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Activity 1|Activity 2|Activity 4|Activity 5
Process
Activity 3: Know Your
Prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures
Group 2: Your Prophets are Isaiah (later) and Zechariah
Complete the tasks for Zechariah.
2 Zechariah
Use the following information and the
listed resources to complete your tasks.
Zechariah
- His Profile
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His Name Means |
The
Lord has remembered |
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Appears |
Ezra
5, 6; Zechariah; Matthew 23 |
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Home |
Jerusalem |
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Family |
Post-exilic
Hebrew prophet, the son of Berechiah who prophesied in Jerusalem after the return from
Babylon. (Catholic Encyclopedia calls Zechariah "Zacharias" and says he
was the son of Barachias, who was the son of Addo). |
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Occupation |
"We
may guess that Zechariah was a responsible member of t priestly circles and the
establishment more generally. He was active at least as early as 520 (Zechariah 1:1) and
at least as late as the beginning of the following century (Nehemiah 12:16). |
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Best
Known As |
The
prophet who with Haggai in 520 BC in the second year of the reign of Darius the Great,
pressed for the work to be resumed on the ruined Temple. It was completed within five
years. |
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Special
Interest |
Zechariah
is identified as a colleague of Haggai in the book of Ezra - they are unique in being
bracketed together (Ezra 5:1; 6:14) The book of Zechariah uses visions to point to the world of
the apocalypses (Zechariah 1-6)
St. Jerome, who completed the first
Latin translation of the Bible, referred to this as "the most obsure book in the
Bible". Zechariah 9 - 14 consists of oracles about Israel's enemies and the
coming of Zion's king and shepherd. These chapters clearly influenced the early Christian
community, and important events in the life of Jesus were set out in the Gospels as the
fulfilment of what had been written in these chapters: the entry into Jerusalem (Palm
Sunday) refers to 9:9; the "thirty pieces of silver", wrongly
attributed to Jeremiah in Matthew 27:9, are mentioned in Zechariah in 11:12ff; the
scattering of the shee; (Zechariah 13:7) is echoed in the disciples' abandonment of Jesus
(Matthew 26:31)
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Time |
Haggai
and Zechariah were active when the Jerusalem community was under Persian rule (Zechariah
1:1) These books stand at the moment of transition from the pre-exilic to the post-exilic
period. |
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Key
Themes/
Messages |
A
new age is beginning (1 - 8) The
rebuilding of the Temple
The continuation of David's line in
Zerubbabel
The coming of the Day of the LORD
The future glory of Jerusalem |
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Key
Passages |
Eight
visions (1:7 - 6:8) Messages
for civil and religious leaders (6:9-8:23)
Poetic assurances of Judah's future
(9:1-11:3)
Prose warnings of coming judgment
(11:4-14:21) |
Sources:
Bower, J. 1998, The Complete Bible Handbook - An Illustrated Companion,Dorling
Kindersley, UK
Brown, R.E., Fitzmyer, J.A.,and Murphy, R.E., 1992. The New Jerome Bible
Handbook, Geoffrey Chapman, England
Comay, J., and, Browning, R., 1980. Who's Who in the Old Testament,
Bonanza Books, NY
Drane, J.(ed), 1998, The Lion Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Bible,
Lion Publishing, England
Motyer, S. 1998. Who's Who in the Bible - An Illustrated Guide,
Dorling Kindersley, UK
Resources
Catholic Encyclopedia - Zacharias
Grace Institute - Zechariah
Bible Study - Zechariah
Easton's Bible Dictionary - Zechariah
Bible Basics - Zechariah
When you have completed
Activity 3, go to Process
Introduction|Task|Process|Resources|Evaluation|Conclusion|Teachers
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