Lives of Scripture

Sharezer appears in Zechariah 7:2, in the fourth year of King Darius, roughly two years into the rebuilding of the second Temple. The town of Bethel sent Sharezer, along with Regem-melech and their men, to the priests at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem and to the prophets, to ask a specific question that had weighed on the returned exiles for decades: "Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?" -- referring to the fast commemorating the Temple's destruction by Babylon (7:3; compare 2 Kings 25:8-9). The identity of this delegation is not entirely clear in the Hebrew -- some read "Bethel-sharezer" as a single Babylonian-style personal name rather than "Bethel" sending "Sharezer," and Regem-melech's exact role is likewise uncertain. Whatever the precise makeup of the delegation, their inquiry becomes the occasion for one of Zechariah's longest oracles: God's answer, spanning chapters 7 and 8, redirects the question entirely -- reminding the people that the fasts of the exile were never really about fasting for God's sake, and that what He required all along was "true justice, kindness and compassion," not oppressing the widow, orphan, stranger, or poor (7:5-10), before promising that these very fasts will one day turn to joy and feasting (8:19).