Zechariah — Chapter 1
Synopsis Capitis
Chapter 1 opens with Zechariah's call to repentance and then presents the first of eight night visions: the man among the myrtle trees, the four horns and four smiths, and the man with the measuring line. À Lapide identifies the man among the myrtles as the Angel of the Lord, i.e., the pre-incarnate Logos, interceding for Jerusalem. The eight visions are structured as a coherent symbolic programme of post-exilic hope.
Verse 1
In mense octavo in anno secundo Darii
The precise date situates Zechariah as contemporary with Haggai and active in the same community. À Lapide notes that the divine word to Zechariah comes two months after Haggai's first oracle—God speaks through multiple prophets simultaneously to reinforce the message. He treats Zechariah as the most visionary and Christologically rich of the minor prophets.
Verse 8
Vidi per noctem et ecce vir ascendens
'I saw by night and behold a man riding upon a red horse.' À Lapide identifies the rider as the Angel of the Lord (Angelus Domini), who is distinct from the Lord yet prays to Him—a distinction he uses to support Trinitarian theology. The horses of different colours are identified with divine providences operating in the world at different speeds and with different intensities.