Zechariah 1:12

1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, ¹  how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem ²  and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” ³ 

Zechariah 3:8

3:8 Listen now, Joshua the high priest, both you and your colleagues who are sitting before you, all of you ⁴  are a symbol that I am about to introduce my servant, the Branch. ⁵ 

Zechariah 4:7

Oracle of Response

4:7 “What are you, you great mountain? ⁶  Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple ⁷  capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ ⁸  because of this.”

[1:12]  ¹ sn Note that here the angel of the Lord is clearly distinct from the Lord who rules over all himself.

[1:12]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:12]  ³ sn The seventy years refers to the predicted period of Babylonian exile, a period with flexible beginning and ending points depending on the particular circumstances in view (cf. Jer 25:1; 28:1; 29:10; Dan 9:2). Here the end of the seventy years appears to be marked by the completion of the temple in 516 b.c., exactly seventy years after its destruction in 586.

[3:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “these men.” The cleansing of Joshua and his elevation to enhanced leadership as a priest signify the coming of the messianic age.

[3:8]  ⁵ sn The collocation of servant and branch gives double significance to the messianic meaning of the passage (cf. Isa 41:8, 9; 42:1, 19; 43:10; 44:1, 2, 21; Ps 132:17; Jer 23:5; 33:15).

[4:7]  ⁷ sn In context, the great mountain here must be viewed as a metaphor for the enormous task of rebuilding the temple and establishing the messianic kingdom (cf. TEV “Obstacles as great as mountains”).

[4:7]  ⁸ tn The word “temple” has been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent (cf. NLT “final stone of the Temple”).

[4:7]  ⁹ sn Grace is a fitting response to the idea that it was “not by strength and not by power” but by God’s gracious Spirit that the work could be done (cf. v. 6).