Zechariah 1

Zechariah · Chapter 1

Zechariah 1:2

1In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,2The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.3Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.4Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.5Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?6But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.7Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,8I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.9Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.10And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.11And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.12Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?13And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.14So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.15And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.16Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.17Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.18Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.19And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.20And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.21Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
2The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.“The LORD was very angry with your fathers.Jehovah was sore displeased with your fathers.

In context

AI-assisted, sourced

Zechariah's first message opens by reminding the returned exiles that the LORD had been very angry with their ancestors. That reminder leads straight into the call, "Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you" (1:3). The people are told not to be like their fathers, who would not listen to the earlier prophets (1:4). Zechariah 1:1Zechariah 1:2Zechariah 1:3Zechariah 1:4

SpeakingThe word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, and he passes it on. Zechariah 1:1Zechariah overview

ToThe people of Judah who had come back from exile in Babylon. Zechariah is told to "say thou unto them" what follows. Zechariah overviewZechariah 1:3

Also involved"Your fathers" means the earlier generations who ignored the former prophets' call to turn from their evil ways. God's words then "took hold" of them, and they admitted he had dealt with them as their ways deserved. Zechariah 1:4Zechariah 1:5Zechariah 1:6Strong's H0001G

The verse says plainly that the LORD had been deeply angry with the people's ancestors. Other Scripture shows how that anger came out: it was poured out on Judah and Jerusalem, which were left "wasted and desolate" (Jeremiah 44:6), because they forsook the LORD and burned incense to other gods (2 Kings 22:17). Zechariah 1:2Jeremiah 44:62 Kings 22:17Ezekiel 22:31

The message was given in Jerusalem, among the people who had returned. It was given while the temple was being rebuilt. Zechariah overview

JUDAHMediterranean SeaJerusalemTyreSidonDamascusHamath 1GazaAshdodMegiddo

The eventsThe message came in the eighth month of the second year of Darius king of Persia, about 520 BC. The anger it describes lay in the past, in the judgment that led to exile. The chapter calls this God's "indignation these threescore and ten years" (1:12). Zechariah 1:1Zechariah overviewZechariah 1:12

WrittenTraditional: Zechariah wrote the book, with dated messages from about 520 to 518 BC. Scholarly: most agree chapters 1-8 come from Zechariah in 520-518 BC. Many assign the undated chapters 9-14 to a later writer or writers, while others hold that Zechariah wrote the whole book. Zechariah overview

HereThe verse is the ground for the call that follows, which begins "Therefore say thou unto them" and goes on, "Turn ye unto me" (1:3). Remembering God's anger at their fathers is meant to move this generation to return to him and not repeat the past. Zechariah 1:2Zechariah 1:3Zechariah 1:4Zechariah overview

In the whole of ScriptureThe people knew this anger firsthand: "Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities" (Lamentations 5:7). In the same chapter God says his wrath is now turned on the nations that "helped forward the affliction." He also says he has "returned to Jerusalem with mercies" (1:15-16). Lamentations 5:7Lamentations 1:12Zechariah 1:15Zechariah 1:16Psalms 79:5

For readersGod's past judgment on those who would not listen is a real warning, not an empty threat (1:6). It comes with an open door: whoever turns to the LORD finds that he turns to them (1:3). Zechariah 1:6Zechariah 1:3

  • was angryקָצַף
    Hebrew · qa.tsaph · H7107

    This verb means to be displeased or angry, to be wroth or full of wrath. It shows that the verse speaks of real anger on God's part toward the fathers. Strong's H7107Zechariah 1:2

  • anger, wrathקֶ֫צֶף
    Hebrew · qe.tseph · H7110A

    This noun means wrath or anger, and it is used of God. The verse uses both this noun and the verb "he was angry" (H7107) to describe the LORD's displeasure with the fathers. Strong's H7110AStrong's H7107

  • fathers (ancestors)אָב
    Hebrew · av · H0001G

    The word can mean a father or, more widely, ancestors and forefathers. Here it points to the earlier generations of Judah who ignored the former prophets (1:4). Strong's H0001GZechariah 1:4

Takeaway

Zechariah reminds the returned exiles that God's anger against their ancestors was real and came to pass. He does this so they will not repeat their ancestors' mistake. Instead they are to turn to the LORD, who promises to turn to them. Zechariah 1:2Zechariah 1:3Zechariah 1:6

Drafted by AI from the Scripture and data shown under “Show sources,” then checked automatically and by a second AI pass. Updated 2026-10-28.

The world around the text

About 520-518 BC. King of Persia: Darius I (522-486 BC). Where Zechariah prophesied. A small, poor community was rebuilding the temple among the ruins of the city Babylon had burned.

Who ruled
  • King of PersiaDarius I522-486 BC

    Zechariah dates his messages by the years of Darius. Darius confirmed Cyrus's decree and ordered the temple work to go on at royal expense. Zechariah 1:1Zechariah 7:1Ezra 6:1-12Haggai 1:1Behistun Inscription

  • Governor of JudahZerubbabelc. 520 BC

    A descendant of David who led the rebuilding. "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it." Zechariah 4:6-10Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:8

  • High priestJoshua the high priestc. 520 BC

    Called Jeshua in Ezra. He stands in Zechariah's vision clothed in filthy garments, which are taken away, and later receives crowns as a sign. Zechariah 3:1-10Zechariah 6:11Haggai 1:1Ezra 3:2

  • Persian governor "on this side the river"Tattenaic. 520 BC

    The governor of the province west of the Euphrates. He asked who had allowed the building, wrote to Darius, and was told to let the work go on. Ezra 5:3-6Ezra 6:6-13

What was happening, 539 BC to 332 BC
  1. 539 BC
    WarBabylon falls to Cyrus

    Cyrus king of Persia took Babylon, ending the empire that had destroyed Jerusalem. Daniel 5:30-31Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7)Cyrus Cylinder

  2. 538 BC
    God's peopleThe first return

    Cyrus let the exiles go home to build the LORD's house. About fifty thousand returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. Ezra 1:1-4Ezra 2:1-2Ezra 2:64-65

  3. c. 536 BC
    God's peopleThe foundation is laid, then the work stops

    The returned exiles laid the temple's foundation with shouting and weeping. Opposition from their neighbors stopped the work until the second year of Darius. Ezra 3:10-13Ezra 4:4-5Ezra 4:24

  4. 525 BC
    WarPersia conquers Egypt

    Cyrus's son Cambyses invaded and took Egypt, bringing the whole region from the Nile to the Indus under one king. Herodotus, Histories 3.1-16

  5. 522-521 BC
    WarDarius crushes the revolts

    When Darius took the throne, provinces across the empire rebelled, Babylon twice. By 520 he had put them all down. Compare the riders' report in Zechariah's first vision: "all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest." Behistun InscriptionHerodotus, Histories 3.150-159Zechariah 1:11

  6. 520 BC
    God's peopleHaggai and Zechariah stir the people to build

    In Darius's second year the two prophets urged the people to take up the temple work again, and Zerubbabel and Jeshua began to build. Ezra 5:1-2Haggai 1:1-15Zechariah 1:1

  7. c. 520-519 BC
    RulersDarius confirms Cyrus's decree

    Tattenai questioned the building. A search found Cyrus's decree at Achmetha, and Darius ordered the work to continue and be paid for from royal taxes. Ezra 5:3-6:12

  8. 515 BC
    BuildingThe second temple is finished

    The temple was finished on the third day of Adar in Darius's sixth year and dedicated with joy. Ezra 6:14-18Zechariah 4:9

  9. 490-479 BC
    WarPersia's wars with Greece

    Persia invaded Greece twice and was turned back at Marathon (490), Salamis (480) and Plataea (479). Greece, which Zechariah names in 9:13, was becoming Persia's great rival. Herodotus, Histories 6.102-117Herodotus, Histories 8.40-96Herodotus, Histories 9.1-89Zechariah 9:13

  10. 445 BC
    BuildingNehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem's walls

    Under the Persian king Artaxerxes, Nehemiah came from Shushan and rebuilt the walls in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 2:1-8Nehemiah 6:15

  11. 332 BC
    WarAlexander takes Tyre and Gaza

    Alexander the Great besieged island Tyre for seven months and then Gaza for two, on his way to Egypt. Zechariah 9 speaks of Tyre's "strong hold" and of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron and Ashdod. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander 2.15-27Zechariah 9:3-7

The full picture: places, culture and daily life. Scripture first, then ancient records (the Behistun Inscription, the Cyrus Cylinder, the Babylonian Chronicles) and ancient writers (Herodotus, Arrian, Josephus). Drafted by Claude and not yet reviewed by a person.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
he was angryקָצַ֧ףka-TZAFH7107
be angry

קָצַף (qa.tsaph) 1) to be displeased, be angry, fret oneself, be wroth 1a) (Qal) to be wroth, to be full of wrath, to be furious 1b) (Hiphil) to provoke to wrath or anger 1c) (Hithpael) to put oneself in a rage, anger oneself Aramaic equivalent: qe.tsaph (קְצַף "be angry" H7108)

Yahwehיְהוָ֛הYAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

towardsעַל־'al-H5921A
upon

עַל (al) prep 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against 1a) upon, on the ground of, on the basis of, on account of, because of, therefore, on behalf of, for the sake of, for, with, in spite of, notwithstanding, concerning, in the matter of, as regards 1b) above, beyond, over (of excess) 1c) above, over (of elevation or pre-eminence) 1d) upon, to, over to, unto, in addition to, together with, with (of addition) 1e) over (of suspension or extension) …

ancestors yourאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֖ם'a-vo-tei-KHEMH0001G
father

אָב (av) 1) father of an individual 2) of God as father of his people 3) head or founder of a household, group, family, or clan 4) ancestor 4a) grandfather, forefathers - of person 4b) of people 5) originator or patron of a class, profession, or art 6) of producer, generator (fig.) 7) of benevolence and protection (fig.) 8) term of respect and honour 9) ruler or chief (spec.) Also means: av (אַב "father" H0002)

angerקָֽצֶף׃KA-tzefH7110A
wrath

קֶ֫צֶף (qe.tseph) 1) wrath, anger 1a) of God 1b) of man

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.