Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995. Pp. xxviii + 196, Paperback, $14.99, ISBN 0802807488. Michael H. Floyd Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest Austin, TX 78768 Following the current consensus, this commentary treats Zechariah 1-8 and Zechariah 9-14 as virtually separate documents, so that there are in effect four prophetic books under consideration. Each book is provided with a general introduction covering such matters as its historical background, authorship, structure, and literary history. The text is then divided into several main sections, and a brief overview of each section leads into the virtually verse-by-verse explication that forms the core of Redditt's work. The discussion of each book closes with a summary of its main themes. The verse-by-verse explication is mainly philological, focusing on the elucidation of key words and phrases and on the solution of major text and translation problems. With respect to debated points of interpretation Redditt succinctly weighs competing opinions, favoring one view or putting forward a view of his own. The format does not really allow the author to present full arguments for his conclusions, but he often states a brief rationale so as to suggest the line that a full argument might take. When the interpretation goes beyond verbal details to deal with larger themes, particularly in the introductory and summary sections, Redditt's redaction-historical theories come into play. Here he only outlines views that he has elsewhere argued in greater detail (i.e., in CBQ 51 [1989] 631-42; 54 [1992] 249-59; 55 [1993] 676-86; and 56 [1994] 240-55, 664-78). He imagines successive editions of each prophetic book in a succession of socio-historical contexts, and this provides the background against which the main concerns of each book are discerned. For example, Zechariah 1-8 is supposed to have gone through three editions. The first, consisting of 1:7-2:17, 4:1-6a, 4:10b-6:11a, and 6:14-15, was a cycle of seven vision reports addressed by Zechariah to exiles remaining in Babylon after the first group had returned to Jerusalem. The prophet urges these exiles to return by holding out a glowing prospect of restoration. [Full Review]

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