_And I turned and looked_, &c. “The main design of this eighth and last vision is to confirm the Jews in their faith in, and dependance upon God, by showing them that, weak and defenceless as they seemed to be, they had nothing to fear from the greatest earthly powers, while they remained under the... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the first chariot were red horses_ This meant the Chaldean empire, the bloody cruelties of which were signified by the red colour of the horses. This empire being overthrown, and its power extinct, when the prophet had this vision, it is only mentioned by-the-by, for the sake of order, and nothi... [ Continue Reading ]
_These are the four spirits of the heavens_ Or rather, _The four winds_, as the word רוחות very frequently signifies, and as it is here rendered in the margin, and also by the LXX. and the Vulgate: that is, these chariots are the four empires in the different parts of the world. Thus Daniel, beginni... [ Continue Reading ]
_The black horses go forth into the north country_ The Persians (signified, as before observed, by the black horses) marched from Persia into Chaldea, which lay north of Judea, and is commonly denominated _the north country. And the white go forth after them_ Alexander, with his Macedonians, signifi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then cried he unto me, Behold, these that go toward the north_ Namely, the black horses, denoting the Persian empire; _have quieted my spirit in the north country_ That is, by conquering the Babylonians, and executing upon them the punishment which they deserved for their cruelty and other crimes,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the word of the Lord came unto me_, &c. The prophet here proceeds to relate how he was favoured with another revelation, respecting a kingdom very different from the preceding; _saying, Take of them of the captivity_, &c. That is, receive from the captivity, from Heldai, from Tobijah, &c. The e... [ Continue Reading ]
_And speak unto him, saying_ Bishop Chandler justly observes, that the prophet's speech is directed to Joshua only; the two crowns are put only on the head of Joshua; to him only it is said, _Behold the man whose name is The Branch_ As much as to say, “Behold the sign of the BRANCH, the person whom... [ Continue Reading ]
_Even he shall build the temple of the Lord_ Here we have a sentence omitted by the LXX., Syriac, Arabic, and one MS., and which Archbishop Newcome proposes to expunge, as being only a different reading of the foregoing clause. “But, in arrest of judgment,” says Dr. Blayney, “I would beg leave to pl... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the crowns_ The two crowns before mentioned, made of the gold and silver brought from Babylon, Zechariah 6:11; _shall be to Helem and to Tobijah_, &c. Of these persons we know no more, with any certainty, than their names. _For a memorial in the temple of the Lord _ Namely, of this transaction,... [ Continue Reading ]