Ezra 5:1

Ezra 5:1-2. The Voice of the Prophets and the National Revival

1. Then the prophets R.V. Now the prophets. The beginning of a new paragraph, cf. Ezra 1:1; Ezra 2:1; Ezra 3:8; Ezra 4:1.

Haggai the prophet After -the prophets", immediately preceding, this designation seems superfluous. But a comparison with chap. Ezra 6:14; Haggai 1:1, shows that the phrase was commonly attached to Haggai's name. The short extant book of Haggai's prophecy combines reproof for the neglect with encouragement for the renewal of the work on the Temple. The book preserves prophecies uttered in the second year of Darius, (1) on the first day of the sixth month (Ezra 1:1), (2) on the twenty-first day of the seventh month (Ezra 2:1), (3) on the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (Ezra 2:10).

Zechariah the son of Iddo cf. Ezra 6:14. In Zechariah 1:1; Zechariah 1:7 he is called -Zechariah the son of Berechiah the son of Iddo the prophet". An -Iddo" is mentioned in Nehemiah 12:4 among the heads of priestly families that returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua: again in Nehemiah 12:16 we find a Zechariah mentioned as the son of Iddo and the head of a priestly house, in the days of Nehemiah. Zechariah was probably the grandson of Iddo, and in the genealogies called in preference -the son of Iddo" rather than -the son of Berechiah", either on account of his father's early death, or because the name of -Zechariah the son of Berechiah" would have been liable to confusion with -Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah" (Isaiah 8:2). In the same way Laban is called the son of Nahor, not of Bethuel (cf. Genesis 24:47; Genesis 29:5), Jehu the son of Nimshi, not of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 19:16; 2 Kings 9:14; 2 Kings 9:20), because the grandfather was the better known and the reputed founder of the house.

Zechariah must have been a very young man (cf. Zechariah 2:4) when he began to prophesy, if (which is hardly likely) he was still alive in the time of Nehemiah (445 b.c.). The date given to the first prophecy in his book is the eighth month of the second year of king Darius (Zechariah 1:1).

Jews thatwere in Judah and Jerusalem i.e. as distinguished from the Jews that were in the Captivity in Babylon.

in the name of the God of Israel,even unto them R.V. in the name of the God of Israel prophesied they unto them. R.V. marg. in the name of the God of Israelwhich was upon them. The words -unto" or -upon them" close the verse strangely. The R.V. text expresses with greater distinctness the rendering of the A.V. -unto them". The rendering of the R.V. margin -which was upon them" (i.e. the name of the God of Israel) although a harsh condensed expression, seems preferable. It is not at first sight evident who are intended by -upon them". Most commentators accepting this rendering explain the words as having reference to the two prophets, and illustrate them by Jeremiah 15:16, -Thy word was unto me a joy and the rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts." This indeed is very possible. But the other explanation, which refers -which was upon them" to -the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem", seems most suited to the context. Not the ground of the personal courage of the two prophets, but the basis of their prophetic appeal, i.e. the spiritual calling of the nation, is the purport of the phrase. The prophets prophesied to the Jews in the name of the God Who had chosen them, Whose Name was called upon them. Cf. Isaiah 43:5-7; Isaiah 63:19; Isaiah 65:1; Jeremiah 7:10; Jeremiah 7:14; Jeremiah 7:30; Daniel 9:18-19. The message of the prophets was to arouse the people from their neglect of the spiritual work which they were to perform a work of which the Temple was a pledge, the testimony to the nations that God had made Himself known unto Israel.