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Zechariah 2

1 I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.

2 Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

3 Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him,

4 and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.

5 For I,’ says the LORD, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.

6 Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says the LORD; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says the LORD.

7 ‘Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.’

8 For the LORD of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.

9 For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me.

10 Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion! For behold, I come and I will dwell within you,’ says the LORD.

11 Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you.

12 The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

13 Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!”

Around Zechariah 2

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

About Zechariah as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

The same returned community that heard Haggai hears Zechariah. His first message is an invitation: “Return to me,” says the LORD of Armies, “and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Armies. Then come the visions, eight of them, seen at night. A man on a red horse among myrtle trees. Four horns, and four craftsmen coming to cast them down. Behind them stands a promise that the LORD has returned to Jerusalem with mercy. The first part of the book (chapters 1 to 8) promises God’s return to Jerusalem and calls for justice and mercy.

The second part (9 to 14) is harder to place. Its first great cry is a call to joy: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!” The king who comes is righteous and having salvation, “lowly, and riding on a donkey,” even on a colt. The chapters go on to speak of a shepherd who is struck, of one who is pierced and mourned, and of a day when the LORD will be king over all the earth.

Background

The dated messages fall between 520 and 518 before Christ. Many scholars think chapters 9 to 14 come from a later time. Others hold that Zechariah wrote the whole book. The question is still open, and readers who take Scripture seriously stand on both sides of it. The prophet is called the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, in the opening lines.

How Christians read it

The Gospels quote Zechariah repeatedly in telling of Jesus’ last week: the entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, the thirty pieces of silver, the scattered sheep and the pierced one. Christians differ on how much of the final chapters still lies ahead. Some read them mostly as pictures already fulfilled, and others look for more. How the book is read depends in part on how its two halves are related.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 21 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes