Christine Hayes
This page contains the teachings of two scholars. In addition, see the much more detailed paper of Christine Hayes’ Lecture 23’s transcript in Dropbox\Christianity\Scholars\Christine Hayes\Intro to the OT\Lecture 23 Transcript Ruth Haggie 1_2Zechariah 3Isaiah Joel Daniel.docx”
Bart Ehrman
Here is the ChatGPT summary of the part of Bart Ehrman’s textbook about the book Zechariah that he shared in his blog post A Gold Nugget Often Overlooked: The Book of Zechariah, November 29, 2025.
Summary
Ehrman explains that the book of Zechariah is understood by critical scholars as a composite work. Chapters 1–8 come from an early post-exilic prophet (“First Zechariah”) writing in 520 BCE during the reign of Darius of Persia, while chapters 9–14 come from a later writer (“Second Zechariah”), probably in the 5th century BCE.
First Zechariah (1–8)
This prophet writes prose rather than poetry and delivers a series of eight symbolic visions announcing that Jerusalem and its Temple will soon be rebuilt. The setting matches the early return period narrated in Ezra and Nehemiah. In the opening vision (1:7–17), divine horsemen patrol the earth and report peace; God then promises renewed mercy, prosperity, and his return to dwell in Zion.
First Zechariah supports the restoration effort and urges Judeans in Babylon to come home (2:6–7). The book also refers to a coming Davidic figure called “the Branch.” One passage (3:6–10) seems to point to Zerubbabel—the Davidic governor and grandson of Jehoiachin—drawing on the older Isaian tradition of a shoot from Jesse (Isaiah 11; Jeremiah 23, 33). Another passage (6:11–13) unusually calls the high priest Joshua “Branch” and credits him with building the Temple, even though 4:9 assigns that role to Zerubbabel. Scholars often explain this tension by suggesting the prophet views the political and priestly leaders as working so closely together that their roles blur.
Second Zechariah (9–14)
Ehrman notes that this later section is difficult to interpret. Even so, its broad themes are identifiable: judgment on Israel’s opponents, restoration for both Judah and “the house of Joseph,” purification of the land from idolatry and false prophecy (13:2–6), and the defeat of hostile nations that attack Jerusalem (12:9).
By Marg Mowczko
The Wicked Woman in Zechariah 5:5-11 by Marg Mowczko on — a comprehensive article about Zechariah. Extracts follow.
Her opening paragraph – The first half of the book of Zechariah, chapters 1-8, contains a series of visions. These visions are observed by Zechariah the prophet[1] and are explained by a messenger.[2] The seventh vision is of a woman, identified as “Wickedness,” who is forcibly restrained inside a “measuring basket” (ephah) covered with a heavy lead lid. The ephah containing “Wickedness” is then carried off to Shinar (Babylon) by two other women who have wings and can fly. In Shinar, the two women will place the ephah on a pedestal within a house they build for it.
Why is “Wickedness” a Woman in Zechariah 5?
The “woman in the basket” is symbolic of the wickedness of the people in Judah, men and women. This symbol is not saying or implying that real women are more wicked than men, or that women are the source of wickedness.[14] Similarly, the symbolism of the “four craftsmen” in Zechariah’s second vision doesn’t signify that craftsmen are generally terrifying or violent people (Zech. 1:20-21).
There are a few suggestions put forward about why wickedness is personified as a woman.[15] The simplest reason is that the Hebrew word rishah (“wickedness”) used in Zechariah 5:8 is grammatically feminine.
Biblical Hebrew is a gendered language. Nouns and verbs, and other kinds of words, can be grammatically feminine or masculine.[16] Grammatical gender does not necessarily correspond with the actual gender of the person or thing a word refers to. Inanimate objects, such as rocks and houses, are also either masculine or feminine, as are abstract concepts, such a love, anger, and wisdom.
Sometimes the authors of the Bible use the grammatical gender of a word as a basis to personify a concept. In Hebrew, the words for “wisdom” and “folly” are feminine, and these concepts are personified as women in the book of Proverbs. (See Proverbs 8, for example.)[17] But there may be more to it than just grammatical gender.
That Zechariah didn’t have a negative view of women is seen in that women are the ones who remove “Wickedness” from the land of Judah. These two agents of God had wings like storks, and they lifted the basket up into the air to carry it away to Babylon.[21]
Cities and States as Women
Cities are usually depicted metaphorically in the Bible as women.[18] For example, some of the Old Testament prophets, including Zechariah, used the word “daughter” (singular) to collectively refer to the male and female inhabitants of Jerusalem (Zion).[19] Zechariah encourages “Daughter Zion/ Daughter Jerusalem” to be happy three times (Zech. 2:10; 3:14; 9:9).
Relevant footnotes at the end of her article are:
[16] Hebrew nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and participles are either masculine or feminine. A few words have common gender. There is no neuter gender in Hebrew.
[17] Wisdom as a woman is even more pronounced in the Wisdom of Solomon. Though originally written in Greek, this work borrows heavily from Hebrew wisdom literature.
[18] “… such female imagery for cities utilizes conventional language because then, as today, cities and countries were grammatically construed as feminine.” Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Revelation: Vision of a Just World (Fortress, 1985), 95.
