Zechariah 11-13 Chiasmus: The Prophecy of the Anointed Ones

Theology
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Hi everyone, this is my first post here. I wanted to share some good news concerning the times we live in by pointing out a chiasmus in Zechariah chapters 11-13. This chiasmus, which is an arrangement of passages that mirror each other from first to last, reveals that the people of Israel had not yet repented of their sins and would undergo a period of refinement. It relies heavily on the usage of shepherding terms, with the shepherd being a high priest that rules Jerusalem from the temple (see Zech 6:11-13). The high priest selected to rebuild the temple was a Zadokite named Joshua, so the Zadokites were the branch chosen by God to shepherd from Jerusalem (see Zech 3). This is important because chapter 10 shows exiles returning and then chapter 11 shows the temple being destroyed and the flock being devoured by a worthless shepherd.

A: Temple decreed to be destroyed and flock devoured (11:1-6)

B: Three shepherds removed in one month–flock weary of the chosen shepherd (11:7-9)

C: Flock rejects the chosen shepherd and is devoured by a worthless shepherd (11:10-17)

D: Jerusalem besieged and tribes mourn for the shepherd whom they pierced (12)

D’: Fountain opened up for the House of David and Jerusalem for cleansing of sin (13:1-6)

C’: God’s chosen Shepherd struck with the sword and the flock scattered (13:7)

B’: 2/3 flock are cutoff and perish while 1/3 are refined in the fire (13:8-9)

A’: Jerusalem attacked by all nations and sacked (14:1-2)

The chiasmus shows us a timeline.

B: The three shepherds removed in one month are Jason (brother of Onias III), Menelaus, and Alcimus. Jason paid Antiochus IV to have Onias III removed from office of high priest. Menelaus paid higher to have Jason removed, but was replaced afterward by Alcimus. These three high priests were Hellenists and sought to align Jewish custom with Greek culture. They were removed within thirty years of each other.

C: Onias III was the last Zadokite high priest anointed by God before he was betrayed by his brother Jason (whose original name was Joshua/Jesus). The office of high priest remained vacant for seven years and then was filled by Jonathan Apphus, whom the Essenes labeled as the “Wicked Priest”. Thus began the Hasmonean Dynasty, during which the flock were devoured rather than nourished. The Hasmonean Dynasty were not Zadokites and favored Hellenistic culture.

D: The siege of Jerusalem would be designed to lead Jerusalem, Judah, and their government to repent of their sins and turn to God’s chosen Shepherd. The siege began in 40 BC, when Herod gained the support from the Romans to remove the last Hasmonean high priest Antigonus II and restore Jerusalem as a client state. Antigonus was defeated and executed in 37 BC, 483 years after God ordained Joshua the High Priest to rebuild the temple (520 BC). For those familiar with Daniel 9’s Seventy Sevens, this shows an anointed one being cut off after 69 sevens, or 483 years (Dan 9:25-26). The people did not repent, did not want the rightful high priest, and therefore would not be delivered by God when the Romans besieged the city in 70 AD. That is why this passage is the central point of the chiasmus. As Jesus said in Matthew 23:39 NASB1995, “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” The sign this is happening is the Jewish independence of Jerusalem apart from rule by the House of David (Zech 12:1-7). I believe we have seen this fulfilled before our very eyes and there is a remnant in Israel that calls upon the name of Jesus, the Messianic Jews.

C’: When the government approves the citizenship of Messianic Jewish immigrants, we will know that the House of David will soon be cleansed of impurity. Right now, the government will not authorize naturalization of Jews who were not born of a Jewish mother and retain the Jewish religion as it is currently presented (Rabbinical Judaism). Zechariah looks forward to a time when the Jewish government will seek Jesus Christ, the High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek, as their Messiah.

B’: The chosen Messiah would be One that would be struck and the flock scattered. 3.5 years after Jesus began His ministry, He flipped over the moneychanger tables in the temple and was handed over to the Romans to be executed by the Sanhedrin. Their rejection of Him prevented their cleansing, led to Jerusalem being sacked and the temple being destroyed, and dispersed the Jews across the Roman Empire to be vilified and persecuted for nearly 1900 years. It also ended the validity of animal sacrifices of the second temple era. Thus two thirds of the Jewish population was cut off and one third remained to be refined in the fire. These will call upon the name of Jesus of Nazareth when Jerusalem is again attacked by all nations.

A’: The circumstances that will lead to the Jewish government calling upon Jesus will be the sacking of Jerusalem by all nations. Militias in the Arab world call for the destruction of Jews on a daily basis. That sentiment has now reached some in the United States of America. The reason the armies will succeed is because there will be a false messiah that will gain support for the role of high priest/ruler. When this happens, I believe we will enter the last half of Daniel 9:27’s seventieth week.

I look forward to reading your thoughts. Sorry it was so wordy, but there is a lot of material to cover.

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First, welcome to the forum @TheFreschatologist and second, can you provide links?

J.

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Thanks! Links as in sources? It will take a while but most of this is from Flavius Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews and a literary analysis.

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I was going to ask you this also. Welcome to the Forum @TheFreschatologist. You’ve put a lot of detailed work into mapping out this structure. A few thoughts and questions to consider. I had to do some research on this.

Scholars typically divide Zechariah 9–14 into two main oracles (chapters 9–11 and 12–14). How do you account for combining chapters 11–14 into a single chiasmus across those distinct section breaks?

Interpreting the three shepherds in 11:8 as Jason, Menelaus, and Alcimus is an interesting historical connection, but their tenure spanned roughly twenty years. Do you view the ‘one month’ purely symbolically, or is there a specific ancient calendar reckoning you are drawing from?

Connecting Zechariah 13:1–6 to modern Israeli naturalization law leans heavily on current events. How do you distinguish between what the original text explicitly demands and how contemporary political shifts are mapped onto it?

Thanks for sharing your research. I do find it very interesting. Looking forward to hearing your perspective on these points. Be blessed,

Peter

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Great questions Peter, thanks!

  1. The book is actually divided into two parts. Part 1 is chapters 1-6, in which Zechariah has multiple visions. Part 2 is chapters 7-14. These are the prophecies and explain in more detail what the visions in Part 1 are about. Notice that chapter 7 begins with calling for true repentance because their hearts were like flint and therefore they were punished. The inclusio comes up at chapter 14 with showing the people of Jerusalem being delivered and never again scattered nor will there ever be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord. In the middle of this sequence is chapter 11. So the whole piece is actually a chiasmus, with multiple chiasma within it. Chapter 8 shows the Gentiles rallying to Jerusalem and chapter 14 shows the same, adding that they will observe the Feast of Tabernacles annually or experience a curse.
  2. Purely symbolic. Months were tracked by moon cycles, whereas days were tracked by the sun. The interesting symbolism here is that a month is being referred to in terms of days, suggesting a dark time among the saints. Interestingly exactly 30 years later, Jonathan Apphus stormed the Acra citadel (seven years after his appointment) and drove out the Hellenists that were positioned to suppress Judaism.
  3. The main point of the text was that the people who returned to Jerusalem had not repented and therefore rejected the High Priest God had anointed for them. Abominations rose up instead, condemning the city and its people to desolation. This brought about the destruction of the temple and desolation of Jerusalem. The warning is that if they continue to reject the High Priest God has chosen, this will continue to happen. The message John the Baptist and Jesus preached was, “Repent, for the kingdom is at hand!” Personally, I think they will repent this time.

I look forward to your thoughts. Have a good day!

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Thanks for taking the time to break down your framework @TheFreschatologist! I appreciate the thought you’ve put into this structure. A few quick thoughts on your points.

You make a fair observation about the thematic echoes between chapters 8 and 14 regarding the Gentiles. However, the explicit textual markers, the introduction of the formal Massa (“Oracle/Burden”) at 9:1 and 12:1, still suggest the text itself marks major structural shifts that are hard to fold into a single unified chiasmus without overriding those textual headers.

Your point two. That is a creative connection to Jonathan Apphus and the Acra citadel! My caution there would just be that translating 1 month into 30 days, and then 30 days into a 30-year historical span, requires quite a few hermeneutical leaps that the text doesn’t explicitly invite us to make.

On the rejected Shepherd. I completely agree with your core theological point here. Zechariah 11 vividly portrays the tragedy of rejecting the true Shepherd God provides, which sets up the profound mourning and ultimate repentance we see promised in Zechariah 12:10 when they look upon Him whom they pierced.

Enjoyed reading your perspective and exchanging ideas with you on this! Grace and peace to you,

Peter

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Thanks!

I’ll take a closer look at your first point once my kiddos go to bed. They whisper just below a shout.

For your second point, I don’t think the duration is as important as the symbolism. Moons were used to count months and moons are observed during the hours of darkness. The idea that the high priesthood would be corrupted is not foreign to the prophets. Daniel wrote several times about it.

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Thanks for the follow-up! Hope the bedtime routine with the kids went smoothly. That ‘whisper below a shout’ is a very recognizable dynamic. I have four kids myself.

That makes sense in pivoting toward the symbolic aspect. You’re spot on that the themes of night, darkness, and a corrupted priesthood have deep roots across the prophetic tradition (Daniel, Malachi, Hosea, etc.).

My main reservation with reading the ‘one month’ in Zechariah 11 through a lunar/darkness lens is that the Hebrew word here is ḥōdeš (month/new moon), which standard prophetic literature typically uses as an ordinary measure of brief time rather than a metaphor for spiritual night. But I definitely agree with your broader point that the breakdown of leadership and priestly corruption is a central prophetic motif—and Zechariah 11 highlights that tragic breakdown vividly.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the structural markers and the Massa headers whenever you have a chance to dive back in.

Be blessed,

Peter

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Thanks, it was a long night haha. Three kids here. Young, neurodivergent, and brilliant.

I’m still studying the markers. I want to make sure I’m providing an honest assessment and not anchoring to my current position.

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From what I can see, there is a notable disruption in theme and chronology between chapters 8 and 14. This tells us that chapter 9’s textual marker is the start of the chiasmus and chapter 12’s textual marker is dependent on how the readers respond. Notice the flow:

  • “Then the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I am exceedingly jealous for Zion, yes, with great wrath am I jealous for her.’ Thus says the LORD, ‘I will return to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain.’” (Zech 8:1-3, NASB1995)
  • Zechariah 14 shows God saving Jerusalem by destroying the nations that come against them with wrath. Then it pivots to God being the King over all. Jerusalem will rise above the other cities and will be dedicated to the LORD as holy.

These stand, therefore, as inclusio. They bracket everything between. That’s why the flow seems so off kilter. If we don’t recognize this, it looks like God delivers and blesses Israel to be a blessing to the nations, then punishes the nations, then blesses Judah & Ephraim, then punishes them, then delivers them, then punishes them, then delivers them from the nations, then rules over all. So we see here that chapter 9, with its textual marker, is actually the start of the chiasmus between the inclusio.

  • Zech 9 (A) - Nations judged and messiah delivers Judah & Ephraim
  • Zech 10 (B) - Shepherds punished, Judah & Ephraim blessed
  • Zech 11 - (C) Good shepherd rejected and flock devoured
  • Zech 12 - (A’) Nations besiege Jerusalem and flock calls for the shepherd they pierced
  • Zech 13 - (B’) People cleansed and shepherds punished
  • Zech 13 - (C’) Shepherd struck and flock scattered
  • Zech 14 - (A’) God delivers Jerusalem from the nations and punishes them

This chiasmus tells the reader several things:

  1. The nations surrounding Jerusalem is a call to repentance (Ch 9 & Ch 12)
  2. Unrepentance leads to rejecting God’s anointed one (Ch 11)
  3. Rejecting God’s anointed one leads to great tribulation (Ch 11 & Ch 13)
  4. Great tribulation refines the people of God to the point of repentance (Ch 13)
  5. True repentance leads to holiness among the people and God’s blessings (Ch 10)

Chapter 12, with its textual marker, stands as a question to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: When God sends armies to surround Jerusalem, will the house of David and Jerusalem repent and receive God’s anointed one or will they continue insisting on their own way? That was the mystery of the vision in chapter 5. Lying, theft, and wickedness needed to be uprooted before the people would receive God’s anointed one. If the people do not repent, they will undergo further refinement until they say, “The LORD is my God” (Zech 13:9b, NASB1995)

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Tell me what you think of this @TheFreschatologist

Shalom.

J.

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Interesting find there. definitely some good nuggets in there worth exploring. Why did it skip chapter 10 though?

I saw multiple chiasma while I was at church yesterday. 2-4, 5-7, 8-10, and 11-13.

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That was an excellent response. Thanks. The chiastic structure is a fantastic observation. Zechariah absolutely uses literary bookends and thematic parallels to highlight the centrality of the Shepherd.

However, framing Chapter 12 as a conditional ‘choice’ for Jerusalem misses the core promise of the text. No? Zechariah 12:10 explicitly tells us that God Himself promises to pour out the “spirit of grace and supplication” that causes them to look upon the One they pierced.

The refinement and mourning aren’t plan B; they are how God sovereignly brings His covenant people to true repentance. The New Testament shows us that every piece of this structure, from the 30 pieces of silver to the struck Shepherd, was precisely fulfilled in Christ, proving God’s plan was fixed and sovereign all along. You are affirming that God leaves no loose ends in redemptive history? I believe His plan was fixed, sovereign, and fulfilled through Christ.

Be blessed.

Peter

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Not disagreeing here. Romans 11 captures it all. God elected a remnant to follow Him wherever He goes, but His promises are always available to those He calls. Paul specified elsewhere that the promises came before the Law. The Law set the conditions for the entire people to have a covenant relationship with Him while God’s election guaranteed the promises could not be nullified. Therefore, we are warned to work out our salvation with fear and trembling knowing that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Thanks for always keeping me sharp brother.

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