References (3)
In the eighth month [Cheshvan – Oct/Nov] of the second year of King Darius' reign [520 BC, he was Persian king 522-486 BC], the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to the prophet Zechariah [Hebr. Zechariah – meaning: 'God remembers'], son of Berechiah [meaning: 'The Lord blesses'], son of Iddo [meaning: 'His witness'].
[Zechariah's grandfather Iddo had returned from Babylon 16 years earlier (538 BC) under the leadership of Zerubbabel, see , . Zechariah was from a priestly family, see , . His ministry begins one month before Haggai receives his last vision, see , . The events in occur at the same time as the events in ]
He [Zechariah] said:
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shvat [February 15, 519 BC], in the second year of the reign of King Darius [520-519 BC], the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo. [Three months after the prophetic address, see .] He [Zechariah] said:
So all the righteous blood shed on earth will come upon you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
[Abel was the first person killed in the Old Testament, see . Zechariah was the last, see . The Book of Chronicles is the last book in the Hebrew Bible. Jesus' point is that throughout the Bible, true followers of God have often been persecuted.]
