Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argumentum
Zechariah was contemporary and coeval with Haggai; for both began to prophesy after the Babylonian captivity, in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, king of Persia, as is evident from the beginning of each: however, Haggai is placed before Zechariah because he began to prophesy two months before him, namely in the sixth month, while Zechariah began in the eighth month. So says St. Jerome. The other Prophets were verbal, and heard God speaking through words infused into their minds; but Zechariah abounds in visions and symbols. For he sees now chariots, now horns, now seven eyes, now an amphora sealed with a talent of lead, now a seven-branched candlestick, now craftsmen, now olive trees, etc. Therefore, among the others he is equally obscure, profound, varied, prolix, and enigmatic. He is therefore symbolic, just as Daniel and Ezekiel; whom St. John followed in the Apocalypse, and especially Zechariah, as will become clear in the course of this work. Hear St. Jerome writing to Paulinus: "Zechariah, mindful of his Lord (for Zechariah is called as if zachar ia, that is, 'he remembered God'; or as zecher ia, that is, 'memory of God'), manifold in prophecy, beholds Jesus clothed in filthy garments, and the stone of seven eyes, and the golden candlestick with as many lamps as eyes, and two olive trees from the left and right of the lamp: so that after the black, red, white, and dappled horses, and the scattered chariots from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, he may prophesy the poor king (Christ), as he foretells One sitting upon a colt, the foal of a donkey under the yoke."
Moreover, Zechariah is fittingly called 'Memory of the Lord': because of all the wonderful things that God had foretold piecemeal through the other prophets, in this one prophet, being nearly the last of the Prophets, He made as it were a memorial for Himself, so that it is no longer surprising that men should be filled with wonder, for God Himself is the memorial of His own wonders. Furthermore, St. Cyril here asserts that Zechariah was descended from the tribe of Levi, so that he was a Levite, priest, teacher, and prophet of the people. For when the people, he says, during the Babylonian captivity, which lasted 70 years, had forgotten their homeland and the God of their fathers, God raised up Zechariah to renew for them the memory of Jerusalem, the temple, and God, and to restore in them the piety of their ancestors. Finally, both Zechariah and Haggai began to prophesy in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, which was the year of the world 3431; before the birth of Christ it was the year 519.
Some believe that Zechariah was a martyr: for they think he was that Zechariah of whom Christ says in Matthew 23:35: "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar." Hence our Zechariah here also calls himself the son of Berechiah, and he was the second-to-last of the Prophets: for the last was Malachi; and Christ speaks of the last Prophet killed by the Jews. So say Vatablus, Arias, Sanchez, and Ribera here, as well as St. Chrysostom in Homily 1 on Luke, On the Nativity of John the Baptist, although St. Jerome, Bede, and many others hold that that Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada the high priest, who by another name was called Berechiah: for King Joash killed him between the sanctuary and the altar, 2 Chronicles 24:21. Others, thirdly, such as Origen, St. Basil, Cyril, Epiphanius, Euthymius, Theophylactus, whom Cardinal Baronius and our own a Castro follow, hold that the Zechariah mentioned by Christ was the father of John the Baptist, who was killed by the Jews because he had proclaimed the Virgin birth and the coming of Christ, and because he had placed the Blessed Virgin after giving birth among the virgins in the temple. But more on this at Matthew 23.
Concerning the oracles and miracles of Zechariah, Epiphanius writes thus in his Life: "Zechariah the prophet, born of Berechiah, departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and while traveling he prophesied many things to the people: and as proof he performed many miracles. It is he who foretold to Josedec by word of mouth: 'From you shall be born a son who, initiated into sacred things, shall offer sacrifice to the Lord in Jerusalem.' He also blessed Shealtiel regarding his son, saying: 'He shall beget a son, and shall name him Zerubbabel.' Concerning Cyrus, king of Persia, Zechariah also gave a portent, and that unto victory: he likewise displayed a sign over Croesus the tyrant of Lydia, and also over Astyages the king of the Medes, and he prophesied concerning the public ministry that Cyrus the king was to establish in Jerusalem, and praised him highly, etc.; he died in extreme old age in Judea, and was buried near Haggai the prophet." These things, if true, show that the Prophets prophesied very many things which they did not commit to writing for us. For none of these things is found in our book of Zechariah. St. Dorotheus has the same in his Life of Zechariah: "Zechariah, he says, came from Chaldea when he was already advanced in age, and there he prophesied many things to the people, and performed miracles as proof: and he exercised the priesthood in Jerusalem. He also blessed Shealtiel with his sons, and gave the name Zerubbabel; and he gave victory to the Persians under Cyrus by the worship which he was to establish in Jerusalem, and he blessed him greatly. The things that pertained to prophecy he saw in Jerusalem, and he set forth concerning the end of the nations, concerning the temple, concerning peace, concerning the Prophets and priests, and concerning the twofold judgment. He died at a very advanced age, and was buried near Eleutheropolis: and in the times of Bishop Ephidius it was revealed that he was Zechariah the son of Berechiah whom Isaiah mentions" in chapter 8:2.
He was enrolled in the catalogue of saints on the sixth day of September, where we read thus of him in the Roman Martyrology: "Of Zechariah the prophet, who, having returned as an old man from Chaldea to his homeland, lies buried near Haggai the prophet." His venerable body was discovered under the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, with Zechariah himself appearing and making known the discovery, as Sozomenus reports in book 9, last chapter, and from him Baronius in the year of Christ 415. Although what is added there, received from a Jew, pertains to Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the high priest, not to our Prophet here.
His subject matter is, first, together with Haggai, to encourage and urge the people who had returned from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. This is evident from 1 Ezra 5:1: "Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judea and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Josedec rose up and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and with them the prophets of God helping them." Second, to exhort the same people not to imitate the idols and vices of their ancestors, whose punishment, slaughter, and captivity they had seen. Third, he foretells the future successes and various events that would befall the Jews up to Christ, and especially the revolutions and successions of the four monarchies, which would end in the kingdom of Christ. Fourth, he promises Christ, and recounts His life and mysteries so particularly that he seems more a historian and evangelist than a prophet: for he recounts Christ's royal and triumphal entry into Jerusalem, which occurred on Palm Sunday, four days before His passion and death; likewise the betrayal of Judas, the institution of the Eucharist, the passion of Christ, the wounds of His hands, the descent into hell, the leading forth of the patriarchs, the resurrection and glory, the rejection of the Jews, the calling of the Gentiles, the institution and expansion of the Church, as well as its holiness and happiness, and the punishment and destruction of its persecutors. Moreover, he describes these things through hieroglyphic enigmas, parables, and obscure sayings, and truly employs the prophetic style. Hence St. Jerome in his Prologue: "From obscure things, he says, we pass to things more obscure, and with Moses we enter into the cloud and darkness. The abyss calls to the abyss with the voice of God's cataracts, we suffer labyrinthine wanderings, and we guide the blind footsteps of Christ by a thread."