The MacArthur Old Testament Commentary on the Book of Zechariah

by John F. MacArthur Jr., The Prophet Zechariah

The MacArthur Old Testament Commentary on the Book of Zechariah
When hopes are disappointed and life is painful, it can be tempting to wonder if God has forgotten you. The people of Israel certainly did. That’s why God sent them the prophet Zechariah, whose name means “Yahweh remembers.” The book of Zechariah shows us that God always keeps His promises; He always remembers His people. In his brand-new commentary on Zechariah, John MacArthur guides you verse by verse through this prophetic book, written long before the Messiah came to earth. Take in this marvelous view of God’s unfolding plan of redemption, and let your heart exult in worship of a remembering, faithful God — whose promises are all fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. Dive deep into Zechariah, and discover the beauty of this inescapable God has not forgotten.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

430 pages, Paperback

Published April 22, 2023

About the author

John F. MacArthur, Jr. was a United States Calvinistic evangelical writer and minister, noted for his radio program entitled Grace to You and as the editor of the Gold Medallion Book Award-winning MacArthur Study Bible. MacArthur was a fifth-generation pastor, a popular author and conference speaker, and served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California beginning in 1969, as well as President of The Master’s College (and the related Master’s Seminary) in Santa Clarita, California.

Reviews

[grllopez ~ with freedom and books]

Excellent, thorough, concise! Every Christian should read and know clearly about the End Times, and MacArthur does a superb job commentating Zechariah for this purpose.

[Reagan]

John MacArthur’s commentary on Zechariah, the first installment of the MacArthur Old Testament Commentary (MOTC) series, complements the depth and quality of his New Testament Commentary (MNTC) series. MacArthur shows that Zechariah is a preeminent book of the Old Testament—many of its themes come together finding their fulfillment and terminus in Christ's return and triumph for Israel. It is a Christ-centered commentary that proves theological depth fosters spiritual devotion. Though Zechariah’s apocalyptic visions and end-times prophecies can seem daunting, MacArthur’s phrase-by-phrase, verse-by-verse approach brings clarity to its messages and carefully weaves together its rich themes.

If you want to know the book of Zechariah well, you should take up and read John MacArthur's commentary.

[Cindy]

Commentary on Zechariah, so much detail and wisdom from scripture.

[Todd Bryant]

Outstanding. I’m so glad GTY is putting out OT commentaries now. This was worth every moment.

[William Barrick]

There are very few well-written, soundly interpreted commentaries on the prophecies of Zechariah. A consistent historico-grammatical hermeneutic accepting the authenticity of supernatural divine revelation results in a premillennial viewpoint of the timeline of Scripture and eschatological events. One of the best of those commentaries was authored by Merrill F. Unger, Commentary on Zechariah (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1962). Strangely, MacArthur does not include Unger in his bibliography even though both men interpret the book very much alike. A major difference appears, however, since MacArthur avoids any technicalities with the Hebrew text, whereas Unger frequently appeals to and discusses the Hebrew. MacArthur's commentary reads smoothly and exhibits a simple style with the occasional literary excellence typical of a seasoned expositor of Scripture. I recommend this commentary to everyone desiring to understand Zechariah's prophecies and to see how they fit into New Testament revelation.

[Gary]

Commentaries are typically boring and dry, regardless of the source book, but that can not be said of this mighty work by John MacArthur. It opens the meaning of the book and combines it with the eschatology of the entire Bible, making both more clear and understandable. I read this book as I would a novel and anticipated each page with delight. It was almost a sadness to finish it but also a joy as it ends with the promise of my Savior's soon return! Maranatha!

[Carol Arnold]

Never in my life have I ever rated a John MacArthur book with only 3 stars! Part of the lower rating is the physical book. The text was too small of a font to read easily. Also the book was just small and thick. It is only 7.25 x 5.25 and it is 1 1/8" thick. I would have preferred a larger book so the print didn't need to be so small. Because of the book size it was very hard to underline. I could have used 3 hands to get the job done! One to hold the straight edge, one to hold the pen and one to hold the book open. It simply would not cooperate in staying open!

Other issues I have with the book:

I did not see MacArthur's usual meticulous attention to detail. Several times the wrong references were used. Example: page 2, line 5. He lists the reference as Zechariah 9:6 when it should have been 9:9. This one was fairly easy to find but not all were so easy. An example of one not so easy to find is on page 13, line 9. The reference is Genesis 3:25. Genesis 3 only has 24 verses. I THINK maybe it should have been Genesis 31:25 where Laban catches up with Jacob as he is running away.

Another problem I have was that at times I simply could not follow his logic. I'm sure that everything is so clear in his mind that he assumes it will be in the readers' minds also. In chapter 32 of the book, he is discussing Zechariah 13:3-6. On page 363, 10 lines up from the bottom, he says, "This was not to suggest that there will still be false prophets in the millennial kingdom." Why does he say this? Granted, everyone entering the millennium will be saved, but they will give birth to sinners who may or may not be repentant. This is proven by the rebellion at the end of the thousand years. So why couldn't some of these unrepentant sinners born during the millennium become false prophets?

Overall, I gleaned much valuable information from this book and would recommend that you read it! It just was not up to par with his usual standard of excellence.

[Story Eater]

Needs quite a bit of polishing. The academic writing styles were easily discernibly different among the chapters, the tense was off for the writing (when writing academically and referring to the text, one should use present tense instead of past), and many chapters were written in passive voice. For a text like this, I expect a much higher degree of professionalism in the quality of writing.

As for the subject matter, MacArthur touts a lot of authority for Biblical writing and scholarship, but I would still have to read more widely on the scholarly commentary of this book to measure his and those he collaborated with's authority on the subject matter before I pass deeper judgment on it.

[Jeff Williams]

A solid take with MacArhur's eschatology explaining it. Amill and postmillennialist brothers may not enjoy it, but I believe it was - like most things MacArthur does - solid exegetical work.