Read this if you…
- like apocalyptic night-vision sequences (flying scrolls, lampstands, a woman in a basket)
- want the messianic prophecies the gospels lean on most: the humble king on a donkey, the pierced one
- care about post-exilic prophets rallying a discouraged community to rebuild the temple
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Why It Matters
Zechariah is the most quoted Old Testament book in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' final days. The donkey, the thirty pieces of silver, the pierced one, the scattered sheep all come from here, and that imagery became central to how Christians read the Passion.
Depicted in Art
Enthroned, bearded prophet in green cloak reading from a heavy book, two putti looking over his shoulder; one of seven prophet pendentives.
Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1512
Foreshortened prophet seen from below, leaning out from a painted architectural niche, holding an open scroll.
Melozzo da Forli, 1477
Bust-length prophet within a roundel of the baptistery's gold-ground mosaic ceiling, holding a scroll.
Standing prophet in classical robes holding a curved sickle (the flying scroll of his sixth vision rendered as a blade), framed by gold.
985
Half-length prophet with a turban and unfurled scroll bearing 'Exulta satis filia Sion' (Zechariah 9:9), set in a stone lunette above the Annunciation panels.
Jan van Eyck, 1432
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”