Prophetical book composed of fourteen chapters; the eleventh in the order of the Minor Prophets, following Haggai and preceding Malachi. Ch. - comprise three prophecies: (1) an introduction (1:1-6); (2) a complex of visions (1:7-); and (3) the seed of Peace (-).
Ch. - contain:
Inspection of its contents shows immediately that the book readily divides into two parts; namely, - and -, each of which is distinguished from the other by its method of presenting the subject and by the range of the subject presented. In the first part Israel is the object of solicitude; and to encourage it to proceed with the rearing of the Temple and to secure the recognition of Zerubbabel and Joshua are the purposes of the prophecy. Visions, which are described and construed so as to indicate Yhwh's approval of the prophet's anxiety, predominate as the mediums of the prophetic message, and the lesson is fortified by appeals to Israel's past history, while stress is laid on righteousness versus ritualism. The date is definitely assigned to the second year of King Darius Hystaspes. The historical background is the condition which confronted the Jews who first returned from the Exile (see, however, Koster's "Herstel von Israel," 1894). Some event—according to Stade, the revolt of Smerdis; but more probably the second conquest of Babylon under Darius—seems to have inspired buoyant hopes in the otherwise despondent congregation in Jerusalem, thus raising their Messianic expectations (Zechariah 2:10 [A. V. 6] et seq. 6:8) to a firm belief in the reestablishing of David's throne and the universal acknowledgment of the supremacy of Yhwh. Angels and Satan are intermediaries and actors.
In the second part the method is radically different. Apocalyptic visions are altogether lacking, and historical data and chronological material are absent. The style is fantastic and contains many obscure allusions. That the two parts are widely divergent in date and authorship is admitted by all modern critics, but while there is general agreement that the first part is by the prophet Zechariah, no harmony has yet been attained concerning the identity or the date of the second part.
Many recent commentators regard the second part as older than the first, and as preexilic in date. They would divide it, furthermore, into at least two parts, - and -, the former by an author contemporary with Amos and Hosea. This assignment is based on the facts that both Israel and Judah are mentioned, and that the names of Assyria, Egypt, and the contiguous nations are juxtaposed, much as they are in Amos. The sins censured are falseprophecy and idolatry (13:1-6). This group of chapters (-), containing the denunciations familiar in all preexilic prophets, is regarded as later than the other division, since only Judah is mentioned. It is therefore assigned to the period after the fall of the Northern Kingdom, and more specifically, on account of 12:11, to the last days of the Southern Kingdom after the battle of Megiddo and the death of King Josiah.
Other scholars have argued with much plausibility for the hypothesis that the second part belongs to a very late period of Jewish history. In the first place, the theology (see see ESCHATOLOGY) of these chapters shows tendencies which are not found in Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, or Jeremiah, but are due to Ezekiel's influence, such as the war on Jerusalem preceding the Messianic triumph. Again, the Temple service () is focal even in the Messianic age, and this suggests the religious atmosphere of the Sadducean and Maccabean theocracy with Zion as its technical designation. A mixture of races is also mentioned, a reminiscence of conditions described by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13:23 et seq.), while deliverance from Babylonian exile underlies such promises as occur in 9:12. The advent of a king is expected, though as yet only a Davidic family is known in Jerusalem (12:7,12).
The second part of the book may thus be recognized to be a compilation rather than a unit, all its components being post-exilic in character. Two groups, - and -, are clearly indicated. The second group (-) is eschatological and has no individual coloring, although from the contrast between Jerusalem and the country of Judah a situation may be inferred which recalls the conditions of the early stages of the Maccabean rebellion. The first group may likewise be subdivided into two sections, 9:1-11:3 and 11:4-17 and 13:7-9. The Greeks (JAVAN) are described in 9:13 as enemies of Judea, and the Assyrians and Egyptians are similarly mentioned in , these names denoting the Syrians (see SELEUCIDÆ) and the Ptolemies. In 9:1-2 Damascus, Hamath, and Hadrach are seats of the Seleucid kings, a situation which is known to have existed in 200-165 B.C. The internal conditions of the Jewish community immediately before the Maccabean uprising appear in the second subdivision, where the shepherds are the tax-farmers (TOBIADS; Menelaus). In 11:13 there seems to be an allusion to HYRCANUS, son of Tobias, who was an exception among the rapacious shepherds.