Zechariah 1:7

The Introduction to the Visions

1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month Shebat, in Darius’ second year, ¹  the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo, as follows:

Zechariah 1:12

1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, ²  how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem ³  and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” ⁴ 

Zechariah 7:3

7:3 by asking both the priests of the temple ⁵  of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, ⁶  fasting as we have done over the years?”

[1:7]  ¹ sn The twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month…in Darius’ second year was February 15, 519 b.c.

[1:12]  ² sn Note that here the angel of the Lord is clearly distinct from the Lord who rules over all himself.

[1:12]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:12]  ⁴ 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.

[7:3]  ³ tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[7:3]  ⁴ sn This lamentation marked the occasion of the destruction of Solomon’s temple on August 14, 586 b.c., almost exactly 70 years earlier (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8).