Week 32 Zechariah 12
I can’t say for sure but I think the last three chapters of Zechariah – 12-14 – are a separate section of the book. Up to that point there’s been a lot of content dealing with Zechariah’s visions. But then 12 starts off with what looks like a heading or subtitle:
The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
A few other bible versions use that same (odd) expression: the burden of the Lord. But others change the word burden – replace it with:
a pronouncement
a prophecy
the oracle.
I notice that a couple of them decided to make it into a kind of title by adding a semicolon:
A prophecy:
One of them bolds the words to emphasize it:
An Oracle.
Anyway the point is that it looks to me like chapter 12 is the start of a new section. I realize that it’s possible to break down the book of Zechariah in other ways so I’m not going to go-to-the-wall over this one.
But I have two reasons to think that Zechariah was moving-on in 12:1.
The first was that opening phrase: An Oracle. To me that looks like an ancient-world equivalent to a bit of neon signage.
Secondly was that Zechariah began to frequently use the expression day of the Lord in his last three chapters – I counted 18 times in 44-verses. Often enough that the day of the Lord might be Zechariah’s key idea in 12-14.
Note: quote from Zechariah 12:1 (NASB CSB CJB ESV NIV & RSV)