Zechariah 14:1-7. The final Conflict and Deliverance All nations shall come against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, with the attendant horrors of barbarous warfare, and half its population enslaved, Zechariah 14:1-2. Then Jehovah shall appear, as in olden time, to deliver His people, Zechariah... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Second Section_. Zechariah 13:7 to Zechariah 14:21 The purification and final glory of Israel This Second Section of the Second Burden and conclusion of the whole Book describes the purifying chastisement that shall come upon the people, Zechariah 13:7-9; the great final conflict and delivera... [ Continue Reading ]
_the day of the Lord cometh_ Lit. A DAY TO (or, OF) JEHOVAH, i.e. which is in a special manner His. The previous prophecy (Zechariah 13:7-9) is now expanded, attention being concentrated, however, on the city rather than on the land (Zechariah 13:8), and on the final act rather than on the long prev... [ Continue Reading ]
_all nations_ Comp. Joel 3:2; Joel 3:9-11; Ezekiel 38, 39; Revelation 20:7-9.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the day of battle_ Some, as Calvin, refer this generally to God's manifold interpositions on behalf of His people, throughout the course of their history; but it is better to confine it to the first great typical interposition, when the word of command was, "Jehovah shall fight for you, and ye s... [ Continue Reading ]
_the mount of Olives_ Comp. Acts 1:12. "The mount of Olives is the central eminence of a line of hills, of rather more than a mile in length, overhanging the city, from which it is separated only by the narrow bed of the valley of the Brook of Cedron. It rises 187 feet above mount Zion, 295 above mo... [ Continue Reading ]
_to the valley of the mountains_ Rather, BY THE VALLEY OF MY MOUNTAINS, i.e. a way of escape from the city shall be opened to you along the valley formed by My mountains, those mountains, that is, which I have just made for that very purpose, by cleaving the mount of Olives. _unto Azal_ Jerome and... [ Continue Reading ]
_the light shall not be clear, nor dark_ Rather, THERE SHALL NOT BE LIGHT, THE BRIGHT ONES SHALL BE CONTRACTED; as in R. V. margin, i.e. the heavenly bodies shall be darkened. It shall be a day of deep gloom. Comp. "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining,... [ Continue Reading ]
_one day_ i.e. an unique day, unlike any other: _prorsus singularis_. Maurer. Comp. Ezekiel 7:5, and for the idea Jeremiah 30:7. _shall be known to the Lord_ Rather, IS KNOWN, R. V. Comp. Mark 13:32. "Quo temporis momento ingruet soli Deo est notum." Maurer. _not day nor night_ Neither wholly day... [ Continue Reading ]
_former sea, … hinder sea_ Rather, EASTERN SEA, WESTERN SEA, R. V.: i.e. the Dead Sea on the E., and the Mediterranean Sea on the W. Comp. Ezekiel 47:1; Joel 3:18. This would be the natural watershed, the whole country being level and Jerusalem alone elevated above it, Zechariah 14:10. _in summer a... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prosperity of the Land Perennial streams flowing from Jerusalem both to the E. and to the W. shall irrigate and fertilise the land, Zechariah 14:8. One God shall be worshipped without a rival, Zechariah 14:9. The whole face of the country shall become a level plain, Jerusalem alone standing alo... [ Continue Reading ]
_the earth_ Rather, THE LAND, as in Zechariah 14:10. The wider scope is virtually included, but is not here directly under consideration. _shall there be one Lord_, &c. Rather, JEHOVAH SHALL BE ONE, &c., i.e. He shall be one in the recognition and worship of men, as He is unchangeably in His essenc... [ Continue Reading ]
_turned as a plain_ i.e. changed so as to become as, or like, a plain. Some would render, _as the Arabah_(R. V.) or Jordan valley, a meaning which the word will bear. Dean Stanley writes, "As a general rule, Palestine is not merely a mountainous country, but a mass of mountains, rising from a level... [ Continue Reading ]
_utter destruction_ Lit. CURSE. ἀνάθεμα οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι. LXX. Comp. Revelation 22:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the people_ Lit. PEOPLES, as R. V., i.e. nations. _their flesh_ Lit. HIS FLESH, i.e. the flesh of each one of them; and so, _his eyes, his tongue_; though, to show that the plague is at once individual and universal, it is at the end of the verse, "in _their_mouth". _while they stand upon their f... [ Continue Reading ]
The Destruction of Hostile Nations The deliverance and prosperity of Jerusalem shall be accomplished by a terrible plague sent upon those who fought against her, Zechariah 14:12; and by a panic which shall cause them to slay one another, Zechariah 14:13, and also by the courage and prowess of Judah... [ Continue Reading ]
_tumult_ Comp. 1 Samuel 14:20, where the same word is rendered "discomfiture," and where, as also in Jdg 7:22; 2 Chronicles 20:23, the foes are described, as here, as fighting against one another in their panic.... [ Continue Reading ]
_at Jerusalem_ This, or _in Jerusalem_, and not _against Jerusalem_(R. V. and margin, A. V.), which would be a wholly meaningless and irrelevant statement here (comp. Zechariah 12:2, note), is the rendering that must be adopted. There is no question here of the strength or allies of the opposing for... [ Continue Reading ]
_tents camps_, R.V. _as this plague_ viz. that described in Zechariah 14:13. Comp. for this including the cattle in the curse, Deuteronomy 13:15; Joshua 7:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the feast of tabernacles_ The Jews had been required to appear three times in the year before God at His sanctuary. Of the Gentile nations, distant as they are and scattered over the face of the earth, only one such appearance is required. Various reasons have been suggested why, out of the three g... [ Continue Reading ]
The Homage of the Residue of the Nations The deliverance of Israel and judgments on her enemies shall have a converting influence on the residue of the Gentiles, who shall become worshippers of Jehovah, and keep the Feast of Tabernacles every year at Jerusalem, Zechariah 14:16. From any nation that... [ Continue Reading ]
_will not come up goeth not up_, R. V. _no rain_ Comp. 1 Kings 17; Luke 4:25; Amos 4:7-8. "Pluviæ defectus omnem fere quæ inde oriri in illis terris solet comprehendit calamitatem, annonæ caritatem, seditiones, pestem." Rosenm.... [ Continue Reading ]
_that have no rain_ Rather, THEN NOT ON THEM, &c. The words are an exact and obviously intended repetition of the first words of the clause at the end of Zechariah 14:17, _then not on them shall there be rain_. The writer, however, seems to have broken off his sentence suddenly, when he had written,... [ Continue Reading ]
_punishment_ Lit. SIN, as in margin of A. V. and R. V., but sin here as manifested in its consequences. Comp. Lamentations 3:39, where it is literally, _a man for his sins_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Holiness unto the Lord Holy unto the Lord_, R. V., and so in Zechariah 14:21; Exodus 28:36. _pots in the Lord's house_ 1Sa 2:14; 2 Chronicles 35:13. _bowls before the altar_ chap. Zechariah 9:15, note.... [ Continue Reading ]
The perfect and crowning holiness of Jerusalem and Judah The ornaments of worldly pomp and warlike power shall be as truly consecrated as the very mitre of the High Priest, and every vessel used in the meanest service of the Temple as holy as the vessels of the altar itself, Zechariah 14:20. Nay ev... [ Continue Reading ]
_take of them_ All distinction between sacred and secular shall be at an end, because all shall now be alike holy. _the Canaanite a Canaanite_, R. V. Some would render, _the merchant_, a meaning which the word bears in Job 41:6 [Heb., 40:30]; Proverbs 31:24, and understand the prediction to be, that... [ Continue Reading ]