The book of Zechariah, explained simply

Who wrote it

The book names Zechariah, son of Berekiah and grandson of Iddo, a prophet (someone who speaks messages from God) in Jerusalem. Traditionally he is credited with the whole book. Many modern scholars agree that chapters 1 to 8 come from Zechariah himself. But they think chapters 9 to 14, which differ in style and have no dates or mention of Zechariah, were added later by one or more unnamed writers. Others defend a single author. The question remains debated.

When

Chapters 1 to 8 are dated to about 520 to 518 BC, in the reign of the Persian king Darius I. Decades earlier, in 586 BC, Babylon had destroyed Jerusalem and its temple and taken many people away. After Persia conquered Babylon, some exiles returned home, but rebuilding the temple had stalled. Zechariah spoke at the same time as the prophet Haggai, urging the work on, and the temple was finished a few years later. The date of chapters 9 to 14 is uncertain. Suggestions range from Zechariah's own time to well over a century later.

Who it was written to

The Jewish community living in and around Jerusalem after the return from exile. They were a small, poor group under foreign rule, trying to rebuild their city, their temple and their life with God.

Why it was written

The people wondered whether God was still with them after the disaster of exile. Zechariah answers that God wants them back, will live among them again, and cares most that they treat each other with justice and kindness. In the Bible's bigger story, the book looks ahead to a humble king and a rejected shepherd. The New Testament writers quote these passages when telling the story of Jesus, for example a king riding into Jerusalem on a donkey (9:9) and thirty pieces of silver (11:12 to 13).

Big themes

Return to God, and he will return to you · God living among his people again · Justice and kindness matter more than religious ritual · A coming king and hope for all nations

How it is laid out

A call to come back to God (1:1-6)

Eight night visions (1:7-6:8)

A crown for the high priest (6:9-15)

A question about fasting, and promises for Jerusalem (7-8)

First message: a humble king and failed shepherds (9-11)

Second message: Jerusalem's struggle and God's final victory (12-14)

A tip for reading it

The visions in chapters 1 to 6 are full of strange images like horses, horns, a flying scroll and a woman in a basket. An angel explains many of them, so look for those explanations rather than decoding every detail. The Joshua here is a high priest of Zechariah's day, not the earlier leader of the same name. Chapters 9 to 14 feel different. Parts, especially chapters 9 and 10, are poetry, while much of 11 to 14 is prose. These chapters include disturbing scenes: chapter 13 imagines parents killing a child who falsely claims to be a prophet. Chapter 14 describes Jerusalem captured, its women raped, and enemies struck by a horrifying plague. Readers disagree about whether these chapters describe events in their own era, a distant future, or both. Christians have often read parts of them as pointing to Jesus. It helps to read them as vivid pictures of hope and judgment instead of a precise timetable.