Zechariah

Zechariah
Zechariah is the longest of the minor prophets. Is is also perhaps the most difficult. Jerome called it the “most obscure” book of the Hebrew Bible, an opinion often cited and widely shared by subsequent readers. The difficulties of the book have spawned many opinions about the date and authorship of various portions as well as the interpretation of the individual pericopes. Yet it is also a very important book to Christian readers: Zechariah 9-14 is the most frequently cited portion of the Old Testament in the Passion narratives (Lamarche, 8-9), and apart from Ezekiel, this book has exercised more influence than any other on the author of Revelation. Zechariah was apparently a popular name: over twenty-five individuals in the Bible are known by it. The prophet is identified as the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo (Zech. 1:1), probably the same person known in a telescoped form as Zechariah son of Iddo (Ezra 5:1; 6:14; Neh. 12:16). If this identification is correct, Zechariah was a member of one of the families of priests who returned from the Captivity; this would also serve to explain his familiarity with and interest in matters pertaining to the temple (e.g., Zech. 1:16; 3-4; 6:9-15; 8:9, 20-23; 14:16-21). Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman III - AN INTRODUCTION to the OLD TESTAMENT