1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
(Chapter 1, Verse 1) In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, son of Barachiah, son (Vulgate: sons) of Addo, the prophet, saying. LXX: In the eighth month of the second year under Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, son of Barachiah, son of Addo the prophet, saying. In the second year of Darius, son of Hystaspis, in the seventieth year of the desolation of the temple, which was predicted by Jeremiah (Chapter 25 and 29), Zechariah himself testifies, saying, O Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you are angry? Behold, this is the seventieth year (Zech. I, 12): and there is no doubt that Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who destroyed the empire of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, released about fifty thousand captive men from Babylon into Judah: and he also returned the vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away, and ordered the temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem: and he appointed Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedec, as the high priest and leaders of the people who returned. Therefore, after the death of Cyrus, who reigned for thirty years in Persia, at the hands of Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetae, his son Cambyses succeeded to the throne. After ruling for eight years, Cambyses had two magi brothers as his successors, who were killed by the people. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, was then established as king of Persia by the consent of the seven noble families, in the second year of his reign the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai and to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Addo. We have already spoken about the book of Zechariah. Now a few things need to be said about the title 'son of Barachiah'. It is questioned why he is called the son of Addo. There is no doubt, according to the book of Chronicles, that he is Addo, who was sent to Jeroboam, the son of Nabath, under whom the altar was destroyed and the king's hand withered, but was restored again at his prayers. Therefore, from the first year of the reign of King Cyrus until the second year of the reign of Darius, son of Hystaspis, forty years are reckoned in which the altar was constructed and the foundations of the temple were laid, with the neighboring nations in the surrounding area hindering the work, and King Cambyses of Persia, who sent letters about this matter to the rulers of Syria, Cilicia, Phoenicia, and Samaria. Super quo plenius Esdras scribit historiam. Sed Aggaeus in mense sexto in die prima ejusdem mensis prophetare exorsus est. Zacharias vero in eodem quidem anno, sed non in eodem mense: nam post duos menses octavo anni mense fudit vaticinium. Unde recte juxta ordinem duodecim prophetarum, ille decimus, et hic undecimus ponitur. Magnaeque confidentiae est, immo spei fideique in Dominum, ut quod tanto tempore praetermissum est, vel rege prohibente, vel gentibus, ad commonitionem duorum hominum facere incipiant. According to the usual practice, we have sent this following the story. Now, we must briefly discuss it according to interpretation. The eighth month among the Hebrews, called Maresvan by them, Athir by the Egyptians, and November by us, is the beginning of winter: in which, with the heat of summer consumed, all the earth is stripped of its greenery, and the bodies of mortals contract, and there is no solemnity according to the law. For it is written that every kind of male must appear before the Lord our God three times a year (Exod. XXXIV). The first feast is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Passover, which is called Pascha in Greek and Latin. The second is Pentecost, seven weeks after, in which the loaves of offering from the new crops are first presented. The third is in the seventh month, the propitiation of trumpets and tabernacles, that is, the pitching of tents, whose final day is called the day of departure and end. Therefore, the people, being in captivity and still under the rule of the Persians, with neither the temple nor the walls and fortifications of the city yet built, do not see prophecy in a time of joy, but after joy. And yet he who had the memory of the Lord, and because of the memory, the blessing, and because of the blessing, the testimony: therefore to him Zacharias, son of Barachias, son of Addo, is sent. Zacharias interprets as the memory of the Lord: Barachia, the blessing of the Lord: Addo, his testimony. Let us therefore see, the word of the Lord who was in the beginning with God the Father, what the prophet Zachariah spoke to the people.
ZACHARIAS began to prophesy in the same year as Aggeus, and upon the same occasion. His prophecy is full of mysterious figures and promises of blessings, partly relating to the synagogue, and partly to the church of Christ.
[AD 420] Jerome on Zechariah 1:1