1. The prophet and his time.

The name Zechariah (Heb. זְכַרְיָה/z ^ekaryāh, “YHWH has remembered”) is attested several times in the Old Testament: Zech 1:1, 7 names Berechiah, son of Iddo, as father of the prophet (Prophets and prophecy: II). In Ezra 5:1; 6:14, however, he is said to be the son of Iddo. According to Neh 12:16, a man named Zechariah – who can hardly be identified with the prophet – was the…