Context: Zechariah is the longest of the minor prophets and the most quoted in the NT after Isaiah. Contemporary with Haggai, he prophesied to the post-exilic people during the Temple's reconstruction. The book divides into two sections: Zechariah 1–8 (dated prophecies with eight night visions) and Zechariah 9–14 (apocalyptic oracles of intense eschatological character).

The night visions (chs. 1–6): Eight symbolic visions — riders among the myrtle trees, the four horns, the man with a measuring line, the high priest Joshua before Satan, the lampstand and olive trees, the flying scroll, the woman in the basket, the four chariots — provide a theology of divine sovereignty over history. The dense symbolism anticipates John's Revelation.

The messianic prophecies: "Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey" (9:9) — Matt 21:5 cites this as fulfilled in Jesus' triumphal entry. Zechariah 11:12 prophesies the thirty pieces of silver. Chapter 12:10 — "they look on me, on him whom they have pierced" — is cited in John 19:37. Chapter 13:7 — "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered" — is quoted by Jesus on the night of his arrest (Matt 26:31).