The Return
- When
- 520–480 BC
- Written by
- Zechariah
- Chapters
- 14
The big idea
Night visions encourage the rebuilders. Later oracles foresee a humble king on a donkey, a pierced one mourned, and the Lord as king over all the earth.
Themes
- God’s return to Zion
- The shepherd struck
- The coming king
- Cleansing
Memory verse
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Key passages
- 1–6The night visions
- 4:6Not by might
- 9:9Thy king cometh
- 12:10They will look on Me
- 13:7Strike the shepherd
Links to other Scripture
- Matthew 21:4–5The entry into Jerusalem
- John 19:37They shall look on him
- Matthew 26:31The sheep scattered
- Revelation 1:7Every eye shall see him
Read the text
Choose a chapter to read it here in the King James Version. Verses with a dotted underline have notes from Bible scholars. Tap one to open them.
Notes from
Chapters
King James text and the commentaries of Henry, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Gill, Clarke, Calvin, and Keil and Delitzsch are in the public domain. Tyndale Open Study Notes are used under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license, from tyndaleopenresources.com. Texts were reformatted for this site.
Journal prompts
Keep a journal or notebook for your study. Write your answers there, in your own words.
- Where do you see Christ in this book?
- “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.” Where are you trying to do God’s work in your own strength?
- Zechariah says the king comes humble, on a donkey. What does that tell you about how God works?
- God shows Zechariah that he will return to Zion. What promise are you waiting for him to keep?
- In one sentence, this book is about…