Bible Strands
Zechariah 7:1
In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text records that the word of the LORD came to Zechariah in the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev. This date establishes the historical moment before the people of Bethel send envoys to plead before the LORD.
The words — דְבַר־ (de.var-) = [the] word of and יְהוָה (Yah.weh) = Yahweh appear together to denote the specific divine message delivered to the prophet. These terms anchor the verse in the standard prophetic disclosure formula.
The thread — Zechariah 1:1 employs identical chronological framing and the "word of the LORD" formula to mark prophetic activity. Nehemiah 1:1 references the same month of Chislev, while Ezra 6:14 notes the Jewish elders building under the prophesying of Haggai and Zechariah.
Why it lands — The text simply places a divine message within a precise historical calendar before a community seeks God's direction. It requires a reader to recognize that prophetic revelation is anchored in concrete time and precedes communal inquiry.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 1:1 These are the words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,
- Ezra 6:14 So the Jewish elders built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia.
- Zechariah 1:1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying:
- Haggai 2:10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to Haggai the prophet, saying,
- Haggai 2:20 For the second time that day, the twenty-fourth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to Haggai, saying,