Zechariah: The Coming King

Zechariah at a Glance

Zechariah is the longest of the Minor Prophets and one of the richest in prophecy about the Messiah. It begins with encouragement for builders and ends with the LORD as King over all the earth.

• Author. Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo (Zechariah 1:1). He came from a priestly family (Nehemiah 12:16) and was a prophet alongside Haggai (Ezra 5:1). We take the whole book as his, with chapters 9 to 14 coming from later in his life. His name means “the LORD remembers.”
• Date. He began in the autumn of 520 BC, about two months after Haggai started, and received the night visions in February 519 BC. Chapters 7 and 8 are dated to 518 BC. Chapters 9 to 14 are undated.
• Written To. The Jews who had returned from exile and were rebuilding the temple, and through them all of Israel.
• Setting. The same as Haggai's. The temple work had restarted, and the people were weak, outnumbered, and discouraged. They needed to know that God was still at work and what was ahead.
• Key Verse. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee (Zechariah 9:9).
• Key Word or Theme. The coming King, who cleanses His people and will one day reign.