Zechariah son of Berechiah, of priestly descent, was born in Babylon and returned with the first wave of exiles under Zerubbabel in 538 BC. With Haggai he urged the people to complete the Second Temple, finished in 516 BC.
His eight night visions (Zech 1–6) are the most developed apocalyptic visions in the Old Testament before Daniel — the four horsemen, the man among the myrtle trees, the woman in the ephah, the four chariots, the high priest Joshua clothed in clean garments. They culminate in the figure of the messianic Branch.
His later oracles announce that the King is coming to Jerusalem 'meek, and riding upon an ass' (Zech 9:9), quoted by all four Evangelists of the Triumphal Entry; the Shepherd struck and the sheep scattered (Zech 13:7), quoted by Christ at the Last Supper; the thirty pieces of silver (Zech 11:12); the piercing of him whom they shall look upon (Zech 12:10), quoted at the Crucifixion.