Mark J. Boda - The Book of Zechariah

The New International Commentary on the Old Testament

General Editors

R. K. HARRISON

(19681993)

ROBERT L. HUBBARD, JR.

(1994 )

Mark J. Boda

W ILLIAM B . E ERDMANS P UBLISHING C OMPANY

G RAND R APIDS, M ICHIGAN / C AMBRIDGE, U . K .

2016 Mark J. Boda

All rights reserved

Published 2016 by

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Boda, Mark J.

Title: The Book of Zechariah / Mark J. Boda.

Description: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016. |

Series: The new international commentary on the Old Testament |

Includes .

Identifiers: LCCN 2015038499 | ISBN 9780802823755 (cloth: alk. paper); 9781467445085 (ePub); 9781467444613 (Kindle)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Zechariah Commentaries.

Classification: LCC BS1665.53 .B63 2016 | DDC 224/.9807 dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038499

www.eerdmans.com

Ad majoren Dei gloriam

For Bruce K. Waltke

Long ago St. Paul wrote: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth (1 Cor. 3:6 NRSV). He was right: ministry indeed requires a team effort the collective labors of many skilled hands and minds. Someone digs up the dirt and drops in seed, while others water the ground to nourish seedlings to growth. The same team effort over time has brought this commentary series to its position of prominence today. Professor E. J. Young planted it nearly fifty years ago, enlisting its first contributors and himself writing its first published volumes. Professor R. K. Harrison watered it, signing on other scholars and wisely editing everyones finished products. As General Editor, I now tend their planting, and, true to Pauls words, through four decades God has indeed graciously [given] the growth.

Today the New International Commentary on the Old Testament enjoys a wide readership of scholars, priests, pastors, rabbis, and other serious Bible students. Thousands of readers across the religious spectrum and in countless countries consult its volumes in their ongoing preaching, teaching, and research. They warmly welcome the publication of each new volume and eagerly await its eventual transformation from an emerging series into a complete commentary set. But as humanity experiences a new century of history, an era commonly called postmodern, what kind of commentary series is NICOT? What distinguishes it from other similarly well-established series?

Its volumes aim to publish biblical scholarship of the highest quality. Each contributor writes as an expert, both in the biblical text itself and in the relevant scholarly literature, and each commentary conveys the results of wide reading and careful, mature reflection. Ultimately, its spirit is eclectic, each contributor gleaning interpretive insights from any useful source, whatever its religious or philosophical viewpoint, and integrating them into his or her interpretation of a biblical book. The series draws on recent methodological innovations in biblical scholarship: for example, canon criticism, the so-called new literary criticism, reader-response theories, and sensitivity to gender-based and ethnic readings. NICOT volumes also aim to be irenic in tone, summarizing and critiquing influential views with fairness while defending their own. Its list of contributors includes male and female scholars from a number of Christian faith-groups. The diversity of contributors and their freedom to draw on all relevant methodologies give the entire series an exciting and enriching variety.

What truly distinguishes this series, however, is that it speaks from within that interpretive tradition known as evangelicalism. Evangelicalism is an informal movement within Protestantism that cuts across traditional denominational lines. Its heart and soul is the conviction that the Bible is Gods inspired Word, written by gifted human writers, through which God calls humanity to enjoy a loving personal relationship with its Creator and Savior. True to that tradition, NICOT volumes do not treat the Old Testament as just an ancient literary artifact on a par with the Iliad or Gilgamesh. They are not literary autopsies of ancient parchment cadavers but rigorous, reverent wrestlings with wonderfully human writings through which the living God speaks his powerful Word. NICOT delicately balances criticism (i.e., the use of standard critical methodologies) with humble respect, admiration, and even affection for the biblical text. As an evangelical commentary, it pays particular attention to the texts literary features, theological themes, and implications for the life of faith today.

Ultimately, NICOT aims to serve women and men of faith who desire to hear Gods voice afresh through the Old Testament. With gratitude to God for two marvelous gifts the Scriptures themselves and keen-minded scholars to explain their message I welcome readers of all kinds to savor the good fruit of this series.

R OBERT L . H UBBARD, J R.

I began my study of Zechariah in my first year of seminary studies, under the tutelage of Raymond Dillard, who used this book as his example for reading the prophets. Looking back now after twenty-five years, I can only say that I am glad that I chose to preach through Zechariah to that little congregation on the edge of Philadelphia. Even in my doctoral studies I could not stray too far from Zechariah and in the conclusion of that work connected penitential prayer and Nehemiah 9 to those responsible for the book of Zechariah. Immediately after my dissertation was completed, I returned in earnest to study Zechariah. In this book I have found encouragement and challenge, a vision of the past, present, and future that has nourished my own faith and excited my intellect. Along the way I have enjoyed the companionship of many, ranging from the congregations who have listened to sermons on Zechariah, to students who have sat in my courses, listening and responding to lectures while translating and interpreting this book, to scholars who have heard, read, and responded to my papers, articles, and books on this prophetic book. So much of what I have written in this commentary has been encouraged by these many people and has been refined by countless conversations. I want to express my thanks as well to the board and senate of McMaster Divinity College for the provision of a research leave during which I was able to complete this manuscript. In addition, I am thankful to the series editor, Robert Hubbard, first, for inviting me to participate, and then for interacting with my material and sharpening its results. I am thankful to Anthony Pyles, my graduate assistant, who painstakingly worked through my manuscript to transform Hebrew text into transliteration and who also consistently brought cups of coffee to my office door to encourage fellowship and collegiality. Many thanks to my graduate assistant Alexander Stewart for his careful eye on the final proofs and also to Steven Griffin and Andrew Dyck who painstakingly indexed the volume. Thanks is also due to Allen Myers and the editorial team at Eerdmans for their work on my manuscript, carefully shepherding it to publication.

I dedicate this book to my former Hebrew and Old Testament professor Bruce Waltke, who taught me to engage in careful and close readings of the text in its original languages. His faithful work over a half century has produced fruit in so many of the lives of those who learned under his tutelage and continue the exegetical tradition he modelled.