Zechariah 7:1-3. The Deputation and their Question 1. _in the fourth year_ This was nearly two years after Zechariah saw his visions (Zechariah 1:7), and about the same time before the completion of the Temple (Ezra 6:15). See General Introd. chap. II. p. 18. _Chisleu Chislev_. R. V.... [ Continue Reading ]
_when they had sent unto the house of God_ Rather, AND (OR NOW) BETHEL SENT. "Now _they of_Bethel had sent." R. V. Having announced the fact and the date of the word of Jehovah coming to him again in Zechariah 7:1, the prophet breaks off, as it were, to state the occasion of its coming in Zechariah... [ Continue Reading ]
_unto the priests_ See Haggai 2:11 and note. _which were in of_R.V. _and to the prophets_ i.e. Haggai and Zechariah. _Should I weep_ Similarly the sing. num. is used of a community or nation, Numbers 20:18-19; Joshua 9:7, and elsewhere. _in the fifth month_ 2 Kings 25:8-9; Jeremiah 52:12-13, from... [ Continue Reading ]
The Answer. First Section 5. _seventh month_ This fast appears to have been observed during the captivity, because in the seventh month "the murder of Gedaliah, _whom the king of Babylon made governor of the land_, completed the calamities of Jerusalem, in the voluntary but prohibited exile to Egyp... [ Continue Reading ]
_did eat and … did drink_ Rather, EAT AND DRINK, as R. V. _did not ye eat for yourselves_, &c.?] Lit. IS IT NOT YOU WHO ARE EATING, AND YOU WHO ARE DRINKING? i.e. is it not simply an act terminating upon yourselves, which in no way affects Me? Comp. 1 Corinthians 8:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Should ye not hear the words_ Comp. Isa 58:3-7; 1 Samuel 15:22. To that old teaching it is that you have need to take heed and return. It was uttered in the time of your national prosperity. By neglecting it that prosperity was lost. Only by returning to it can it be regained. _the south and the p... [ Continue Reading ]
The Answer. Second Section 8. _the word of the Lord came_ It is not necessary to suppose that there was a break, or interval of time, between the sections which are introduced by this formula. The frequent appeal to Jehovah, as the Author of their prophecies, is a characteristic of the post-captivi... [ Continue Reading ]
_thus speaketh_ Rather, THUS SAITH. Some would render, _thus said the Lord of hosts_, i.e. to your fathers by the former prophets (Zechariah 7:7), a summary of whose teaching is then given, Zechariah 7:9-10. But a comparison of Zechariah 8:1-2 sq. supports the rendering, _thus saith_, &c. always, to... [ Continue Reading ]
_pulled away the shoulder_ Nehemiah 9:29; Hosea 4:16. _stopped_ Lit. MADE HEAVY, i.e. dull. Comp. Isaiah 6:10. The same word is used of the eyes, Genesis 48:10, and of the tongue, Exodus 4:10.... [ Continue Reading ]
_an adamant_ perhaps _diamond_, "so called from its cutting and perforating (the original meaning of the word being a _sharp point_, or _thorn_), as the point of a _stylus_was made of diamonds, Jeremiah 17:1." Gesen. "The stone, whatever it be, was hard enough to cut ineffaceable characters (Jeremia... [ Continue Reading ]
_with a whirlwind_ Amos 1:14; Job 27:21. _whom they knew not_ Deuteronomy 28:33; Jeremiah 16:13. _after them_ i.e. after they are removed from it. _passed through nor returned_ as we say, _went backward and forward_. Ezekiel 35:7. See note on Zechariah 9:8. _they laid_ Either to be taken imperso... [ Continue Reading ]