlier hand, in II'"'- the prophet in his experiences is to represent in a way the conduct of the people, and the ' Canajinites (tralliokers) of the flock' [reading |rfsri "yjp for n •■yj_^ [;], who watch his conduct, are to recognize that it is the word of Jahweh that de- termines his action.

We cannot assent to Rubin- kani's separation of 13'"° from ch. 12, which is justified neither by the language nor tlie contents; the features in the picture of the last days men- tioned in 13'^- complete the picture of ch. 12. On the other hand, ch. 14 must certainly be assigned to another pen than 12'-13'. According to cli. 12, the destructive judgment is executed upon the lieatlien before Jerusalem, while the city itself stands fast ; but, according to ch.

14, Jeru- salem is captured by the heatlien, the houses destroyed, etc. According to 13', a fountain is openea for the house of David and the inhabitants ot Jerusalem for the purpose of purification, where- as the fountain of 14' obviously serves dillereut ends altogether. As little can we think of a con- nexion of ch. 14 with chs. 9 and 10, as is plain from the opposition between 14" and 9'°. The result of our examination is tliat we have the following independent pieces: (i.) 9.

(10"-) 11)3-113; (u.) 11*-" 13'-9; (iii.) 12'-13»; (iv.) ch. 14. (3) Date of the various components. — (i.) 9. (10"-) lff'-U\ Of decisive weight for fixing the date is 9", where the p.; 'jsCsons of Greece') are named as the principal enemies of the people of Jahweh. The place here a.ssigned to the Greeks carries us to the time subsequent to Alexander the Great. This conclusion is not oppo.

se<l by 10'"'-, where Asshur and Egj'pt are mentioned, for, vm was noted above, "bs'n became in later days a name for Syria. It is from this same point of view that 9"- becomes for the first time intelligible : the word of .lahweh is directed against the land of I.tadrach and Damas- cus, i.e. against the empire of llie Scleucids.

Thus also we understand certain otiier features in the picture of the future : tlie giacious favour shown to ICjiliniim and the turning again of her captivity, OS well as her reunion with Judali, all this has come, since the time of E/.ekicl, to be a fixed point m the escliatolo^y of tlie prophets. The figure of the Messianic King is not ojipo.ted to the above date, for it is only an ajiparent identity that sub- sists between 9'"- and Is 9"'- 1 1'"-.

-Vs a matter of fact, this King is quite passive, Ills form almost disappears, to make mom for that of a /in»w spiri- tmilii. Characteristic of the .same period are i)as- sages like 9', whore the return to Jahweh finds expression partly in the observance of Levitical laws about food, a notion utterly impossible in the preexilic period. A more precise dating for these chapters is unattainable, on account of a lack of clear allusions to the historical situation. (ii.) 11*'" 13'"".

This section contains allusions to certain contemporary occurrences, but they are nnintelligible to us, i)artly owing to the probably defective text that has come down to us, but partly also to our \ery imulequato information rcg.irding considerable periods of the post-exilic history. This alone may be regarded as beyond doubt, that we are pointed to a time after the Exile: what is .said in 11" about the shepherds, as well as the similar expressions in v.'

, can be understood only in the light of their dependence on Ezk 34. The shepherds are to be under- stood as the native authorities, especially the high priest. It is of the latter that we must understand the 'V of 11" and the "n'?;; -ns of 13', — he is, as it were, Jahweh's companion ; jri'jp and p'n;;(ll') must be foreign rulers, who iire hence fittingly called ;Ni-i "^J? (11'-"). Wellhausen is inclined to .

see in 11^^- a reflexion of the incidents in the last decade before the outbreak of the Jlac- cab;e.an revolt, which witnessed rapid and \iolcnt changes of the high priesthood. (iii.) 12'-1.'° bears, throughout, the post- exilic stamp, (n) The campaign of the heathen against Jerusalem is dependent upon Ezk 38 f. The thought that Jahweh in the first inst.'

irice helps Judah, lest Jerusalem may exalt herself yet more, cannot be properly understood at any period earlier than that at which Jerusalem had become the rallying-point for the Diaspora of the whole Jewish world, and when the glory of the city and her temple was reflected also upon her rulers and her Lnbaliitants.

— (b) 13', too, points to dependence on Ezekiel, although his viewpoint has been transformed under the influence of notions of the Levitical period, as these find expression in the custom described in Nu 19. — (c) We are pointed to the later posit-exilic period by tlie juxtajiosition of tit n'3 :ind "i^ n'j (12'-'-), which would have been an unpo.ssibility in pre -exilic times. And the whole description in joiiff. carries us to a time after the Exile.

— [d) A late date is also indicated by the hostility breatlied in 13-"- against prophecy, i.e. against those who come forward publiclj', clothed in a hairy mantle. The place of these bad been taken by anonymous and pseudonymous prophetical authorship. Our chapters lie upon the line of development, whose culmination is indicated in views like those ex- pressed in 1 Mac 4** 9-' 14^', cf. San/icd. 11a. (iv.) Ch.

14 likewise belongs to later post-exilic times, (a) This chapter also is dependent on Ezk 38 f. It is true that the thought of t he latter is transformed in quite a peculiar fashion, without our being able to recognize the motive for the change, but this cannot prevent our admitting the dependence which is unmistakably present in U""-. — (6) In 14" we are probably carried to the period after Malachi, for this ver.se is dependent on Mai 3-* ; it is probable, moreover, that v."

is in conscious opposition to Mai l""- — (c) It is only during the later post-exilic period, when the Jewish Diaspora went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem from all parts of the world to hold the festivals, that we can undcr- st^ind the thought expressed here (v.'") that the converted heathen proclaim their conversion by a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to keep the Eeast of TaLernacles. — (rf) It is only during the same period that the notion of holiness expressed in v.

*' is in- telligible, a notion which once more shows the influence of Ezekiel. (4) lidiffUins (ind theological value of these chapters. — We stand no longer upon the ground of prophecy properly so called, but of anonymous eschatologu:al writing. Certain stereotyped feat- ures of cschatology recur. The writers are very strongly influenced by ancient prophecy ; for tho most part bv its religious rather than by its ethical ciiiitents. Ethical I'cutiires indeed recede far be- hind religious.

Very marked is the influence of the Levitical period. The Messianic King still ap- pears, it is true, in 9"', but lie is a comparatively iilidse figure which mi^ht be loft out without daniai;iiig the connexion. He is no longer the I'-ader ill the conflict against enemies, but exclu- 970 ZECHAEIAH, BOOK OF ZEDEKIAH slvely Prince of Peace, with an extremely passive character.

The conception of the final Kiiijj; had at this time assumed a pale cast, that it niiylit be ahle to take on otlier colours, namely those of the priest and the prophet. — Highly significant is tlie conception of tlie Kingdom of God as embracing tlie whole world. Jali weh is King over all the earth, nnd, as He is one. His worship is also one (cf. 14"). But this universalisra has a strong Levitical colour- ing, as is shown especially by the closing verses of ch.

14 with their weighty emphasis upon the purity of the theocracy. The ordering of every- thing on the basis of the dominion of holiness, in other words the supremacy of the Law,— this is the end of the process of development. Eukardt, it is true, maintains that the spiritual uniqueness of Deutero ■ Zechariah consists in tlie freedom with wliich he extends the theocratic universalism over the whole religious situation of his time.

From passages like 14' 13- 9' Eckardt draws the conclusion that, according to Deutero- Zechariah, the heathen world unconsciously wor- ships Jahweh in the person of its own gods, that in its ceaseless gropings and strivings it seeks Him without any clear notion of what it is doing.

Deutero-Zechariah, he holds, goes beyond Mai I" and Is 26" ; for while Malachi exhibits a view which, carried to its logical conclusion, must end in syncretism and indifterentism, and while Is ■2G'^ on the other hand, shows a large, heartedness which might readily be abused to cover cowardly sub.servience and denial of the truth, Deutero- Zechariah in his uiiiveisalism has avoided these errors.

So far from seeing in idolatry only a readily excusable error in calculation, he considers that heathenism must be overcome in the most terrible conllic*: Eckardt admits tliat the views of Deutero-Zechariah have a Levitical tinge, but urges tliat his universalism is not brought to a stand by the wall of tlie Law, but break.s through it whenever it presents itself as an obstacle. Ch.

14, it is true, lays great stress upon Levitical purity, but it is clear from the context, especiallj' from the closing words of v.^', that for tlie writer the building up of tlie Kingdom of God culminates in piety of soul, just as the Levitical purity of the last days passes over into inward purity. N.

ay, from 14''', where he renders nx2n by 'sin-offering,' Eckardt draws the conclusion that the particular- istic narrow-mindedness of the laws about atone- ment is then to be overcome by the universalism of Divine grace, for there shall be a huttnth even for the peoples who doMantly refuse to join in the prescribed pilgrimage to .Jerusalem. An accurate unprejudiced exegesis, however, shows these contentions of Eckardt to be irrecon- cilable with the text.

In view of the condition of things described in M'""'", how can the statement that there shall be no more a Canaanite in the liou.se of Jahweh be made to justify the inference tli.at ' the building up of the Kingdom of God sliall be founded on piety of soul ' ? Or how can 14' ' Jahweh's name shall be one ' give rise to the notion that at present Jahweh is worshijiped under a variety of^names?

In any case no sujiport to this notion is given by 9', w hich cannot mean that the eyes of the heathen worlil are turned towards Jahweh. 9' alone would sufiice to turn the scale against Eckardt, for in this verse the conversion of the Philistines is to evidence itself (1) by their eating no more of eiouXiOvTa, and (2) by their submitting to the Levitical laws about food, ' for Jahweh removes the abomination be- tween their teeth.'

It is beyond question also that in 9" we have not a promise, in contrast with Dt 23'', but a threatening, as the context shows. Eckardt's view is thus shown to be untenable on exegetical grounds. Literature. — B. O. F. Flu:;^e, Die Weissagitivjtm welcke b€§ d^n iichrijten des Propheten /acfiarias bei/'jftn^'itn simi, etc., 1784; W.Heiigstenberg,£«()-((/;p,i.(1831)3uii'tI., bhrislologU dn A.T.'s III. i.2 p. 327 8.; E. F. J. Ortenherg, Uif Beatandtheil* des Bitches Sacharja, 18J>9 ; B.

SUde, ' Deuterozat:harja ' ia ZATtVi. Iff., ii. 151 fl., 273 3. (critiniscd by Kuenen in Under- zoek 2, 55 81-S3] : W. Staerk, Untermcckltiyjeti utter die Kotn- position und AO/assungszeit von Zach. 9-lU, 18H1 ; O. K. Grula- macher, Uiitersuchung iiber den Urxpning der in Sack. i/-J4 vorli^fjenden ProphHien^ 1S92 ; Rubink.im, The Second Part oj the Book of Zachariah, Basel, 1S92 ; Eckardt, 'tier Spntch- gebrauch von Zach. ft-14 ' in ZATW xiii. 76tf., 'Der reli;,'io8e Uehalt," U.S.W., in Ztschr.

/iir Theol. u. Kirche, iii. oUff. ; A. K. Kuiper, Zackarja ix-xio, eene exeqetisch-critiache atutlie^ 189-1 ; T. K. Cheyne, JQR. 18S8, pp. '76-83 ; Boehmer, ■ Daa Raethsel von Sach. 12-14' in Evang. Kirchenzeiischr. 1901, p. 914 ff. ; on the last chapter cf. Graetz in Ji^R iii. 20811. See also the relevant sections in the OT Introductions of Driver, Cornill, Strack, Konig, Baudissin. \V. NOWACK.