ZEDHARI'AII, called, in the book of prophecy which goes under his name, "the son of Berechiah, the sou of Iddo," but in Ezra, "the son of Iddo," was born in Babylonia during the captivity, and accompanied the first band of exiles on their return to Pales tine under Zerubbabel and Joshua. Very little is known of his personal history, but enough to assure us that he was a man of influence and a leader among his country men. He combined in himself the offices of priest and prophet. Ezra expressly ascribes to Haggai and him the merit of stirring up, by their prophetic inspiration, the patriotic enthusiasm of the Jews to complete the rebuilding of the temple. Later traditions, which are probably more or less in the line of historic fact, state that he assisted in pro viding for the service of the temple (various of the liturgical psalms being ascribed to him), and that he was a member of the great synagogue (q.v.).
The prophecies of Zechariah may be divided into three parts: the first (chapters i. viii.) consists mainly of a series of visions relating to the building of the temple, the glory of the city, the removal of all abominations out of the land, etc., and winds up with a prediction that Jerusalem will become, as it were, a center of religious worship to all the world. The second (chapters ix.–xi.) threatens Damascus and Phenicia, and the cities of the Philistines with ruin; predicts that Judah will be greater than Javan (Greece), that Israel and Judah will be reunited—though almost immediately he symboli cally shows the impossibility of this—and that both Assyria and Egypt will be humbled. The third part sets forth that dark times for Judah are drawing nigh, which shall be as an ordeal for the nation. After sore trial, it shall come forth thoroughly purged from
iniquity, and then the Lord will appear in his glory on mount Olivet, fight victoriously against the hosts of heathendom, and compel all who are not destroyed by His wrath to worship Him at Jerusalem. A millennium of holiness will then begin: "In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, `holiness unto the Lord' . . . . yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts" (xiv. 20, 21).
Numerous biblical critics, both in Germany and England, consider the first part only to be the work of Zechariah, and it cannot be denied that the internal evidence strongly favors this supposition. There is a unity, consistency, and sequency in the visionary predictions, and a harmony both of style and matter—the imagery bearing very dis tinctly the impress of those two master-spirits of the exile, Ezekiel and Daniel—that no, candid critic can overlook, while the remaining chapters are totally unconnected in subject with what precede; contain no allusion to the post-exilian age, and speak of idols and false prophets in a way that would be utterly meaningless if applied to the times subsequent to the return from the captivity. The style also is quite different; is softer, richer, more poetical. The spirit of Ezekiel is exchanged for that of Jeremiah or the younger Isaiah. Whether these chapters are the work of one or two authors has also been elaborately discussed, the evidence being, on the whole, in favor of the latter view.