II. I i. 2S 
 
 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 PRINCETON. N. J. 
 
 Presented by 
 
 5 
 
 The Wi do v\^ or &eoY-qeIlu\c5"c^n, ?C 
 
 
 PI 
 
zz^^ 
 
 ^-^-r^^ 
 
 N^ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2010 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/bookofzechariah1412cham 
 
\ 
 
COMMENTARY \%.,,,,, ,. 
 
 ON THE 
 
 HOLY SCRIPTURES: 
 
 CRITTCAL, DOCTRINAL, AND HOMILETICAL. 
 
 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MINISTERS AND STUDENTS 
 
 BT . 
 
 JOHK PETER LAISTGE, D. D., 
 
 OKDINAKT PROTIBSOB OF THEOLOGY IN THE UNrVBBSITT OJf BONK, 
 n (x>wasuTtoK wtth a kumbbb of EuiNsirr bcropkah Dirma 
 
 TRANSLATED, ENLARGED, AND EDITED 
 
 PHILIP SOHAFF, D. D., 
 
 PROFESSOR or THEOLOGY IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. NEW YORK, 
 la OOmnCCTION with AMERIOAX SOBOLARS or various evangelical DBNOMUATIOVa. 
 
 VOhfmE XIV. 0¥ THE OLD TESTAMENT: CONTAINING THE MINOR PROPHETB 
 
 KEW YORK: 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 
 
 1891) 
 
THt 
 
 MINOR PEOPHETS 
 
 KXEGETICALLY, THEOLOGICALLY. AJND HOMILETICALLY 
 
 expoxuntded 
 
 PATIL KLEINERT, OTTO SCHMOLLER, 
 
 GEORGE R. BLISS, TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, CHARLES ELLICTT. 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH, J. FREDERICK McCURDY, AND 
 
 JOSEPH PACKARD. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 PHILIP SCHAFF, D. D. 
 
 NEW YOPwK: 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. 
 
 ia99 
 
BMered according to Act of Congress, in the vear 1874, Or 
 
 tiCRiBNER, Armstrong, aito Compant, 
 tt thB Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WashinsUMb 
 
 Trow's 
 Printing and Bookbinding Company, 
 205-213 Kast jith St., 
 NEW YORK. 
 
PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITOR 
 
 The volume on the Minor Prophets is partly in advance of the German original, 
 which has not yet reached the three post-exilian Prophets. The commentaries on the nin« 
 earlier Prophets by Professors Kleinert and Schmoller appeared in separate numben 
 some time ago ^ ; but for Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, Dr. Lange has not, to this date, 
 been able to secure a suitable co-laborer.^ With his cordial approval I deem it better to 
 complete the volume by original commentaries than indefinitely to postpone the publicatioo. 
 They were prepared by sound and able scholars, in conformity with the plan of the whole 
 work. 
 
 The volume accordingly contains the following parts, each one being paged separately : — 
 
 1. A General Introduction to the Prophets, especially the Minor Prophets, by 
 Rev. Charles Elliott, D. D., Professor of Biblical Exegesis in Chicago, Illinois. The 
 general introductions of Kleinert and Schmoller are too brief and incomplete for our purpose, 
 and therefore I requested Dr. Elliott to prepare an independent essay on the subject. 
 
 2. HosEA. By Rev. Dr. Otto Schmoller. Translated from the Grerman and en- 
 larged by James Frederick Mc Curdy, M. A., of Princeton. N. J. 
 
 3. Joel. By Otto Schmoller. Translated and enlarged by Rev. John Forsyth, 
 D. D., LL. D., Chaplain and Professor of Ethics and Law in the United States Militaiy 
 Academy, West Point, N. Y. 
 
 4. Amos. By Otto Schmoller. Translated and enlarged by Rev. Talbot W 
 Chambers, D. D., Pastor of the Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church, New York. 
 
 5. Obadiah. By Rev. Paul Kleinert, Professor of Old Testament Theology in the 
 University of Berlin. Translated and enlarged by Rev. George R. Bliss, D. D., Professor 
 in the University of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. 
 
 6. Jonah. By Prof. Paul Kleinert, of the University of Berlin. Translated and en- 
 larged by Rev. Charles Elliott, Professor of Biblical Exegesis in Chicago.' 
 
 7. Micah. By Prof. Paul Kleinert, of Berlin, and Prof. George R. Bliss, of Lewi*- 
 burg. 
 
 8. Nahum. By Prof. Paul Kleinert, of Berlin, and Prof. Charles Elliott, of 
 Chicago. 
 
 9. Habakkuk. By Professors Bjleinert and Elliott. 
 
 1 Obadjah, Jonah, Mieha, Nahum, HaiaJcuk, Zephanjah. Wissenshqfilieh undfUr den Oebraueh der Eirehe avsgtUgt vom 
 Paul Eleinsbt, P/arrer zu Sc. Gertraud vnd a. Professor an der Universit'dt zu Berlin. Bielefeld u. Leipzig, 1868. — Dii 
 Propheten Hosea, Joel und Amos. Theologiseh-homiletisch bearbeitet von Ono Sohholub, Lieent. der TheologU, Diaconut 
 in Uraeh. Bielef. und Leipzig, 1872. 
 
 a The commentary of Rev. W. Pbbbskl on these three Prophets (Die naehtxUisehen Propheten, Gotha, 1870) w«J 
 originally prepared for Lange's Bible-work, but was rejected by Dr. Lange mainly on account of Pressel's views on tlM 
 genuineness and integrity of Zechariah. It was, however, independently published, and was made use of, like othv 
 commentaries, by the authors of the respective sections in this volume. 
 
 « Dr. Elliott desires to render his acknowledgments to the Rev. Reuben Dederick, of Chicago, and the Rev. Jaeok 
 Lotke, of Faribault, Minnesota, for valuable assistance in translating some difficult passages in KlelnarfB 0<»iimentMlM 
 •D Jonah, Nahum, and Habakkuk. 
 
PREFACE BY THE GENERAL EDITdR. 
 
 10. Zephaniah. By Professors Kleinert and Elliott. 
 
 11. Haggai. By James Frederick McCurdy, M. A., Princeton, N. J. 
 
 12. Zechariah By Rev. Talbot W. Chambers, D. D., New York. (See special 
 preface.) 
 
 13. Malachi. By Rev. Joseph Packard, D. D., Professor of Biblical Literature in 
 the Theological Semiimry at Alexandria, Virginia. 
 
 The contributors to this volume were directed carefully to consult the entire ancient and 
 modern literature on the Minor Prophets and to enrich it with the latest results of Grerman 
 and Anglo-American scholarship. 
 
 The remaining parts of the Old Testament are all under way, and will be published ai 
 fast as the nature of the work will permit. 
 
 PHILIP SCHAFF. 
 
 DmoB TasniooKSAi Sewha'w, Nsw Yom. . xr,iutry, 1874. 
 
THE 
 
 BOOK OF ZECHAKIAH. 
 
 EXPOUNDED 
 
 TALBOT w/cHAMBERS, D. D. 
 
 JMI Of Tm PAOTOBS OV THX C0LL30IATE RKrORMn) DUTCH OHVIOI 
 
 NEW YOIiK: 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 
 
isBtered mccording to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, bj* 
 
 HCRIBNEK, AkMSTEONG, AND COMPAST, 
 
 en tbe Office of the Librarian of Congress, at WashingUA. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The general form of this commentary has been determined by that of the woit of which 
 
 it forms a part. While conforming to this rule, the author has endeavored to consider fairly 
 every difBcult question, to furnish a tolerable conspectus of the different views upon it, and 
 wherever possible to state his own with the reasons upon which it rests. Reference has 
 been had to the wants of ministers and students, and it is hoped that they will be able to 
 find in these pages at least a convenient summary of the present state of critical and exe- 
 getical opinion upon this most important of the post-exile prophets. The author has done 
 the best that he could in the limited time allowed him, but feels painfully that he has fallen 
 far short of his own ideal. The work, such as it is, he humbly commends to the favor of 
 Him without whose blessing nothing is either good or useful. A respectable scholar of the 
 early part of the last century concludes the preface to his annotations upon Zechariah with 
 words which the present writer cheerfully adopts for himself " Quantum ad nos, rimatt 
 sumus hanc propketiam, verum pro modulo nostra. Omnino enim hie usu nobis venit, quod 
 
 Paulus 1 Cor. xiii. 6 inculcat : Ek fxipovi yLV(i)aKojx€v, Kat Ik fxepovi 7rpo<^7/Tevo/x€v 
 
 Interea, si quid lucis ex opella nostra lector acceperit, Deo acceptum id referat ! sin aherasse 
 ac ncevos admisisse nos animadverterit, infirmitati nostrce condonet ! Ingenue namque agnosci' 
 mus in exponendo tarn sublimi vaticinio egisse nos non quantum debuitnus, aed quantum potuim 
 Mtis" (J. H. Michaelis, 1720.) 
 
THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1. The Name and Personal Relations of Zechariah. 
 
 2. The Historical Background of his Prophecy. 
 
 3. The Style and Form of the Book. 
 
 4. The Messianic Predictions 
 
 5. The Contents of the Book. 
 
 6. The Genuineness of the Second Part. 
 
 7. The alleged Influence of the Persian Theology. 
 
 8. Literature. 
 
 § 1. The Name and Personal Relations of Zechanuh. 
 
 The name Zechariah is given to more than twenty different persons in the Old Testament 
 (see the enumeration in Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 3610), but of these by far the most din- 
 tinguished is the eleventh in order of the twelve minor prophets. The word n^'IDT is tisu- 
 ally regarded as a compound of the abridged divine name T\> and the radicals "^ST, but 
 opinions vary as to the proper voweling of the latter word. Some regard it as a masculine 
 noun = man o/ Jehovah ; others as a feminine segholate = memory of Jehovah ; but more 
 commonly it is taken as a verb = Jehovah remembers. This corresponds to the usual 
 method in which rr^ is compounded with other words in order to form a proper name. 
 Some of the older expositors (Jerome, Abarbanel), and a few of the moderns (Neumann, 
 Schlier), endeavor to trace a connection between the Prophet's name and the contents of his 
 utterances, but such a notion is forbidden by the frequency of its occurrence elsewhere, and 
 by the fact that there is no prophet to whose words such a name would not equally apply. 
 He describes himself as " the son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo," which phrases cannot be 
 taken appositionally (LXX., Jerome, Cyril), but according to all genealogical usage denote 
 that our Prophet was the son of the former and grandson of the latter. It is no objection 
 to this view that in Ezra v. 1, vi. 14, he is called the son of Iddo, because in Scripture it 
 is by no means unprecedented to give the name son to a grandson, or even a m^re remote 
 descendant. Thus in the ninth chapter of 2 Kings, Jehu is styled in the fourteenth verse, 
 " the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi," but in the twentieth verse, simply, " the son 
 of Nimshi." Moreover, it is perfectly natural that the Prophet, when formally stating his 
 own descent in the title of his prophecy, should recite the names of his father and grand- 
 father, while the omission of the former in an historical narrative such as Ezra's, may bw 
 easily accounted for, either on the view that Berekiah had died young, or that Iddo was the 
 more distinguished person and perhaps generally recognized as the head of the family, which 
 appears to be a fair inference from Neh. xii. 1, 4-8. In this passage he is stated to have 
 been one of " the heads of the priests and of their brethren," who came up from Babylon 
 with Zerubbabel, and he is said (ver. 16) to have had a son named Zechariah, in the time 
 of Joiakim, the successor of Joshua in the office of high priest. Hence we may conclude 
 that Zechariah — owing possibly to the death of his father — became the immediate repre- 
 sentative of the family after Iddo. He was, therefore, like .leremiah and Ezekiel, a Priest 
 as well as a Prophet. As his grandfather was still in active service in the time of Joshua, 
 Zechariah must have been quite youni; at that time, a fact which is indicated also by the 
 
6 ZECHAKIAil. 
 
 address made to him in one of the visions (ii. 4), " Run, speak to that young man." He 
 was therefore born in Babylon, and came up with the first company of exiles who returned 
 to Palestine. This fact of itseU" disposes of the fables of Epiphanius and others that he 
 was a man of advanced age at the time of the return, and had distinguished himself br 
 various wonders and prophecies in Babylon (see the citations in Kohler, Einl.). Similar 
 patristic traditions as to his death and his burial by the side of Haggai, near Jerusalem, 
 iiave no historical value. The later Jewish accounts that he was a member of the (Jreat 
 Svna<rogue and took an active part in providing for the liturgical service of the Second 
 Temple, are probable enough in themselves, but cannot be certainly authenticated. The 
 LXX. ascribe to him the composition of Ps. cxxxvii., cxxxviii., and to him and Haggai, 
 that of Ps. cxlv.-cxlviii., in some of which ascriptions the Peshito and the Vulgate agree. 
 There seems to be no means at the present day of determining how far any of these are to 
 be credited. " The triumphant Hallelujuh with which many of these Psalms open, was 
 supposed to be characteristic of those Avhich were first chanted in the Second Temple, and 
 came with an emphasis of meaning from the lips of those who had been restored to their 
 native land. The allusions, moreover, with which these Psalms abound, as well as their 
 place in the Psalter, leave us in no doubt as to the time when they were composed, and lend 
 confirmation to the tradition respecting their authorship " (Smith's Diet, of Bible, p. 3599). 
 
 § 2. The Historical Background of his Prophecy. 
 
 This is plainly determined by the book itself. Zechariah's first address, one which is on 
 its face introductory, is dated in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, which la 
 two months after the first prophecy of Haggai (i. 1). The two prophets, therefore, were for 
 a time contemporary, and acted in concert in the commencement of their labors so far aa 
 concerned their first object, namely, the rebuilding of the Temple. In this Haggai led the 
 way, and then left the work to the younger man, who, however, by no means confined his 
 prophetic activity to this narrow scope. 
 
 The restoration of the Temple had been a matter of great and pressing interest to the 
 company of 50,000 who came up from Babylon under the summons of Cyrus in the year 
 536 B. c, and reoccupied the land of their fathers. They at once began to collect ma^ 
 terials and workmen, and in the second month of the following year laid the foundation of 
 the house with mingled joy and grief (Ezra iii. 11-13). But they were not suffered to pro- 
 ceed in quiet. Their neighbors, the descendants of the people whom Esar-haddon had set- 
 tled in Samaria, asked permission to join in the enterprise, but were indignantly rejected. 
 In consequence they exerted themselves in opposition, both by throwing obstacles in the way 
 on the spot and by hiring influential counsellors at the Persian court. They were success- 
 ful even during the life of Cyrus (Ezra iv. 5), but in the reign of Gomates, the pseudo- 
 Smerdis, obtained a decree absolutely prohibiting the further prosecution of the work. In 
 consequence the whole enterprise lay in abeyance for a period of nearly fourteen years. But 
 in the year 521 b. c, Darius, the son of Hystaspes, ascended the throne. Immediately the 
 prophets Haggai and Zechariah, inferring that the prohibitory decree of the preceding king 
 ceased at his death, incited their countrymen to resume the work. They did so under the 
 lead of Zerubbabel and Joshua, but were again interrupted, not however by their malignant 
 neighbors, but by Tatnai, the Persian governor west of the Euphrates, who simply as a mat- 
 ter°of administration inquired into the origin and object of the movement. The conse- 
 quence was a writteL -eference to the central government at Babylon. A search in the 
 records at Ecbatana Drought to light the original decree of Cyrus ordering the restoration 
 of the Jews and their worship. This, Darius cordially renewed and confirmed in the sec 
 end year of his reign, so that thenceforth there was no longer any outward difficulty in the 
 way. 
 
 But it is very evident from the language of Haggai that a great change had occurred in 
 the views and feelings of the people. Their former zeal for divine worship had almost dis- 
 appeared. They became engrossed in the work of repairing their private fortunes and 
 securing the comforts of life. They accepted the hindrances in the way of work upon the 
 Tempkas providential indications that they were not to resume it, and very energetic ap« 
 peals and remonstrances were retjuired to rouse them from their apathy, and engage them 
 with becoming diligence and constancy in the enterprise. These efforts of the two prophets 
 were succcssfuL and the building was finished in the sixth year of Darius (b. c. 515), twenty 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 one years after its commencement. All the notes of time given in Zechariali (i. 1-7 ; vii 
 1) <all within the period occupied in labor upon the Temple, but it does not seem to follow 
 as a necessary consequeiice that all his earlier prophecies are to be understood as mainly 
 intcmded to secure this consummation. The Temple was to the Jews both an indispensable 
 means of worship and the one great symbol of their faith ; and indifference to its existence 
 or progress was a sure token of spiritual declension. The Prophet therefore has a constant 
 reference, direct or indirect, to this work, but he by no means confines himself to it. His 
 utterances take in the whole character and condition of the covenant people, their present 
 dangers and discouragements, their tendencies to formalism and self-deception, their rela- 
 tions to the surrounding heathen and their influence upon the future prospects of the world. 
 His historical position in the second-fourth years of Darius merely furnishes the background 
 for the delineations he presents of the present and coming fortunes of the kingdom of God. 
 To insist, as some recent writers do, upon limiting the scope of tlie night visions to the 
 Prophet's own age, greatly embarrasses the interpretation, and at the same time disregards 
 what is one of the characteristic features of all Scripture prophecy, namely, that it^con- 
 etantly brings together the near and the remote, deals in generic statements, and prefers a 
 logical to a chronological connection. The sacred writers of course met the wants of their 
 contemporaries; but the Spirit that was in them gave their words a force and bearing 
 which passed far beyond the immediate present. 
 
 § 3, The Style and Form of the Book. 
 
 From the earliest period complaint has been made of the obscurity of the Prophet. 
 Hengstenberg quotes from Abarbanel, " The prophecies of Zechariah are so obscure that no 
 expositors however skilled have found their hands (Ps. Ixxvi. 5) in the explanation," and from 
 Jarchi, " the prophecy is very abstruse, for it contains visions resembling dreams which wan 
 interpreting ; and we shall never be able to discover the true interpretation until the teacher 
 of righteousness (cf. Joel ii. 23 marg.) arrives." The same thing had been said long before 
 these Jewish expositors by Jerome, who after pronouncing the first part very obscure" beo-ins 
 his comment on the second with these words, '> Ab obscuris ad obscuriora transimus, et lum 
 Moyse ingredimur in nubem et caliginem. Abyssus abyssum invocat in voce cataractarum Dei, 
 et gyrans gyrando vadit spiritus et in circulos sues revertitur : Labyrinthios patimur errores et 
 Christi c<Bca regimus Jib vestigia." So Lowth speaks of him as the Prophet " who of all is 
 perhaps the most obscure." To the same effect speak many of the rationalistic expositors. 
 And although some of these complaints may be traced to subjective causes as, e. g., the ex- 
 treme difHcnlty a Jew would find in understanding any writing which apparently describes 
 a suffering Messiah, or the unwillingness of one who denies the possibility of p'rophecy in 
 the strict sense of the word, to see or admit what manifestly is a prediction of a remotely 
 future event ; yet it is undeniable that there are passages which in themselves are hard to 
 be understood. This is owing mainly to the predominan^ce of symbolical and figurative lan- 
 guage, and occasionally to the brevity and conciseness of the statements. Yet,°as Vitringa 
 observes, this fact ought not to frighten any one who is eager for the truth, since there is°a 
 sense, even if hidden, which relates to the most important things ; and this should only 
 stimulate one's endeavors. Moreover, as Hengstenberg suggestsr there are two considera- 
 tions which greatly aid the interpreter of Zechariah. One is that he leans so much upon 
 his predecessors prior to the Captivity, and hence much light is gained from parallel pas- 
 sages. The other lies in his being a Prophet of the restoration. Of course one element of 
 uncertainty which is found in the earlier Prophets here ceases. A good deal of what was 
 future to them is to Zechariah either past or present, and it is not possible to explain any 
 of his glowing delineations of a future state of deliverance and enlargement as fulfilled in 
 the return from Babylon. The contraction of the possible field of visio°n lessens the liability 
 to err. 
 
 ^ Zechariah delivers his oracles partly in direct prophetic speech, partly in the relation of 
 visions, and partly in the description of symbolical acts (chaps, vi., xi). The occurrence of 
 the two latter forms has been attributed to his Chaldaic education, and to the influence of 
 Babylonian usage? and doctrines upon his mind. This is far-fetched and needless. Ever> 
 peculiarity may be sufficiently accounted for by reference to the older Prophets with whom 
 he was familiar, especially Jeremiah and Daniel. The occurrence of symbolic visions can- 
 not be due to the influencej of the exile, for such visions are found in Amos (vii.-ix.) who 
 
8 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 lived long before that period, and are not found in Haggai, who was Zechariah's contempo- 
 l&ry. In resj ect to our Prophet's doctrine of angels, good or bad, equally groundless is the 
 view which makes him a debtor to Mesopotamian or Persian theology. As this point will 
 >j found treated at some length in a subsequent section (§ 7), only a few words need be 
 added here. As to good angels in general, and the angel oi' the Lord in particular, the 
 Book of Genesis furnished him with accepted models ; and as to Satan, his existence is found 
 clearly set forth in the Book of Job, which no sober interpreter has ever assigned to a later 
 date than the Solomonic era. Zechariah, therefore, reveals no " Babylonian-Persian color- 
 ing " in his writings. The particulars which have been cited as showing such a coloring 
 are either distinctively Israelitish (e. g., the number seven, iii. 9), or else manifestly general 
 (e. g,, the company of riders, i. 8). On the contrary there is every indication that his cul- 
 ture was native and national. Not only does he expressly refer to the former Prophets (i. 
 4-6; vii. 7-12) but borrows their phraseology, as in Be silent all Jiesli, etc., ii. 13, cf. Hab. 
 ii. 20; a brand plucked, etc., iii. 2, cf. Amos iv. 11 ; quiet my spirit, vi. 8, cf. Ez. v. 13 ; 
 :iW12^ "1537^, vii. 14, ix. 8, cf. Ez. xxxv. 7; fear not, etc., viii. 13, cf Zeph. iii. 16; let 
 us go speedily, etc., viii. 21, cf. Is. ii. 3; shall take hold, etc., viii. 23, cf. Is. iv. 1. Other 
 references may be seen by comparing i. 12 with Jer. xxv. 11, 12 ; ii. 8 with Is. xlix. 20; iii. 
 S and vi. 12 with Is. liii. 2 and xi. 1 ; Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15, iii. 10 with Micah iv. 4 ; vi. 
 13 with Ps. ex. 4 ; viii. 4 with Is. Ixv. 19, 20 ; viii. 19 with Jer. xxxi. 13 ; xii. 1 with Is. 
 xlii. 5 ; Ii. 13. 
 
 Henderson speaks of his prose as "diffuse, uniform, and repetitious," which is far too 
 sweeping a charge. If by it he refers to the reiteration of " Ye shaU know that Jehovah of 
 Hosts hath sent me " in eh. ii., or of " Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts " in ch. viii., it may be 
 said that if one considers what an impression is thus made as to the Prophet's consciousness 
 of his inspiration and the certainty of the declarations he utters, these will not be deemed 
 " vain repetitions." I agree with Pressel that he must have no eyes who does not see and 
 admire the grandeur of the night visions, and he no ears who does not hear the heavy tread 
 of the last six chapters. Manifest as is the dependence of Zechariah upon his predecessors 
 in the particulars before mentioned, he yet has a marked individuality both in thought and 
 expression, e. g., God's protection of Jerusalem as a wall of fire round about and glory 
 within (ii. 5) ; the dramatic scene of Joshua and Satan before the angel of the Lord (iiu 
 1, 2) ; the poetic delineation of the resistless Spirit (iv. 7) ; the development of the idea in 
 the word Branch (iii. 8 ; vi. 12) ; the exquisite picture of peace and prosperity (viii. 4, 5) ; 
 the representation of Judah as a bow which the Lord bends and Ephraim the arrow fitted 
 on the string (ix. 13) ; the energy in describing the wretchedness of the flock of slaughter in 
 xi. 5 ; the striking comparisons in xii. 8-10 ; the amazing conception in the phrase " fellow 
 of Jehovah " (xiii. 7) ; or, the picturesque method of setting forth universal holiness in xiv. 
 20, 21. 
 
 The Hebrew of Zechariah is now admitted to be pure and remarkably free from Chal- 
 daisms. There are some orthographic peculiarities, such as 1^1"^ for T}"^ (xii. 7, 8, 10). 
 Some singular uses of words, as nnS for the indefinite article (v. 7), and some unusual con- 
 Btructions, as b^S'^S niltpi"^, or the unusual position of DN in vii. 7, viii. 17, cf. Haggai 
 ii, 6 ; but in the main the language corresponds to that of the earlier models, and exhibits 
 far fewer traces of linguistic decay than we should expect. 
 
 § 4. The Messianic Predictions. 
 
 It is an old remark that Zechariah is distinguished for his insight into the moral and spir- 
 itual meaning of the Mosaic economy, and his illustration of the Apostle's statement that 
 the law is a schoolmaster unto Christ. A great largeness and clearness of view is apparent 
 even on a cursory inspection of his writings. His rebuke of formal fasting in ch. vii. is not 
 nearly so eloquent as Isaiah's treatment of the same theme in the fifty-eighth cuapter of his 
 prophecies, but it is every way as decided and vigorous. The universality of the commg 
 dispensation is suggested again and again. It is not individuals merely, but many nation* 
 ana far-off peo[)les who are to be joined unto the Lord The old boundaries of the cove- 
 uant people are to be enlarged until they become coextensive with the limits of the habit- 
 able earth. See ii. 11; vi. 15; viii. 20-23; ix. 10; xiv. 9-16. The sacred inscription 
 ,4pon the tiara of the high priest, Holiness to the Lord, which proclj.imed his rntir* 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Bonsecration to the sacerdotal function, Zechariah sees engraved hereafter even upon the 
 hells of the horses in token of the fact that all believers are to become a royal priesthood, a 
 holy nation, and that, to such a degree that even the most ordinary i'nnciions of life shall be 
 discharged in a religious spirit. (See xiv. 20.) Again, the reconstruction of the material 
 Temple upon its old site is so far from satisfying his enlarged views that he passes at once 
 to the true house of God, the Temple not made with hands, the glorious structure composed 
 of living stones, built and inhabited by the Sjjirit of the living God. (See vi. 13; iv. 6). 
 The golden candelabrum of the Tabernacle is to him not a mere ornament however brilliant, 
 but the resplendent type of the city of God, precious to Jehovah as the apple of his eye, 
 and shining from afar like a city set upon a hill, the means of its illumination being pro- 
 vided from ever fresh and imperishable sources. (See iv. 1-12.) Himself a member of 
 the priestly order, he looks forward to the time when the patriarchal type of Melchizedek 
 shall be realized in the combination of regal and sacerdotal functions in one person. Not 
 even the evangelical Prophet presents this instructive and consolatory thought with th*! 
 clearness and emphasis of Zechariah. (See iv. 13, 14 ; vi. 13.) Yet again, the union of 
 the highest doctrines of grace with the most stringent ethical claims is given in a manner 
 worthy of Paul. Over and over is it asserted that the Lord has chosen Jerusalem (i. 1 7 ; ii, 
 12; iii. 2), a fact which is made the sole ground of her preservation, enlargement, and de- 
 fense against all foes, visible and invisible ; and yet he who asserts this sees between heaven 
 and earth the flying roll inscribed with curses against all transgressors (v. 2-4), and also 
 lays down with sharp precision the immutable laws of justice, goodness, and' truth, founded 
 upon the recognition of man's relations to his fellow-man, and their common relation to the 
 one Maker and Father of all (vii. 8-10 ; viii. 16, 17). Once more, the fine conception of a 
 joint observance of the Feast of Tabernacles by all families of the earth, represents the final 
 issue of the world's great pilgrimage, when the race of man, having concluded its march 
 through the wilderness of error and trial, shall gratefully record the divine goodness in the 
 new Exodus, and keep a perpetual memorial of this distinguishing mercy (xiv. 16). 
 
 But besides these general allusions and references to the coming dispensation, there are 
 specific and unquestionable predictions of the one great person through whom they were to 
 be accomplished. These are given not in a continuous succession, but, just as they were by 
 the former Prophets, at different times, and in various relations according to the circum- 
 stances and object of the Prophet on any particular occasion. Each prediction answerea a 
 definite purpose when it was uttered, and the whole together serve admirably to supplement 
 and complete the Messianic literature of the preexile period. These specific references are 
 more frequent and emphatic than in any of Zechariah's predecessors except Isaiah. They 
 are six in number. 
 
 1. The first one occurs in ch. iii. 8, where Zechariah appropriates a name already used 
 by Isaiah (iv. 2) and by Jeremiah (xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15) for the same purpose — Branch. 
 Jehovah declares that he will bring forth his servant, thus entitled, and, in close connection 
 with this promise, asserts that the iniquity of the land will be removed in one day. 
 
 2. In ch. vi. 12, 13, the same promise is resumed and enlarged. The man whose name 
 is Branch. He will start from a lowly origin and build the Temple of Jehovah, not the 
 mere material structure, but the true spiritual Temple composed of living stones. Not only 
 will He sit in majesty upon a throne, but be a priest upon his throne, uniting in Himself the 
 two distinct offices and so securing the perfect discharge of the functions of both. 
 
 3. In ch. ix. 9, 10, the King reappears. His dominion is peaceful but universal, and 
 shouts of triumph hail his coming. Yet that coming is marked by signs of lowliness and 
 sorrow. The passage presents the same combination so often found in Isaiah, of the absenco 
 of external signs of majesty with the reality of a world-wide power and influence. 
 
 4. The next Messianic reference is found in the obscure and diflBcult eleventh chapter, 
 where (vers. 12, 13) the wages of the good shepherd are estimated at the contemptuous sum 
 of thirty pieces of silver. " A goodly price," says Jehovah, with certainly not unbecoming 
 irony, " at which I was prized of them." The New Testament (Matt, xxvii. 9, 10) leaves 
 no doubt that here is a designed allusion to the price of the fearful treason of Judas and 
 the subsequent disposal of the wages of unrighteousness. 
 
 5. In ch. xii. 10 is a still more remarkable delineation of the suffering Messiah, and a 
 rivid statement of the connection between his death and the kindling of an earnest and 
 ^euuine repentance in those who look upon Him as one whom they have pierced. It was 
 fiilfilled at Pentecosl, and has been iMu«*^rated in the effects of the preaching of the cros* 
 
10 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 ever since. The repentance thus wrought is not ineffectual, but results in forgiveness and 
 holiness, as is shown in xiii. 1, which is the conclusion of the passage commencing at the 
 tenth verse of the previous chapter. 
 
 6. The last distinct reference to the coming Saviour (xiii. 7), is perhaps the most striking 
 ir ihe entire range of prophecy. In it Jehovah is represented as calling upon the sword to 
 awake against the man who is his fellow, where we are confronted with the two mysteries ; 
 that one sustaining such a relation should be subjected to such a doom, and that the Being 
 who calls for and causes it, is Jehovah with whom he is so intimately united. The only ex- 
 planation lies in the historical statement of the Evangelist, — God so loved the world that He 
 gave his only-begottou Son. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved ui 
 and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 
 
 Thus is apparent the gradual progress of the disclosure. First, Jehovah's lowly servant. 
 Branch ; then that servant as priest and king building Jehovah's Temple ; thirdly, as a 
 meek and peaceful, but universal monarch ; fourthly, a Shepherd, scorned, rejected, betrayed 
 and (by implication) slain ; fifthly, his pierced form seen by faith a means of deep and gen- 
 eral repentance attended by pardon and conversion ; and lastly, the Fellow of Jehovah 
 smitten by Jehovah himself, at once the redeemer and the pattern of his flock. 
 
 Dr. Lange (Genesis, p. 40) finds in ch. x. 11 a representation of Christ as going before 
 his returning people through the sea of sorrow, beating down the waves of the sea. But 
 this is gained only by an arbitrary interpretation, at war with the connection, unsustained by 
 usage and scarcely admissible even upon the theory of accommodation. 
 
 § 6. The Contents of the Book. 
 
 It is very obvious on even a cursory inspection, that the book consists of two parts, the 
 former of which (chaps, i.-viii.) contains mention of the dates at which its various portions 
 were communicated, while the latter (chaps, ix.-xiv.) contains no dates at all. There are 
 other and even more important points of difference, as will presently be seen, but this one is 
 enough to indicate the occurrence of a break in the stream of prophetic utterance ; the first 
 part having been set forth in the earlier years of Zechariah's activity, even before the com- 
 pletion of the Temple ; the latter on the contrary having been delayed for several, possibly 
 many years, as there is no internal indication in either its structure or its substance, that it 
 was called forth by any particular juncture of circumstances in the condition of the people. 
 The analogy of the Book of Isaiah suggests the opinion that the Prophet, having in the 
 former part of his book communicated the revelations which bore immediately upon the 
 duties and interest of his countrymen at the time, in the latter took a wider range, and set 
 forth the future destiny of the Church in its lights and shades, in such a form as to be of 
 equal benefit at all times and to all classes. 
 
 The First Part. 
 
 Tliis is determined by the several dates to consist of three distinct prophetic utterances. 
 
 I. Chap. i. 1-6. These verses contain an introduction in the form of a solemn admoni- 
 tion enforced by an appeal to the experience of the fathers, who not only felt but acknowl- 
 edged that Jehovah's threatenings were not a vain thing but a formidable reality. The date 
 is the eighth month of the second year of Darius, B. c. 515. 
 
 n. Chaps, i. 7-vi. 15. Eight Night-visions followed by an Appendix, namely : 
 
 1. The Man among the Myrtles, or Successful Intercession for the Covenant people (ch. i. 
 7-17). 
 
 2. The Four Horns and Four Smiths, or an Adequate Defender against every Assailant 
 (ch. i. 18-21). 
 
 3. The Man with the Measuring Line, or the Enlargement and Security of the People 
 of God (ch. ii.). 
 
 4. Joshua the High Priest before the Angel of Jehovah, or the Forgiveness of Sin and 
 the Coming of the Branch (ch. iii.). 
 
 5. The Candlestick with the two Olive Trees, or the Positive Communication of Grod'f 
 Spirit and Grace (ch. iv). 
 
 6. The Flying Roll, or the Destroying Curse upon all Sinners (ch. v. 1-4). 
 
 7. TVic Woman in the Ephah, or the Permanent Exile of the Wicked (ch. v 5-11). 
 
INTRODUCTION, IJ 
 
 8. The Four Chariots, or Jehovah's Judgments upon the Heathen (ch. vi. 1-8). 
 
 Appendix. This recites a symbolical action, the Crowning of Joshua, the High-priest, o? 
 the Functions of the Priest-King whose name is Branch. The date of the whole series u 
 the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Darius, b. c. 515. 
 
 HI. Cliaps. vii. and viii. An answer to the inquiry of the People whether they should 
 continue to observe the annual fasts which commemorated special calamities in their former 
 experience. The Prophet first (ch. vii.) rebukes their formalism and recounts the sins and 
 sorrows of their fathers ; and then (ch. viii.) promises such blessings as will change their fasts 
 into festivals and attract even the heathen to seek their fellowship. The prophecy was ut- 
 tered in the fourth day of the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius, B. c. 617, which It 
 the last date mentioned in the book. 
 
 The Second Part. 
 
 This, as has been said, bears no date, and may have been, and probably was, delivered 
 long after what is contained in the preceding chapters. It is divided into two oracles by 
 the titles which head respectively chaps, ix. and xii. The general theme is the Futura 
 Destiny of the Covenant People. 
 
 I. The First Burden (chaps, ix.-xi.). 
 
 This seems to outline the course of God's providence toward his people as far as the time 
 of our Saviour. 
 
 1. Judgment upon the Land of Hadrach (Lx. 1-8), or the Syrian Conquests of Alexander 
 the Great. 
 
 2. Zion's King of Peace (ix. 9, 10). Plainly Messianic. 
 
 3. Victory over the Sons of Javan (ix. 11-17), or the triumphs of the Maccabees. 
 
 4. Further Blessings of the Covenant People (ch. x.). Their gradual increase in means 
 and numbers under native rulers. 
 
 5. The Rejection of the Good Shepherd (ch. xi.). A striking delineation of our Lord's 
 treatment by his own people. 
 
 n. The Second Burden (chaps, xii.-xiv.). 
 
 This carries forward the outlook upon the future even to the time of the end. 
 
 1. Israel's Victory over Trials (xii. 1-9), or the Triumph of the early Church over perse- 
 cuting Foes. 
 
 2. Repentance and Conversion (xii. 10 ; xiii. 1), or the Power of Christ's Death to awaken 
 and renew. 
 
 3. The Fruits of Penitence (xiii. 2-6), as shown in the abolition of false worship and 
 false prophecy which stand for all forms of sin. 
 
 4. The Sword against the Shepherd and his Flock (xiii. 7-9), or Christ is smitten by his 
 Father, and his People suiTer also. 
 
 5. Final Conflict and Triumph of God's Kingdom (ch. xiv.), or a General Survey of thj 
 checkered course from beginning to end. 
 
 § 6. The Genuineness of the Second Part. 
 
 This is in some respects the most interesting and important question pertaining to the 
 book, and needs to be considered at some length. 
 
 1. The History of the Assault. This is comparatively of late date. The question seems 
 never to have been stirred until the middle of the seventeenth century. The first to raise 
 a doubt was the learned and pious Jos. Mede in the Fragmenta Sacra appended to his Dis- 
 tert. Eccles. Triga, London, 1653. This was suggested to him by the citation in Matt. 
 (xxvii. 9, 10), which the Evangelist attributes to Jeremiah, whence he concluded that "the 
 Jews had not rightly attributed these chapters to Zechariah ; " and he was further confirmed 
 in this opinion by the contents of the chapters, some of which he thought required an earlier 
 date than the exile, and others were not suitable to Zechariah's position and object. Mede 
 was followed in this view by Hammond, 1681 ; Rich. Kidder, Demon, of the Messiah, 1700; 
 Whiston, 1722; Archbishop Newcome, Imp. Version, etc., 1785; to all of whom Blayney 
 made what Hengstenberg calls " an admirable reply," in his work on Zechariah, Oxford, 
 1797. The controversy was first awakened in Germany by B. G. Fliigge, in an anonymoui 
 irork published in 1 784, in which he maintained that the second part consisted of aine die- 
 
£2 ZECllARIAH. 
 
 linct prophecies, delivered before the exile. After him Eichhorn, Corrodi, Paulus, and 
 Vatke went to the opposite extreme and assigned its origin to a writer living in the time of 
 Alexander the Great. The greater part of the hostile critics (Bertholdt, Rosenmiiller, Ges- 
 enius, Hitzig Knobel, Maurer, Ewald, Bleek, Bunsen, Von Ortenberg, Pressel) followed in 
 the wake of Mede and Newcome, and maintained, with however many variations among 
 themselves, that the six chapters in question dated from a period prior to the Captivity 
 Some (Davidson and Pressel) deem the whole the work of one author, probably the Zecha- 
 riah mentioned Is. viii. 2, who lived in the reign of Ahaz. Others (Knobel, Bunsen, et al.) 
 assign chaps, xii.-xiv. (to which Ewald excepts xiii. 7-9, which he thinks misplaced where it 
 is) to a later unknown author, probably a contemporary of Jeremiah ; and thus they make 
 two ante-exile composers of the second part. The traditional view of one book and one 
 author has been maintained by Carpzov, Beckhaus, Jahn, Koster, Hengstenberg, De Wette, 
 (in the later editions of his Einleitung), Umbreit, Havernick, Keil, Stahelin, V. Hoffman, 
 Neumann, Kliefoth, Kohler, Reinke, et al. ; and in England by Henderson, Wordsworth, 
 and Pusey, while Jno. Pye Smith and Davidson hold to the preexile authorship. 
 
 2. The Grounds of Objection to the Genuineness. These have been already suggested, 
 (a.) The first and most important is the New Testament authority as apparently given by 
 Matthew (xxvii. 9, 10), where the Evangelist attributes to Jeremiah what is unquestionably 
 a citation from Zech. xi. 12. Various readings are found in some MSS. and VSS., but these 
 are such as in all probability sprang from a desire to make the Gospel conform to the fact. 
 (b.) Another ground is sought in the contents of the six chapters, e. ff. Mede argues that one 
 of the chapters contains a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem which was fulfilled by 
 Titus, and this was by no means suitable to the object of Zechariah, whose mission was only 
 to console and to encourage. Again, Ephraim and Judah are spoken of together as if both 
 were still existing as distinct kingdoms, which they never were after the exile. Assyria 
 and Egypt are mentioned as formidable powers which at that time they were not, Persia 
 having absorbed the former and subdued the latter. So also are Phoenicia, Damascus, and 
 Philistia represented as important foes, when their power had long been broken. Com- 
 plaints are made of false prophets and idolatry, of neither of which is any trace found after 
 the Captivity. The delineation of the Messiah in the second part, as rejected and put to 
 death, is inconsistent with those statements in the first, which represent Him as glorious 
 and blessed, (c.) A third objection is drawn from the alleged contrast of style between the 
 parts. The first is prosaic and poor, the second is poetic and forcible, so that the difference 
 is manifest. The one is full of visions, and speaks much of angels and also of Satan, of all 
 of which there is scarcely a trace in the other. Certain characteristic phrases, " The word 
 of Jehovah came," " Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts," etc., found in the first eight chapters, 
 do not occur at all in the last six, while on the other hand " in that day " occurs frequently 
 in the latter, but not once in the former. A convenient summary of these objections may 
 be found in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, pp. 3603, 3609. 
 
 3. The Argument for the Traditional View, (a) Here it may be remarked, first that the 
 opinion which refers the origin of the controverted chapters to the time of Alexander or of 
 the Maccabees, is now generally abandoned, and by the later writers on the other side is not 
 deemed worthy of reply. Indeed it never rested upon anything but the dogmatic prejudice 
 that the Prophets could prophecy only of that which lay in their own time, and could be 
 foreknown by their own unaided faculties. Eiclihorn frankly confessed that all other argu- 
 ments were unsatisfactory. (6.) The degree of variation among the objectors themselves, 
 casts suspicion upon their views. Men of equal learning, insight, and candor differ alike 
 upon the authorship they suggest and the grounds upon which they defend it. Some make 
 one writer, others make two ; one rests mainly upon the text in Matthew, another is guided 
 by the variations in matter and tone between the first part and the second, another make? 
 much of the variations in style. It seems then that as soon as we leave the traditional view 
 we are all at sea, with no certain criteria of judgment, and liable to be borne hither and 
 thither by mere subjective influences, (c.) We have no record of any other Zechariah 
 who might be presumed to have written what was afterwards confounded with the genuine 
 writings of the son of Iddo. Mention is made (Is. viii. 2) of a man bearing this name, but 
 it is only as a " faithful witness," without the least indication that he bore the prophetic 
 character or discharged the prophetic office ; and later, another is spoken of (2 Chron. xxvi 
 6) who was a trusted counsellor of King Uzziah, but this man, even if the text be correct 
 (of which there is serious doubt), while he '' understood the sight of God," yet did not st^nd 
 
INTRODUCTION. l?l 
 
 ji the proplietic order and is not credited with any prophetic utterances, much less writings, 
 for popular edification. Nothing then but a Yigorous exer nse of the imagination can pro- 
 duce another Zechariah whose compositions might by mistalce have been appended to those 
 of the post-exilivm Prophet, (d.) The theory of another author or authors implies that 
 there was a mistake made by the framers of the present Canon of the Old Testament. It 
 is quite certain that they intended all the fourteen chapters of Zechariah to be regarded as 
 the work of one and the same person. Did they err ? We may admit, as Pressel claims, 
 the paucity of our knowledge as to the time of the compilation of the Canon, and the men 
 by whom it was done ; nor can we urge with Hens^stenberg that Zechariah lived in the 
 same age with the collectors of the Canon, which may or may not have been the case. But 
 it is certain that the Canon was completed before the version of the Septuagint was made, 
 i. e., iu the first half of the thii'd century before Christ, and its compilers had abundant op- 
 portunity to satisfy themselves as to the claims of the difl'erent classes of writings upon 
 which they adjudicated. Some they admitted ; others they rejected ; and their judgment 
 stands to-day accredited by the highest authority, — that of our Lord and his Apostles. We 
 know from Josephus and other sources what Scriptures they were upon which the blessed 
 Saviour placed his imprimatur. They included the Aa)3eKa7rpo'(^/yrov, just as it stands, and 
 in this, the Book of Zechariah just as it stands. Would he have sanctioned such an error 
 as is claimed to exist ? Is it reasonable to think that the Providence which confessedly 
 watched so carefully over the sacred writings in all other respects would have failed just 
 here ? The cases which Mede cites are not parallel. He speaks of Agur's prayer being 
 included in the Book of Proverbs of Solomon, and of liturgical compositions by other au- 
 thors being included in what are called the Psalms of David. But in both these cases the 
 rule was applied, a fortiori nomen Jit ; and besides, the added portions were for the most 
 part marked with the names of their respective authors. In Zechariah nothing of the kind 
 is seen. Not a hint of divided authorship is given, nor was even the thought of such a 
 thing suggested, until twenty centuries had rolled away. Nor is there a single ascertained 
 instance in the older portions of the Scriptures, in which pieces by different authors are col- 
 lected into one book and ascribed to one and the same author. 
 
 (e.) As to the passage in Matthew's gospel, it may be truly said that the Evangelist would 
 hardly be likely to make a correction of the Jewish Canon in this indirect manner, without 
 giving some intimation to that effect. " The uniform reference of these chapters to Zech- 
 ariah in the Jewish Canon is much more difficult to account for if he did not write them, 
 than the verse in Matthew is, if he did " (T. V. Moore). Moreover, Matthew's statement 
 gives no countenance to those who claim an early Zechariah, for he explicitly mentions Jere- 
 miah, and they who plead his authority must take it as it stands, and not bend it to suit 
 their own purposes. So far then as the present argument is concerned, we might dismiss 
 this citation as having no bearing upon the question of an earlier or later Zechariah. For 
 a full statement of the question the reader is referred to Smith's Bible Dictionary, 3609, and 
 to Lange's Comm. on Matthew, I. c. In my own view, the citation is not to be explained aa 
 an error of memory, which is inconsistent with the true doctrine of the inspiration of the 
 sacred penmen ; nor as a textual error, for the existing text is completely established ; nor 
 as a quotation from a lost book of Jeremiah (Origen), or an apocryphal book of his (Jerome, 
 Eichhorn), or one of his oral statements (Calovius), or from a genuine work of Jeremiah 
 from which the Jews have expunged this passage (Eusebius), since all of these suppositions 
 are as destitute of probability as they are of proof; nor by the theory that the Evangelist, 
 fusing two passages together, one from Jeremiah and another from Zechariah, names the 
 joint product from the older Prophet (Grotius, Hengstenberg), for this is extremely artificial 
 and unlikely ; nor by the claim that the name Jeremiah was purposely substituted for that 
 of Zechariah in order to teach us that all prophecies proceed from one Spirit, and that the 
 Prophets are merely channels, not sources, of the Divine truth (Wordsworth), for this would 
 create far greater difficulties than it removes, by undermining all confidence in any specific 
 quotations. The only remaining view is that of Scrivener and Lightfoot, that the Book of 
 Jeremiah, being actually arranged by the Jews as the first of all the Prophets (Bava 
 Bathra), gave its name to the whole body of their writings, and that thus Matthew wa» 
 justified in naming his quotation as he did. If this be not acceptable, all we can do is to 
 assume an error on the part of one of the earliest transcribers, or to say with Calvin, Me 
 nescire fateor nee anxie laboro. But however this citation may be explained, or even if it be 
 given up as inexplicable, it cannot be used to prove that the authorship of the second pari 
 
ZECHARIAH. 
 
 of Zechariah was an open question in the time of the Apostles. For if that had been the 
 case we should have had some other evidence of the fact. Especially, since Matthew makei 
 two other quotations from Zechariah (xxi. 5 and xxvi. 31), but in both cases follows hir 
 usual method of quoting without name; in one, saying, " which was spoken by the Prophet," 
 in the other, simply " it is written." But if he had really held that the second part of 
 Zechariah, although inspired and canonical, was not attributed to its true author, would he 
 not have said so in these passages as well as in xxvii. 9 ? 
 
 (f.) As to the contents of the chapters in question the objections spring from a misap- 
 prehension of their exegetical meaning. Many of these will be considered as they arise in 
 the course of the exposition, but a few remarks may be made here. The mention of 
 Ephraim by no means presupposes the distinct existence of the northern kingdom. That 
 name is used to designate a part of the existing population just as the corresponding term 
 Israel is employed by Malachi (ii. 11), whom no one denies to be a post-exile Prophet. 
 Assyria and Egypt in like manner are brought forward as natural and convenient represen- 
 tatives of the heathen foes of the covenant people. Phoenicia and the other kingdoms on 
 the coast line of Palestine, although not flourishing and independent, were certainly in ex- 
 istence in Zechariah's time, and sufiered under the victorious march of Alexander which 
 our Prophet predicts. The difficulty about the reference to false Prophets and idolatry is 
 diluted by the prophetic peculiarity of representing the future under the forms of the past. 
 As to the Messianic predictions in the second part, they are a pledge of its genuineness, 
 kustaining as they do the same relation to the Messianic allusions in the first part, as Isaiah'a 
 later predictions on the same theme (xlix., liii.) do to his earlier writings (ii., ix., xi.). When 
 Zechariah's main object was to encourage the people in carrying forward the Temple, he 
 naturally gave special prominence to the brighter side of the Messianic picture ; but after- 
 wards when his scope was larger, he brought in the more developed thought of one who 
 triumphs through suifering. (^.) In xii. 11 there is an undeniable allusion to the death of 
 Josiah in the valley of Megiddo, which is fatal to the assumption that the second part was 
 composed in the time of Ahaz. Nor can this be successfully eluded by assigning chaps, ix.- 
 xi. to one author, and chaps, xii.-xiv. to another, for the two " burdens " are intimately con- 
 nected by their common description of the people as a flock, and of their leaders as she^^ 
 herds, and by the dependence of xiii. 7 upon xi. 11. But if the six chapters form one 
 whole, how could they have been uttered in the days of Jeremiah and yet have attained no 
 recognition at his hand ? 
 
 (A.) As to the alleged differences of style, Pressel, himself an opponent of the genuine - 
 ness, says with some sharpness that the man who professes to see such a contrast that he 
 can say of one part that it is post-exile Hebrew, and of the other that it is ante-exile He- 
 brew, must have an ear fine enough to hear the grass when it grows I Still it must be ad- 
 mitted that there are some differences ; yet these are not more than may be easily, accounted 
 for by the difference of age and of aim in the author. Zechariah (ii. 4) was a young man 
 when he composed the first part, and was possibly quite advanced when he composed the 
 second. The first part is in large measure descriptive, the second wholly prophetic ; and 
 there was room in the latter for an elevation and grandeur which were not called for before. 
 It surely is not an accepted canon of criticism that because an author writes at one time in 
 a certain style, he must always use the same in any subsequent work. This reasoning would 
 (as T. V. Moore says) make us affirm that Burke could not be the author of the Reflections 
 on the French Revolution, because he wrote the TreatUe on the Sublime and Beautiful, which 
 is as simple and subdued as the former is impassioned and brilliant. Moreover, it is worthy 
 of remark that the first part, which on all sides is admitted to be of post-exile origin, pre- 
 sents some great diversities of conception and expression. What can be more unlike the 
 bold and startling symbolism of the night visions than the plain didactic utterances con- 
 tained in the two chapters (vii. and viii.) which follow tbem ? Yet no one has suggested a 
 different author here. Why then should we think of one when we come to the second part, 
 where the variation is certainly no greater ? A word may be added respecting the depend- 
 ence of Zechariah upon the earlier Prophets (see the citations and references in § 3) as evi- 
 dence of his posteriority. It is true that Kohler, himself a defender of the genuineness, 
 declines to use this argument, saying that it is impossible to decide in such cases which is 
 the original source of the words, phrases, and images used. But the point is well taken by 
 Stahelin, that it is far more likely that one Prophet quoted from many than that many quoted 
 
INTRODUCTION. l^ 
 
 &T»m one. Indeed, it was this consideration principally which led De Wettt o change liii 
 opinion, so tha, after having delared for two authors of Zechariah in three t Jitions of liii 
 Introduction, he returned to the traditionary view in the fourth. 
 
 (i.) The adverse theory claims that the compilers of the Canon found these sii :;hapters 
 either together or in parts, floating around as a part of the inspired literature of tie nation 
 and generally recognized as such, but without having the name of any author prefixed ; and 
 that by mistake they put them in connection with the acknowledged prophecies of Zechariah. 
 Here, it may be urged in reply, is an exceedingly improbable supposition at the outset. All 
 the prophetical writings of the Old Testament of which we have any knowledge state in 
 each case at the beginning the name of the author. This is true of the twelve Minor 
 Prophets, of the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and of the particular prophetic 
 visions of Daniel (vii. 1 ; viii. 1 ; ix. 1, 2 ; x. 1). This was not the case with the histories 
 of Scripture, for the obvious reason that these, whether because they were drawn from the 
 archives of the nation, or because they bore intrinsic evidence of their correctness, did not 
 require to be authenticated by the authors' names. But prophecy had its entire value in its 
 divine inspiration, and its human author must furnish in his name and personality the evi- 
 dence that he stood in such a relation to God as to be made by Him a channel of revelation. 
 This then being the case, it is wholly unreasonable to suppose that an anonymous prophecy 
 was current among the Jews at the time when the Canon was made. On the contrary we 
 are justified in holding that Jiad such a nameless work come before the compilers, they 
 would have rejected it as on its face spurious. 
 
 (J.) The testimony of the Jews on this subject is unanimous. Not only the learned 
 scribes in the days of Ezra and afterwards who compiled the Canon, but the schools of 
 Hillel and Shammai who flourished in Jerusalem just before and after the time of our Lord, 
 the great Jewish Seminaries of Tiberias and Babylon, the authors of the Targums, and the 
 continuous series of learned Rabbins down to the Reformation, all with one consent, accept 
 the Book of Zechariah just as it stands in the Old Testament as the product of one man, 
 the contemporary of Haggai and Zerubbabel. Of the learning of these men there can be 
 no question. They were as well able to judge questions of evidence, internal or external, 
 as any modern critic. They were notorious for their extreme jealousy for the integrity of 
 the sacred writings. Their absolute silence as to any diversity of authorship is wholly in- 
 explicable, if the apparent indications of that fact have anything like the degree of streno-th 
 and clearness which is claimed by the opponents of the traditional view. 
 
 Mr. Perowne, the author of the article on Zechariah in Smith's Bible Dictionary, con 
 eludes a review of the whole argument, with the remark, " It is not easy to say which way 
 the weight of evidence preponderates." I cannot agree with this opinion. Of course it 
 would be idle to say that there is no ground for suspecting the preexile date of the chapters 
 in question. Too many critics of various countries and of different shades of theological 
 opinion, have agreed in adopting this view to warrant its contemptuous rejection. At the 
 same time a careful review of the case justifies the immemorial historical tradition. No 
 dates are given, because none were needed, the entire outlook being on the distant future. 
 The author's name is not once mentioned ; but the same is true of the later prophecies of 
 Isaiah, the twenty-six brilliant chapters which close the book. The northern kingdom is 
 not mentioned in the last three chapters, while it does occur in the three preceding ; but if 
 its mention in the latter has no historical significance, its omission in the former need have 
 none. The efforts made to explain particular predictions by occurrences in Hebrew history 
 prior to the Captivity, have totally failed, as e. g., the conquest of the sea-coast (ix. 1-8), 
 the victory over Javan (ix. 13-17), the feeding of the flock of slaughter (xi.), the general 
 repentance (xii. 10-14), or the inward purity and universal ascendancy of Judah (xiv. 16- 
 21). But most of these can be very satisfactorily shown to be fulfilled in the period be- 
 tween the restoration from Babylon and the founding of the Christian Church ; and any 
 others may safely bfc considered as belonging to the as yet unfulfilled purposes of the Most 
 High. What then is there startUng in the thought that Zechariah in the later years of life, 
 under the guidance of the same inspiration which undeniably vouchsafed to him the night- 
 visions, proceeded to record these two oracles or burdens sketching in outline the future for- 
 ■jines of the people of God, exhibiting their struggles and triumphs, their sins and puriflca 
 uon, and especially their Priest-king, not merely in his wide and peaceful r<ign, but also i: 
 iJie rejection, humiliation, and sacrifice by which that reign is procured ? Then, since w 
 
It) ZECHARIAII. 
 
 know that Jeremiah on one occasion by divine command (xxxvi. 2) reduced to writing all the 
 prophecies of his preceding ministry, why might not Zechariah have done the same thing, 
 making one complete record of all that the Lord had seen fit to reveal by him ? 
 
 Furthermore, let the reader compare the course of thought in the eight night visions and 
 their appendix with that of the second part, and he will hardly fail to see a surprising coinci- 
 dence in the general scope, whatever may be the variations in detail. There are the same 
 promises of increase and enlargement, of protection and security, of overthrow of foes, of 
 removal of iniquity, of effusion of the Spirit, of the punishment of the incorrigible, and of 
 tliu final ingathering of f;ir-otf peoples. This is apparent from a glance at the contents of 
 the respective sections as given in § 5, but is still more evident upon a careful continuous 
 reading of each part with the attention fixed upon the order of thought and its general ex- 
 pression. As to the development of the Messianic idea, the lowly and peaceful rider upon 
 an ass's foal (ch. ix. 9) is quite in harmony with the repeated use in the former part (iii. 8 , 
 vi. 12) of the modest term " branch " (= sucker, shoot). And although the later chapters 
 contain a revelation of suffering in the good shepherd, of which there is no hint in the 
 earlier, yet this is just what we should expect from the analogy of Isaiah, where we have 
 the king and the kingdom, the branch and the glory in the earlier prophecies, but no indi- 
 cation of the solitary, patient, wronged, and martyred sufferer till we reach the later por- 
 tion. It seems to have been the purpose of the Most High to give full force and sweep to 
 the brighter and more glowing anticipations of Messiah's character and course, and after 
 this preparation, to disclose the darker outlines of his extraordinary career. And if, as seems 
 probable, the second part of Zechariah was issued at an advanced period of his life, when the 
 restored exiles had outlived their early trials, and were firmly established on their ancestral 
 soil, their situation would admit of a distinct reference to the suffering Messiah which would 
 have been unsuitable at an earlier period when it was particularly required that they should 
 be consoled and animated. 
 
 § 7. The alleged Influence of the Persian Theology. 
 
 That Zechariah shows in the style and form of his writings traces of his early Chaldaean 
 education has long been admitted, and the only matter of surprise is that those traces are 
 not more numerous and palpable. But it is often asserted that not only his language but 
 his thought has been affected by contact with Ethnic races and religions, especially by the 
 religious views of the ancient Persians. Thus Mr. Alger says (Doctrine of a Future Life, 
 p. 132). "We have unquestionable proofs that during the period from the Babylonish Cap- 
 tivity to the advent of Christ, the Jews borrowed and adapted a great deal from the Persian 
 theology." Again, he quotes (p. 141) the acute and learned scholar. Dr. Martin Haug^ as 
 declaring that " Judaism after the exile received an important influence from Zoroastriani'sm, 
 an influence which in regard to the doctrine of angels, Satan, and the resurrection of the 
 dead, cannot be mistaken." As Zechariah does not refer to the resurrection, it is only the 
 former two of these questions which need to be handled here. 
 
 There is no doubt that the two systems, the Hebrew and the Persian, substantially agree 
 on these points. According to the latter, Ormuzd, the Principle of Good, the Fountain of 
 Light, not only created the earth and man, but also a number of spiritual beings, some of 
 whom stood as counsellors around his throne and all of whom were engaged in his service 
 Over against Ormuzd stood Ahriman, the Principle of Evil, the instigator of all wrong and 
 misery and death, who also was attended by subordinate evil spirits like himself And these 
 two essential principles stood in eternal conflict with each other. Here then is the doctiine 
 of good and evil angels, as a constituent and very ancient part of the Zoroastrian system, 
 as all expositors of that system agree, however they may differ on other points. Its antiq- 
 uity was at least six centuries before Christ, and may have been four or five centuries earlier, 
 while Dr. Haug, one of the latest scholars in this field, holds it for certain {Alger, p. 141) 
 that Zoroaster lived from fifteen hundred to two thousand years before the Christian era. 
 On tlie ground mainly of tliis early date, it is insisted that Zechariah borrowed from the 
 Zend-Avesta. But surely this position is not tenable. What reason is there wliidi couipcN 
 us to believe that either borrowed from the other? The Hebrew system clninis to br ;i 
 revelation, begun at the tall of man, and gradually enlarging in the scope of lis diw livm . .- 
 during a lonj; course of ages, while it narrowed in the numbers of those to wliom ii \\ . ' 
 given from the whole race at the first to a particular division in the time of Noalt. t>< ii i-.i^ 
 
IKTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 ticular family in the time of Abraham, and laetly to a single individual in the time of Jacob, 
 whose descendants constitiued the chosen seed. If this be admitted, what is to hinder the 
 view that some portions of the primeval revelation to Adam, Noah, or Abraham, may have 
 floated down the stream of time outside the channel of the covenant, and, being appropriated 
 by Zoroaster, were wrought by him into the system which bears his name f Beyond all 
 question the tradition of the flood thus descended in almost every direction. It is surely 
 not unreasonable to think that other traditions were transmitted in the same way. But ia 
 only one instance were they seized by a man able to retain these fragments of primitive 
 truth and develope them into a complete monotheistic system. In this way the origin of the 
 Zoroastrian doctrine as to angels, good and bad, may be fairly accounted for. But if on 
 the other hand the postulate of an original revelation at the beginning be wholly denied, 
 we are not shut up to the conclusion that Zechariah and his predecessors borrowed from the 
 author of the ancient Persian faith. For if Zoroaster was able by his own faculties to ex- 
 cogitate the system which bears his name, why may not the same power be supposed to have 
 inhered in one or more of the eminent Hebrews ? On the plane of mere naturalism, the 
 question resolves itself simply into (me of mental grasp and constructive power, and on whal 
 possible ground can it be claimed that Moses or Samuel or David were unable to do what 
 the East Bactrian reformer did ? Or even if one should allow the preposterous assertion of 
 Mr. Alger (p. 141), that, " The Hebrew theology had no Satan, no demonology until after 
 the residence at Babylon," why could not Zechariah himself have developed thi's interesting 
 fact of the unseen world without Ethnic aid ? He was the heir of a civilization and a lit" 
 erature which had existed for centuries, as well as of by far the purest and most spiritual 
 monotheism which the world has ever seen, and was certainly in a condition to lend truth 
 rather than to borrow it. 
 
 Nor does it avail to say, as has been said, " How often the Hebrew people lapsed into 
 idolatry, accepting Pagan gods, doctrines, and ritual, is notorious." For this remark, true aa 
 it is, does not meet the case. The people did frequently fall away under the pressure of 
 temptation. The instances are too numerous to be recounted, stretching all the way from 
 the calf worship instituted by Aaron at the foot of Sinai, down to the weeping for Thammuz, 
 and the chambers of imagery which Ezekiel rebuked. But the same faithful narrative which 
 informs us of these apostasies, also informs us that they were never regarded as anything 
 else than departures from the truth. However widely they might prevail, always a few 
 ■were left who remained faithful to the covenant, and these preserved the hereditary faith in 
 tact. Error was transient, truth permanent. A sure evidence of this is found in the Book 
 of Psalms. The human authors of this inspired liturgy were many, and they flourished at 
 widely different periods, yet the theology of the book is the same throughout. The earliest 
 Psalm and the latest agree in every doctrinal sentiment. Even in the northern kingdom 
 where, although Jehovah was still worshipped (except in the times of Ahab and Jezebel), 
 idolatry was formally established, the Prophets who officiated in that kingdom (Hosea, Amos, 
 etc.) never gave place to the prevailing errors, but rebuked them with the utmost vigor and 
 boldness. There is not a single instance in which Hebrew theology was shaped or even 
 colored by these outside influences. Its authorized expounders with one consent rejected 
 every suggestion of the heathen. Why then should Zechariah have proved an exception ? 
 Why should he violate the usage of a thousand years and accept new doctrines from a 
 heathen source ? The very fact that the nation previously often went astray in whole or in 
 part, and in some instances for a length of time, and yet never succeeded in ingrafting its 
 errors upon its own literature, renders it a most unlikely thing that Zechariah should have 
 turned aside to borrow a heathen superstitution. 
 
 Again, if the Prophet borrowed from the Persian system, why did he stop short with its 
 doctrine of angels ? How came he to escape its grand peculiarity — the eternal and neces- 
 sary existence of Ahriman ? This is the answer which Zoroaster gave to the vexed ques- 
 tion of all theologies and all ages. Whence comes evil ? And it is the best or most plausi- 
 ble solution which unassisted reason can render to that perplexing problem. Now if Zech- 
 ariah obtained from Babylon the idea of Satan, he must have become familiar with the 
 whole doctrine of the Persians upon this subject. How came he to take just so much and 
 no more ? Not a trace of dualism appears in any portion of his prophecies. True, he doei 
 not, like his illustrious predecessor Isaiah (xlv. 7), put his foot upon the seductive theory 
 with such significant words as these : " I form the light and create darkness ; I make peace 
 wid create evil; I the L0R1> do all these things." But he ignores it as contemptuously af 
 
l8 ZECHAKIAH. 
 
 If it were unworthy of notice. Yet if he was indebted to this system for the suggestion of 
 an evil spiritual being, the adversary of God and man, it is certainly fair to «>ippose that it 
 adopting one part of the view, he would at least have hinted at his rejection of the othei 
 and more characteristic portion. 
 
 Once more. All the circumstances of the case oppose the alleged indebtedness of tlie 
 Prophet to the Zend-Avesta. The Jews were carried to Babylon against their will, and 
 one of the most painful features of this compulsory exile was its interference with their 
 religious wci'ship and privileges. They had no temple, no altar, no sacrifices, no festival? 
 no solemn processions, nothing but the law, the Sabbath, and at first the occasional voice c 
 a Prophet. But they appear, with the exception of such as were taken for domestic service 
 to have been settled together as a sort of colony, so that there was not much difficulty ir. 
 preserving their ancestral traditions. To these they adhered, seemingly with the more 
 steadfast determination because they were cut off from their regular forms of wor?-liip. As 
 Ewald remarks over and over (Geschichte d. V. /., iv. passim), they became entirely self- 
 centered, their thoughts reverted incessantly to their past history, to their peculiar position 
 among the nations of the earth, and to the singular hope of a Deliverer to come which lay 
 at the bottom of their political and religious organization. This is shown by the fact of 
 restoration. Instead of being hopelessly dispersed and merged among the nations with 
 whom they were identified for more than two generations, they survived in sufficient num- 
 bers and with enough national spirit, to avail themselves of the permission of Cyrus, and 
 return to their desolated ancestral homes and there renew the old commonwealth. The sever- 
 ity of their trials only endeared to them the more their former faith and institutions. A 
 gleam of this feeling shines out in the touching strains of the 137th Psalm, " How shall we 
 sing the Lord's song in a strange land ? " One thing is certain. There was a complete and 
 surprising change wrought in the whole body in respect to idol worship. Before the Cap- 
 tivity they were incessantly falling into this snare. There was scarcely one of their heathen 
 neighbors whom they did not at some time imitate in their objects of worship. It made nc 
 difference who presented the temptation or what was its particular nature, they were always 
 ready to exchange the glory of the uncorruptible God for a lie, and bow down to the objects 
 their own hands had made. But after the Captivity all this was reversed. Henceforth 
 they became proof against any such allurement. Nay, so far from going of themselves into 
 idolatry, they defied the power of any ruler to force them into it. It was the insane fury 
 of Antiochus Epiphanes for the introduction of the Greek cultus into Judsea which oc- 
 casioned innumerable martyrdoms, and at last provoked the insurrection of the Maccabees 
 and the series of heroic struggles by which they achieved the independence of their country. 
 
 The question then recurs — How is it possible that one of the leaders of the people, an 
 inspired Prophet, who shared in all their intense national convictions and hopes, and who as 
 a Jew regarded Gentiles with far more of scorn and dislike than a Greek of the age of 
 Pericles did those whom he called jBap^apot, — how could he think of improving or per- 
 fecting his theology by adaptations from the views of uncircumcised heathen ? Such a thing 
 might have been possible (though not probable) at an earlier day, but that it should have 
 occurred at the era of the restoration, is, I humbly insist, quite inconceivable. Nor is it of 
 any avail to refer to the acknowledged excellences of Zoroastrianism, — its pure theism, its 
 fierce hatred of idolatry, its elevated morality, and its doctrine of a future state, — as if these 
 would conciliate the favor of a devout Hebrew and incline him to adopt new views from 
 such a source. The immemorial faith of the nation was that it had been chosen by Jeho- 
 vah as the depository of his truth, and therefore had express and immediate revelations from 
 him on all points of religious faith. As long as they held this conviction, it would seem 
 nothing less than treason and sacrilege to borrow doctrinal opinions from any ethnic system, 
 however pure and spiritual it might seem. A pious Jew could not admit that he had any- 
 thing to learn about reUgion from an uncircumcised stranger. 
 
 § 8. Literature. 
 
 I. Patristic. Jerome (f 420), Theodore of Mopsuestia (f 429), Cyril of Alexandna 
 (t 444), Theodoret (f 457), all treat of Zechariah in Commentaries upon The Twelve Minor 
 Prophets, 
 
 II. Jewish. R. Salomon ben Isaak, called Jarchi or Raschi (fllOS). R. Abrahair ben 
 Meir ibu Esra, called Abei. Esra (f 1167), David Kimchi (f 1230). All these with ttie Tar- 
 
INTKODUCTION. Hj 
 
 gum are contained in Buxtorf 's Rabbinical Bible, Basle, 1618. Kimchi, translated by Dr 
 M'Caul, London, 1837. 
 
 III. Reformers. M. Luther Ausleg. des Proph. Zecharias, Wittenberg, 1528 ; Me- 
 lancthon, Comm. in Zeckariam, Witt., 1553 ; Calvin, Prcelec. in Proph. Min. ; Tremelliu» 
 and Junius, Bib. Sac, 1579; J. J. GrynjEus, Comm. in Zech., Geneva, 1581. 
 
 IV. Later Writers. C. Vitringa, Comm. ad Zach. quce Supersunt, 1734; B. G. 
 Fliigge, Weissag. des Proph. Zach., 1784; Venema, Sermon, in Zech., 1787; Blayney, New 
 Translation of Zech-, 1787. Besides, in works on the Minor Prophets: Cocceius, 'l652 ; 
 Markius, 1698-1700; Archbishop Nevvcome, 1785. 
 
 ^ V. Of the PresExXT Century. F. B. Kbster, Melelem. in Zach. partem poster., 1818; 
 E. Forberg, Comm. Crit. and Exeg. in Zach. part, post., 1824; J. Stonard, Comm. on Zecll 
 ariah, London, 1824 ; Hengstenberg, Integrita des Sack., Berlin, 1831; Christoloqi/ {?econd 
 edition), 1856 ; J. D. F. Burger, Etudes sur Zech., Strasburg, 1841 ; M. Baumgarten, Nacht- 
 gesichte Sach., 1854; E. F. J. v. Ortenberg, Die Bosiandtheile des hir.h. Sach., 1859; W. 
 Neuman, Weissag. des Sachar., 1859 ; Th. Kliefbth, Der Proph. Sachar., 1862. 
 
 In works on the Minor Prophets: Rosenniuller, 1826 ; Henderson, 1830; F. W. C. Um- 
 breit, 1845; J. Sehlier, 1861; Hitzig, 1863; C. F. Keil, 1866; Prof. Cowles, N. Y., 1866; 
 C. Wordsworth, 18 70. 
 
 In works on the Post-exile Prophets: T. V. Moore, N. Y., 1856; A. Kbhler, 1860-65: 
 W. Tri'ssel. 18 70. 
 
 In Iiitn.diR'tions : De Wette, Hfivernick. Bleek, Stahelin, Donaldson. 
 
 In <nli.-v writings : J. C. K. Hotl'man, Weissagung and ErfiUL, 1841 ; Schrifibeweis, 1867 
 Reinkr,. J>ie Me.'.-s. Wev^sagungen, Giessen, 1859-1862. 
 
THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 UTTERANCES FOR THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 Chapters I.- VIII. 
 
 I. THE INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Chapter L 1-6. 
 
 A. A Call to Repentance (vers. 1-3). B. Enforced by an Appeal to the Experienc* of 
 
 their Fathers (vers. 4-6). 
 
 1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah 
 unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 
 
 2 Jehovah hath been sore displeased with your fathers.^ 
 
 3 Therefore say thou '^ unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 Return ye unto me, saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 And I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of Hosts. 
 
 4 Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried, saying, 
 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 Turn, I beseech you, from your evil ways and from your evil doings ; ' 
 But they hearkened not, and paid no attention to me, 
 Saith Jehovah. 
 
 5 Your fathers, where are they ? 
 
 And the prophets, can they live forever ? 
 
 6 Nevertheless,^ my words and my statutes,* 
 "Which I commanded my servants the prophets, — 
 
 Did they not overtake ® your fathers, so that they turned and said, 
 Like as Jehovah of Hosts purposed to do unto us. 
 According to our ways and according to our doings. 
 So hath He dealt with us. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 2. — The collocation of the verb and its cognate noun renders this verse very emphatic. Literally, Angry ml 
 Jehovah at your lathers with anger. 
 
 2 Ver. 3. — The vav couv. with the Perfect, indicating a necessary consequence from what precedes, is rendered In 
 
 the imperative. — CH -S does not refer to the nearest antecedent " fethers," but to the prophet's contemporaries, im- 
 plied in the pronoun "your.'' 
 
 8 Ver. 4. — The Kethib Qp'^j''^ yl7^ is to be retained, both because the preposition is wanting in the Kbil, and also 
 because the latter seems to have originated in the offense taken at the masculine ending in the plural of a noun feminine 
 In the singular, although similar cases are not rare (Green, Heb. G-ram., § 200 b). 
 
 i Ver. 6. — TfS. This word is very inadequately rendered in the E. V., by the simple adversative but 
 
 J Ver. 6. — "*prT. Por ^ precisely similar use of this word, see Zeph. ii. and Job xxiii. 14. 
 
 « Ver. 6. — J^^'lETT. The marginal rendering of E. V., overtake, is to be preferred to the text, take hold. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 The main design of Zechariah's prophetic ac- 
 tivity was to administer consolation and encour- 
 agement to the people of God still in a condition 
 ■sf weakness and suffering. This plainly appears 
 
 from the general tenor of the night-vialons, from 
 the promised change of fasts into festivals, and 
 from the glowing pictures of future blessednesa 
 and honor which occur in the latter portion of his 
 book. Yet it was necessary to prevent these con- 
 solations from being usurped by anj to whom they 
 
22 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 did not belong, and to show that repentance and 
 holy living were indispensable conditions of the 
 attainment of any of these blessings. This thought 
 is again and again expressed in the course of the 
 prophetic revelations (iii. 7, vi. 15, vii. 7-10, viii. 
 16, 17, X. 1, 2, xi. 10, xiv. 20), but it is made es- 
 pecially prominent in these opening verses, which 
 seem to be a kind of introduction both to the 
 prophet's labors in general, and also to the present 
 collection of his utterances. In them Zechariah 
 sounds the key-note of all spiritual religion, a re- 
 turn to God, and urges its importance by the men- 
 tion of their fathers' sins and their fathers' punish- 
 ments. 
 
 Ver. 1. In the eighth month, etc. The first 
 note of time does not mean, "In the eighth new 
 moon" (C. B. Michaelis, Kohler), because chodesh 
 is never used in this sense in chronological notices. 
 The general, introductory nature of this particular 
 address did not require that the precise day of the 
 month should be indicated. On other points in 
 this verse, see the Introduction. 
 
 Ver. 2. Jehovah hath been sore displeased, 
 etc. The mention of God's wrath is the ground 
 of the summons in the following verse. Because 
 God had been so angry with the fathers, the chil- 
 dren should now repent in all sincerity. The se- 
 verity of this wrath had been painfully shown in 
 the overthrow of Jerusalem, the destruction of the 
 Temple, and the bitter exile in Babylon (Ps. 
 cxxxvii.). The contradiction between this verse 
 and the statement in ver. 17, that Jehovah was 
 " but a little displeased," is only apparent, for the 
 latter refers to the duration of the wrath, while 
 the former expresses its intensity. 
 
 Ver. 3. Keturn ye ... I vsrQl return. The 
 exhortation and promise contained in this verse, 
 often repeated elsewhere (Mai. iii. 7, Jas. iv. 8), 
 are remarkably strengthened by the trine repetition 
 of " Saith Jehovah of Hosts." The occasion of 
 the summons is not to be sought in a temporary 
 abandonment of the work of rebuilding the Tem- 
 ple, for which there is no historical ground, but in 
 the spiritual condition of the people. It reminded 
 them that the mere outward work was not enough, 
 but there was need of a thorough conversion, a 
 genuine heartfelt return from their former works 
 and ways to the service and enjoyment of God. 
 
 Ver. 4. Be not as your fathers. Since nat- 
 urally parents are apt to transmit their own char- 
 acter and course to their children, the prophet 
 here lepeats his injunction in a negative form, bid- 
 ding his countrymen carefully to shun the exam- 
 ple of their predecessors, who had utterly scorned 
 the Lord's remonstrances. The former prophets 
 are those before the exile, and Zechariah inten- 
 tionally overlooks Daniel, because he officiated at 
 a heathen court and not in the midst of his peo- 
 ple, and his prophecies treated not so much of the 
 inward duties of Israel as of its outAvard fortunes 
 amid the mighty revolutions of the heathen world. 
 .For a full summation of the course of the former 
 prophets as here set forth, see 2 Kings xvii. 13-23. 
 The ways and works of the earlier generation are 
 called evil, in the first instance, because they were 
 morally corrupt, but also because they were fol- 
 lowed by sore consequences (Kohler). 
 
 Ver. 5. Yoir fathers, where are they? The 
 concluding verses of the section sustain the warn- 
 'ng not to imitate the fathers, by pointing out the 
 fate which overtook them in consequence of their 
 disobedience. The general sense is plain, and ac- 
 knowledged by all interpreters, but the precise 
 force of the questions in ver. 5 is variously stated. 
 
 Both, of course, imply a negative answer, but in 
 what sense is the decease of the prophets men 
 tioned ? Some (Jerome, Cyril', referring to Jere 
 miah xxxvii. 10, suppose that false prophets are 
 intended ; but the persons spoken of here must be 
 the same as those mentioned in the preceding 
 verse, who are manifestly true servants of God. 
 Others make the second question a rejoinder of 
 the people to the first (Rasehi, Burger, etc.), whict 
 seems forced. Others say that a contrast is pre 
 sented between the fleeting, dying prophets, anc 
 the ever-living word of Jehovah (Calvin, Grotius, 
 Hitzig, etc.), as if the meaning were, I allow that 
 both your fothers and my prophets are dead ; but 
 ray words, are they dead ? but the latter part of 
 this contrast is not found in the text, but supplier 
 by the interpreters. Another class conceive that 
 the point of the second question is to remind Z< ch- 
 ariali's contemporaries that the voice of pro])i.eey 
 would soon cease, and therefore they should heed 
 it while they had the opportunity (Abarb., Ewald), 
 wliich is a very natural sense of the words if they 
 stood alone ; but it is contradicted by verse 6, 
 which shows that the reference is not to the exist- 
 ing, but to the former prophets. The true view is 
 the one given by Kohler and others, that the for- 
 mer of the two verses contains a concession which 
 is limited and corrected by the latter. Thus: Your 
 fathers are long since dead, and it may seem as 
 though they had thus escaped the threatenings 
 pronounced against them ; the prophets, too, have 
 gone the way of all flesh, and apparently their 
 words died with them ; nevertheless your fathers 
 did not die until the threatenings of the short- 
 lived prophets had overtaken them, nor until they 
 themselves had acknowledged that fact. This view 
 is sustained by the strong disjunctive conjunction 
 at the commencement of verse 6. The phrase, 
 " take hold," in E. V., fails to give the force of 
 the Hebrew verb. The prophet conceives cf God's 
 purposes of wrath as commissioned messengers 
 which followed the Israelites and overtook them 
 (cf Deut. xxviii. 1.5, 4.5). Mournful acknowledg- 
 ments of this fact are to be found in Lamenta- 
 tions ii. 17, in Daniel's penitential prayer (ix. 4 
 tf. ), anu in Ezra's humbling confession (ix. 6, 7). 
 There may be long delay, and consequently a 
 growing hope of escape, but sooner or later every 
 transgressor makes the affecting acknowledgment 
 of the Psalmist (xl. 13), " mine iniquities have 
 overtaken me." 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The opening words of Zechariah state a truth 
 of great importance, — and none the less so be- 
 cause in every age a persistent attempt has been 
 made to deny or to evade it — that God has wrath. 
 The blinding influence of their own depravity ren- 
 ders men insensible to the evil of sin, and they 
 easily come to transfer their own views to their 
 Maker — " thou thoughtest that I was altogether 
 sueii an one as thyself" (Ps. 1. 21). Hence thev 
 attribute to Him an easy good natnre which read- 
 ily condones moral offenses and is quite too gentle 
 to give effect to the forebodings of a guilty coii- 
 science. To set forth his justice, and assert his 
 prerogative as governor of the world, is regarded 
 as an unwarrantable disturbance of men's peace 
 and an impeachment of the amiableness of the di- 
 vine character. This device is as old as the Apos- 
 tles, and Paul exposes it with his usual vehemence, 
 " Let no man deceive you with va^'n words, for be- 
 
CUAPTEU 1. 1-6. 
 
 23 
 
 cause of these things cometh the wrath of God 
 upon the children of disobedience " (Eph. v. 6). 
 God has wrath. Nature bears witness to the fact. 
 The earth does not everywhere smile with verdure 
 and beauty, but all over its surface shows blots 
 and scars which suggest the moral disorder of the 
 race. This fact has been set forth with equal elo- 
 quence and truth by Mr. Huskin. Speaking of 
 the revelations of God made on the face of crea- 
 tion, he says, " Wrath and threatening are invari- 
 ably mingled with love; and in the utmost soli- 
 tudes of nature, the existence of hell seems to me 
 as legibly declared by a thousand spiritual utter- 
 ances as of heaven. It is well for us to dwell with 
 thankfulness on the unfolding of the flower and 
 the falling of the dew, and the sleep of the green 
 fields in the sunshine ; but the blasted trunk, the 
 barren rock, the moaning of the bleak winds, the 
 roar of the black, perilous whirlpools of the moun- 
 tain streams, the solemn solitudes of moors and 
 seas, the continual fading of all beauty into dark- 
 ness and of all strength into dust, have these no 
 language for us 1 We may seek to escape their 
 teachings by reasonings touching the good which 
 is wrought out of all evil ; but it is vain sophistry. 
 The good succeeds to the evil as day succeeds the 
 night, but so also the evil to the good. Gerizim 
 and Ebal, birth and death, light and darkness, 
 heaven and hell, divide the existence of man and 
 his futurity." 
 
 2. The words in ver. 2 do not belong to the mes- 
 sage to the people, but were delivered only to the 
 Prophet ; and they disclose to us the internal pres- 
 sure under which he entered upon his office (Pres- 
 sel). A due sense of the power of God's wrath 
 lies at the basis of all true earnestness on the part 
 jf his Prophets. It is the " burning fire shut up 
 in the bones" (Jer. xx. 9) which imparts its own 
 pehemence to the message, and produces corre- 
 sponding conviction in them that hear. We ob- 
 serve it in the Prophet of all Prophets, the Saviour 
 Himself. His groaning in spirit at the grave of 
 Lazarus, his tears at the sight of Jerusalem, show 
 how deeply he felt the terribleness of God's anger. 
 Bunyan's Gi'ace Abounding alFords a remarkable 
 testimony from his own experience. " Now this 
 part of my work I fulfilled with great earnestness, 
 for the terrors of the law and guilt for my trans- 
 gressions lay heavy on my conscience ; I preached 
 what I felt, what I smartingly did feel, even that 
 under which my poor soul did groan and tremble 
 to astonishment. Indeed, I have been as one sent 
 to them from the dead ; I went myself in chains, 
 to preach to them in chains ; and carried that fire 
 in my own conscience that I persuaded them to be 
 aware of." 
 
 3. The Lord's first message to the people by the 
 mouth of Zechariah contains the fundamental prin- 
 ciple of all his communications to fallen men, alike 
 in the Old Testament and in the New. There is 
 a command and a promise, each comprehending 
 in itself all others of the same class. Men are 
 
 summoned to turn back to God, and then He en^ 
 gages to return to them. Alienation from God 
 is the primary sin. Men turn away from theii 
 Maker, hide from Him like Adam, or wander off 
 like the prodigal, and of course are dissatisfied 
 and wretched. Having left the fountain of living 
 waters, they find the cisterns they hew out for 
 themselves to lie broken cisterns which can holr 
 no water. No matter how often the experiment is 
 repeated, it always fails. The only escape, the 
 first duty, is to turn to the Lord. This duty 
 would he difficult, nay, it would be impossible, but 
 f(jr the gracious promise which accompanies it. 
 God is found of those who seek Him. This is a 
 truth of the older dispensation as well as of the 
 later. The father in our Saviour's parable who, 
 while yet the wayward son was a great way off, 
 discerned, and welcomed, and ran to meet his re- 
 turning steps, is only a vivid picture of him who 
 waited to be gracious all through the history of 
 his ancient people. Even in the early days of Job, 
 Eliphaz announced (xxii. 21 ) the cheering assur- 
 ance, " Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at 
 peace ; thereby good shaU come unto thee." 
 
 4. God's providence not only insures the ful- 
 fillment of his threatenings, but compels the ac- 
 knowledgment of that fulfillment from those who 
 suffer it. In the case of the Jews this recognition 
 was frequently uttered, as mentioned before. (See 
 Exeget. and Grit., ad Jinem.) 
 
 HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 T. V. Moore : It is a sign of a sickly piety 
 when men are willing to hear nothing of the wrath 
 of God against sin. If men expect God to return 
 to them in prosperity, they must return to Him in 
 penitence. The flower averted from the sun must 
 turn toward it, to catch its genial smile. 
 
 Presskl : No mercy without return, and no re- 
 turn without mercy. He who will not hear, shall 
 feel. Haste (eile) that you may not be overtaken 
 (ereilt). 1. Haste, for your day of grace is short, 
 and even the messengers of grace are passing 
 away. 2. If once you are overtaken, your eyes 
 will open too late, and only with trembling lips 
 can you give honor to the Lord. 
 
 Wordsworth : Zechariah comes forth like 
 John the Baptist, and begins his preaching with a 
 call to repentance, and warns the people by the 
 history of their fathers, that no spiritual privileges 
 will profit them without holiness, but rather will 
 aggravate their guilt and increase their condemna- 
 tion if they disobey God. 
 
 Calvin : We learn here that the examples set 
 up as a shield for wrong-doing are so far from be- 
 ing of any weight before God that they enhance 
 our guilt. Yet this folly infatuates many, for the 
 Papists claim their religion to be holy and irrepre- 
 hensible, because it has been handed down by tbeif 
 fathers. 
 
24 ZECHARIi^h. 
 
 n. THE NIGHT VISIONS. 
 
 Chapter I. 7- VI. 15. 
 
 This division contains a series of visions all given at one time and therefore naturally sapposed to 
 be closely connected with each other and to exhibit an orderly progress of thought. The first vision 
 sets forth the evident need of a divine interference in behalf of the people, with a strong assurance 
 that it shall be vouchsafed. The second indicates one form of this interference in the fact that the 
 foes are driven away. The third promises great enlargement and absolute security. The fourth ex 
 hibits the forgiveness of sin which had been the cause of all the previous troubles and endangered the 
 recurrence of them. The fifth is a counterpart to the fourth by promising the positive communica- 
 tion of God's Spirit and grace which secure sanctification as well as justification. The sixth gnards 
 against a perversion of the two preceding visions as if they warranted security on the part of the im- 
 penitent, by exhibiting the fearful curse of God upon all sinners of whatever class. The seventh en- 
 forces the same point still further by representing that a longer and yet more dreadful deportation 
 than that to Babylon awaited the unfaithful members of the theocracy. Finally, the eighth completes 
 the entire series of visions in an artistic manner by returning to the point whence they set out, and 
 repeating much the same imagery. It shows the accomplishment of all which the first image prom- 
 ised. From the purified and divinely protected theocracy, symbolized by mountains of brass, there 
 go forth executioners of judgment who do not stay their hands until God's Spirit is completely satis- 
 fied. But there is another future in reserve for the distant heathen, besides that of judgment. They 
 are to be converted from enemies into friends, and in the days of the Branch shall come from far, and 
 freely contribute to build up and glorify the Lord's holy kingdom. This cheering thought is exhib- 
 ited in the shape of a symbolical action, appended to the visions and appropriately closing and crown< 
 ing their hallowed disclosures. 
 
 VISION L THE MAN AMONG THE MYRTLES. 
 
 Chapter I. 7-17. 
 
 A. A symbolical Representation of the tranquil Condition of the Heathen World ana 
 consequent Need of Divine Interference (vers. 7-11). B. Intercession for Suffer- 
 ing and Desolate Judcea (vers. 12, 13). C. Assurances of Relief and Restoration 
 (vers. 14-17). 
 
 7 On the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month which is the month Sebat/ 
 in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah to Zechariah, the son of 
 
 8 Iddo the prophet, saying: I saw that^ night, and behold a man riding upon «• 
 red horse, and he stood among the myrtles ^ that were in the valley, and behina 
 
 9 him were red, bay and white horses. And I said, what are these, my lord ? And 
 
 10 the angel that talked with * me said to me, I will show thee what they are. And 
 the man who stood among the myrtles answered,^ and said. These are they whom 
 
 11 Jehovah has sent to walk through the earth. And they answered the angel of 
 Jehovah who stood among the myrtles, and said. We have gone through the earth, 
 
 12 and behold, all the earth sits stUl^ and is at rest. Then the angel of the Lord 
 answered and said, Jehovah of Hosts ! how long wilt thou not pity Jerusalem and 
 the cities of Judah, against which thou hast been angry these '' seventy years ? 
 
 13 And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me, good words, comforting 
 
 14 words. And the angel that talked * with me, said to me. Cry, saying : 
 
 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 I am jealous ^'^ for Jerusalem and for Zion with great jealousy, 
 
 15 And I burn with great anger against the nations at ease. 
 
 For I was angry for a little, but they helped forward the affiction. 
 
 16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah, 
 
 I have returned to Jerusalem in mercv.^^ 
 
 My house shall be built in her, saith Jehovah ot Hosts, 
 
 And a measuring line ^' shall be stretched over Jerusalem. 
 
 17 Cry also." saying, Thu.^' saith Jehovah of Hosts. 
 
CHAPTEH I. 7-17. 25 
 
 My cities shall yet overflow ^^ with prosperity, 
 And Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, 
 And shall yet choose Jerusalem. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 i Ter. 7. - - tD3C7, the month which extended from the new moon of February to the next new mtioii. The naiM 
 ■ Ohalde«, but of uncertain etymology. 
 
 2 Ver 8. — n ^^ vH is not accusative of duration = by night, for which there is no other example, but the or that 
 nljht, namely, that of the day mentioned in the preceding verse. 
 
 3 Ver. 8. — Thf myrtles. Kwald, following the LXX., supposes the true reading of D'^D"Tn to be □'^Ttn, as in 
 Ti 1, and rsnders mntintains ; but there is no rpaison for departing from the Masoretic text, and the relation of the last 
 Tision to the fir.st is mie not of resemblance but contrast. 
 
 4 Ver. 9. — "^2 has been transluted in me, to me, through me, and with me. The last is more accordant with usagt 
 (Num. xii. 8) and the connection. 
 
 5 Ver. 10. — Henderson says that 71337 signifies to comrjience or proceed to speak, as well as to answer, and citef 
 airo/cpiVofiat in the New Testament as used in the same way. But his remark is true neither of the one nor the other. 
 The reference always is to a question preceding, either expressed or implied, or to the resumption of discovirse by th« 
 game .':pe:iker after an interval, as Is. xxi. 9. Of. Vitringa's remark quoted under iii. 4, infra. 
 
 6 Ver 11. — Sits still is a fir better rendering of il^li?"' than the bald and prosaic derived sense adopted by the 
 LXX. and the Vulgate, (caTOi/ceiTac, habitatur. 
 
 7 Ver. 12. — n3tt' 0^272117 nt might be rendered now seventy years (cf. vii. 3). A similar combination ol 
 noun and pronoun in the singular with numeral adjective in the plural, is not rare. See Dent. viii. 2-4 ; Josh. xiy. 
 10 ; Esther iv. 11. Nordlieimer (§ 890) explains it as referring to the abstract idea of time ; but it seems to me to b« 
 due rather to the conception of the various years as a single period or cycle, which like a collective noun wotild of courM 
 admit of a singular pronoun. 
 
 8 Ver. 13. — D''Sn3. The Keri omits the dagesh in Q, but some codd. in Eennicott have the form E"*Q^n3, 
 which grammatically is the more correct- It is not an adjective, but a noun in apposition. 
 
 9 Ver. 14. — This verse and the one before it exemplify one of the infelicities of the E. V., which renders the sam* 
 original word, in ver. 13 talked.^ and in ver. 14 communed. 
 
 10 Ver. 14. — "'ilSUp. The pret. means not merely, " 1 have become jealous," but " I have been and am." Qod'l 
 iealousy had already begun to manifest itself. 
 
 il Ver. 15. — Flirst, sub voce, with great plausibility, renders ^nT27 Intransitively, " they exerted their power " with 
 a view to destruction. 
 
 12 Ver. 16. — Q^^ni occurs only in the plural. To translate it so, therefore, as in A. V., while apparently mor« 
 dteral, is in reality less so. 
 
 18 Ver. 16. --The Kethib TTIp, to be read mp, is an old form, found elsewhere only in 1 King vii. 23 and J«r. 
 xxxi. 39, for which was substituted the contracted form Tp, 
 
 14 Ver. 17. — Tl27, also here seems to express the sense better than the customary yet. The Prophet was to cry 
 something more besides what he was told in ver. 14. 
 
 16 Ver. 17. — n3!i^Sn is smiply a variant orthography of nS^S^QH (Green R. G., § 158, 3). 
 
 I nary human consciousness which that does to the 
 BXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. condition of sleep. A man's usual state when un- 
 
 I der the control of the senses and able to see only 
 Ver. 7. The dale of this revelation is from three I what his own faculties discover, is one of spiritual 
 to four months after Zechariah's first prophecy ' sleep ; but an ecstatic condition, in which the 
 and exactly two months after Haggai's last, name- 1 senses and the entire lower life are quiescent, and 
 ly, on the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh only pictures of divine objects are reflected in the 
 month, Shebat, our February, of the year 519. | soul as in a pure and bright mirror, is one of spir- 
 The precise day of the month, here and in Hag- [ itual waking. The Prophet received his visions 
 gai ii. 10-20, seems to have been suggested by the j at niijht. because then his susceptibility for divine 
 fact that on just this day of the sixth month the | communications was most lively, in consequence 
 building of the Temple had been resumed (Hag. ] of the stillness, the suspension of worldly cares and 
 
 14, 15). The Lord thus indicated his pleasure 
 in the resumption of the work. The visions are 
 called the word of Jehovah, because they had 
 the significance and answered the purpose of oral 
 revelations. 
 
 Ver. 8. I saw that night. The disclosure was 
 made to the Prophet, not in a dream (Ewald, Hit- 
 lig), but in a vision. His senses were not locked 
 in sleep, but like Peter at Joppa (Acts x. 10, xi. 
 4) he was iv iKcrrdafi. Tliis trance-like condition, 
 fc'icording to iv. 1, bears the same relation to ordi- 
 
 the freedom from outward iniprussions. In the 
 space of one night the whole series of stately sym- 
 bolic scenes passed before his spiritual eye, for the 
 title in ver. 7 extends to the end of chap. vi. after 
 which a new title first occurs, and besides, the nar- 
 rative itself shows (ii. 1 ; iv. 1, etc.) ihat as soon 
 as one vision ended another began. Behold, a 
 man riding upon a red horse, etc. A man, i. e., 
 one in the shape or appearance of a man, for mani- 
 festly an angel and not a human being is intended 
 He is seated upon a red i orse, the meaning o( 
 
26 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 which is seen in the foct that red is the color of 
 blood. In Rev. vi. 4, it is a rider on a red horse 
 who receives a great sword and has power to take 
 peace from the earth and cause men to kill one an- 
 other. The color of the horse then is a symbol 
 of the purpose of its rider namely, wrath and 
 bloodshed. He stood amon.u; the myrtles that were 
 
 in r!; V'ip. The meaning of this word is much 
 contested. The Vulgate gives it in profunda, which 
 supposes that the text is only another form of 
 
 n^.^r^% which ordinarily means the depths of 
 
 the sea. Hengstenbcrg and Baumgarten adopt 
 this, and explain it as a symbolical designation of 
 the ai)yss-like power of the world, in which the 
 Church stands like a feeble, lowly shrub. Others 
 (Gesenius, Henderson), following the LXX., derive 
 
 the word from ^7^) in the sense of shade (so Dr. 
 Van Dyck in the New Arabic Version), but in this 
 case we should expect a diiFerent middle vowel, 
 and besides, as Pressel says, it would be a pleonasm 
 to speak of trees in a shady place. Others (Hit- 
 zig, Fiirst, Bunsen), following an Arabic analogy, 
 render it tent, by which they suppose heaven is 
 intended, but this is extremely artificial. There 
 seems no reason to depart from the Vulgate and 
 Targum, or to make it other than = deep place, 
 i. e., a low valley or bottom. It will then stand in 
 vivid contrast with the corresponding point in the 
 eighth vision, which is the complement of the first. 
 There, the chariots start from between two moun- 
 tains of brass = the theocracy under the mighty 
 protection of Jehovah ; here, the horsemen issue 
 from amid myrtles in an open bottom = the 
 Church in a condition of feebleness and exposure. 
 Behind the first rider are other horses of different 
 colors. They have riders (see ver. 11), but this 
 fact is allowed to be understood, because the em- 
 phasis is laid upon the color of the horses. They 
 are like their leader red (explained above), or 
 bay, or white. The last like the first is easily 
 understood from Scripture usage — white being 
 the reflection of heavenly glory (Matt. xvii. 2), 
 and therefore the symbol of victory (Rev. vi. 2), 
 
 But the second epithet is diificult. ~~lti7 is ren- 
 dered by the LXX. : \papo] Ka\ woiKi\oi, Vulg., varii, 
 Peshito versicolores, after whom Maurer, Umbreit, 
 Keil, etc., render it as in text of A. V., speckled. 
 But Gesenius and Fiirst derive it from an Arabic 
 root, signifying dark red, and Hengstenberg ren- 
 ders this brown, but Kohler haif or flame-colored. 
 The latter ;^ives the better sense. The colors do 
 not signify the three kingdoms against whom the 
 riders were sent (Cyril, Jerome, et al.), for all ap- 
 pear to go in company, nor the quarters of the 
 heavens (Maurer, Hitzig, et al.), for the fourth 
 quarter is wanting ; but the initure of the mission 
 which they had to perforin, namely, to take an ac- 
 tive part in the agitation of the nations, those upon 
 red horses by war and bloodshed, those upon bay 
 horses by burning and destroying, and those upon 
 white horses by victory over the world. 
 
 Ver. 9. The Projihet asks, 'What are these, 
 t. €., what do they signify 1 The question is ad- 
 dressed to one whom he calls my lord, but who is 
 this 1 Manifestly, the one who gives the answer, 
 the angelus interpres. It is no objection to this 
 that he has not been mentioned before, for in 
 prophecies, and especially in visions, from their 
 Qraniatic character, persons are frecpiently 'ntro- 
 duced in such a way that only from what *hey say 
 i»r do, can we les-rn who they are. 'J^his angelus 
 
 interpres, or collocutor, had for his sole function to 
 open the spiritual eyes and ears of the Prophel 
 and cause him to understand the meaning of the 
 
 visions. The preposition in the phrase ^2 ~'?"^n 
 is not to be understood, with Ewald, Keil, etc., ai 
 denoting the internal character of the communica- 
 tions made, for this would not distinguish him 
 from the other angels of the vision, but the phrase 
 is simply an official designation of the angel's 
 character. 
 
 Ver. 10. And the man who stood among, etc. 
 The rider on the red horse states the object of the 
 horsemen's mission. He is said to have answered, 
 because, although not referring to any definite 
 question, his words were a reply to the Prophet's 
 desire for an ex])lanation. 
 
 Ver. 11. The riders themselves state the result 
 of their mission. This is called an answer to the 
 Angel of the Lord, because it replies to a question 
 implied in the circumstances. It is given to the 
 Angel of the Lord. But is this a created or an 
 uncreated angel ■? The latter view is maintained 
 by McCaul, Lange, Hengstenberg:, Philippi, and 
 Kahnis, the former by Hoffman, Delitzsch, Kurtz, 
 Kohler, Pressel. That the angel of Jehovah is 
 distinguished from the other angels, and in many 
 places identified with Jehovah, is undeniable (Gen. 
 xvi. 7-10, xxxi. 11-13, xxxii. 25-31 comp. with 
 Hos. xii. 4 ; Ex. iii. 2-4 ; Judg. vi. 11-22 ; Zech. 
 iii. 1, 2). On the other hand, there are passages 
 where he seems to be discriminated from Jehovah 
 (Ex. xxiii. 20-22, xxxii. 34). The simplest way 
 of reconciling these two classes is to adopt the old 
 view that this angel is the Second person of the 
 Godhead, even at that early period apjiearing as 
 the revealer of the Father. The mingled clear- 
 ness and obscurity of the representation is quite 
 analogous to the same features in the delineation 
 of the Messiah in Pss. ii., xlv., Ixxii., ex., and in 
 various prophecies before and after David's time. 
 In this vision he appears first as a man upon a red 
 horse, then as the leader of the troop standing be- 
 hind him, and when these have made their report, 
 as the angel of Jehovah who presents the prayer 
 of the pious before God. The answer which he 
 receives from the troop is that all the earth sits 
 still and is at rest, — a phrase upon which Words- 
 worth comments as denoting proud and licentious 
 ease, because, as he says, the word for " at rest " 
 is shaandn. This is a strange mistake, for it is 
 
 another word, ntpPffi*, which rarely, if ever, has 
 
 any moral significance, and means merely quiet, 
 peaceful security, without reference to the way in 
 which that state has been attained or is employed. 
 Here the sense is that the nations at large were 
 dwelling in a calm, serene repose, undisturbed by 
 any foe. The reference seems to be to Haggai ii., 
 where the Lord promised that in a little while He 
 would shake the heavens and the earth and all na- 
 tions, and in consequence his house would be filled 
 with glory. The riders now report that having 
 gone through the earth they find it not at all 
 shaken but quiet and serene. This statement, 
 furnishing such a vivid contrast to the prostrate 
 and suffering condition of the people of God, gave 
 occasion to the intercession recounted in the next 
 verse. 
 
 Ver. 12. How long wilt thou not pity Jeru« 
 salem, etc. ? The language is that of interces- 
 sory expostulation. The reference to these sev- 
 enty years does not imply that that period pre- 
 dicted by Jeremiah (xxv. 12) was just drawing to 
 
CHAPTER II. 7-17. 
 
 27 
 
 a close, for it had already expired in the first year 
 of Cyrus (Ezra i. 1). But althoiijrh the people 
 had been restored, they were sstill in a sad state, — 
 the capital for the most part in ruins, its walls 
 broken down, its gates burnt (Neh. i. .3), the pop- 
 ulation small, the greater part of the land still 
 a waste, and the reljuilding of the Temple embar- 
 rassed with difficulties. It might well seem as if 
 the troubles of the exile would never end, and the 
 more so, since there was no sign of that violent 
 agitation of the heathen world which was to be 
 the ])rccursor of Israel's exaltation. The inter- 
 cession was effectvial. 
 
 Ver. 13. And Jehovah answered, etc. Here 
 the answer is given to another person than the 
 questioner. The best explanation is that of Ileng- 
 stenberg, that " the angel of the Lord had asked 
 the question not for his own sake, but simply in 
 order that consolation and hope might be com- 
 municated through the a»gdus interpres to the 
 Prophet, and through him to the nation at large." 
 Good words are words that promise good. Cf 
 Josh, xxiii. 14 (Heb.) ; Jer. xxi.x. 10. The con- 
 tents of these good and comforting words follow 
 in vers. 14-17, the first two of which assert Jeho- 
 vah's active affection for his people, and the latter 
 two, his purpose to manifest that love in the res- 
 toration and enlargement of Jerusalem. 
 
 Ver. 14. I am jealous, etc. ^.;I7) lit., to bum, 
 to glow, indicates a vehement emotion which may 
 have its motive in jealousy (Num. v. 14), or in 
 envy (Gen. xxvi. 14), or in hatred (Gen. xxxvii. 
 11), or in love (Num. xxv. 11). The last ex- 
 
 Eresses its force here, which is greatly strengthened 
 y the addition of the cognate noun. Jehovah is 
 inspired with a burning zeal for Jerusalem and 
 for Zion, the holy hill which He has chosen for 
 his habitation. He had already displayed this in 
 part, and would soon develop it to the full. 
 
 Ver. 1.5. Toward the heathen, on the contrary, Je- 
 hovah burned with great anger. This was partly 
 because they were " at ease," i. e., not merely 
 tranquil, but in a state of carnal security, proudly 
 confident in their power and prosperity, but mainly 
 because, while He had been angry for a little, (". e., 
 time (cf Job x. 20), they, on the contrary, had 
 helped forward the aflaiction, lit., had helped 
 for evil, ;. e., so that evil was the result. The Lord 
 contemplated a moderate, limited chastisement in 
 love, with a view to the purification and restora- 
 tion of his people. The heathen, on the contrary, 
 rioted in the sufferings of helpless Israel, and would 
 willingly prolong them. 
 
 Ver. 16. I have returned .... Jerusalem. 
 The emphatic therefore indicates the consequence 
 of God's love for Jerusalem. He has actuallv re- 
 turned with purposes of mercy, and these shall be 
 fully executed. All hindrances shall be removed, 
 the Temple completed, and instead of scattered 
 houses here and there, the whole city shall pass 
 under the surveyor's measuring line. But the 
 blessing is not to be confined to the capital, as ap- 
 pears from what follows. 
 
 Ver. 17. Cry also, i. e., in addition to the fore- 
 going. The other cities of Judah shall overflow 
 with prosperity, lit., be scattered, yet not by an 
 invading foe, but by the inward pressure of abun- 
 dant growth requiring them to diffuse themselves 
 over a larger surface (cf ii. 4, viii. 4, ix. 17, x. 7). 
 This overfiow of blessing will assure the covenant 
 people that Jehovah is still comforting Zion, and 
 has by no means renounced the purpose in pursu- 
 ance of which he had oritiinally chosen Jerusalem. 
 
 The same cheering reference to God's electing lova 
 is found in ch. ii. 12 and iii. 2. 
 
 The object of this first vision was to satisfy thti 
 dispirited colony that although there was no pres- 
 ent appearance of an approaching fulfillment of 
 promised blessings, yet theNe blessings were sure. 
 Jehovah had appointed the instruments of hii 
 righteous judgments, and by these would accom- 
 plish his purposes upon the ungcdly nations, and 
 thus secure the salvation of Zion. The fulfillment 
 then is easily pointed out. The completion of the 
 Temple, the restoration of the city under Ezra and 
 Nehemiah, the increase of the population, all de- 
 clared Jehovah's fidelity to his engagements. But 
 this was only the beginning. Zechariah, like his 
 predecessors in office, looks down the whole vista 
 of the future, and utters germinant ()redictions, as 
 Bacon calls them, which do not exhaust them- 
 selves in any one period, but wrap up in pregnant 
 sentences long cycles of historical development 
 The first vision presents the general theme of the 
 whole series, each of which stands closely related 
 to the others, so that there is an evident advance 
 from the beginning to the end, as will appear in 
 the course of the exposition. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1 . How near are the seen and unseen worlds ! 
 Nor are they without sympathy with each other. 
 We have a craving for the knowledge of creatures 
 higher than ourselves, and yet fellow servants with 
 us of the same Creator. All the various forms of 
 Polytheism show this natural longing of the race, 
 but the Scripture satisfies it by revealing to us the 
 existence, character, and function of the holy an- 
 gels. This revelation is not made merely to grat- 
 ify a curiosity, however intelligent and reasonable, 
 but to furnish important aid in the conduct of life. 
 It pleases God to employ the agency of these su- 
 pernatural beings in establishing his kingdom in 
 the world. "Are they not all ministering spirits 
 sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs 
 of salvation ? " (Heb. i. 14.) In the book of Gen- 
 esis, after the call of Abraham, we observe frequent 
 instances of this blessed ministry, guiding, protect- 
 ing, and upholding the patriarchs (xviii., xix., 
 xxiv., xxvii., xxxii.). Again, in the time of the 
 Judges similar manifestations were made to Gideon 
 and to Manoah. But at and after the Captivity, 
 their interposition not only resumes its former fre- 
 quency, but is manifested on a wider scale. To 
 Daniel and Zechariah the angels are revealed, not 
 only as watching over the covenant people, but as 
 executing the counsels of Jehovah toward the hea- 
 then world. There does not seem to be the least 
 necessity for attributing this circumstance to the 
 influence of Chaldaean or Persian modes of thought 
 upon the minds of these prophets. They follow 
 in the line of the earlier traditions of the chosen 
 peo])le, with only that degree of variation and ex- 
 pansion which is natural under the altered circum- 
 stances of the case. It was a comforting thought 
 to a feeble colony overshadowed by a colossal em- 
 pire to be reminded of superhuman helpers whose 
 mighty interposition was ever at hand. Of course 
 even these celestial beings could prove efficient 
 only by the power of God, but their intermediate 
 agency rendered that power more directly conceiv- 
 able. In the New Testament there is not the 
 same prominence given to these " sons of God ' 
 (Job xxxviii. 7), but enough is stated of their min- 
 istrations at the Incarnation, in the wilderness, thf 
 
1^8 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 garden, and the sepulchre, and of their sympathy 
 with the joys and sorrows of God's people, to 
 make us leel that the shining stairway which rose 
 over Jacob's head to the clouds (Gen. xxviii. 12) 
 still exists, and is traversed by the same holy be- 
 ings. It is still true, as Spenser said, — 
 
 •' They for us fight, they watcli and duly ward, 
 
 And their bright squadrons round about us plant. 
 And all for love and nothing for reward ; 
 Oh ! why should heavenly God to man have such regard ? " 
 
 2. The extraordinary position assigned to the 
 angel of Jehovah in this vision and also in the 
 one recorded in the third chapter, continues and 
 completes the long chain of ancient testiTnonies 
 beginning in Genesis, to the existence of self-dis- 
 tinctions in the Godhead. (See the summary of 
 the argument in Lange's Genesis, p. 386, or Keil 
 On Pent., i. 184, and Hengstenberg's Christology, i. 
 107 ff., iv. 285.) The view that this exalted per- 
 sonage was only a created angel through whom 
 God issues and executes his commands, and who 
 speaks and acts in God's name, was favored by 
 Origen, defended by Augustine, adopted by Jerome 
 and Gregory the Great, and has been maintained 
 in our own day by some eminent critics ; but it 
 cannot displace what has been the almost universal 
 doctrine of the early Church and of the great body 
 of believers in all ages, namely, that this angel was 
 the Old Testament form of the Logos of John, a 
 being connected with the supreme God by unity 
 of nature, but personally distinct from Him. The 
 most frequent and plausible objection to the old 
 view afiBrms that it unreasonably transfers the rev- 
 elations of the later dispensation to the older, and 
 introduces notions entirely foreign to Hebrew hab- 
 its of thought. But the contrary is the case. The 
 Old Testament records one stage in the progressive 
 development of religious truth, and the New Tes- 
 tament another, and both correspond in the most 
 striking manner to each other. Indeed, they present 
 what is not found, is not claimed in any other 
 book in the world, — a complete system of typical 
 and antit}T)ical institutions, events, and persons. 
 This feature has been sometimes pressed to an ex- 
 travagant extent, and applied where it has no real 
 bearing. But its general correctness is admitted by 
 all sober interpreters. This being so, if the tri- 
 unity of the divine nature is plainly set forth in 
 the New Testament, especially if the great revealer 
 of the Father (John i. 18) is emphasized by evan- 
 gelists and apostles, is it not to be expected that a 
 foreshadowing of so important a truth will be 
 found in the elder Scriptures ? Guided by such an 
 analogy, it was neither uncritical nor rash for the 
 Church to conclude that the being called the Angel 
 of Jehovah, the Angel of his Presence, the Angel 
 of the Covenant, in whom Jehovah puts his name, 
 who is identified with Jehovah, who performs the 
 peculiar works of Jehovah, and yet is in some 
 sense distinct from Him, is the same divine person 
 who is represented in the New Testament as the 
 brightness of the Father's glory and the express 
 type of his essence, the image of the invisible God ; 
 in whose face the glory of God shines, and in whom 
 dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 
 
 3. The intercession ascribed to our Lord in the 
 Christian Scriptures was not only typified by a re- 
 markable function of the high-priest on the great 
 day of atonement, but was actually performed by 
 the second person of the Godlicnd long before his 
 incarnation. He was "the lain)) slain before the 
 foundation of the world," and the merits of his 
 priceless otiJiation could as well be availed of an- 
 
 tecedently as subsequently, and they were. In ah 
 the affliction of his people, he was afflicted, and hii 
 potential voice was habitually uttered for their re 
 lief. The returned exiles, who were laying again 
 the groundwork of Judah's prosperity, were dis- 
 couraged, not only by their scanty numbers and 
 impoverished resources, but by the consciousnesa 
 of their own and their lathers' sins. What claim 
 had such as they upon the Holy One of Israel ? 
 The prophet draws aside the veil and discloses an 
 Intercessor who had nothing to hinder Him from 
 immediate access to the Most High, and the surest 
 prospect of success. How long, Lord, was the 
 anxious refrain of many a distressed believer in 
 former years ; and ages afterward John heard the 
 same importunate cry from the souls under the 
 altar (Rev. vi. 10). Many a time since, solitary 
 sufferers, unable to penetrate the dark mysteries 
 of Providence, waiting and watching for relief 
 from sore burdens, have had the same exclamation 
 wrung from their lips. What with them is a burst 
 of impatience or the utterance of exhausted na 
 ture, on the lips of the uncreated angel is the calm 
 reminder of Jehovah's gracious promise and eter- 
 nal purpose. And his intercession being always 
 " according to the will of God," is therefore always 
 successful. " Good words, comforting words," 
 soothe and cheer the tried believer, until those 
 words are translated into deeds, and the weary 
 length of the night is forgotten in the brightness 
 of the dawn. 
 
 4. Forbearance is not forgiveness. To the out- 
 ward observer in Zechariah's day it looked as if 
 prosperity was all on the side of the heathen 
 world. Quiet reigned in all quarters, and divine 
 justice seemed asleep. But it was only the calm 
 before the storm. God is eternal, and therefore 
 never in haste, and never slack as men count slack- 
 ness. He can afford to wait. Kings and rulers 
 take counsel together against Him and his Anoint- 
 ed ; with malice and rage they help forward the 
 affliction of Zion ; but He that sitteth in the heav- 
 ens laughs (Ps. ii. 4). "Who thought," said Lu- 
 ther, " when Christ suflfered and the Jews tri- 
 umphed, that God was laughing all the timeV 
 Since He knows that his enemies cannot escape 
 He suffers them to proceed long with impunity. 
 Often He uses them as instruments to chastise his 
 own people, but when the chastisement has been 
 inflicted. He breaks the rod and casts it into the 
 fire. The quiet of the old Persian world was soon 
 broken by a succession of strokes which scattered 
 and destroyed all the persecutors of the Church. 
 But Zion lived and grew and extended, until she 
 became the most potent factor in all human society ; 
 and to-day is lengthening her cords and strength 
 ening her stakes to fill the whole earth. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Pressel : The Church militant does not stand 
 alone ; there is always at its side the Church tri- 
 umphant. (1.) It often appears to us as if it stood 
 alone, and then we are misled either to despond- 
 ency, as if our labor and hope were vain, or to 
 self-confidence, as if the result depended upon oui 
 running or willing. (2.) But no, the Church trt 
 umphant stands at its side and watches while wt 
 sleep ; and He who is its Head and ours, brings 
 our prayers before the Father. 
 
 Moore : The hour of darkest «esolation te th« 
 Church, and of haughtiest triumph to her enenniee, 
 is often the very hour when God begins his work 
 
CHAPTER 1. 18-21. 
 
 29 
 
 of judgment on the one, and returning mercy on 
 she other. 
 
 Calvin : When the servant of Elisha saw not 
 the chariots in the air, he became almost lost in 
 despair; but liis despair was instantly removed 
 when he saw so many angels ready at hand for 
 
 help (2 Kings vi. 17) ; so whenever God declares 
 that angels are ministers for our safety, He means 
 to animate our faith. At the same time He does 
 not send us to angels, but this one thing is enough, 
 that when God is propitious all the angels have a 
 care for our salvation'. 
 
 VISION n. THE FOUR HORNS AND FOUR SMITHS. 
 Chapter L 18-21. 
 
 A. Four Horns which scattered the People of God (vers. 18, 19). 
 which cast down these Horns (vers. 20, 21). 
 
 B. Four Sniithi 
 
 18-19 And I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns. And I said to the 
 angel that talked with me, What are these ? And he said to me. These are the 
 
 20 horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. And Jehovah showed 
 
 21 me four smiths. And I said, What oome these to do ? And he said thus,^ These 
 are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that ^ no man lifted up his head, but 
 these are come to terrify them, to cast out ^ the horns of the nations which lifted 
 up the horn against the land of Judah to scatter it. 
 
 TiJk fVkL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 21. — rTlS^pn n yH is not an aWt'lr'^ nominative whicli would require a different construction, bat to 
 be rendered just as the same phrase is in ver 19 
 i Ver. 21. — ^23, supply "1tt7N = 80 that. This is ;-. rare use of the form, but it is allowed by nearly all critics. 
 
 8 Ver. 21 ni"^**. Prof. Cowles says that this word has the sense cast doum to the ground, but none of the is 
 
 ■tenoes of its use (Jer. 1. 14 ; Lam lii. 53, etc.) will bear a stronger sense than cast or cast out. 
 
 KXEQETIGAL MUD 'JKITIOAL. 
 
 This vision carnes forward the assurance given 
 tn the one before it, by showing the provision made 
 for repelling the foes of the covenant people. 
 
 Ver. 1 . I lifted up my eyes. After seeing the 
 first vision, the Prophet had sunk down in medi- 
 tation. Again he raises his eyes, and behold, four 
 horns. The horn is a common Scriptural symbol 
 of strength, and in the prophecies usually repre- 
 sents a kingdom or political power. Do these 
 four horns refer to just so many kings or empires 
 which oppressed the covenant people? Not a few 
 expositors answer in the affirmative, but they differ 
 widely in the designation of these opposing powers. 
 Cyril names Pul, Salmaneser, Sennacherib, and 
 Nebuchadnezzar ; Grotius, the Persian Kings, Al- 
 exander, Antiochus, and Ptolemy; Pressel, As- 
 syria, Chaldsea, Egypt, and Persia ; but the greater 
 number refer to the four- great empires predicted 
 by Daniel, so Jerome, Kimchi, Hengstenberg, Keil, 
 Baumgarten, Wordsworth. It is not a sufScient 
 objection to this last view, to say with Henderson 
 and Kohler, that of these powers two were not 
 in existence at this time, and cannot have been 
 ipoken of, because the hostility described in the 
 vision had already taken place; for the vision 
 might very well have included the future as well 
 as the past. A m >re serious objection is that each 
 of these destroyed its predecessor, whereas in the 
 vision the smiths are represented as distinct from 
 the horns. And besides, neither the Persian nor 
 
 Alexander were enemies of the Jews. It is better, 
 therefore, with the majority of interpreters (Theod- 
 oret, Calvin, Umbreit, Hitzig, Maurer, Kohler), to 
 refer the number four to the cardinal points of 
 the compass, and thus make it include all possible 
 enemies. As a matter of fact the people of God 
 had enemies on all sides, the Assyrian, Chaldean, 
 and Samaritan on the north, the Egyptian on the 
 south, Philistines on the west, and Moabites and 
 Ammonites on the east. These foes scattered 
 Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem, i. e., the twelve 
 tribes in their completeness, with special mention 
 for the sake of emphasis, of the capital city. The 
 
 objection to this founded upon the lack of HM be. 
 fore the last substantive (Keil) is of no force, ai 
 that sign of the definite object may be inserted or 
 omitted at pleasure, Dent. xii. 6 (Green H. G., 
 §270 b). 
 
 Ver. 20. The Prophet saw four smiths. The 
 
 LXX. render D'^tt^^n, TSKToves, whence our E. 
 v., " carpenters." The Vulgate gives fabri, which 
 corresponds exactly to the Hebrew, but in view of 
 the work assigned to these persons, most exposi- 
 tors render the term smiths. No man Lifted up 
 his head = all were in an utterly pro^5u*te con- 
 dition. To scatter it = its inhabitants. The 
 four smiths simply express the various powers 
 which God raises up and employs to overthrow 
 the agencies which are hostile to his people. There 
 is no indication in the passage itself what these 
 powers are, and there seems to be no need to seek 
 information elsewhere. The point of the entire 
 
so 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 vision lies in the coincidence of the numbers of the 
 horns and the smiths. For every horn there was 
 a smith to beat it down. The Church then could 
 rest calmly in the assurance that every hostile 
 power that rose in opposition should be judged 
 and destroyed by the Lord. The primary refer- 
 ence was of course to the work of the Jews in re- 
 storinii' the city and completing the Temple, but 
 this did not exhaust the meaning of this very sim- 
 ple but significant symbol. It had as wide a sweep 
 as the corresponding verbal statement of Isaiah 
 (liv. 17), "No weapon that is formed against thee 
 shall prosper." Zion's God controls all persons 
 and powers and events ; and through the long 
 tract of the Church's history it will be seen that 
 for every evil there is a remedy, and for every en- 
 emy a deliverer. The horn will arise and do its 
 work, but the smith will also appear and do his 
 work. 
 
 It is worthy of observation that what the angel 
 in ver. 19 calls "Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem," 
 he calls in ver. 21 simply "Judah." So that here 
 is a clear and indubitable proof, in the first part 
 of the Book whose post-exile origin is unques- 
 tioned, that Israel is used, not to denote distinc- 
 tively the northern kingdom, but merely to round 
 out the view of what was left of the entire cove- 
 nant people after the restoration. This bears 
 upon the similar use of " Israel " and " Ephraim" 
 in the second part of these prophecies. 
 
 DOCTEINAL AND ETHICAL. 
 
 1 . The Church of God on earth exists in the 
 midst of conflict. There always have appeared 
 horns which attempt to scatter it. A halcyon 
 period sometimes is found like that mentioned in 
 Acts ix. 31, " Then had the Churches [true text, 
 Church] rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee 
 and Samaria," but its normal state is that of a 
 struggle against numerous and mighty foes. The 
 Saviour came not to send peace on earth but a 
 sword. The carnal mind is enmity with God, 
 and the flashing of truth upon an unregenerate 
 conscience must needs provoke wrath. Hence the 
 bloody tracks which so often occur in the records 
 of the past. There has never been any consider- 
 able period since our Lord's ascension, in which 
 persecution of his followers has not existed in 
 some quarter of the earth. Even now it is found 
 in the remote east, in the Turkish Empire and in 
 the Baltic Provinces of Russia. True believers 
 are tossed on the horns of furious foes. Their 
 course lies through a storm to the haven, through 
 a battle to the crown. Let them not " count it 
 a strange thing " when even a fiery trial befalls 
 them. Such an experience belongs to the fixed 
 purpose of God. 
 
 2. Conflict does not mean defeat. The very 
 I Toice which announces the gorj horn, sets 
 
 forth the agency which is to crush it. The char 
 acter of this agency varies indefinitely. One horn 
 may be used to destroy another horn, or a totally 
 different instrument may be employed, but in either 
 case the result is the same. Such an equilibrium 
 between assault and defense is maintained that the 
 Church is indestructible. One heathen ruler per- 
 secuted, another protected and restored. So in 
 the conflicts of the early Church and of the Ref- 
 ormation, for every formidable horn there was 
 found an equally formidable smith. Thus, too, 
 in the organized attacks of Deism, Rationalism, 
 and Scientific Atheism, at first the air was filled 
 with the shouts of victory, but the rejoicing was 
 premature. In every instance, the head of the 
 Church raised up, sometimes in an unexpected 
 quarter, a workman who needed not to be ashamed, 
 who successfully vindicated the old truth and put 
 to flight the armies of the alien. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Jay : We see from this that the friends of Zion 
 are as numerous as her foes ; that her defense is 
 equal to her danger ; and that as the state of his 
 people requires it, the Lord will seasonably raise 
 up means and instruments for their succor and 
 deliverance. The assurance may be derived from 
 four principles : the love of God ; the power of 
 God ; the faithfulness of God ; the conduct of 
 God. In the first we see that He must be inclined 
 to appear for them as they are infinitely dear to 
 Him. In the second, we see that He is able to do 
 it. In the third, that He is engaged to do it, and 
 his promise cannot be broken. In the fourth, that 
 He always has done it. Scripture, history, and ex 
 perience being witness. 
 
 Then let the world forbear their rage, 
 The Church renounce her fear ; 
 
 Israel must live through every age, 
 And be the Almighty's care. 
 
 Calvin : The Prophet by asking the angel (ver. 
 19), sets before us the example of a truly teachable 
 disposition. Though the Lord does not immedi- 
 ately explain his messages, there is no reason for 
 us disdainfully to reject what is obscure as manj 
 do in our day, who complain that God's Word is 
 ambiguous and extremely difficult. The Prophet 
 although perplexed did not morosely turn away, 
 but asked the angel. And though the angels are 
 not nigh us or at least do not visibly appear, yet 
 God can by other means afford us help when it is 
 needed. He promises to give the Spirit of under- 
 standing and wisdom. If then, we do not neglect 
 the word and sacraments, and especially if we ask 
 for the guidance of the Spirit, there is nothing 
 obscure or intricate in the prophecies which H« 
 will not make known so far as is necessary 
 
CHAPTER II. 1-13. 31 
 
 VISION m. THE MAN WITH THE MEASURING LINE. 
 Chapter II. 
 
 A.. A Man with a Measuring Line, and its Meaning (vers. 1-5). B. Further Pronh 
 
 ises (vers. 6-13). 
 
 1 And I lifted up my eyes ^ and saw, and behold, a man, and in his hand a meas- 
 
 2 uring-line. And I said, Whither goest thou ? And he said to me. To measure 
 
 3 Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what its length. And behold the angel 
 
 4 that talked with me came forth and another angel went forth to meet him, And 
 said to him. Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall lie as open coun- 
 try "^ for the multitude of men and cattle in the midst of her. 
 
 5 And I will be to her, saith Jehovah, a wall of fire around, 
 And for glory will I be in the midst of her. 
 
 6 Ho ! ho ! flee out of the land of the north, saith Jehovah, 
 
 For as ^ the four winds of heaven have I scattered you, saith Jehovah. 
 
 7 Ho ! * Zion, save thyself, 
 
 Thou that dwellest with ^ the daughter of Babylon. 
 
 8 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 Ailer glory hath He sent me to the nations that plundered you, 
 For he that toucheth you toucheth the apple * of his '' eye. 
 
 9 For behold, I swing my hand over them. 
 
 And they shall become a spoil to their own servants, 
 And ye shall know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me. 
 
 10 Shout and rejoice, daughter of Zion, 
 
 For, behold, I come, and dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah, 
 
 11 And many nations shall join themselves* to Jehovah in that day. 
 And become a people to me, 
 
 And I will dwell in the midst of thee, 
 
 And thou shalt know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me to thee. 
 
 12 And Jehovah shall take Judah as his portion in the holy land. 
 And shall yet^ choose -Jerusalem. 
 
 13 Be still, all flesh, before Jehovah, 
 
 For He has risen up from his holy habitation. 
 
 TEXTOAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 1. — There is nothing in Hebrew to correspond to the " again " in the E. V. 
 
 2 Ver. 4. — iTTtnS, lit. = plains, here denotes open level ground, in contrast with walled and fortified cities. Set 
 ttie full expression in Ezek. xxxviii. 11. 
 
 8 Ver. 6. — The various reading 13 in "^^3, '^ sustained by a number of MSS. and the Vulgate, but is inferior to 
 the Textus Receptus. 
 
 4 Ver. 7. — This verse begins with the same inteijection, "'in, which occurs at the beginning of the preceding Ten* 
 »nd should be so rendered, and not confounded, as in the B. V., with the mere sign of the vocative. 
 
 8 Ver. 7 — 3tt?"", construed directly with the accusative, is found also in Ps. xxii. 4, 2 Sam. vi. 2. 
 
 T -' ' 
 
 6 Ver. 8. — n33. The prevailing opinion derives this from 2^3 or D^^, and makes it = entrance, or gate to the 
 qre, its centre-point. 
 
 7 Ver. 8. — The reading '^3"'^, though given in several MSS. and sustained by the Vulgate, appears to be due to • 
 lopyist's correction. 
 
 8 Ver. 11. — The reflexive sense of the Niphal in ^IvD is much more suitable and expressive than the simple pa>- 
 Mre. 
 
 9 Ver. 12. — "I'll?, in the same connection, in i. 17, is rendered in E. V. yet, while here it appears as again. It ll 
 tatter rendered yet in both places, the sense being not that Qod will make a new choice, but that He will demonstntf 
 Igain in actual experience his old choice. Ps. Ixxviii. 68, Ixxxvii. 2. 
 
82 
 
 ZECHAHIAH. 
 
 EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 As the second vision represented the destruction 
 of Israel's foes, the tliird makes an advance by 
 Bettinfj forth the enlargement and security of the 
 Covenant people. (a.) Vers. 1-.5 contain the 
 symbol ; (6.), vers. 6-13 the fuller explanation of 
 its raeanintr, namely, the despoilintr of the nations 
 (vers. 6-9), the indwelliiie: of Jehovah in Zion 
 (ver. 10), and the ingathering of many nations 
 (vers. 11-13). 
 
 ((/.) JliP Si/mbol and its General Sense (vers, 
 l-.i). Vers. 1, 2. And I lifted up my eyes. . . . 
 what its length. The jn-ophet sees a man with 
 a measuring-line in his hand advancing upon the 
 scene, and he asks whither he is going. The an- 
 swer is that he is about to measure the length 
 and breadth of Jerusalem. This man is not to be 
 ideiititied with the interpreting angel (Rosenmiil- 
 lei-, Maurer, etc.), for the latter is plainly distin- 
 guished from him in ver. 3 ; nor does the passage 
 furnish any reason for regarding him as the Angel 
 of the Lord (Keil, Hengstenberg, etc.). He is 
 rather simply a person introduced to perform the 
 symbolical action of the vision, and having done 
 this, he passes out of view. His mission is to as- 
 certain by measurement the present size of Jeru- 
 salem, with a view to its prospective indefinite en- 
 largement. This view is not stated by him. but 
 is clearly to be inferred from ver. 4, and the gen- 
 eral tenor of the chapter. 
 
 Ver. 3. After the measuring angel has gone 
 away to do his office, behold, i. e., the prophet 
 sees " the angel that talked with me " coming 
 forth, i. e., from the back-ground of the scene, and 
 probably, as Kohler suggests, from the direction 
 in which the measuring angel had disappeared. 
 Before, however, the interpreting angel can either 
 address or be addressed by the prophet, he is met 
 by a third angel coming from the opposite direc- 
 tion. The character of this third angel is not fur- 
 ther described, but from the tone of authority, 
 " Run, speak," etc., and from vers. 8, 9, it seems 
 not unlikely that he is the Angel of the Lord 
 (Neumann, Pressel, etc.). There are no data for 
 a positive opinion. 
 
 Ver. 4. And said to him. The subject here 
 can only be, whether grammatically or logically, 
 the third angel. His direction tells the angelus i'n- 
 terpres to do just what his function required. This 
 young man = the ijrophet himself, as most of the 
 earlier and later expositors conceive. Zechariah 
 is thus styled because of his age, and not, as Je- 
 rome, Vitringa, and Hengstenberg think, because 
 of his suboi'dinate relation to the angels, which is 
 nowhere else thus expressed. Run, because it is 
 good news. The substance of the good news is 
 that Jerusalem is to have a vast influx of men 
 and cattle, so that it shall no longer be confined 
 by narrow walls and fixed limits, but be sj)read 
 out like the open country. Cf Is. xlix. 19, 20. 
 
 Ver. 5. And I will be to her, etc. But it might 
 be feared that great danger would result from this 
 unwalled extension. This is met by the promise 
 that Jehovah would be a wall of fire around, 
 perhaps in allusion to the pillar of fire in the wil- 
 derness (cf. Is. iv. 5). The fire would consume 
 jvery invader. There shotild he, however, not only 
 protection without, but glory within. This splen- 
 dor is to arise fi-oin the niMiiifested presence of 
 God (cf Is. Ix. 19). The lull force of this promise 
 is to be gathered from the following verses. 
 
 /6.) I 'ulle.r Exiilanalion of the Symbol (vers. 6-13). 
 
 Vers. 6, 7. Ho, ho, flee out .... daughtei 
 of Babylon. An assurance of Jehovah's presence 
 and blessing with his people is given in the an- 
 nouncement of judgment upon Babylon ; and this 
 is expressed very strikingly in the form of a sum- 
 mons to the Jews still remaining in the Chaldaean 
 capital to flee away in haste lest tlity should be 
 overtaken by the coming storm. There wei-e, no 
 doubt, many Jews who, because of age or infirmi- 
 ties or ties of property, preferred to remain in Bab- 
 ylon rather than risk the hardships of the restora- 
 tion ; but the call of the text seems intended not 
 so much for their benefit as to show to the de- 
 sponding people in Palestine how severe a blow 
 impended over their former oppress'^rs. Land of 
 the north. Babylon was so caller", '...ecanse armies 
 and caravans coming thence to Jerusalem entered 
 the Holy Land from the north For as the four 
 winds, etc., assigns the reason why such a return 
 was possible. God had scattered Israel not to the 
 four winds, but as them, /. e., with a violence and 
 fury such as would result from the combii;ed force 
 of all the winds of heaven. Keil's explanation of 
 
 ti?"^p as = a beneficent diffusion, is not sustainea 
 by the usage of the verb, and is against the con- 
 text. Ho ! Zion ! etc. Zion stands for the inhab- 
 itftnts of Zion, i. e., the people of God, who are 
 now still dwelling with the daughter of Babylon, 
 i. e., the peo]ile of that city personified as a woman 
 (Ps. ix. 14, cxxxvii. 8). 
 
 Vers. 8, 9. Further reason of the call to flee 
 from Babylon. After glory. Gesenius, Maurer, 
 and others strangely construe this. He hath sent me 
 after glory, in the sense of with a view to acquire 
 
 it. This is quite inadmissible, not because "^H^ 
 is not used as a preposition (Moore), for it is often 
 so employed, but because it is never construed with 
 a verb of motion in this sense, and the verb in the 
 text has its appropriate object and ])reposition im- 
 mediately following. We must therefore, follow- 
 ing the LXX. and the Vulgate, render " after glo- 
 ry "= after the bestowment of the glory stated in 
 ver. 5. The speaker was sent to these plundering 
 nations to execute God's judgments upon them. 
 The reason for this mission is announced in the 
 last clause of the verse by a beautiful and touch- 
 ing image, borrowed from Ps. xvii. 8 ; cf Deut. 
 xxxii. 10. The apple, literally, the gate, through 
 which light enters the eye, hence ^ pupil. The 
 pupil or apple of the eye is a proverbial type of 
 that which is at once most jnecious and most easily 
 injured, and which therefore has a double claim 
 to the most careful protection. The pronominal 
 suffix his is to be refeiTed to Jehovah, and not to 
 the enemy himself. 
 
 Ver. 9. For, behold .... servants, furnishes 
 an additional explanation of the sending after 
 glory. The Angel of the Lord would swing his 
 hand (cf Is. xi. 15, xix. 16), as a gesture of men- 
 ace or a symbol of miraculous power, over the na- 
 tions, so that they should become — '"l^H^ expresses 
 consequence — a spoil to the Israelites, who had 
 before been obliged to serve them. A close par- 
 allel is found in Is. xiv. 2. And ye shall know 
 . . . . sent me. By the execution of this judg- 
 ment it would be made clear to Israel that Jehovah 
 had sent his angel. They would know the fact 
 not only by faith, but by experience. 
 
 Vers. 10-12. The people are summoned to re- 
 joict over the Lord's indwelling and its happy re- 
 sult). Behold, I come. The glorification is about 
 to commence. Jehovah comes to Zion to take up 
 
CHAPTER II. 1-13 
 
 m 
 
 his abode, and this is the pledge of all conceivable 
 blessedness The close resemblance of the lani;ua<>e 
 used here to that in ch. ix. 9, sujjgests that both 
 refer to the same form of Jehovah's tabernacling 
 with men, namely, the incarnation. Even Kimchi 
 refers the passage to " future events in the times 
 of the Messiah." This is further confirmed by the 
 next verse. And many nations, etc. The King- 
 dom of God, instead of being confined to Israel, 
 will be enlarged by the reception of numerous 
 heathen peoples (ch. viii. 20, 21 ; Is. ii. 3, xvi. 1 ; Mi- 
 eah iv. 2). The two latter clauses of this verse are 
 emphatic repetitions of what has been said in the 
 same words in vers. 9, 10. 
 
 Ver. 12. And Jehovah will take, etc. The 
 speaker reverts to the ancient declaration, Deut. 
 xxxii. 9, " Jehovah's portion is his people, Ja- 
 cob the lot of his inheritance," and announces its 
 complete fulfillment through the coming of the 
 Lord. The holy land is of course, Palestine, but 
 only in the first instance. Wherever the people of 
 God are found, there is the holy land. Israel is to 
 overflow by the large additions made to it, so that 
 its original territory will be too small. The new 
 aggregate shall inherit all the blessings promised 
 to the original chosen nation. The same thought 
 is conveyed in the other member of the parallelism. 
 
 Ver. 1.3 furnishes a sublime close to the chapter. 
 Be still . . . habitation. All flesh is summoned 
 to wait in reverential silence the coming of the 
 Lord to his work, and the reason assigned is that 
 it is soon to begin. For Jehovah has risen up from 
 his holy habitation, which is heaven (cf Deut. 
 xxvi. 15; 2 Chron. xxx. 27). Illustrative paral- 
 lels of the sentiment are found in Ps. Ixxvi. 8, 9 : 
 " The earth feared and was still, when Go irose 
 to judgment, to save all the meek of the cl. 'h," 
 and Zeph. i. 7 : " Hold thy peace at the presence 
 of the Lord God, fur the day of tlie Lord is at 
 hand." Here the contrast is emphatic between 
 men, even all of them, who are but flesh, and the 
 everliving Jehovah. Calvin thinks that the tem- 
 ple rather than heaven is meant by the holy habita- 
 tion, and that the point is, that even from that deso- 
 lated place, exposed to the derision of the ungodly, 
 God would come forth to judgment. But it is 
 better to adhere to the usual meaning of the ex- 
 
 Sression, and to understand the contrast as being 
 etween God rising up in heaven, and all flesh on 
 the earth. The divine majesty has seemed to be 
 asleep, but now it is roused up ; let men therefore 
 beware. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. Pressel justly remarks that although at first 
 view this vision appears to resemble those which 
 were received by Ezekiel (xl. 3 ff.), and John 
 (Rev. xi. 1), yet in reality it is very different. In 
 the latter cases the imagery seems to have a fixed 
 and definite meaning, however difficult it may be 
 to ascertain and state that meaning ; in the former 
 the symbolical action is of the simplest kind, and 
 serves merely to give vividness to the subsequent 
 oral statement. Whenever a house or a city is to 
 be enlarged, the first step is to make an adequate 
 survey of the existing buildings. The divine con- 
 descension uses this preliminary measurement out- 
 wardly re)Tesented, as a token of a future indefi- 
 nite expansion which would leave the surveyor's 
 lines far in the rear as a thing of the past. The 
 jntire chapter is an admirable illustration of the 
 ^rminaiit nature of prophecy. In its primary 
 
 aspect it met directly the situation of che Proph- 
 et's contemporaries and animated th(,m to new 
 zeal and hope in their endeavors to restore tha 
 national capital, and reestablish the former civil 
 and ecclesiastical institutions. Yet it manifestly 
 cannot be restricted to this. The incorporation 
 of many nations with the .Jews, as set forth in ver, 
 11, had no counterpart in the actual experience of 
 the Jewish comirionwealth as such. It was ful- 
 filled only in the rajjid and general diffusion of the 
 Gospel by which multitudes of t le heathen were 
 turned from dumb idols to serve the living God. 
 Yet the prophet passes without a break from the 
 narrower to the larger scope of his prediction. 
 They to whom it was first given may have found 
 it difficult to see the exact nexus of events ; but 
 to us who live at a time when Providence has 
 interpreted promise, it is easy to trace the way 
 in which the Spirit leads Zechariah from a tem- 
 porary act of consolation to a declaration which 
 sets forth one of the chief glories of Messiah's 
 blessed reign. The narrow walls of the Mosaic 
 forms were to be thrown down, and the church's 
 limits extended to those who were then far beyond 
 those boundaries. Moore speaks of it as at least 
 a curious coincidence that when this enlargement 
 did take place the centres of population were the 
 first to experience the blessing, and so the dwellers 
 in villages (pagani) became synonymous with those 
 who still remained in heathenism ; but at last the 
 Gospel reached and converted those very jon^'anoa 
 (pagans) ; and then in very deed Jerusalem inhab- 
 ited the villages or was spread out as the open 
 country. 
 
 2. The twofold blessing of Jehovah to his 
 Church. Nowhere even in Scripture is this set 
 forth with so much beauty and force as in the con- 
 cise statement that He is a wall of fire without 
 and a glory within. What deep moats or massive 
 walls or elaborate defenses are comparable to a 
 circle of flame, fed by no human hands, ensuring 
 destruction to the assailant before he can even 
 reach the presence of those he seeks to attack 7 
 The Psalmist uses a striking figure when he says 
 (cxxv. 2), "As the mountains are round about 
 .Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people 
 from henceforth even forever." But the hills 
 which arose around Jerusalem might be scaled, or 
 commanded from a still higher elevation. Not so 
 with devouring fire ; that is an impassable barrier. 
 The promise then is complete ; all that is needed 
 is faith to appropriate it. As Luther says, " If we 
 were surrounded by walls of steel and fire, we 
 would feel secure, and defy the devil. But the 
 property of faith is not to be proud of what the 
 eye sees but of what the word reve.als." The one 
 prayer suitable for times of darkness or despond- 
 ency, is that of the disciples, Lord, increase our 
 faith. 
 
 But the assurance of Jehovah is not only for 
 outward, but also for inward wants, and that in a 
 most remarkable and comprehensive way. He 
 Himself will be for a glory within. As the Psalm- 
 ist says, God is in the midst of her. Zion's true 
 boast is not in buildings or services, in music or 
 eloquence, in numbers or popularity, but in the 
 manifested presence of her great Head. If his 
 Holy Spirit reveal his power in cheering the bowed 
 down, in sanctifying the afflicted, in quickening 
 penitence, prayerfulness, holy living, and the usual 
 ex]iressions of a gracious character, in calling deao 
 sinners from their living tombs, in elevating the 
 general tone of piety, in renewing the lost image 
 in which man was originally created, then there il 
 
34 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 glorv far, far beyond what earth can irive. The 
 Psalmist said (cii. 16), " When tlie Lord shall build 
 np Zion, He will appear in glory." We may rev- 
 erently reverse the clauses, and affirm that when 
 He appears in iilory, Zion shall be built up. Let 
 Him come when He will and as He will, his pres- 
 ence is enough. 
 
 3. God's people are unspeakably dear to Him. 
 T he} are like the apple of his eye. He chooses 
 them as his portion, He guards them as his jewels. 
 The pupil of the eye is peculiarly delicate and 
 sensitive. It is not necessary to pierce it with a 
 knife to make the owner shrink ; a mote, or even 
 a touch will startle and grieve. So the blessed 
 Lord feels toward those whom He has chosen and 
 called. In all tlieir atHiction He is attlicted. When 
 Jesus remonstrated with Saul of Tarsus for his 
 furious enmity toward the infant Church, the lan- 
 guage was, " Why persecutest thou me? " Every 
 blow, struck at the least or humblest member of 
 the body, reaches its invisible but glorious head. 
 In like manner whatever is done for the people of 
 God is regarded by God as done for Himself. He 
 " is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor 
 of love which ye have showed toward his name, in 
 that ye have ininistei'ed to the saints and do minister " 
 (Heb. vi. 10). This is not the estimate of the 
 world at large. They look down upon believers 
 as deluded visionaries, or at best amiable enthusi- 
 asts, while sometimes the carnal heart finds ex- 
 pression in much harsher terms- So much the 
 more necessary is it to remember the Lord's judg- 
 ment in the case, and to feel and act toward those 
 who bear the Christian name and walk according- 
 ly, as to those who, whatever their outward sur- 
 roundings, are loved by their Lord with an affec- 
 tion beyond what even a mother bears to the son 
 of her womb. 
 
 The whole history of the Church is a comment 
 npon this utterance. From the time of its insti- 
 tution in the household of Abraham, when latent 
 in Egypt, wandering in the desert, militant in Ca- 
 naan, triumphant in Jerusalem, captive in Baby- 
 lon, oppressed under the Syrians and Romans, it 
 was sustained by heavenly food, by visions and in- 
 spirations, by miracles and portents, by God's 
 effective support on the right hand and the left. 
 Afterwards, when revived and renewed by the per- 
 sonal ministry and blessed sacrifice of the Lord 
 Jesus, it was brought into still closer fellowship 
 with the Most High, fitted for unlimited diffusion, 
 proclaimed to all the world, and established alike 
 among the loftiest and the lowliest of the earth. 
 And though tried in every possible way by malice 
 and envy, it was only purged by suffering, con- 
 firmed and rooted by the storms of persecution, 
 and protected against all the powers of earth and 
 hell by an arm which even the blind may see be- 
 longs to none but the living God. 
 
 4. The introduction of nations into the fellow- 
 ship of the people of God is one of the grand pe- 
 culiarities of the later dispensation. In earlier 
 days the Church was far less restrictive that it is 
 often supposed to have been. Not a few outside 
 )f the chosen line obtained entrance to the com- 
 munity. Not only Hobab, and Rahab, and Ruth, 
 and Gittai, but many others found a home in Zion ; 
 still in all cases they were required to leave their 
 original home, to forget their father's house, and 
 transplant themselves to the seat of the theocracy. 
 Bui now the good news goes to the heathen in- 
 stead of their coming to it. The various tribes 
 ind families whom God so carefully separated 
 'Acts xvii. 26), although they were of one blood, 
 
 still retain their distinct national existence, but OB 
 receiving the Gospel are counted as seed of tha 
 promise. A very remarkable Psalm (Ixxxvii. 4) 
 speaks of these collective bodies as subjects of re- 
 generation. "I will mention Rahab and Baby 
 Ion as knowing me. Lo, Philistia and Tyre with 
 Ethiopia. (As to each of these it shall be said,) 
 This one was born there."' These ruling poweis 
 among the heathen, most of them hereditary en- 
 emies of Israel, are given as samples of the whole 
 Gentile world. Not individuals alone, but whole 
 nations are to experience a spiritual birth, and in 
 consequence join themselves to Jehovah. Not by 
 force of outward compulsion, but by the power of 
 an inward conviction. The flocks of Kedar and the 
 rams of Nebaioth with good will (or of their own 
 accord) ascend the altar of Jehovah (Is. Ix. 7). It 
 is of course true that conversions are effected in- 
 dividually and not en masse, but these are to be so 
 multiplied that a little one becomes a thousand, 
 and a small one a strong nation. The history of 
 modern missions has furnished repeated instances 
 in which a whole people has been revolutionized 
 and made as distinctively Christian as it before 
 had been heathen. It needs only a farther devel- 
 opment of divine grace in the same direction to fill 
 out in reality the most glowing pictures sketched 
 on the prophetic canvass. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 Pressel : A fine illustration of the defense 
 which Jehovah is to his people is furnished in the 
 experience of a widow who alone with her daugh- 
 ter occupied a house standing by itself in the di- 
 rect way of the Russian army on its march to 
 Schleswick, and comforted her weeping, despair- 
 ing daughter with the assurance that the Lord 
 could and would protect them from all harm. The 
 same night a heavy fall of snow so covered all ap- 
 proaches to the house that when the army marched 
 on the next day it was not visited or apparently 
 seen by even one of the licentious soldiery. A 
 wall of snow was as effectual as a wall of fire. 
 
 Moore : The true glory of the Church is not 
 in any external pomp or power of any kind. Her 
 outward rites and ceremonies, therefore, should 
 only be what the earth's atmosphere is to the rays 
 of the sun, — a pure, transparent medium of trans- 
 mission. 
 
 — Delay of punishment is no proof of impunity. 
 God often seems asleep when He is only awaiting 
 the appointed time ; but in the end, when all seems 
 as it was from the foundation of the world, the 
 herald cry shall go forth, Be silent, earth, for 
 Jehovah is roused to his terrible work, and the 
 day of his w^rath is come. 
 
 Jay : If God regards his people so kindly and 
 is so jealous for their welfare y-er. 8), it becomes 
 them on the other hand to be equally concerned 
 for his cause and his glory. We are to regard his 
 Word as we keep the tenderest part of the tender- 
 est member of our body. He says. " Keep my 
 commandments and live ; and my law as the apple 
 of thine eye " (Prov. vii. 2). 
 
 Hodge : I will dwell in the midsi of thee '' 
 (vers. 5, 10, 11). God is said to dwell wherevei 
 He specially and permanently manifests his pres- 
 ence. And since He thus specially and perma- 
 nently manifests his presence in his people collec- 
 tively and individually, He is said to dwell in all 
 
 and in each The human soul is 'jaid to be 
 
 full of God when its inward state, its affectioni 
 
CHAPTER 111. 1-10. 
 
 and acts are determined and controlled by Him, I and blessed There is unspeakably more in 
 
 80 as to be a constant manifestation of the divine | the promises of God than we are able to under 
 presence. Then it is pure, and glorious, and free, | stand. 
 
 VISION IV. JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST BEFORE THE ANGEL OP 
 
 JEHOVAH. 
 
 Chapter HI. 1-10. 
 
 A. Joshua accused by Satan, hut forgiven (vers. 1-5). B. A Promise of Protectitm 
 to the High Priest, and also of the coming of Branch and its blessed Results (vers. 
 6-10). 
 
 1 And he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of Jehovah, 
 
 2 and Satan ^ standing at his right hand to oppose him.^ And Jehovah said to Satan, 
 Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan, even Jehovah who chooses ^ Jerusalem rebuke thee ! 
 
 3 Is not this a brand plucked from the fire ? And Joshua was clothed in filthy gar- 
 
 4 ments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake to those who stood 
 before him, saying, Take the filthy garments away from him, and he said to him, 
 See, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from ^ thee, and will clothe thee with festal 
 
 5 raiment. And I said,* Let them put a clean ^ mitre upon his head ; and they put 
 the clean mitre upon his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of 
 Jehovah was standing by. 
 
 6 Aaid the angel of Jehovah testified ^ to Joshua, and said, 
 
 7 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 If thou wilt walk in my ways and keep my charge, 
 Thou shalt judge my house, and also keep my courts, 
 And I will give thee access '' among these standing here. 
 
 8 Hear, I pray, Joshua the high priest, 
 Thou and thy colleagues * who sit before thee, 
 For men of wonder ^ are they. 
 
 For, behold, I bring my servant. Branch. 
 
 9 For, behold the stone which I have laid before Joshua ; 
 Upon one stone are seven eyes ; 
 
 Behold I execute its carving ; ^^ 
 And I remove the iniquity of this land in one day. 
 10 In that day saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 Ye shall invite every man his neighbor 
 Under the vine and under the fig tree. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 V«r. 1. — l3tDtt7 V "jt227n. The force of this antanaclasis can hardly be expressed in a version — tht opposir U 
 tppose him fails to convey the force of the proper name Satan. 
 
 2 Ver. 2. — ^n^ not as E. V. who " has chosen," but according to the force of the participle, who now and babi^ 
 nally chooses. Henderson with a marvelous lack of taste substitutes for the simple meaning, " taketh delight." 
 
 8 Ver. 4. — " From thee," lit. : from upon thee. The guilt or punishment of sin is conceived as a burden reBtlng 
 apon the sinner until forgiveness removes it. 
 
 4 Ver. 6. — For "IttST Ewald, following the Targum, Peshito, and Vulgate, proposes to read "in"!, and Render 
 
 ton, "IttSl. But on general principles the Masoretic text is to be preferred, and especially here, where the motive of 
 )he change is obvious, and nothing is gained in clearness or emphasis by departing from the Hebrew. 
 
 6 Ver. i. — TintJ. The E. V. " fair," besides being a needless departure from the meaning of the word, lUlf to 
 •xpresa the point involved in cleanness as the emblem of purity or forgiveness. 
 
 6 Ver. 6. — ^5*T, a strong term, implying the importance and the certainty of the communication. 
 
 7 Ver. 7. — " Access," lit., ways, t. e., means of free ingress and egress among my immediate attendants. See InC 
 uid Critical. 
 
dH 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 8 Yer. 8. — tT*^ V^ = companions, but as it is associates in office who are intended, colleagues seems the neaical 
 equivalent. 
 
 9 Ver. 8. — nSiD is rendered wonder (E. V. margin), to preserre its original signification. Perhaps " men of oin«a * 
 ironld be more easily understood. 
 
 10 Ver. 9. — D"^ni^Q ni^2 '''•, to open openings = to carre. 
 
 KXEGETICAL AND C6IT1CAL. 
 
 The third vision lays a sure foundation for the 
 glowing assurances and promises contained in 
 fliose which precede liy revealing the fact of the 
 divine forgiveness. Sin had been the cause of all 
 the previous troubles of Israel, and its continuance 
 would bring them all back. Hence the need and 
 value of the great truth expressed in the dramatic 
 form and rich symbolism of this vision. The first 
 half of the chapter (vers. 1-5) represents the high 
 priest standing before the angel of Jehovah and 
 opposed by Satan ; but Joshua is forgiven, — a fact 
 
 damaging others, he secures his own overthrow. 
 The emphatic repetition of the exclamation indi- 
 cates the certainty of Satan's failure. The other 
 words of the verse show the ground of this failure. 
 It is not at all in the innocence of the high priest 
 or the people, but in the gracious purpose of Jeho- 
 vah. He chooses Jerusalem, and that choice 
 must stand. This is further confirmed by the 
 question. Is not this a brand .... fire ? cf. 
 Amos iv. 11. Most expositors, ancient and 
 modern, refer this to the exile in which Joshua 
 had suffered, but from which he had been restored. 
 God had rescued him for preservation not for de- 
 struction. Having snatched the brand from the 
 
 which is both literally stated and also symbolically flames, he did not mean to throw it back into the 
 represented. In the second half (vers. 6-10), the flre. The reference of course is to the high priest, 
 high priest is assured of present protection, and of not so much in his personal, as his representative 
 
 the future appearance of the Branch, who will re- 
 move sin at once and bestow the fullness of salva- 
 tion. 
 
 (a.) The Symbol (vers. l-.*)). Ver. 1. And he 
 showed me. The subject of the verb is Jehovah, 
 as appears from the fact that He is the last person 
 previously mentioned, and from the parallel phrase 
 in i. 20. It is not necessary to suppose that it is 
 a judicial scene (Hoifman, Ewald, Kohler, Pres- 
 sel) which is presented to the Prophet's view. So 
 far as the terms used are concerned, they will ap- 
 
 Ely equally well to the high priest's appearance 
 efore God in the discharge of his official func- 
 tions. To " stand before Jehovah " was the tech- 
 nical term to denote the ordinary service of the 
 priests (Deut. x. 8 ; 2 Chron. xxix. 11 ; Judg. xx. 
 28; Ezek. xliv. 15). The presumption then is 
 that he was here not for himself only, but also 
 and chiefly on behalf of the people, as their repre- 
 sentative. That he was engaged in prayer is im- 
 plied in the circumstances, and also in the descrip- 
 tion of Jehovah's words in ver. 4 as an answer. 
 But another person appears on the scene who is 
 called Satan, lit., the adversary. Some (Kimchi, 
 Ewald) refer this to a human adversary, such as 
 Sanballat, but the emphatic form of the term ; its 
 analogy to o avriSiKos (1 Pet. v. 8) and d Kar-liycop 
 (Rev. xii. 10) ; the LXX.'s equivalent Std^oKos ; 
 and the occurrence of the word in Job i., ii. ; all 
 point to the chief of the evil spirits as the person 
 here intended. He is said to stand on the right 
 hand of Joshua, not because this was the position 
 appropriated by Jewish usage to an accuser, for 
 no such usage can be, or at least has been, estab- 
 lished ; but because this is the most suitable place 
 for one who wishes to impede or oppose another 
 (Job XXX. 12; Ps. cix. 6). Satan's object is to 
 oppose Joshua. The manner is not specifically 
 stated, but from the next verse it seems as if Sa- 
 an's work was to dwell upon the sins of the high 
 priest and his people, and upon this ground urge 
 their condemnation and overthrow. 
 
 Ver. 2. And Jehovah said. Almost all ex- 
 
 gjsitors agree that the angel of Jehovah is the 
 peaker here who takes the name of Jehovah be- 
 cause of the intimate and mysterious relation he 
 sustains to Him. There is no debate between the 
 parties, but the adversary is at once repelled with 
 indignation. Jehovah rebuke thee ! Instead of 
 
 character. 
 
 Ver. 3. Clothed with filthy garments. Eich- 
 horn, Ewald, et al., consider this soiled raiment de- 
 signed to set forth that he was an accused person, 
 but this is arbitrarily to transfer a Roman custom 
 (Liv. ii. 54) to the East where not a trace of it is 
 to be seen. In Hebrew usage such garments rep- 
 resent sin. Is. Ixiv. 5 : " We are all as an unclean 
 thing, and all our righteousnesses as filthy rags." 
 Sorely as the nation had been chastised, its iniq- 
 uity was not wiped away. The last clause is not 
 a superfluous repetition of what is stated in ver. 1, 
 but indicates a patient expectancy in Joshua, that 
 notwithstanding Satan's accusation, relief would 
 come. 
 
 Ver. 4. And he answered, i. e., the prayer for 
 forgiveness involved in the fact of the high priest's 
 appearing before the Lord. Vitringa says (on 
 
 Zech. i. 11), " In every case in which ^317 or dir»- 
 KpiueffOai is placed at the opening of a speech or 
 narrative without any question preceding it, there 
 is always a question tacitly assumed ; just as in 
 the Books of Scripture, where they commence with 
 the copula, some antecedent is always supposed to 
 exist, with which the narrative or speech is tacitly 
 contrasted, even though nothing at all has gone 
 before." Those who stood before him = surely 
 not, as Ewald maintains, the friends of the ac- 
 cused, but the Lord's own servants, the angels. 
 These are ordered to remove the filthy garments, 
 and then the angel of Jehovah explains the mean- 
 ing of the symbolical act. I have taken, etc. 
 This does not refer to sanctification (Mark), but 
 to forensic forgiveness. The two cases (2 Sam. 
 xii. 13 and xxiv. 10) establish this as the meaning 
 
 of the phrase, Tt? "'^?5^'!7- The festal garments 
 may symbolize innocence (Chaldee), or joy (Koh- 
 ler, Pressel), or glory (Keil). 
 
 Ver. 5. And I said. At this point the Prophet 
 who had been only a silent spectator, comes sudden- 
 ly forward with a prayer for the completion of the 
 work begun, and says. Let them put • • • ; head. 
 It cannot be made out that any special significance 
 attached to the mitre.or turban, and the emphasis 
 must lie upon the qualifying word clean. •' The 
 turban can be referred to only as an article of 
 dress which would be the first to strike the eye " 
 
CHAPTER III. 1-10. 
 
 J]7 
 
 IHengstenberg). The wish of the Prophet was at 
 once complied with. The hist chiuse of the verse 
 ioes not mean that the anyel of tlie Lord rose up 
 from his seat ( Henderson, Koliler, Pressel), but 
 that he continued standing by, " lilce a master 
 presiding over the ceremony, approving and adorn- 
 ing it with his presence" (C. B Mich.). 
 
 (b.) Tlie Promise (vers. 6-10). The comple- 
 tion of the symbolical action is made the occasion 
 of a further and far-reaching assurance, addressed 
 to the high priest and through him to the nation. 
 
 Ver. 6. Testified = made a solemn declaration 
 (Gen. xliii. 3 ; Deut. viii. 19). 
 
 Ver. 7 contains a promise with a condition. 
 The condition is partly personal — walk in my 
 ways, and partly official — keep my charge. The 
 promise is altogether official. Judge . . . courts 
 = administer the service in the holy place and 
 guard the house of God from all idolatry and un- 
 godliness. " This is here represented not as a 
 duty hut as a reward ; inasmuch as activity in 
 connection with the kingdom of God is the high- 
 est honor and greatest favor which God can confer 
 upon any mortal" (Hengstenberg). T'he last 
 clause contains an important additional promise. 
 
 D^^/HQ is a difficult word which occurs no- 
 where else. (1.) Some take it as a noun, plural 
 of Tllpnp = ways, i. e., ingress and egress, de- 
 noting a peculiarly free access to God among Ms 
 heavenly servants ( Calvin, Hitzig, Maurer, Ewald, 
 Kohler, Fiirst, etc.). (2.) Others regard it as a 
 
 Chaldee form of the Piel participle of ^7%Ii taken 
 intransitively = walkers, i. e., angels who as mes- 
 sengers go between the high priest and Jehovah 
 (LXX., Vulg., Pesh., Grotius, Baumgarten). (3.) 
 Others derive it from the Hiphil participle of the 
 same verb, meaning = leaders or guides (Luther, 
 Gesen., Heng., Umbreit, Dr. Kiggs, etc.). Against 
 the last two is the circumstance that Zechariah 
 could very well have expressed that sense in regu- 
 lar Hebrew form; that they require an alteration 
 
 of the text ; and that 'J '^5 i^ required to be ren- 
 dered as = 'J'^S'p. I hesitatingly prefer the hrst. 
 One thing is certain, that some kind of association 
 or influence with God's immediate servants on 
 high is here promised to the high priest. 
 
 Ver. 8. Hear, I pray, etc. This opening calls 
 attention to the importance of what follows. The 
 address is made not only to Joshua, but to his col- 
 leagues, J. e., associates in the priestly office. The 
 next clause assigns the reason for including them. 
 They are men of wonder, i. e., men who excite 
 wonder in others, and thus attracting attention 
 to themselves, become types of what is to come 
 (cf. Is. viii. 18 ; xx. 3 ; Ezek. xii. 6 ; xxiv. 24-27 
 (Heb.). The constant exercise of priestly func- 
 tions in the offering of sacrifices which had no in- 
 trinsic efficacy was a perpetual testimony of man's 
 need of forgiveness and of God's purpose in future 
 to satisfy the need thus made known. The objec- 
 tion to this view on the ground that we should ex- 
 pect are ye and not are they, is removed by the fact 
 that such cases of enallage are not rare (cf. Zeph. 
 ii. 12 (in Heb.). The reason why these typical 
 men, Joshua and his priests, are summoned to lis- 
 ten, is given in the next clause, which declares that 
 Jehovah will bring forward that antitype whose 
 appearance would show that their typical charac- 
 ter was founded in truth. My servant Branch. 
 The antitype is described by two names taken from 
 >he earlie' Prophets. One, servn^U is of frequent 
 
 occurrence in Isaiah (xlii. 1, etc.), and also in 
 Ezek. (xxxiv. 23, 24). The other, branch, occurs 
 in Jeremiah xxiii. 5, xxxiii. l^, — passages which 
 plainly lean upon Isaiah's statements xi. 1, liii. 2. 
 The term denotes the original obscurity of this 
 personage and the gradual develojiment of hia 
 character. Instead of being a tall and stately 
 tree, he is a mere branch or root-shoot. This ref- 
 erence had become so well understood in Zechar- 
 iah's time that he uses the word as if it were a 
 proper name, my servant Branch. That it pointed 
 to the Messiah is admitted by the Chald. Par., 
 and almost all expositors, ancient and modern. 
 The suggestion of a few (Kimchi, Theodoret, Gro- 
 tius, Blayney), that Zerubbabel was intended, ia 
 refuted by the fact that the Branch had not yet 
 appeared, while Zerubbabel had ; and also by the 
 consideration that this civil governor had nothing 
 to do with the priestly office and could not possi 
 bly be an antitype of its holders. A similar figur- 
 ative description of the Messiah is found in Ezek. 
 xvii. 22, 23. The Lord, having described the 
 royal house of Judah as a strong and lofty cedar, 
 which had been plucked up by the roots and left 
 to wither and die, declares that He will take from 
 its summit a slender twig and plant it on the 
 mountain of the height of Israel, where the little 
 scion shall take root, and grow, and spread, until 
 it commands universal admiration. Every tree of 
 the field shall own its superiority, and every fowl 
 of heaven seek its shelter. 
 
 Ver. 9. For behold .... seven eyes. This 
 verse assigns the reason for the fulfillment of the 
 preceding promise. The condition of the cove- 
 nant people was so deplorable that it seemed vain 
 to expect such a blessing as the coming of the 
 Messiah. To countervail such despondency, Jeho- 
 vah of Hosts assures his people of the watchful 
 and loving care which will secure the gracious re- 
 sult. The single stone is not the Messiah (early 
 interpreters, Kliefoth), for he was not " laid be- 
 fore Joshua ; " nor the foundation stone of the 
 Temple (Rosenmiiller, Hitzig, Neumann, Hender- 
 son), which had long since been laid ; nor the top- 
 stone (Maurer), nor the plummet (Grotius), nor a 
 jewel of the high priest's breast-plate (Theodoret, 
 Baumgarten, etc.) ; but the covenant people, now 
 appropriately described as lying before Joshua, 
 who was their ecclesiastical leader. It is no objec- 
 tion to this view that the Messiah is elsewhere 
 spoken of as a stone (Ps. cxviii. 22 ; 1 Pet. ii. 7), 
 for sometimes the head and the body both have 
 the same term applied to them, as in Isaiah's use 
 of the term servant, where only the context can 
 determine which of the two is meant (Is. xliv. 2 : 
 lii. 13). The seven eyes may denote, either the 
 all-embracing providence of God, or (according to 
 the statement in Rev. v. 6 of the seven eyes of the 
 Lamb which are the seven spirits of God, sent 
 forth into all the earth) the seven-fold radiations 
 of the Spirit of Jehovah, by which the stone is 
 preserved and prepared for its glorious destina- 
 tion. I see no reason why both may not be com- 
 bined. According to this view, the eyes are not 
 engraved on the stone, but directed toward it (cf. 
 
 Ps. xxxii. 8 ; Jer. xxxix. 12 for this use of v^). 
 Ewald ( Geschichte d. V. I., iv. 239) sees in this 
 verse a distinct evidence of Zoroastrian ideas. He 
 says the conception of the seven eyes of Jehovah 
 was derived from the Persian notion of the seven 
 Amshaspands who surround the throne of th« 
 Supreme, and adds m a note that the upper ser- 
 vants of a great king were ofton called his eyei 
 
'66 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 and his ears. How far-fetched is this 1 The He- 
 brews were familiar with the terra eyes of God or 
 Jehovah, and meant by it just what all men mean 
 by it ; and the number seven had for ages been 
 well known to them as a symbol of sacredness and 
 completeness See the excursus at the end of this 
 section. The passage is perfectly intelligible on 
 the supposition that Zechariah had never even 
 heard of such a thing as the seven Amshaspands 
 of the Zend-avesta. Execute its carving = make 
 it a beautiful and costly stone. So most exposi- 
 tors from Calvin to Fressel. The last clause com- 
 pletes the brilliant promise. This land, i. e., the 
 land of Israel, which of course includes its inhabit- 
 ants, and they stand for tlie whole Church of 
 which they were then the representatives. The 
 guilt is to be removed in one day, which can 
 hardly be any other than the great day of atone- 
 ment at Golgotha. The phrase is analogous to 
 the "once for all" in Hebrews vii. 27, x. 10. It 
 presents a contrast between the continually re- 
 peated sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood and 
 the one final and etFectual sacrifice of the Messiah. 
 
 Ver. 10, Ye shall invite .... fig tree. The 
 result of this is expressed in a proverbial phrase 
 borrowed from the older Scriptures, where it first 
 occurs in the description of the happy ])eriod un- 
 der Solomon (1 Kings iv. 25). " Whether it is to 
 be taken literally or spiritually here has been much 
 contested, the Rabbins favoring the former view, 
 the Fathers the latter. We rightly combine both, 
 and maintain that this picture of peaceful prosper- 
 ity and cordial union is realized, although imper- 
 fectly, yet just as far as Christ's kingdom has its 
 proper influence and the communion of saints is 
 felt" (Pressel). 
 
 The entire vision and promise were admirably 
 adapted to effect their end. The high priest con- 
 quers his fierce antagonist, is assured of his for- 
 giveness and confirmed in his office, and is certified 
 of the continuance of the people until the appear- 
 ance of the long expected Branch, who once for 
 all and forever would take away the guilt and pun- 
 ishment of sin. 
 
 The Number Seven. The question why the eyes 
 spoken of in ver. 9, whatever their meaning, should 
 Se stated as seven, brings up for consideration the 
 peculiar significance of this number. Its employ 
 ment here and in the next chapter (ver. 2, seven 
 lamps and seven pipes, ver. 10, those seven), are 
 instances of a usage at once very ancient and very 
 wide spread. Leaving out of view the literature of 
 India, Persia, and Arabia, we find in Scripture an 
 extraordinary frequency of its occurrence. Seven, 
 teventh, and sevenjold are found in the Old Testa- 
 ment and the New, not less than three hundred 
 and eighty-three times, while a similar enumeration 
 of the instances in which six and eiylit are used, 
 reaches the sum of only one hundred and seventy- 
 six, or less than one half of the sevens. This usa^e 
 begins with the first book of the Bible and ends 
 only with the last. We find in Genesis the seveu 
 days of creation ; seven-fold vengeance denounced 
 for Cain ; clean beasts and fowls received into iIr- 
 ark by sevens ; the dove despatched from the ark 
 at intervals of seven days ; Jacob serving seven 
 years for a wife he did not want, and seven more 
 for the wife he did want; and seven fat kine and 
 »even lean, seven good ears and seven thin, rep- 
 resenting the seven years of plenty and famine. 
 In the Mosaic ritual, many sacrifices required seven 
 rictims, and often the blood was required to be 
 iprinkled s«>-'<»n times. Not only the seventh day 
 
 was holy, but the seventh week of the year (a 
 week of weeks) ; and the seventh month ; and the 
 seventh or Sabbatical year; and the Jubilee or the 
 year following seven weeks of years, wore all 
 marked by festival observances. Jericho was over- 
 thrown by a march of the people seven successive 
 days around the walls, headed by seven priests who 
 blew as many trumpets. On the seventh day the 
 circuit was made seven times, and then at the 
 shout of the people the walls fell. Samson gave 
 the Philistines of Timnath seven days to solve his 
 riddle, he was bound with seven withes, and his 
 seven locks were woven with the web. Seven years 
 of famine were inflicted in Elisha's time, and the 
 same offered as an alternative to David. The 
 Psalmist praised God seven times a day, the just 
 man falls seven times and rises again, Nebuchad- 
 nezzar's furnace was heated seven times more than 
 it was wont. In the Apocalypse, the recurrence 
 is still more marked. A condensed summation 
 reports that there are two sevens in the introduc- 
 tion, namely, seven churches and seven spirits, and 
 in the body of the y,'ork two sevens of sevens, 
 namely, first, seven candlesticks, stars, seals, horns, 
 eyes, trumpets, thunders ; and secondly, seven an- 
 gels, heads, crowns, plagues, vials, mountains, 
 kings. 
 
 Of the fact that this number is exceedingly 
 prominent there can be no question. The precise 
 ground of the prominence is not so easily stated. 
 The late Professor Hadley, from whose article i on 
 the subject our statement is drawn, enumerated 
 five dirt'erent theories. One is the Arithmetical, 
 used by Philo the Jew, and based upon the peculiar 
 property of seven as compared with any other of 
 the digits. A second, the Chronological, is founded 
 upon the early division of time into weeks, A 
 third, the Symbolic, conceives seven to be the 
 union of two numbers, namely, three, which sym- 
 bolizes the divine, since the Godhead is a trinity, 
 and ybftr, which symbolizes the cosmical, the cre- 
 ated universe of space, this being determined by 
 the four cardinal points of the compass. The seven 
 then represents that reunion of the world with 
 God, which is the great aim and crowning con- 
 summation of all true religion. A fourth is the 
 Physiological theory, tracing the preeminence of 
 the seven to the fact that there are seven parts of 
 the body, namely, the head, chest, and loins, with 
 the four limbs ; and seven openings of the head, 
 namely, the three pairs of eyes, ears, and nostrils, 
 with the mouth; and further, that the seventh, 
 fc urteenth, and twenty-first days are critical peri- 
 0( Is in diseases. The fifth hypothesis is based on 
 Astronomical reasons. The nocturnal heavens 
 offered to the men of primitive times a constant 
 and impressive spectacle. Here they could not but 
 bu struck by the seven members of the planetary 
 system, as well as by the fiict that the fixed stars 
 exhibited the same number in several of the most 
 brilliant constellations, e. g., the Great Bear or 
 Charles' Wain, the Septentriones of the Romans ; 
 the Lesser Bear with its remarkable pole-star ; the 
 Pleiades with their " sweet influences," and the 
 Hyades, whose frequent rains " vex the sea." 
 
 Upon the whole, in view of the antiquity of the 
 usage and the character of the early Hebrews, it 
 seems most natural to trace their sense of its sa- 
 credness and completeness to its original associa 
 tions with the times and means of religious wor 
 ship. 
 
 1 Essaj/s Philological and Oritieal, New York, 187& 
 
CHAPTER III. 1-10. 
 
 89 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND MORAL. 
 
 I. This chapter contains one of the passages in 
 the Old Testament in which the great spiritual 
 adversary of God and man is spoken of under 
 the name Satan. The other places are 1 Chron. 
 xxi. 1 and the prologue to the book of Job. (The 
 
 word 1^^ occurs also in 2 Sam. xix. 2.3 and Ps. 
 cix. 6, I)ut it is extremely doubtful whether it is 
 n.ted in these passages in any other than an appel- 
 lative sense = adversary.) It is a favorite notion 
 with " the later criticism," that Zechariah imported 
 his conception of Satan from the Zoroastrian doc- 
 trine of Ahriman, tlie original source of all moral 
 and physical evil, the chief of malignant spirits, the 
 king of darkness and of death, and consequently 
 the eternal enemy of Ormuzd, and of his kingdom 
 of light. But there is neither historical nor logical 
 foundation for this fancy. During the very few 
 years which elapsed between the Persian conquest 
 of Babylon and the appearance of Zechariah as 
 a prophet, there was not time for the theological 
 notions of the Zend-avesta to penetrate the Jewish 
 mind and to color its conceptions of the unseen 
 world. The dualism of Zoroaster must have had 
 a most extraordinary degree of self-propagating 
 power, to pass in so short a time from the central 
 point of the Persian Empire to one of its farthest 
 outlying provinces. Besides, Zechariali's doctrine 
 of Satan differs fundamentally from the Persian 
 conception of Ahriman. The latter is an inde- 
 pendent, eternal, and self-existent principle, whereas 
 the former is a created, fallen, malignant being, of 
 vast capacity and immense power of mischief, but 
 still under the control of the Almighty, often thwart- 
 ed in his machinations, and destined one day to an 
 utter and disastrous overthrow. Nor had Zech- 
 ariah any need to learn from the Persian theol- 
 ogy. The existing precedents in the sacred books 
 of the Jews furnished him with all the materials 
 necessary to construct or to understand the sym- 
 bolical vision vouchsafed to him. What he sees is 
 the head and representative of the nation in sacred 
 things standing in solemn service before the Angel 
 of Jehovah, who is attended by a train of angelic 
 ministers (ver. 7), while over against this important 
 official stands Satan accusing and opposing ; and 
 in the end Jehovah rebukes the adversary and fa- 
 vors his own servant. Manifestly this corresponds 
 in form and in substance to what is contained in 
 the prologue of the book of Job, the date of which 
 is allowed on all hands not to be later than the 
 Solomonic era. 
 
 A remarkable confirmation of this view is given 
 in the New Testament, where (Rev. xii. 10) Satan 
 is called, " the accuser of our brethren, who accuses 
 [6 KaTTtyopwi'] them before our God day and night." 
 Accusation is the element of his being. He accuses 
 God to men (cf Gen. iii. 4, 5), and he accuses men 
 to God (as in Job and in this passage). Hence 
 his usual name in the New Testament, DIabolns, 
 from SiafiaWftv = to set at variance, namely, by 
 slander, — a descriptive title quite as strong as the 
 Hebrew term, Satan = opposer, the inherent and 
 everlasting adversary of God and man, and of all 
 thf.t is good. This antagonism, however, takes a 
 particular form which runs through all the Scrip- 
 lure from Genesis to Revelation, and is seen not dim- 
 ly in our prophet. In the curse pronounced in the 
 Garden of Eden upon the tempter, the Old Serpent 
 /Rev. xii. 9), God declared that He would put en- 
 laity between him and the woman, and not only 
 
 that, but " between thy seed and her seed ; it shall 
 bruise thy head, £^nd tbou shalt bruise his heel." 
 The seed of Satan are all the ungodly, of whom he 
 is the head ; the seed of the woman are all thegodly, 
 of whom Christ is the head. These two heads stand 
 in mortal conflict; both suffe;;, but the one only in 
 the extremities, the other in a vital part. " For this 
 purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He 
 might destroy the works of tlic devil " ( 1 John iiL 
 8). In the end tlie kingdom of onr God and the 
 power of his Christ will be too much for the craft 
 and malice of Satan. Still that malignant being 
 opposes the truth, and leaves no stone unturned to 
 turn away God's favor from his people, and thus 
 overthrow the entire redemptive economy. This is 
 the point of the symbolical vision here. Did the 
 Lord cast off his people entirely and recall hia 
 promised grace, the historical basis for the Messiah 
 to come would perish, and no room be left for his 
 apjjearance according to the ancient predictions 
 The issue, then, was vital. It did not concern an 
 individual merely ; it did not belong only to some 
 one particular crisis in the history of the restored 
 exiles; but it touched the very existence of the 
 Kingdom of God on earth. If the confessed sins 
 of Israel were sufficient to secure their final rejec- 
 tion from God at that stage of their history, the 
 hopes of the race were blasted, and the prospect 
 of a blessing for all the families of the earth, be- 
 came a beautiful but empty dream. 
 
 2. The doctrines of grace are finely illustrated 
 in this vision. The opposition of Satan is evidently 
 grounded on a charge of sin in Joshua and those 
 for whom he acts. Joshua came before the Angel 
 of Jehovah in his representative capacity, which 
 of course implies the existence of sin to be atoned 
 for and pardoned, for holy beings need no sacrific 
 ing priesthood between them and God. This was 
 emphasized at the present time by the recollection 
 of the abominations which had called down the 
 Babylonian captivity, and the still more recent re- 
 missness of the restored people in building the 
 Temple. The Jews were weak in faith, despondent 
 in spirit, and more prone to labor for their tempo- 
 ral fortunes than for their spiritual interests. Sa- 
 tan then had a high vantage-ground from which 
 to oppose them. But mark the source of his re- 
 pulse. " Jehovah, Jehovah that chooses Jerusalem, 
 rebuke thee ! " The people are reminded here, as 
 they so often were in earlier times, that they had 
 not chosen the Lord, but He had chosen them. It 
 was not their numbers, nor wisdom, nor wea'th, 
 nor moral excellence (Deut. vii. 7, 8) which in- 
 duced Him to make them the depository of his 
 truth and the channel of his grace to a fallen world. 
 It was his own sovereign, condescending grace 
 which had its own reasons, but not reasons subsist- 
 ing in the moral qualities of Israel. As He had 
 chosen them once, the election still continued, and 
 was a valid reason why they should not be cast off. 
 Nay, the very circumstances which Satan might 
 plead against them were in anothe- point of view 
 arguments in their favor. They had been in the 
 glowing furnace of Chaldsean bondage and exile, 
 and the smell of fire was still on their garments. 
 Everything in their condition spoke of apostasy 
 and its merited recompense. They were a ver» 
 small remnant left of that proud kingdom which 
 once stretched from the Leontes to Egypt, and 
 from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean. It was 
 difficult to see any trace of the former grandeur in 
 the pQverty-stricken colony which gathered around 
 their fathers' graves. But their very fewness and 
 poverty and weakness pleaded for thenc They had 
 
10 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 been rescued from the common doom of trans- 
 planted people by a peculiar providence. A forced 
 migration of an entire population to a distant 
 land usually breaks the old a.^sociation entirely and 
 forever. New ties and interests are formed, and 
 the present drives the past out of view and out of 
 memory. But here God, by the hand of a man 
 whom He had called and named centuries before 
 he was born (Is. .xliv. 28, xlv. 1), iiad broken the 
 fetters and recalled bis banished ones. The work 
 of rcestablishment had beuun, and should it cease "? 
 Nay, verily. The brand so carefully rescued from 
 a general conflagration, would be preserved, not- 
 withstanding all the clamor of Satan. He who 
 had begun the good work would carry it on to 
 completion. The gifts and calling of God are 
 without repentance. 
 
 3. The doctrine of gratuitous forgiveness is the 
 glory of the Gospel. " Not by works of righte- 
 ousness which we have done, but according to his 
 mercy he saved us." Even so was the Church 
 taught in the older dispensation, not only by word 
 as when Abraham's faith was counted for righte- 
 ousness and by type, as in all the sacrifices, but 
 »lso by symbol as in the case of Joshua, the high 
 Driest. There was no denial of the truth of the 
 lacts upon which Satan based his accusation. On 
 the contrary, open confession was made in the 
 very appearance of the priest. Instead of being 
 arrayed in the pure and shining robes expressly 
 appointed for sacerdotal functions, he was clad in 
 filthy garments, — fit emblem of the hideous moral 
 stains by which he and his people were soiled. 
 Each one of those polluted garments echoed the 
 words of the royal penitent, " I acknowledge 
 my transgression, and my sin is ever before me " 
 (Ps. li. 3). Physical stains may be extracted, but 
 no human agency in all the world can take the 
 soil of sin from the conscience. That is done only 
 by the act of the Lord of the conscience. Its ac- 
 complishment here was represented by the order 
 to remove the filthy garments and replace them 
 by festal raiment. It was a sovereign act of the 
 God of grace, — I have caused thine iniquity to 
 pass from thee. This lies at the root of all true 
 religion. " There is forgiveness with thee that 
 thou mayest be feared." Despair is death. He 
 who has no hope or prospect of the divine mercy, 
 has nothing left but to go on in sin and at last lie 
 down in interminable sorrow. To encourage Is- 
 rael, fast verging to such a forlorn condition, this 
 vision was vouchsafed. Its aim was not to send 
 the people to sleep in their sins with the false peace 
 of self-righteousness, but to assure them that, not- 
 withstanding the magnitude of those sins, God 
 would of his own free grace remit the penalty and 
 bestow the gift of justification upon the high 
 priest, and in him upon the nation at large. Such 
 an assurance gives peace. Who is he that con- 
 demneth 1 It is God that justifieth. 
 
 4. Great as were the present privileges of the 
 covenant people, something better was in store. 
 Their whole economy was introductory and pre- 
 parative. The golden age of the Hebrews, unlike 
 that of all other ancient nations, was not in the 
 past but the future. Poets and Prophets rejoiced 
 to sing of one who was to come, in whom all the 
 families of the earth should be blessed. Priests 
 and kings were embodied types of the character 
 »nd functions of this great deliverer. Reminding 
 Joshua and his colleagues of this truth, Jehovah 
 renews the ]iromise of one who should be by eni- 
 "nence his servant. In naming him, the precise 
 •rm used by the old-jr Prouhets is employed afiain, 
 
 the Branch, which does not mean " a limb in th« 
 sense of one among many on the same tree, b it 8 
 shoot which springs up from the root, and which, 
 though small at first, becomes a tree of wonderful 
 qualities" (Cowles). The monarchy which in the 
 persons of David and his son Solomon stood like s 
 majestic and wide-sjircadinii' tree, now lay in ruins, 
 — the huge trunk cut down, mangled, burned 
 But from the stump there should come a slendei 
 shoot, which in course of time would grow up into 
 a mighty monarch of the forest, putting out liraba 
 and foliage under which whole nations should col- 
 lect themselves. The term therefore kei)t steadily 
 in view the salient points the people were to seize. 
 The lowly, unpretending, unpromising origin of 
 this deliverer and the ultimately vast sweep of his 
 beneficent agency. In all outward aspects he stood 
 at the farthest possible remove from his distin- 
 guished types, whether of the priestly or kingly 
 line. He never bore the brilliant breast-plate of 
 Aaron into the holy of holies, nor did his hand 
 hold a sceptre except the mocking reed of Pilate's 
 soldiers ; yet his sacerdotal function was the only 
 real and efficacious one the earth ever saw, and 
 his royal office has secured a depth of attachment 
 and a fullness of service to which all the records 
 of earth-born loyalty together furnish no parallel. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PBACTICAL. 
 
 Wordsworth : Ver. 1 . Satan stood at Joshua's 
 right hand and endeavored to work his ruin. So 
 Satan stood at the right hand of our Joshua on 
 the pinnacle of the Temple and tempted him to 
 cast himself down. He stood at Christ's right 
 hand when He was betrayed bj- Judas into whom 
 Satan entered ; he tempted him in his agony and 
 passion ; and he is still standing at Christ's right 
 hand by lii> ojiposition to the preaching of the Gos- 
 pel and by his sowing tares of heresy in his Church. 
 — Ver. 2. Here is a solemn warning against the 
 sarcastic, bitter, and virulent spirit which so often 
 shows itself in speaking and writing against others. 
 The holy angels, even in contending against Sa- 
 tan, use mild words. But these rash and reckless 
 persons imitate Satan who is called in Scripture 
 Diabolus or Calumniator. How can they hope 
 to be with good angels hereafter "? Must they not 
 rather look to be with those wretched fiends whom 
 they imitate 1 
 
 Calvin : Jehovah who chooses Jerusalem. We 
 are reminded that we are not to consider our des- 
 erts in order to gain help from God, for this 
 wholly depends upon gratuitous adoption. Hence, 
 though we are unworthy that God should fight for 
 us, yet his election is sufficient, as he proclaims 
 war against Satan in our behalf. It hence follows 
 that those men who obscure and seek as far as they 
 can to extinguish the doctrine of election, are en- 
 emies to the human race ; for they strive their ut- 
 most to subvert every assurance of salvation. 
 
 OwKN : Vers. 3-5. Two things are here said 
 to belong to our free acceptance with God. (1.) 
 The taking away of the guilt of our sin, our filthy 
 robes ; this is done by the death of Christ, the 
 proper fruit of which is remission of sin. (2.) But 
 more is required, even a collation of righteousness, 
 and thereby a right to life eternal. This is here 
 called change of raiment, or, as it is called by the 
 Holy Ghost in Isaiah (Ixi. 10), the garments of 
 salvation, the robe of righteousness. Now this if 
 made ours only by the obedience of Christ, as thf 
 other is by his death. 
 
CH Ll'TEU IV. .-14. 41 
 
 Moore: Ver. 7. A gratuitous justification fur- be swallowed up in the admiration of to all eter 
 nishes no excuse for inaction ami sin, but leads to j nity. 
 more entire oliodience Fidelity in God's I Cowlks : / will execute, etc. The engraving 
 
 service shall be gloriously rewarded 
 
 Gill : Men of wonder. The people of God are 
 wondered at by themselves, that (4od should have 
 any love for them, call them by his grace and at 
 1» ■•t bring them to glory ; wondered at by men of 
 t' { w odd that they should make such a choice as 
 they do, should bear afflictions with so much pa- 
 tience, and even thrive and flourish amidst them; 
 wondered at by the angels as they are the chosen 
 of God, the redeemed of the Lamb, and called 
 from among men ; and they shall be spectators 
 of wonderful things themselves, which they will 
 
 of the Church into forms of spiritual beauty, is 
 eminently God's work by the chisel of his provi- 
 dence and the agency of his Spirit. 
 
 Jay : Ver. 10. The reign of the Messiah is dis- 
 tinguished by three things : (1.) Enjoyment. The 
 very image of the vine and the fig tree is delight- 
 ful. (2.) Liberty. Slaves and captives did not 
 sit under their vines and fig trees, nor did proprie- 
 tors in time of war. (3.) Benevolence. " Ye shall 
 call every man," etc. There is no selfishness, no 
 envy. All are anxious that others should partake 
 of their privileges. 
 
 VISION V. THE CANDLESTICK WITH THE TWO OLIVE TREES. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 A. A Golden Candelabrum and its Two Oil Feeders (vers. 1-5). B. Divine Graet 
 
 the Source of Strength and Success (vers. 6-10). C. The Means by which 
 
 that Grace is obtained (vers. 11—14). 
 
 1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man who is 
 
 2 waked out of his sleep ; And said to me, What seest thou ? And I said,^ I have 
 looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, and its oil-vessel ^ upon the top of it and 
 its seven lamps upon it, seven pipes each ^ for the lamps which are upon the top of 
 
 3 it ; and two olive trees by it, one on the right of the oil-vessel and the other on tha 
 
 4 left of it ; And I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, 
 
 5 What are these, my lord ? And the angel that talked with me answered and said 
 
 6 to me, Knowest thou not what these are ? And I said, No, my lord. Ajid he 
 answered and spake to me, saying : This is the word of Jehovah to Zerubbabel, 
 saying, Not by might and not by power,'* but by my Spirit, saitli Jehovah of Hosts. 
 
 7 Who art thou, great mountain, before Zerubbabel?^ Be a plain !*^ And he shall 
 
 8 bring forth the top stone '' with shoutings, Grace, grace unto it ! And the word of 
 
 9 Jehovah came to me, saying. The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of 
 this house, and his hands shall finish it, and thou shalt know that Jehovah of Hosts 
 
 10 hath sent me to you. For who despiseth * the day of small things ? And they 
 rejoice and see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, [even] those seven ; ^ the 
 
 11 eyes of Jehovah, they go to and fro through the whole earth. And I answered 
 and said unto him, What are these two olive trees on the right of the candlestick 
 
 12 and on the left? And I answered the second time and said to him. What are the 
 two branches ^" of the olive trees, which by means of the two golden spouts ^^ emptj 
 
 13 the gold ^^ out of themselves ? And he spake to me, saying, Knowest thou not 
 
 14 what these are ? And I said, No, my lord. And he said, These are the two sons 
 of oil which stand before *^ the Lord of the whole earth. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAli. 
 
 1 Ter. 2. — The Eethibh "ipS*1 must be considered a copyist's error; the Kerl, besides a^TKeing better with th« 
 connection and with usage, is found in numerous MS3., and also in the LXX., Itala, Vulg., Targum, and Peshito. 
 
 3 Ver 2. — P V^, which is pointed correctly, may stand for nn- !1, as ^l^^H, Hos. xii. 2, which escapes tbt 
 
 T\' T T •■. T : 
 
 neceesity of assuming a masculine , D, of which there is no other example. 
 
 8 Ver. 2. — n^5^'l nL''5^^, seven and seven, must be taken distributively, for which there is an eTiact F«raU« 
 b 2 Sam. zsi. 20. Cf. l':bron. °xx. 6- 
 
vz 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 4 Ver. 6. — It seems impossible to establish aoy diatinction between TTf and TT2. Both are used indiscriminatel; 
 »f physical or mental or moral power. 
 
 6 Ver. 7- — The ftlasoretic interpunction requires " before Zerubbabel " to be connected with what goes before, ana 
 not, as £. V., with what follows. 
 
 6 Ver. 7. — Be a plain ! is quite as correct a rendering of "litZ7^X37 as to supply a future (E. V.), and surely far mor« 
 ■pirited. 
 
 7 Ver. 7. —The Raphe over the last letter of fltt^Sin shows that this word is a feminine form of tt?S'~l, and in 
 opposition with ]ZSn. 
 
 8 Ver. 10. — T5 is one of the two instances in which verbs of this clajs take Pattach instead of Kamets. Th« 
 other verb is PIQ. 
 
 9 Ver. 10. — " Those seven." The translation makes this phrase the subject of the verb r^oice. Professor Cowla» 
 objects to the "violent inversion,'' but this is not worse than to disregard the accents .and both the tense and number of 
 the verb, by rendering " who hath despised, etc.. Let them rejoice." 
 
 10 Ver. 12. — '731!?, oTT. Ary., lit., ears, here twigs or branches, so called because of their resemblance to ripe eari 
 of grain, or (Fiirst) of their undulating motion. 
 
 11 Ver. 12. — n'1~li^31*. This also is an an-. Key. It does not mean presses (Hengstenberg), which is sustained neia 
 ther by etymology nor taste ; nor receptacles (Pressel), which is too vague ; but, as E. V., pipes, i. «., tubes or spoutt 
 through which the oil was discharged. 
 
 12 Ver. 12. — There is a play upon words here. The shining oil is Uke Uquid gold ; hence it is said the golden spouti 
 pour gold out of themselves. 
 
 18 Ver. 14 — v37 (as Henderson suggests) is elliptical for "'pQ'vJ? = before ; or it may be (as 1 Kings xxii. 19, Ib. 
 Ti. 2) lit., above him, which would naturally be the appearance if the Lord was sitting and they were standing. 
 
 BXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 In the former vision there was a lively display 
 of the means and ground of the forgiveness of sin. 
 This one advances farther, and shows a positive 
 communication of grace by which all obstacles are 
 overcome and the establishment of God's kingdom 
 effectually secured. 
 
 a. The Vision (vers. 1-.5). Ver. 1. And the 
 angel .... out of his sleep. These words im- 
 ply a pause between this vision and the preceding 
 one, during which the interpreting angel had 
 withdrawn, and the prophet had relapsed into the 
 condition of ordinary consciousness. This con- 
 dition, compared with the ecstatic state in which 
 Bupersensual objects are seen, was like sleep com- 
 pared with waking. Hence Zechariah needed to 
 be aroused from his ordinary and normal state. 
 This was done by the return of the interpreting 
 angel. The new vision presented to him is strik- 
 ing. A candlestick of gold with an oil-vessel on 
 top, from which the oil flows into each one of the 
 seven lamps through seven tubes ; and two olive 
 trees by the side of the candlestick. 
 
 Ver. 2. And I said . . . the top of it. Upon the 
 var. read, see Gram, and Text. The candlestick 
 was formed after the pattern of the one in the tab- 
 ernacle (Kx. XXV. .31-.37), but with some remark- 
 able variations. The candelabrum the prophet 
 saw had a round vessel on its top, and seven feed- 
 ing-tubes for each lamp, ;ind two trees at its sides, 
 none of which were seen in the original pattern in 
 the sanctuary. The precise meaning of the phrase 
 rendered, seven pipes each, lit., " seven and sev- 
 en," has been much contested. Hitzig and Hen- 
 derson propose an alteration of the text, omitting 
 one of the sevens, in accordance with the LXX. 
 and Vulgate. Pressel gains the same end by con- 
 necting the first seven with what precedes, — which 
 is harsh, and forbidden by the interpunction. Koh- 
 ler adds the two together, thus making the number 
 of pipes fourteen, but if the prophet had meant 
 riiat, he would have said so. It is better to take 
 the text as it stands. Forty-nine tubes are very 
 many to i roceed from one oil-bowl, but as we know 
 
 not the size of either the vessel or the pipes, no 
 judgment can be expressed against the possibility 
 of such a thing. That it was probable, seems to be 
 clearly shown by the fact that the visionary can- 
 dlestick is a designed enlargement of the real one 
 made by Moses. 
 
 Ver. 3. Two olive trees. The meaning of 
 these trees is further explained in vers. 12-14. 
 The candlestick represents the Church as the ap- 
 pointed light-bearer in a dark world. This is con- 
 firmed by such passages in the New Testament as 
 Matt. V. 14, 16, Luke xii. 35, Philip, ii. 15, and by 
 the express statement in Rev. i. 20, " the seven 
 candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven 
 churches." The seven lamps indicated the fullness 
 of the light that was shed, and the seven times 
 seven tubes the number and variety of the chan- 
 nels by which grace was imparted to the luminary. 
 
 Vers. 4, 5. And I answered . . . no, my Lord. 
 " I answered," i. e., to the statement suggested in 
 the visionary scene. The counter-question of the 
 angel implies that the prophet might have learned 
 the object of the vision from the analogy of the 
 golden candlestick in the holy place. Then the 
 angel gives him the answer. 
 
 6. Divine Grace the Source of all Strength (vv. 6- 
 10). Ver. 6. This is the word, etc. The vision 
 was an embodied prophecy intended in the first 
 instance for the guidance and comfort of Zerub- 
 babel ; and its sum was given in the abrupt utter- 
 ance : " Not by might," etc. That is, the work 
 which the Hebrew governor has undertaken will 
 be carried out not by human strength in any form, 
 but by the Spirit of God. The candlestick gave 
 light, but it could not do this unless furnished with 
 a plentiful supply of oil. So all that was needful 
 for the maintenance of the Church of God on 
 earth, including the restoration of its material cen- 
 tre at the time, the Temple, could be attained only 
 by the same blessed agency. That the oil of the 
 lamps should symbolize the Holy Spirit, is the less 
 strange, as the anointing oil of consecration was 
 understood always to mean this. The attempt of 
 Kliefotli to establish a distinction between the 
 
 two words ^^t);' and "'^JJ""".' *s if the former a] 
 
CHAPTEH IV. 1-u. 
 
 4b 
 
 •rays meant anointing oil, and the latter, illumina- 
 ting oil, is altogether vain. Both are used promis- 
 cuously for either purpose, and both may have tlie 
 same symbolic signification. 
 
 Ver. 7. Who art thou, etc. As the resources 
 of the Jewish leader were few, and the obstacle* in 
 the way nunierons and formidable, the thought 
 contained in ver. 6 is expanded in a striking form. 
 The exclamation. Who art, etc., gives great vivid- 
 ness to the sentiment, and this is still further in- 
 creased by the concise force of the appended com- 
 mand, Into a /ilain .' Some understand b}' the 
 mountain the Persian Empire, which is to be lev- 
 eled to a plain (Chald., Jerome, Kimchi, Hitzig, 
 Hengstenberg, Keil, etc.). But it is better to take 
 it as a figure of the colossal difficulties which rose 
 mountain high at the continuation and completion 
 of the building of the temple. So Kliefoth, Neu- 
 mann, and most interpreters. This view includes 
 the other, and at the same time allows of an appli- 
 cation of the assurance to the Church in all ages. 
 That a mountain in prophecy usually symbolizes 
 a kingdom, as Hengstenberg insists, surely does not 
 compel us always to understand it in that sense. 
 As one well says, the imagery of the Bible is not 
 stereotype. And he shall bring, etc. The sec- 
 ond half of the verse foretells the joyful comple- 
 tion of the Temple. The stone mentioned is not, 
 as Hengstenberg and Henderson say (with whom 
 agrees Dr. J. A. Alexander, in his comment upon Ps. 
 cxviii. 22), the foundation-stone, for which a differ- 
 ent phrase is used (Job xxxviii. 6, Jer. li. 2G), but 
 the finishing or gable stone. Nor can the verb be 
 rendered as a simple preterite (Hengstenberg), but 
 in accordance with Vav cons., must be given as in 
 E. v., " And he shall bring," etc The nomina- 
 tive to the verb is not Jehovah (Henderson), but 
 Zerubbabel, as the next verse plainly shows. The 
 Jewish leader shall at last bring forth the cope- 
 stone amidst loud acclamations of the people, crv- 
 ing, Grace, grace imto it ! i. e.. May God grant 
 hif grace to the stone and the building it repre- 
 sents, so that it may stand forever. 
 
 Ver. 8. An additional communication is now 
 made to the Prophet. Its source is not mentioned, 
 but the analogy of ver. 9 h with ii. 9-11 indicates 
 the angel of Jehovah as the author. 
 
 Ver. 9. The hands of ... . sent me. As 
 Zerubbabel had laid the foundation of the house 
 of God (Ezra Hi. 8-10 ; Hag. ii. 18), so should he 
 finish it. A confirmation of this promise is given 
 in the next verse. 
 
 Ver. 10. For who despiseth .... whole 
 earth. The construction here is nmch disputed. 
 Many (LXX., Targum, Peshito, Vulgate, Calvin, 
 Ewaiii, etc.) make the second clause the apodosis 
 of the first, thus, " for whoever despises the day of 
 email things, they shall see with joy," etc. But 
 
 ''^, cannot be rendered whoever, when followed by 
 a preterite witli Vav cons. Keil and Wordsworth 
 retain the interrogation, but consider it = a denial ; 
 in the sense that no one who hopes to achieve, or 
 does achieve, anything great, despises the dav of 
 small things. But this gets a meaniuL; out of" the 
 text by first putting it in. It is better to take the 
 clause as a general challenge, " Who despises," 
 etc., i. e., with reason. Then follows the ground 
 of the question in the rest of the verse, the stac- 
 lato style of which is well explained by Pressel as 
 t climax, of which the steps are three, namely, 
 ,'l.) Those setrw, already mentioned in theprevi- 
 »us vision. (2.) They are the eyes of Jehovah. 
 '3.) They sweej) through all the earth. These seven 
 
 eyes, the seven-fold radiations of the Spirit of 
 Jehovah (comp. on iii. 9), gladly see the plumn^.et, 
 etc However discouraging the small beginnings 
 may be in themselves, the willing cooperation of 
 the divine Spirit ensures -success to the enterpiis« 
 of Zerubbabel. The pluniLrjet in the hand indi- 
 cates the work he is engaged in. 
 
 c. The means by which this aid is secured (vers. 
 11-14). 
 
 Ver. 11. And I answered .... left. The 
 main portion of the symbol has now been ex- 
 plained, but there remains one feature untouched, 
 — the olive trees on either side of the candlestick. 
 Accordingly the Prophet asks the interpreting an- 
 gel. But without waiting for an answer, he re- 
 news the question with a slight modification. The 
 repetition seems to indicate a conviction in his 
 mind of the great significance of this new and pe- 
 culiar feature of the candelabrum. 
 
 Ver. 12. I answered the second time, etc. 
 Here it is the branches of the oil trees he inquires 
 about. These are emphasized, apparently, because 
 they are the link of connection between the can- 
 delabrum and the trees, and because the peculiar- 
 ity of this part of the symbol lay in the fact, that 
 the supply of oil came without any intervening 
 agency directly from the source in nature. These 
 branches through spouts discharge at once their 
 oil, which is called gold, because of its color or 
 preciousness. A similar use of this word is foiinc 
 in Job xxxvii. 22, where it is said, " Gold coraeth 
 out of the north," gold being put for the golden 
 brightness of the sky (E. V., fair weather). The 
 later critics incline to take the word literally. 
 
 Ver. 13. To awaken his attention still more to 
 the importance of this portion of the symbol, the 
 angel asks the Prophet if he understood its mean- 
 ing, and being answered in the negative, proceeds 
 to give the necessary information. 
 
 Ver. 14. These are the two sons of oil, etc. 
 "Sons of oil "^supplied with oil, ;'. e., anointed 
 ones. " Stand before " = are servants of. These 
 sons of oil are not the believing members of Is- 
 rael and the Gentiles (Kliefoth), for this would 
 confound the olive trees with the candlestick; nor 
 Haggai and Zechariah (Hoffman, Baumg., etc.), 
 nor Joshua and Zerubbabel considered as individ- 
 uals (Henderson, Pressel), for the supply of oil to 
 the candlestick, i. e., the communication of grace 
 to the Church, could not be made to depend upon 
 the lives of two mortal men. The phrase rather 
 denotes the regal and priestly offices which were 
 the chief media in the Old Testament for convey- 
 ing God's gracious gifts to the Church, and which 
 at the time of the vision were represented by 
 Joshua and Zerubbabel. The appropriateness of 
 the designation lies in the fact that unction was 
 the ceremony by which persons were inducted into 
 these offices. 
 
 The peculiar encouragement of this vision ap- 
 pears in the circumstance that the Church was 
 still represented by a stately candelabrum, made 
 as formerly of solid gold, but furnished with far 
 more numerous pipes of communication, and sup- 
 plied with oil, not by the daily service of the 
 priests, but from living olive trees at its side which 
 continually poured in a fresh and abundant stream 
 of the golden liquid. 
 
 THEOUaiCAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The Church is a golden light-bearer, and 
 therefore at once precious and luminous- Pre- 
 
14 
 
 ZKCIIAKIAH. 
 
 cious in the sight of God as chosen and callod and 
 honored by Bini. Zion is his pec-uliar inheritance, 
 Its members are his jewels, accjuired by an im- 
 measnrable ransom. Notwithstanding;, therefore, 
 their fewness or obscurity or imperfections, they 
 are properly symbolized by an article made of solid 
 gold. But this article is as significant in its use 
 as it is in its material. It is a candlestick or lamp- 
 stand. Its object is to give light. Hence our 
 Lord said to his followers, Ye are the light of the 
 world. This has been one of the chief functions 
 of the Church in all ages. For the greater part 
 of the race has always been in the condition de- 
 scribed by Isaiah (Ix. 2), "Darkness covers the 
 earth and gross darkness the peoples." This was 
 the natural and necessary result of depravity, 
 " their foolish heart was darkened." They often 
 made great advances in civilization, but there was 
 no corresponding growth in religious opinion or 
 practice ; on the contrary, " professing themselves 
 to be wise they became fools." All the true and 
 pure light the ancient world enjoyed streamed out 
 from the candlestick which God set up in his 
 chosen people. With all their imperfections the 
 Jews preserved the knowledge of the true God 
 and of the mode of acceptable worship ; and their 
 sacred books were a torch from whicli many a 
 minor light among surrounding nations was kin- 
 dled. Still more largely was this the case when 
 the new economy was established. It was intended 
 to be diffusive and propagandist, but only by the 
 force of light, — the manifestation of the truth. It 
 courted the day. It disowned the unfruitful works 
 of darkness. It demanded intelligent faith and 
 adherence. Never was there a more unscriptural 
 maxim than that which claims ignorance as the 
 mother of devotion. The Church is now, as she 
 always was, a light-bearer, and seeks to accom- 
 plish her ohjects by mental and moral illumina- 
 tion. Nor is there the least ground for the not in- 
 frequent charge of unfriendliness to the progress 
 of discovery in physical science. Zion holds firm- 
 ly that the author of nature and of revelation is 
 one and the same, and that it is quite impossible 
 that there can be any real discordance between the 
 two forms of God's self-disclosure. She objects 
 to hasty inferences and unsound deductions, but 
 knowledge, true knowledge of all kinds, she wel- 
 comes as akin to her own nature, and subservi- 
 ent to those great ends for which the Most High 
 has set up his golden candlestick in this dark 
 world. 
 
 2. But the Church like the moon shines only 
 with a borrowed light. She has nc resources of 
 her own. All depends upon the central Sun of 
 Righteousness, not only for illumination, but for 
 every other kind or degree of influence. This is a 
 fundamental truth of Scripture and experience. 
 In religious development, outward or inward, the 
 efficient cause always lies back of what is seen. 
 God uses human instruments, and rarely, if ever, 
 operates independently of them, but when they 
 effect their aim, the power comes from above. A 
 sailing vessel perfectly appointed and manned, 
 cannot move in a calm. The most ingenious ma- 
 chine accomplishes nothing, if motive power be 
 withheld. In like manner the Church is helpless 
 f forsaken of the Spirit of God. A new birth, a 
 new creation, a resurrection from death in tres- 
 passes and sins, — these are objects which mock 
 ill the array of mere human agencies. Only He 
 who made the soul and breathed into it of his own 
 mspiration can recast the broken mould and bring 
 tack the fair image so sadly marred by sin. Hence 
 
 the unspeakable importance in all Christian work 
 of giving due honor to the Spirit. Neither is he 
 that planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but 
 God that giveth the increase. The Apostles wera 
 held fast in Jerusalem until the Spirit was poured 
 out from on high. Then and not before, the Word 
 had free course and was glorified. And so it has 
 been ever since. Whether in individual conver- 
 sions or in mighty movements among races and 
 nations, the effect is due to a divine and supernat- 
 ural cause. In the great Reformation of the six- 
 teenth century, so long as this truth was recog- 
 nized, the work went on ; but when an arm of 
 flesh was introduced and reliance placed upon gov- 
 ernment or policy, a retrograde movement began. 
 God is jealous for his honor ; his glory He will not 
 give to another. If his people will not receive the 
 doctrine that all real advances are made by his 
 Holy Spirit, then He teaches them by sore experi- 
 ence that nothing can be done by might or by 
 power, by the very best human appliances. Le- 
 viathan is not so tamed. " He esteemeth iron 
 as straw, and brass as rotten wood, and laugh- 
 eth at the shaking of a spear." Only " He that 
 made him can make his sword to approach unto 
 him." 
 
 3. The contempt of small beginnings especially 
 in religious matters has been quite a common feel- 
 ing. Yet such a feeling is rebuked by the whole 
 experience of the Church of God. The prospect 
 of a godly seed on the earth once lay wrapped up 
 in a childless man, "and him as good as dead; " 
 and yet there sprang from Abraham as many as 
 the sand which is by the sea-shore innumerable. 
 The stripling David was reproved by his brothers 
 and derided by Goliath, yet a stone from his sling 
 laid the giant low. The Psalmist sings of a hand- 
 ful of corn on a bleak mountain top, which yet 
 yields a harvest that rustles like the lordly woods 
 of Lebanon ; and the Prophet tells of a worm Ja- 
 cob which threshes the mountains. Samaritan 
 scoffers laughed at the first feeble walls of restored 
 Jerusalem, yet there came a time when to suppress 
 the sedition of that city strained the last resources 
 of imperial Rome. Twelve men went forth to 
 give the Gospel to the world, and before the end 
 of the first century, believers were found all the 
 way from the shores of Britain to far Cathay. In 
 the sixteenth century one man entered the lists 
 against the anti-christian corruptions of the time, 
 and Leo X. spoke contemptuously of " Brother 
 Martin," but in the issue one half of Europe was 
 emancipated from the papal yoke, and the Maj 
 of Sin received a fatal blow. The finest wit o 
 Great Britain set the polite world on a broai 
 laugh at the " consecrated cobblers " who com- 
 menced the work of East Indian missions ; yet to- 
 day the whole Church of Christ honors that heroic 
 vanguard of Hindoo missionaries, and the friends 
 of the wit would gladly sponge out his misplaced 
 jests. The law of Providence is to begin with a 
 day of small things. A little leaven hid in the 
 measures of meal at last affects the entire mass. 
 The smallest of seeds when planted grows into a 
 tree upon whose branches the fowls of the air may 
 lodge. No mature grain ever springs instanta- 
 neously from the earth. It is " first the blade, then 
 the ear, then the full corn in the ear." The oak 
 which has withstood the storms of a thousand 
 years was once an acorn. The mighty river which 
 fertilizes a continent began with a tiny streamlet 
 which even an infant's hand could divert. It be- 
 comes no one, least of all a believer, to deride a 
 feeble beginning. No matter how small it maj 
 
CHAPTEU V. 1- 
 
 46 
 
 DC jot if carried forward in faith and prayer, 
 neither man nor angel can tell whereunto it may 
 grow. 
 
 4. The effusion of the Holy Ghost is not an arbi- 
 trary thins. Whitsunday stands in direct relation 
 with Good Friday and Easter. The lamps of the 
 candlestick give light because the manifold tubes 
 convey oil in a coiistant flow from the central res- 
 ervoir. But how is this reservoir kept full 1 By 
 living trees whose supply is perpetually renewed. 
 These living trees are the priesthood and kingship 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. By his sacrifice the 
 blessed Lord procured the measureless grace of the 
 Holy Ghost, and by his enthronement at the P'a- 
 ther's right hand He has power to shed down the 
 life-giving influence in streams as mighty as those 
 which made Pentecost forever memorable. These 
 trees are living, ever-living. The blood of the one 
 great ransom is ever new {KaivSs, recens) ; it does 
 not clot so as to be inefficacious ; it belongs to an 
 unchangeable priesthood ; it endures to the utter- 
 most in point of time. So the session on high is 
 uninterrupted. Our Lord sat down forever on the 
 right hand of God (Heb. x. 12), and therefore al- 
 ways holds his ascension gifts to be dispensed at 
 will for the preservation, the extension, and the 
 exaltation of his Church. The oil of grace cannot 
 fail, just because the Lord Jesus is an eternal priest 
 and an eternal king. Here is a valid ground for 
 fiiith, hope, and prayer. There is no machinery by 
 which the most fervid evangelist can yoke the 
 blessed Spirit to his methods and measures. But 
 the varied and repeated and emphatic promises of 
 the One Mediator (John xiv. 16, 17, 26, xv. 26, 
 xvi. 7-11, 13-15) encourage every toiler in the 
 vineyard, however feeble or obscure, to look up to 
 the priest upon his throne, with an absolute convic- 
 tion that his arm is not shortened that it cannot 
 save, nor Jiis ear heavy that it cannot hear. If the 
 Saviour in the days of his flesh, had the Spirit 
 without measure, how much more must He now, 
 in his glorious exaltation far above all heavens ! 
 The wonders of Pentecost were explained by the 
 Apostle Peter (Acts ii. 33) as an immediate gift of 
 the ascended Saviour, who " having received of 
 the Father the promise of the Spirit, hath shed 
 forth this which ye now see and hear." The sup- 
 ply of spiritual gifts depends upon the perpetual 
 mtercession within the veil ; and in vain do we 
 look for oil in the lamps if by conceit or neglect 
 we neglect the olive-branches from which alone the 
 ■apply is maintained. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Calvin : The material of the candlestick was 
 intended to set forth a mystery. It is indeed tru» 
 that gold is corruptible ; but as we cannot other 
 wise understand what exceeds the things of the 
 world, the Lord, under the figure of gold and silver 
 and precious stones, sets forth those things which 
 are celestial, and which surpass in value the earth 
 and the world. It was for this purpose that God 
 commanded the candlestick to be made of gold, not 
 that He needed earthly wealth or riches, or was 
 pleased with them as men are. 
 
 Wordsworth : Observe the candlestick is 
 golden and the oil is called gold ; it is like liquid 
 gold. The Church must be pure and holy ; and 
 what she teaches and ministers to the people must 
 be pure and holy also ; not adulterated with the 
 admixture of any novel doctrines, such as those 
 which have been added by some to the faith once 
 delivered to the saints, and imposed as necessary 
 to salvation. 
 
 C. Bradley : Observe, these Scriptures do not 
 say that there are no enemies, no mountains, no 
 difficulties. They do not make the salvation of the 
 Church that light thing which some of us make it. 
 On the contrary, they suppose it to he in itself a 
 work of the utmost difficulty. But then, Christ, 
 they tell us, is more than equal to it ; He is mighty 
 to save ; He can prepare his people for heaven and 
 carrv them there, in spite of everything. 
 
 John Foster : When good men despise the day 
 of small things, it is because the grand essential oi 
 religion, Faith, is wanting. They lack faith in the 
 unerring wisdom of the Divine scheme and deter- 
 minations ; faith in the goodness of God, the ab- 
 solute certainty that infinite wisdom and power 
 cannot be otherwise than good ; faith in the prom- 
 ise of God, that his servants shall in the succession 
 of their generations see his cause advance from the 
 small to the great, though this be not granted to 
 any one separately. 
 
 Patson : We ought not to despise the day of 
 small things, because, (1 ) such conduct tends to pre- 
 vent its becoming a day of great things. (2) An- 
 gels do not despise, etc., but rejoice over even one 
 repenting sinner. (3) Our Saviour does not break 
 the bruised reed, nor quench, etc. (4) God dpes 
 not despise, etc., but noticed even some good thing 
 found in the son of Jeroboam. (5) The day oi 
 small things is the commencement of great things. 
 Gill : The lamp of a profession without the 
 1 oil of grace is a dark and useless thing. 
 
 VISION VI. THE FLYING ROLL. 
 Chapter V. 1-4. 
 
 A. A large Roll flying over the Land (vers. 1, 2). B. It contains and executes a 
 
 destructive Curse (vers. 3, 4). 
 
 I, 2 And 1 lifted up my eyes again,^ and saw, and behold a flying roll. And he said 
 to me, What seest thou ? " And I said, I see a flying roll ; its length twenty cubits 
 
 3 and its breadth ten cubits. And he said to me. This is the curse that goeth forth 
 over the face of the whole land; for every one that stealeth shall be cut off"" on this 
 
40 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 side according to it, and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on that side, accord 
 ing to it. I have brought ^ it forth, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and it shall enter into 
 the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth by my name to a 
 falsehood, and it shall lodge * in the midst of his house and consume it, both its wood 
 and its stones. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 1. — Again. For this meaning of Ill\tt?, cf. 2 Kings i. 11. 
 
 2 Ver. 3. — npS «= emptied, exhausted, here manifestly = destroyed. 
 8 Ver. 4. — n'^riS^'in cannot be rendered, " I will bring it forth. 
 
 * Ver. 4.— npV irregular for H^V. It means, to pass the night, h. abide. 
 
 EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 The series of visions here takes a sharp turn. 
 All that preceded were of a consolatory character, 
 setting forth the overthrow of Zion's foes, the for- 
 giveness of the people, their illumination and ex- 
 altation by the Spirit of God, and consequently 
 the sure and speedy completion of the Temple. 
 Now, however, the' prophet is directed to show 
 his countrymen that Jehovah is a holy God, and 
 wickedness cannot dwell with Him. There is no 
 toleration for sinners while they continue such. As 
 many as still remain impenitent, or reject God's 
 provision of mercy, shall be visited with an exter- 
 minating judgment, or experience a captive exile 
 far longer and more dreary even than that which 
 their fiithers had suffered in Babylon. This is set 
 forth vividly and plainly in the two visions which 
 follow, which, although entirely distinct in form 
 and manifestation, yet are closely allied in subject 
 and bearing. 
 
 The former of the two borrows the groundwork 
 of its striking symbolism from the Mosaic Law 
 (" curse," " roll ''), and sets forth with fearful en- 
 ergy the retributive consequences of sin. 
 
 (a.) The Fli/ing Roll {\ers.\, 2). Ver. 1. Ilifted 
 up . . . again. This implies an interval, longer 
 or shorter, since the last vision. What he saw is 
 described fully in the next verse. 
 
 Ver. 2. And he said. That is, the interpreting 
 angel said, as is obvious from what precedes. 
 " Roll " ^ book-scroll or parchment; of course 
 one so large as this must have been composed of 
 many skins fastened together. It is seen flying 
 oyer the earth unrolled, so that its size could be 
 discerned. Its dimensions are ten yards long by 
 five broad. Some (Kohler, Henderson, et al.) cori- 
 sider these measurements as intended only to state 
 that it was of considerable size. But as that could 
 be so easily expressed in a simpler way, it is better 
 to regard the dimensions as significant. But of 
 what I Hengstenberg, Hoffman, Umbreit, follow- 
 ing Kim?hi, assume a reference to the porch of the 
 
 Temple which was of the same size (1 Kings vi. 3), 
 atid infer that the intention was to represent the 
 judgment as " a consequence of the theocracy," to 
 which, however, it is justly objected that the tem- 
 ple-porch in itself had no symbolic significance, 
 nor was it a meeting-place for Israel. Keil and 
 Kliel'oth say that the dimensions were taken from 
 those of the holy place of the tabernacle (twenty 
 cubits by ten), and explain, " the measure by which 
 this curse upon sinners will be meted out will be the 
 measure of the holy place," i. e., it will act so as 
 to cut them off from the congregation of the Lord 
 which appeared before God in the holy place. I 
 should prefer to take the dimensions as a sugges- 
 tion of the scope of the impending judgment, 
 namely, the covenant people. 
 
 (6. ) 'Meaning of the Roll ( vers. 3, 4). Ver. 3. This 
 is the curse. Henderson compares our Lord's 
 words, "This is (represents) my body." "The 
 whole land," i. e., of Israel, as the analogy of the 
 preceding and following visions shows. The curse 
 hovers over the entire region, ready to fall upon its 
 destined objects. These are the thief and the 
 false swearer, who are taken as examples, one 
 from each table of the law ; and therefore stand 
 for all sinners- Such are to be cut oflF= driven 
 out of the fellowship of God's people, with the 
 usual implication, in that phrase, of destruction. 
 On this side, on that side, refer to the two sides 
 of the roll (Ex. xxxii. 15), on one of which was 
 the curse against one class of sinners, and on the 
 other that against the other class. Then accord- 
 ing to it {i. e., according to its terms) refers re- 
 spectively to these two sides. 
 
 Ver. 4. I have brought. To render this in the 
 future, as E. V., is a needless departure from the 
 original. God has caused it to come forth, as the 
 prophet sees. He proceeds now to 'tell him what 
 it will do. It will enter the house of the sinner, 
 and come to stay. Lodge, literally, pass the night, 
 and hence dwell permanently. Nor will it remain 
 idle, but destroy until not only the contents bu; 
 even the most durable parts of the ho ise were con- 
 sumed. Cf. 1 Kings xviii. 38. 
 
CHAPTER V. 5-11 
 
 47 
 
 VISION VII. THE WOMAN IN THE EPHAH. 
 
 Chapter V. 5-11. 
 
 A.. The Prophet sees an Ephah going forth (vers. 5, 6). B. ^ Woman thrust down in 
 it and sh'xt in (vers. 7, 8). C. The Ephah carried away to Shinar (vers. 9-1] ). 
 
 5 And the angel that talked with me came forth, and said to me, Lift up thine 
 
 6 eyes, I pray, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it ? And 
 he said. This is the ephah that goeth forth. And he said. This is their aim ^ in 
 
 7 all the land. And behold, a round piece '^ of lead was lifted up, and this is a 
 •8 woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness ; and 
 
 he cast her into the midst of the ephah, and cast the weight* of lead into its mouth. 
 
 9 And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, two women came forth and the wind 
 
 was in their wings, and they had wings like a stork's wings ; and they lifted ^ up 
 
 10 the ephah between earth and heaven. And I said to the angel that talked with 
 
 11 me. Whither are these taking the ephah ? And he said to me, To build for her^ a 
 house in the land of Shinar ; and it shall be established^ and settled there upon its 
 own base. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 6- — DD''3?, lit-, eye, here that to which the eye is directed = aim. The Glenevan version pves sight. Sm 
 Bxeg. and Crit. 
 
 2 Ver. 7. — "133. Margin ot E. V. gives weighty piece, but the word denotes ihape rather than size or weight. II 
 .s another word that is rendered weight in the next verse. 
 
 5 Ver. 7. — innK. This seems to be one of the cases in which the first numeral is employed as an indefinite arti- 
 cle, as Ex. xxix. 3. 
 
 4 Ver. 8. — "75?? = stone, here \ead-wtight, just as in iv. 10 it is used with 7"'^2n to mean tin-weight or plum- 
 bet. 
 
 6 Ver. 9. — In H^^D the quiescent S is dropped (Green, H. G., § 164, 2). 
 
 6 Ver. 11. — The grammatical subject of the sufflx in n^ is of course the ephah, but logically it must refer to th* 
 woman it contains, as a house is not built for a measure. The marginal Masoretic note calls for a Raphe to mark the 
 absence of a dagesh in the n, but it is not found in the text. 
 
 1 Ver. 11. — ^3^n according to its gender is to be construed with rn''3, and nrT^Sn with HD'^S or tb« 
 woman inclosed in it. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 a. The Ephah (vers. 5, 6). Ver. 5. And . . . 
 goeth forth. This shows that we have a new 
 vision here, and not a continuation of the preced- 
 ing one (Umhreit, Neumann, Keil). The two are 
 closely allied, indeed, in tone and character, still 
 they are distinct in form and as such were repre- 
 sented to the Prophet. 
 
 Ver. 6. What is it P The Prophet sees some 
 vague form risinu:, as it were, out of mist, but is 
 not able to distinguish what it is. To his ques- 
 tion he receives the reply that this is the ephah, 
 I. e., the one which is to constitute the main feat- 
 ure of the vision. The ephah was one of the 
 most familiar of dry measures among the He- 
 brews. Its capacity cannot now be exactly deter- 
 mined ; according to Josephus it contained some- 
 thing more than eight gallons and a half; accord- 
 mg to the Rabbinists, a little less than four gal- 
 lons and a half. Nothing in the interpretation 
 depends upon its exact measurement. The latter 
 
 part of the verse is difficult. 23'^17 is rendered 
 
 by the LXX., Peshito, and Arabic, as if it were 
 pointed C^"^? (their sin), and these have been 
 followed by Hitzig, Burger, and Fiirst (in Lex.). 
 But for such a reading there is only one MS. au- 
 thority, and besides, as Pressel says, in that case 
 the ephah would be called unrighteousness in ver. 
 6, and the woman in it would receive that name in 
 vsr, 8. We must, therefore, accept the traditional 
 pointing, and render their eye, but in what sense' 
 Many from Luther down say that it means appear- 
 ance, or as in E. V. " resemblance," i. e., the pec 
 pie are like the sin-containing ephah (Rosenmullei 
 Maurer, Bunsen, Keil). But this is an unusua 
 sense of the word, and besides gives a frigid senti- 
 ment. It is better to take the term as designating 
 the object to which men's eyes were directed (Um- 
 breit, Hengstenberg, Kohler, Pressel). The dwell- 
 ers in all the land were looking to the ephah as a 
 measure to be filled with sin. Their success and 
 its unhappy results are set forth in what follows. 
 /). Its Contents (vers. 7, 8). — Ver. 7. A round 
 piece of lead. The symbol is still further devel- 
 oped, and the Prophet sees now a circular mass of 
 
i8 
 
 /1-:CHAK1AH. 
 
 mcttt] lifted ujj ever tliu e|ih;ili. "^5? is often ren- 
 dered talent elsewliere in eases where its meaning 
 as such is determined bv ;i tbllowiiii^ noun, hut 
 here it is better to adhere to tlie literal sense. 
 This is. Now for the tirst time it appears that 
 the ephah has an oeeuj)ant. Heiiee the form of 
 the exjjression " 'J'his is," equivalent to, See, there 
 is a woman, ete. nnS is probably used merely 
 for the indefinite article (1 Kings xx. 13) ; but if it 
 is to be )iressed as = one woman, it will then indi- 
 cate that the sinners, although many in number, 
 are considered as one living personality. 
 
 Ver. 8. This is wickedness. On the meaning 
 attached to this phrase turns the entire bearing of 
 the vision. Many (Calvin, Kohler, Pressel, Baum- 
 garten, Henderson), take it as = wickedness in it- 
 self, abstracted from its perpetrators, and this, they 
 Bay, is confined, sealed up, and transported far off", 
 so as to leave the land where it once dwelt pure ; 
 and thus the vision is one of promise. But this 
 view is opposed by the tenor of the preceding vision 
 which all admit to be closely allied to this one, as 
 well as by its own intrinsic improbability, although 
 Hengstenberg speaks far too sti-ongly when he says 
 "It is only concrete sin that admits of being car- 
 ried away. The transportation of sin apart from 
 sinful individuals, is nonsense." How would that 
 learned man have reconciled with his statement 
 such language as that of the Psalmist (ciii. 12), 
 " Far as the east is from the west, so far hath he 
 removed our transgressions from us ! " But on 
 this hypothesis it is difficult to conceive of any 
 reason why Shinar rather than any other place 
 should be mentioned as the place of deportation 
 (ver. 11). It is better therefore to take the other 
 view (Marck., Hengstenberg, Keil), which regards 
 the woman as a personification of the ungodly 
 Jewish nation. A somewhat similar usage is 
 found in 2 Chron. xxiv. 7, where (in Hebrew) 
 Athaliah is called " the wickedness." Consequent- 
 ly, the subsequent acts q( the angel, in casting the 
 woman down into the measure and then closing 
 the same with the heavy solid lid, simply indicate 
 the full provision made for the due punishment of 
 the sinners thus carefully secured. 
 
 c. Its Removal (vers. 9-11). — Ver. 9. Two 
 women came forth, etc. The removal of the 
 ephah with its contents is described. This is done 
 by two women, — women because it was a woman 
 they were carrying away, and two, because the bur- 
 den was too heavy for one to bear. They are fur- 
 nished with wings, because the movement is to be 
 through the air. The wings are specified as being 
 those of a stork, not because the stork is a bird of 
 passage (Umbreit, Baumgarten, etc.), for the move- 
 ment here is not periodical ; nor liecause it flies 
 fast (Maurer), for other birds fly f^ister ; nor be- 
 cause it was an unclean bird (Kohler) ; nor be- 
 L-ause it was a pia avis (Neumann), which does not 
 suit the object ; but simply because it had broad 
 pinions, and such were required to sustain so heavy 
 a mass as the ephah with its leaden lid. The wind 
 was in these wings to increase their velocity. The 
 (vonien have been supposed to represent Israel and 
 Judah, or Ezra and Nehemiah, or the two last 
 kings of Judah, or the two captivities, or Titus 
 und Hadrian ; but there is no need of strictly de- 
 fining them, since they belong to the mere drapery 
 [)f the symbol, and stand only as representatives 
 'j( the powers employed by God to carry away the 
 sinners of his people. 
 
 Ver. 11. To build . . . Shinar. In rei)ly to 
 the Prouhet's question he is told that the object of 
 
 the two women is to prepare a permanent habitiv- 
 tion for her, i. e., the woman in the ephah. Shinat 
 is an old historic name (Gen. x. 10), afterwards ap. 
 plied poetically to Babylon (Is. xi. 11 ; Dan. i. 2). 
 Its occurrence here led Kosenrniiller to suppose 
 that the entire vision referred to the past, and not 
 to the future, which is simply impossible. There 
 is no difficulty in explaining it by a reference to 
 the usage of the Prophets, to represent future 
 events by images drawn from the past, and at the 
 same time transfer to the former the names which 
 belong to the latter. This verse then simply fore- 
 tells the punishment of wickedness by another ex- 
 ile, — like that to Babylon, and therefore called by 
 its name, but far more prolonged. This latter feat- 
 ure is expressed by the building of the house, but 
 intensified by the final clause — " estabhshed and 
 settled on its own base." According to Keil 
 Shinar is not here a geographical epithet, but 
 taken as an ideal designation of the sphere of un- 
 godliness, and the symbol accordingly expresses 
 the truth that the wicked will be removed out of 
 the congregation of the Lord and permanently set 
 tied within the ungodly kingdom of this world. 
 This distinction and separation will run on through 
 the ages, and at last be completed in the general 
 judgment. Henderson maintains that the woman 
 in the ephah represented idolatry which was carried 
 away by the two women, i. e., Assyria and Baby- 
 lonia, to Chaldaea, where it was to commingle with 
 its native elements and never be reimported into 
 Canaan ; in support of which he cites the fact that 
 for two thousand years the Jews have never once 
 lapsed into idolatry. But idolatry did not at this 
 time exist in Judea, and therefore could not be re- 
 moved out of it ; and if it was taken to Babylon, 
 it certainly did not remain there, for the Moham- 
 medan occupants of that region are not idolaters. 
 It agrees better with the original force of the word, 
 with the connection, and with the preceding vision, 
 to take the term as denoting the entire wickedness 
 of the people of all kinds, or rather the people as 
 such embodied wickedness. As thus understood, 
 the vision was fulfilled centuries afterward, when 
 the Jews as a whole, having rejected with scorn 
 their Messiah, were given over to the stroke of 
 vengeance. After a most desperate struggle, they 
 were crushed by the Roman Emperors, and scat- 
 tered to the four winds of heaven. And so they 
 remain, shut up in the ephah, the tremendous 
 weight of their own obstinacy forbidding the pros- 
 pect of release. The corresponding passage to 
 tills one in the second part is couched in different 
 terms (xi. 15, 16). After the rejection of the good 
 shepherd and the breaking of his staves of office, 
 the wretched flock is given over to a foolish or 
 wicked shepherd who does what he ought not to 
 do, and fails to do what he ought, and so the poor 
 sheep suffer in every way. But wholly different 
 as the imagery is in the two passages, there is :i 
 remarkable sameness in the underlying idea. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1 . In the two preceding chapters the constituent 
 elements of the Gospel were presented ; here we 
 are brought face to face with the Law. The white 
 robes of innocence and the golden oil of the Holy 
 Spirit disappear, and in their place comes a fear- 
 ful curse overshadowing the land and threatening 
 an irrecoverable overthrow. There is no contra- 
 diction, no inconsistency in this. The one mes- 
 sage was as true and as pertinent as the other 
 
CHAPTER VI. 1-8. 
 
 49 
 
 Zechariah's dcsit^n was not simply to iirg-e on the 
 rebuilding of the Temple at all costs and hazards, 
 bat to educate the national conscience, to keep 
 alive the memory of sin, and lay deep the founda- 
 tions of faith and repentance. When this was ac- 
 complished, all outward works would proceed of 
 themselves. And ihere was at least a part of the 
 people, who needed to be stimulated by the pre- 
 sentation of the sterner side of the divine charac- 
 ter. There was a golden future in store for Israel, 
 but not absolutely, not for all simply by virtue of 
 their national origin. The day of the Lord was 
 darkness as well as light (Amos v. 18), and sin- 
 ners in Zion would rind the messenger of the Lord 
 like refiner's fire and fuller's soap (Mai. iii. 1, 2). 
 
 Our Lord indicated this very plainly throughout 
 his personal ministry. The remarkable Sermon 
 on the Mount (Matt, v-vii.) begins with a sooth- 
 ing strain of beatitudes pronounced upon the low- 
 ly, and meek, and sorrowful, etc., but very soon 
 corrects any false impressions as to the object of 
 the Messiah by setting forth the perpetuity of the 
 law and his purpose to confirm and establish rather 
 than abrogate its authority. While, therefore, he 
 sweeps away the wretched evasions and glosses 
 accumulated by men's perverse ingenuity, he re- 
 affirms all its particulars as the unchangeable stat- 
 ute of his kingdom, — both as regards precept and 
 penalty. His ends are gained, and his grace is 
 manifested, not by erasing the sanctions of Law, 
 but by meeting and discharging them. He soothes 
 conscience not by enervating or deluding it, but 
 by satisfying its anxious cravings. The mawkish 
 sentimentalism which denies hell, and refuses to 
 hear of endless retributions, finds no precedent in 
 his words or course. 
 
 2. But what was needful for Israel after the ex- 
 ile is equally needful in all ages of the Church. 
 The moral law requires to be continually set forth 
 in its sanction as well as in its precept, and it is 
 an emasculated theology which dispenses with 
 either. The Gospel loses its meaning if there be 
 no such thing as Rectoral Justice. Calvary pre- 
 supposes Sinai, just as ransom presupposes bond- 
 age. What need is there of forgiveness, if there 
 is nothing to forgive 1 Hence the visions of Satan 
 overthrown and of the luminous golden candela- 
 brum have for their background this wide-spread 
 roll of curses. God will visit for sin, for all sin, 
 whether committed against himself directly or 
 against his creatures. The two tables of the law 
 stand on the same basis, and no man dare pick 
 and choose to which he will render obedience. 
 The anathemas of Scripture are not a mere brutum 
 fulmen, but a solid and terrible reality. The light- 
 ning of heaven is not more certain and irresistible. 
 Where the curse once enters, it takes up its abode 
 
 and consumes all. The standing historical illus 
 
 tration of this truth is seen in that gloomy and 
 death-like sea which is all that now remaijs i)f a 
 region once bright with verdant plains and full of 
 populous cities. 
 
 3. The strokes of punitive wrath do not fall 
 ca])riciously or at random. There is ample rea- 
 son in every case, so that one may always say^ 
 This [the ephali] is their object in all the land. 
 Men go on ceaselessly adding sin to sin, and be- 
 cause judgment is not suddenly executed, think 
 that there is impunity ; whereas they are only fill 
 ing the measure. God waits. There is an ap 
 pointed time with Him, and He will not anticipate. 
 He announced a general principle when he told 
 Abraham that his seed could not take possession 
 of the land of promise, " for the iniquity of the 
 Amorites was not yet full." The wicked are treas- 
 uring up wrath against the day of wrath. When 
 the end comes, the symbolism of Zechariah is real- 
 ized. Sinners are shut up with their sins in the 
 measure, the weight of a talent shuts down the lid, 
 and then they are carried where the retribution be- 
 gins and does not end. Just like that deportation 
 to the figurative Shinar. Its solitary example 
 among the nations testifies of a permanent retri- 
 bution. 
 
 Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, 
 How shall ye flee away and be at rest ? 
 The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, 
 Mankind their country, — Israel but the graTe. 
 
 HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : It is needful to tell the love of God, to 
 unfold his precious promises, and to utter words ol 
 cheer and encouragement. But it is also needful 
 to declare the other aspect of God's character. 
 There is a constant tendency in the human heart 
 to abuse the goodness of God to an encouragement 
 of sin. Hence ministers of the Gospel must de 
 clare this portion of God's counsel as well as the 
 
 other The finally impenitent shall be driven 
 
 from God into gloomy exile, and left to hin^self, 
 " to rest on his own base," to be subject to >Jie 
 thrall of his own lawless lusts that he has so long 
 pampered into strength, and to reap as he has 
 sowed through a long and limitless banishment. 
 
 "Wordsworth : None who enter the porch of 
 the visible Church may flatter themselves that they 
 can escape God's wrath and malediction, if they 
 commit any of the sins condemned by the compre 
 hensive commination of this Flying Roll, which 
 may be compared to a net coextensive with the 
 world and drawn throughout tbe whole from side 
 to side. 
 
 VISION Vni. THE FOUR CHARIOTS. 
 Chapter VI. 1-8. 
 
 A. Four Chariots drawn by Horses of different Colors (vers. 1-4). B. Explcenalum 
 
 of their Meaning (vers. 5-8). 
 
 1 And I lifted up my eyes again/ and saw, and behold, four charic ts came from be- 
 
 2 tween the two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first 
 
30 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 3 chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, And in the third 
 
 4 chariot white hoi'ses, and in the fourth chariot speckled bay ^ horses. And I an 
 
 5 swered and said to the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord ? And 
 the angel answered and said to me, These are the four winds ^ of the heavens, coming 
 
 B forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. That in which are the black 
 horses goes * forth into tlie land of the north, and the wliite go behind them, and the 
 
 7 speckled go forth to the land of the south. And the bay went forth, and desired to 
 go — to pass to and fro ^ through the earth ; and he said. Go, pass to and fro through 
 
 8 the earth ; and they went through the earth. And he called me and spake to me, 
 saying. Behold, these that go forth into the land of the north have caused mj 
 Spirit to rest ^ upon the land of the north. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAl.. 
 Ver. 1. — 2Ci?ST = again. Cf. ch. v. 1. 
 
 ••. T T 
 
 8 Ver. 3. — " Speckled bay,"' that is, speckled upon a bay ground. The word here rendered speckled is not the sun* 
 M the one so rendered in the E. V. of ch. i. 8. Noyes translates in this place, spotted-red. 
 
 S Ver. 5. — nin-n. The margin of E. V., winds, is better than the lext, spirits. Cf. Jer. ilii. 36. I can find n« 
 Instance in which the plural is used to denote angelic beings. Certainly Ps. cir. 4 is not one. 
 
 4 Ver. 6. — The first clause contains a singular anacoluthon, D"^S^^, referring by its number to the horses, insteM 
 
 of the implied nil3~1tt, to which it grammatically belongs. 
 
 5 Ver. 7. — " Pass to and fro," t . e., in every direction. 
 
 6 Ver. 8. — Noyes renders "^H-^T -irT^^n, execute mywrath, which is an excellent interpretation, but hardly a trans. 
 lation. The E. V. quieted cannot be sustained by usage, and is at best ambiguous, although it is copied in Dr. Van 
 Dyck's New Arabic Tersion. The invariable use of the hiphil verb requires the rendering given in the text. 
 
 SXEOETICAIi AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This vision completes the cycle of the series by 
 returning to the point of departure- using imagery 
 much like that of the first vision, and indicating 
 the complete fulfillment of what had there been 
 pledged. Here it is not horses and riders who 
 serve only as exploring scouts, but chariots of war 
 who actually execute what they are commanded. 
 They go forth not from a grove of myrtles in an 
 open bottom, but from between lofty brazen moun- 
 tains, an adequate symbol of the strength and per- 
 manence of the divinely guarded theocracy. They 
 act in all directions, but especially in those regions 
 whence in the past the most formidable enemies of 
 the kingdom of God proceeded. They put in ex- 
 ercise the various destructive agencies indicated by 
 the colors of the horses, — war, pestilence, mourn- 
 ing, famine, — until the Spirit of God is satisfied 
 with the overthrow. But the destruction of the 
 Lord's enemies is the triumph of his friends, and 
 in this view the eighth vision appropriately termi- 
 nates the first series of revelations granted to Zech- 
 ariah, with a cheering prospect, of which a I'uUer 
 development is given in the closing chapters of the 
 book. 
 
 a. Tin Symbol of the Four CItariols (vers. 1-4). 
 Ver. 1. Four chariots. . . . mountains. The 
 prophet in the usual way indicates that another 
 vision is disclosed to him. The four chariots which 
 he sees can scarcely be other than war chariots, and 
 are therefore a symbol of authority and judgment. 
 The article prefixed to two mountains does not 
 necessarily refer to them as already known (s» 
 Hengstenberg, who supposes a reference to Ps. 
 cxxv. 2, which is certainly far-ietched), but simply 
 iefines them as forming the back-ground of the 
 scene presented to the prophet. Their ideal char- 
 acter is confirmed by the statement that they are 
 " of brass,' a manifest symbol of impregnable 
 
 strength. There is no need, therefore, of referring 
 to Zion and Moriah (Maurer, Umbreit, etc.), or to 
 Zion and the Mount of Olives (Keil, Moore), al- 
 though the latter may have suggested the symbol 
 A valley guarded by two brazen hills is not an un- 
 worthy image of the resistless might of Him who 
 from such a place sends forth the exectitioners of 
 his will. The number of the chariots, according 
 to the analogies of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, 
 indicates, like the four points of the compass, uni- 
 versality, a judgment that goes in every direction. 
 Vers. 2, 3. In the first chariot .... bay 
 horses. The number of the horses is not men- 
 tioned, although the rabbins say there wei-e four 
 to each chariot. The colors are specified, and 
 must be significant. The usual interpretation 
 makes red denote war and bloodshed, black, sorrow 
 and death, white, victory. The fourth color, spec- 
 kled, commonly derived from a root ^ hail, and 
 hence rendered, " having hail-like spots," is ex- 
 plained by Hengstenberg as denoting judgments 
 falling like hail (Rev. viii. 7, xvi. 21). but l)y Keil 
 as indicating famine and pestilence, which is better 
 than to regard it with Henderson, as indicating a 
 mixed dispensation of joy and sorrow, or with T. 
 V. Moore as combining all the others. A more 
 difficult question arises concerning the next word, 
 
 D'^'^pS. It is strange to find an epithet of quality 
 in immediate connection with a series referring to 
 color, yet this must be admitted if the word ia 
 taken in its usual sense, given in the margin of E. 
 v., Vulgate, and by most expositors, i. e., strong 
 To escape the difficulty, some represent the first 
 consonant, H, as softened from n, and so get 
 C'^ttn = bright red (Kimchi, Calvin, Cocceius, 
 Ewald, Kohler). Others suppose an error of tha 
 transcriber (Hit/.ig, Maurer, Pressel). But it is 
 better with Fiirst (in Lex.], to derive the word in 
 the text from an Arabic root = to shine, whenc* 
 I he obtains the signification, dazzling red. Dr. Van 
 
CHAPTER VI. 1-8. 
 
 51 
 
 Dyck, in the modern Arabic Bible, renders it by 
 
 » o > 
 
 fXMt, = shining red. In any event, the colors 
 
 of tiie horses denote the character of tlie mission 
 on which they are sent. But an elaborate eifort has 
 been made by Hofl'man, followed bj- Kliefoth, 
 Wordsworth, and others, to represent the colors as 
 indicating the four great empires of Daniel as in- 
 Btrunieiits of God's judgments. But this is lbi-i)id- 
 den by the contemporaneousness of the going forth 
 of the several chariots, by their destination as stated 
 in the text, by the lack of historical verification, 
 and other considerations. See Keil and Kohler in 
 loc. for a full refutation of this apparently plausible 
 view, 
 
 6. The Explanation (vers. 5-8). Ver. 5. These 
 are the four winds. Not four spirits, as the text 
 of the E. V. has it, and Henderson and Neumann, 
 for angels are rarely if ever so described in the Old 
 Testament, nor in that case would the appended 
 words, " of the heavens," have any suitable mean- 
 ing, nor does the Scripture know anything of four 
 angels par eminence. These winds, the angel said, 
 came forth from standing before the universal 
 Lord, in whose service they were. Ps. cxlviii. 8. 
 " Stormy wind fulfilling his word." The agency of 
 the four winds in the work of destructive judgment 
 is seen in Jer. xlix. 36, Dan. vii. 2, Rev. vii. 1. 
 
 Vers. 6, 7. That in which are, etc. These 
 verses describe the particular regions visited by 
 these divinely appointed messengers. The black 
 went toward the land of the north, which all 
 agree denotes the territory washed by the Tigris 
 and Euphrates. See on ch. ii. 6, 7. The white 
 go after them, net to the West, as Ewald translates, 
 for then we should expect the East also, which does 
 not occur; and besides, the west to the Hebrews 
 represented only the sea. Better is the ingenious 
 view of Pressel, who, insisting on the force of the 
 preposition, renders " to the land farther behind 
 them." This is grammatically tenable, and favored 
 by the fact that it brings into view the farther East, 
 the Medes and Persians, as one of the distinct ob- 
 jects of the divine visitation. The land of the 
 south is of course Egypt and Arabia. 
 
 Ver. 7. And the bay went, etc. So far, the 
 prophet seems to have omitted the first chariot, the 
 one with red horses, and in order to make up the 
 number four, to have divided the third team into 
 two, taking its second designation of color, bay, 
 as the fourth. How are we to understand this '] 
 
 Keil, who, however, renders D'^^^S, strong, regards 
 the problem as insoluble. Hengstenberg affirms 
 that the class mentioned in the seventh verse is in 
 reality the first, and they are called strong, because 
 they really were the strongest of all ; but this as- 
 sumes what is certainly not stated, and cannot be 
 
 proved. Hitzig and Maurer assume that □^•!itt37 
 was omitted from ver. 6 by mistake, and afterwards 
 erroneously substituted in ver. 7 for □''^IS. It is 
 better to interpret the term as Fiirst does in ver. 
 3, although even then it remains inexplicable why 
 the prophet should have described the first class 
 not by its own name but by one already appropri- 
 ated as part of that of the third. It may, how- 
 ever, be safely inferred that while the various colors 
 of the horses had some significance, yet that this 
 was no* a matter of very great importance, else 
 the distinctions stated would have been more ac- 
 curately observed. Certainly the general sense of 
 the vision is plain, whatever view one adopts as to 
 he variations in the description. One point all 
 
 agree in, namely, that the seventh verse sets forth 
 what was done iiy the horses of the first chariot. 
 These appear to have been not content like the 
 others with one particular territory, but asked per- 
 mission to go through the whole earth. A.id hn 
 said, i. e., the Lord of the whole earth, who (ver 
 3) causes the chariots to go forth. 
 
 Ver. 8. And he called me. The interpreting 
 angel calls aloud to the ])rophet, arousing his atten- 
 tiou to the purport of the vision. Have caused 
 my Spirit to rest upon. This has often been ex- 
 plained as analogous to the phrase " to cause fury 
 to rest," in Ezek. v. 13, xvi. 42, but wrath is not 
 the same as spirit. Nor is such a violent assump- 
 tion at all necessary. The Lord's Spirit is some- 
 times a Sjiirit of judgment and of burning (Is. iv. 
 4), and it is in this sense that the chariots let down 
 his manifestations on the nations. This verse 
 specifies only the land of the north as the scene 
 of these operations. But it could easily be inferred 
 from this what was the result in the other directions. 
 The north country was mentioned because, as the 
 inveterate foe of the covenant people, it was the 
 principal mark of the judgments of God, and 
 should in the first instance feel the consuming en- 
 ergies of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The same law obtains in the punishment of 
 the heathen as in that of God's professed people. 
 The harvest is not cut until it is ripe. The meas- 
 ure of iniquity must be full before judgment falls. 
 This doctrine was shown in the last vision in its 
 application to the Jews. In the present as com- 
 pared with the first, of which it is the complement, 
 the same principle is illustrated in relation to the 
 world at large. At the beginning of this night of 
 disclosures, the prophet learned that there was no 
 indication in the state of the heathen world of any 
 such convulsion as his predecessor Haggai had 
 predicted ; but, on the contrary, actual inspection 
 by horsemen commissioned for the purpose brought 
 back information that all the earth was quiet and 
 at rest, thus furnishing a painful contrast to the 
 weak and suffering condition of the people of God. 
 Now he learns that this prosperity and peace of the 
 heathen was not a permanent thing. The time 
 had not come, and nothing could be done until it 
 did come. But it was sure to arrive. The wrath 
 of God is not a caprice or an impulse, but the 
 steady, uniform, eternal opposition of his holy na- 
 ture against all sin. It can no more cease than 
 He can. It is the very element of his being. He 
 is necessarily '' of purer eyes than to behold evil." 
 Not more certainly is He infinite in power or wis- 
 dom than He is in justice and truth. And these 
 perfections must find expression in his administra- 
 tion of the affairs of the world. Delay is no evi- 
 dence to the contrary. The accumulation of sins 
 thus produced, only makes more evident the desert 
 of wrath, and causes a deeper destruction when the 
 blow falls. 
 
 2. The resting of God's Spirit upon a land it 
 generally the cause of life, holiness, and peace, but 
 sometimes it is the reverse. In visitations of judg- 
 ment, the Spirit is a consuming fire. It overwhelms, 
 scatters, destroys. It removes out of the way ob- 
 stacles otherwise insuperable. It turns mountains 
 into plains. It lays low hoary despotisms, and pre- 
 pares means and access for the gentler forms of 
 diffusing the truth. Pacem petit ense. The ut- 
 ter destruction of a godless power is sometimes a 
 necessary preliminary to the spread of the Gospel. 
 
52 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 THE CROWN UPON JOSHUAS HEAD. 
 
 Chapter VI. 9-15. 
 
 A. The Symholic Action; Crowns on Joshua (vers. 9-11). B. Its Meaning; TTu 
 Branch a Priest and King (vers. 12-15). 
 
 9-10 Aud the word of Jehovah came to me saying, Take^ from the exiles,^ from 
 Cheldai, from Tobiah, and from Jedaiah, and go thou on that day, go ^ into the 
 
 11 house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah whither they have come from Babylon ; And 
 take silver and gold and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua, the 
 
 12 son of Josedech, the high priest ;* And speak to him saying, Thus speaketh Jeho- 
 vah of Hosts, saying, Behold a man whose name is Branch, and from his place he 
 
 13 shall grow up,^ and build the temple of Jehovah. Even He ^ shall build the tem- 
 ple of Jehovah, and He shall bear majesty, and shall sit and rule upon his throne, 
 and shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between 
 
 14 them both. And the crowns shall be to Chelem, and to Tobiah, and to Jedaiah, 
 
 15 and to Hen, the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. And 
 they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah ; and ye shall 
 know that Jehovah of Hosts hath sent me to you ; and it will come to pass, if ye 
 will hearken unto the voice of Jehovah your God — ^ 
 
 TEXTDAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 1 Ver. 10. — The infin. absol. Hip^, used for the imperatiTe, hag no object, and is therefore to be consideied ai 
 
 reeomed in the P\Ty\2) of ver. 11. This requires us to view the latter half of ver. 10 as a parentheBis, which, M 
 Pressel says, " is somewhat harsh but not harsher than we often find even in Qerman " or in English, 
 li Ver. 10. — nviZI, abstract for concrete = the exiles. 
 
 8 Ver. 10. — The repetition of HSU is one of the cases which have subjected Zecbariah's style to the charge of 
 being heavy and dragging. 
 
 4 Ver. 11. — This is noted by the Masorites as one of the twenty-six verses, each of which contains all tha letters of 
 the Hebrew alphabet. 
 
 5 Ver. 12. — np^^ — n^^. Observe tbs paronomasia : " a sprout will sprout up." 
 
 6 Ver. 13. — The first word is very emphatic, Even He and not another. So in the next clause, and He. 
 
 7 Ver. 16. — The aposiopesis is striking (cf Luke xiii. 9), " And if it bear fruit ; and if not, then," etc. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 Some interpreters consider what is here related 
 as another vision, hut manifestly without reason, 
 since it has none of the peculiarities of the visions, 
 is historical in its nature, and is introduced with 
 the customary formula which denotes an ordinary 
 communication from God, " the word of Jehovah 
 cam3 to me." But while it is not one of the night 
 visions, it is closely connected with them, as ap- 
 pears from the fact that it was given at the same 
 time ; that it resumes the principal feature of the 
 most striking of the whole, namely, the fourth, by 
 describing yet further the Branch ; and that it 
 stands in a close relation of contrast to the vision 
 immediately preceding. That one set forth the 
 severe judgments in store for all the foes of the 
 theocracy. This symbolic action develops the 
 other side of the great subject. The outlying 
 
 keathen are not all to be destroyed or extermin- 
 »ted. On the contrary, they will one day cease 
 their hostility to the covenant people, and even 
 entei into cordial cooperation with them in build- 
 
 Bg up and adorning the kingdom of God. This 
 
 is simply a different form of the same thought 
 given in the second chapter of Haggai, where we 
 are told (ver. 7) that the desire (= desirable things) 
 of all nations shall come, and the Lord will fill 
 the house with glory. We have then here an his- 
 torical appendix to the night visions, which brings 
 out more clearly their main theme, and especially 
 emphasizes the view that the heathen nations are 
 not simply to be disarmed of their opposition, but 
 made active helpers in the advancement of God's 
 kingdom and glory. 
 
 a. The Symbolic Action (vers. 9-11). — Ver. 
 9. And the word, etc. Therefore this is not a 
 vision. 
 
 Ver. 10. Take from the exiles .... from 
 Babylon. The exiles is a term applied by Ezra 
 (iv. 1 ; vi. 19) to the returned captives (iv. 1 ; vi. 
 19), but here evidently means those who were still 
 in exile, and of whom the persons named as hav- 
 ing come from Babylon, were representatives. Of 
 these three persons and their host Josiah, we know 
 nothing more than what the passage itself relates. 
 Several interpreters (Jerome, Hengstenberg, Baum- 
 garten), following the LXX., consider their names 
 as significant, but *^bere is nothing to require tbU 
 
CHAPTER VI. 9-15. 
 
 53 
 
 here more than elsewhere, nor do the results thus I 
 obtained contribute anything to the proper under- 
 standing of the section. The E. V. makes "'f.r^? 
 
 the subject of ^^^^ (Targum, Peshito, Vulgate, 
 Luther, Henderson), but it is better to take it as 
 an accusative of place, referring to the house of 
 Josiah (Nordheimer, H. G., 902, 1 b.]. So Heng- 
 stenberg, Kohler, Keil, etc. According to this 
 view the tliree men are deputies from the Jews in 
 Babylon, and the fourth was the host with whom 
 they lodged in Jerusalem. On that day, the day 
 raentionud (ch. i. 7). 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . Crowns. The plural which is re- 
 peated in ver. 14 must be significant, and repre- 
 sents, if not two distinct diadems, at least one 
 composite crown of two or more parts. The 
 former is the more natural (cf. Rev. xix. 12) and 
 better suited to the connection which treats of the 
 combination of two distinct offices in one person. 
 Ewald, Hitzig, and Bunsen interpolate "and upon 
 the head of Zerubbabel " after the words " high 
 priest ; " but for this there is no authority what- 
 ever, critical or exegetical. 
 
 h. The Explanation and Promise (vers. 12-15). 
 — Vers. 12 and 13 explain the meaning of the 
 symbolical action just commanded. 
 
 Ver. 12. And speak to him. Joshua of course 
 would know that the regal function, so firmly fixed 
 in the family of Uavid, could not possibly be con- 
 ferred upon him as an individual, and that there- 
 fore its insignia were placed upon his head typi- 
 cally. This is put beyond doubt by the address 
 here made to him. Behold points to the Messiah 
 as if he were present. He is called Branch as if 
 it wer^. a proper name, as appears not only by the 
 lack of the article, but by the established usage of 
 the earlier Prophets. See on ch. iii. 8. Of this 
 branch or sprout from the fallen trunk of David, 
 it is said, from his place he will grow up. Some 
 (LXX., Luther, Hitzig, Pressel, etc.) render this 
 clause impersonally, " there will be sprouting or 
 
 growth ; " but this overlooks the 7^ in VFin/HQ, 
 and besides, changes the subject without reason- 
 Better is the view (Cocceius, Hengsteuberg, Baum- 
 garten, Keil, etc), that the Branch will grow u|i 
 from his place (cf. Ex. x. 23), i. e., from his own 
 land and nation, not an exotic, but a genuine root- 
 shoot from the native stock to which the prom- 
 ises had been made. Build the temple — not the 
 earthly temple then in progress, for this was to be 
 completed by Zerubbabel (iv. 9); not a new and 
 more glorious one of the same kind, for Zerub- 
 babel's temple was to be glorified in the Messianic 
 times (Hag. ii. 7-9; Mai. iii. 1) ; but (Hengsten- 
 berg, Tholuck, Kohler) the spiritual temple of 
 which the tabernacle and Solomon's splendid edi- 
 fice were only types, the holy house composed of 
 living stones (Eph. ii. 21 ; 1 Pet. ii. 5). Not a 
 temple, but the temple, — one still in existence and 
 always the same, but destined to an unprecedented 
 exaltation by the Messiah. " The temple of God 
 is one, namely, the Church of the saved, origin- 
 ating in the promise given in Paradise, and last- 
 ing to the end of the world " (Cocceius). 
 
 Ver. 13. Even He shall buUd. The repetition 
 is not useless, but emphatic, as the expressed pro- 
 noun shows. Even he, notwithstanding his lowli- 
 ness of origin, shall accomplish this great work. 
 Bear majesty, i. e., kingly glory and honor, for 
 which ~nn seems to be the proper and normal 
 term (1 Chron. xxix. 25 ; Dan. xi. 21 ; Ps. xxi. 
 
 5). "Will sit and rule upon his throne. "The 
 
 former denotes the possession of the honor and 
 dignity of a king, the latter the actual exercise of 
 royal authority" (Hengsteuberg). The suffix in 
 "his throne" refers not to Jehovah (Vitringa), 
 which is too remote, but to the Branch himself, as 
 is shown by the recurrence of the word in the next 
 clause. And will be a priest. Ewald and Hitzig 
 render, " there will be a priest upon," etc., which 
 is both arbitrary and unmeaning. Nearly all in- 
 terpreters, ancient and modern, render as in the 
 text, and understand the clause to mean, that the 
 Branch would be both king and high priest on one 
 and the same throne. Between them both. Not 
 the Branch and Jehovah (Cocceius, Vitringa), nor 
 the Branch and an ideal priest (Ewald, Bunsen), 
 nor the royal and the priestly offices (Rosenmiiller, 
 Hengsteuberg, etc.) ; but the king and the priest 
 who sit upon the throne, united in one person, the 
 Branch (Hengstenberg, Umbreit, Kohler). Upon 
 this view, the counsel of peace caimot mean per- 
 fect harmony, for that would be a matter of course 
 — yet Jerome, Michaelis, Maurer, and Hengsten- 
 berg favor this view, — but is a counsel which 
 aims at or results in peace, like " the chastisement 
 of our peace " in Is. liii. 5, i. e., which has for its ob- 
 ject our peace. The sense, then, is that the Branch, 
 uniting in himself royalty and priesthood, will 
 take such counsel as shall result in peace and sal- 
 vation for the covenant people. 
 
 Vers. 14, 15. The Prophet having explained 
 the meaning of Joshua's coronation, now proceeds 
 to give the reason why the silver and gold of which 
 the crowns were composed, were to be obtained 
 from the messengei's of the Jews who lived at a 
 distance from their native land. 
 
 Ver. 14. And the crowns shall be. The 
 crowns, after having been placed upon the head of 
 Joshua, were not to become his personal property, 
 but to be preserved in the temple as a memorial 
 of the deputies from Babylon. The names of 
 these persons are the same as those given in ver. 
 10, except the first and last; Helem standing for 
 Heldiah, and Hen for Josiah. In the former case 
 the two names are so nearly alike that there is a 
 general agreement in the view which refers them 
 to the same person, and considers the variation as 
 a copyist's error. In the latter, Keil and Kohler 
 render the second name as an appellative noun 
 with the sense of favor, and consider it a record 
 of the gracious hospitality which the son of Zeph- 
 aniah had shown to the deputies from Babylon. 
 But this is certainly artificial, and it is better to 
 assume that Josiah had this additional name. The 
 object of depositing the crowns in the temple was 
 not simply to do honor to the liberality of the con- 
 tributors from Babylon, but also to extend the 
 typical significance of the whole proceeding. These 
 men, sending from afar their gifts for the house 
 of God, were types of many who would one day 
 come from heathen lands and help to build the 
 temple of the Lord. 
 
 Ver. 15. And they that are afar off. A mani- 
 fest prediction that distant strangers should active- 
 ly participate in setting up the kingdom of God. 
 And ye shall know, etc. The occurrence of this 
 result would be a proof of the divine origin of 
 what is here predicted in word and deed. The 
 last clause, and it will .... your God, is con- 
 sidered by Hengstenberg and Henderson as an 
 
 aposiopesis, If ye will hearken, then . This 
 
 certainly gives an emphatic and spirited close to 
 the prophecy, and grammatically agrees better 
 with the form of the original than the sappoaition 
 
54 
 
 ZKCHARIAIl. 
 
 that a pronoun has been omitted as the subject of 
 n^HT. The suppressed apodosis of course is, ye 
 shall participate in all the blessinjjs which the 
 Branch is to secure. For other instances o{ aposi- 
 ypesis, see Gen. xxxi. 42 and 1. 15 (in Hebrew), 
 and the very strikiiij? instance (Ps. xxvii. 1.3). The 
 question, whether Zechariah really performed the 
 Bymbolical action here enjoined, is left undecided 
 by some (Hensjstenberg, Keil), but there soems lit- 
 tle reason to doubt that he did, since the crown 
 was to be hung up in the temple as a memorial. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The favorite designation of the Messiah, 
 Branch, reappears, with a considerable amplifi- 
 cation of its meaning. An elaborate and costly 
 double crown is placed upon the head of Joshua 
 as the type of one who is merely a slender sprout 
 or root-shoot, which grows up out of its own place. 
 This was exactly true of the historical Christ. He 
 did not descend from heaven in visible glory and 
 greatness. He was not born in the purple, nor 
 waited upon by princes and nobles. He did not 
 enter our world with any show or pomp such as 
 his deluded countrymen expected ; but, although 
 a lineal heir of David and able to trace his ances- 
 try back to Abraham, he sprang from a decayed 
 family and had a manger for his first resting-place. 
 The Davidic trunk had fallen, and this was a mere 
 sucker growing out of one of the upturned roots. 
 Heaven indeed took notice of the event by the Star 
 in the east, the visit of the Magi, and the songs of 
 the Angels ; but the world at large knew little 
 and cared less about the birth at Bethlehem. Af- 
 ter the same pattern was his further development. 
 He grew up out of his place in lowly humiliation. 
 For thirty years his home was in Galilee, in the 
 house of a humble carpenter, and during all that 
 time he was known simply as a reputable youth 
 in a country village. An apocryphal Gospel tells 
 marvelous stories of his infancy, but these are 
 pure inventions. The man Christ Jesus grew up 
 as a root out of a dry ground. And even after 
 He commenced his ministry, and did such works 
 as no other man did, and spoke as no other man 
 spake. He was still but a Branch. Crowds at 
 times gathered around Him, but in all cases they 
 soon fell away. In general He was despised and 
 rejected of men. This continued during his lii'e, 
 was especially marked in the circumstances of his 
 death, and even long afterwards characterized his 
 memory, since one of the best Procurators of 
 Judaea could speak of Him as "one Jesus" (Acts 
 XXV. 19) ; and a century later the most illustrious i 
 of Roman historians knew of him only as the 
 author of a pernicious superstition who himself 
 had deservedly died a felon's death. Yet this 
 neglected and forgotten Branch was to accomplish 
 Bome wonderful things. 
 
 2. One of these was to build the Temple of the 
 Lord. His type, Joshua, was busily engaged in 
 forwarding the erection of the new structure on 
 Moriah, and that edifice, by successive additions in 
 a long course of years, became a most stately and 
 magnificent pile. But it was a far nobler build- 
 ing to which the Branch applied himself, one which 
 was truly a habitation of God through the Spirit, 
 one composed of living stones. The glory of the 
 Temple at Jerusalem was that there the Most 
 High manifested his presence; and all beauty of 
 
 1 Tacitua. 
 
 form and gr.ace of ornamentation was valued onlj 
 in so far as it rendered the house fit for the resi 
 dence of God. Now the true temple, the spirit 
 ual house, is tiie actual dwelling-place of Jehovah, 
 where He displays the fact, not by signs or sym- 
 bols, not by a material Shekinah, but by the graces 
 of his Spirit inwrought in the hearts and mani- 
 fested in the lives of his people. He dwells not 
 merely among them as a whole, but in e;ich par- 
 ticular member. Ubi Spiritus, ibi ecclesia. These 
 members vary widely in other respects, but they 
 are all alike characterized by the indwelling of the 
 Spirit, the source of their life and the bond of 
 their connection with Christ, the head. Now it is 
 this living temple which the Branch builds. He 
 is, according to the common Scripture metaphor, 
 the foundation, the corner-stone ; but here he ap- 
 pears as builder. Sending forth his servants he 
 began and still continues the work, collecting, 
 shaping, and laying the materials, until already 
 an innumerable multitude have been framed into 
 such a structure as earth never saw before. The 
 Church on earth has many imperfections, yet after 
 allowing for all these, it is still a coetus Sanctorum, 
 a civitas Dei, a holy temple in the Lord ; and it 
 bears witness in every part to the grace and skill 
 of its great Founder. He, only He, did build, 
 could build such a glorious edifice. 
 
 3. The source of his power and success is indi- 
 cated in the very peculiar functions assigned to Him 
 in the text. He is a priest upon his throne, — 
 a combination wholly strange to the experience of 
 the covenant people, and heretofore known to them 
 only in the dim tradition from patriarchal days, 
 of the mysterious Melchisedek who was at once 
 king of Salem and a priest of the most high God. 
 In the Branch, the Aaronic line and the Davidic 
 line should both culminate. He should fulfill the 
 highest ideal of each. As the one, real, atoning 
 priest, he was to attain all i^ovalav for the forgive- 
 ness of sins and the removal of guilt; and as the 
 one, real, reigning king, he was to exercise all 5u- 
 vafjiiy for the inward support and outward protec- 
 tion of his people. The two functions coincided 
 in extent and object. Those for whom the priest 
 offered and interceded, were the very parties over 
 whom the king extended his beneficent reign. This 
 counsel between the two ofiices, this harmony of 
 aim and purpose, cannot but insure peace = the 
 highest good, temporal and spiritual, of his peo- 
 ple. The combination of right and power is irre- 
 sistible. So it has been in all the past ; so it will 
 be in all the future. This man hath an unchange 
 able priesthood, and his dominion is an everlasi- 
 ing dominion, and his kingdom that which shall 
 not be destroyed (Heb. vii. 24 ; Dan. vii. 14). We 
 can see the value of this combination more clearly 
 by considering the consequences, if either function 
 stood alone. Of what avail would be the pardon 
 of sin, if there were no security against its recur- 
 rence and dominion in the future ? The wiping 
 out of the old score would simply make room for 
 a new one. On the other hand, of what use would 
 be the mastery of all concupiscence for the present 
 and all time to come, so long as no provision was 
 made for the arrearages of former transgression 
 and guilt f The burden of the past would only ba 
 the more intolerable as its enormity would oe the 
 more clearly discerned and felt. We need a Priest 
 and a King, and, blessed be God we have them 
 with a resulting counsel vjf peace. 
 
 4. The calling of the Gentiles belongs to the 
 building of the ideal temple. This is set forth 
 typically by taking materials from Babylon for th« 
 
CHAPTER VII. 1-14. 
 
 double crown to he phiced upon Joshna, and di- 
 rectly by the declaration that they that are far off 
 shall come and build in the temple of the Lord. 
 This very expression the Apostle Paul uses to des- 
 ignate the Gentile Ephesians (ii. 17), "you that 
 are far off." Zechariah faithfully echoes the words 
 of all his predecessors as to the extent of the final 
 dispensation of grace. The universality indicated 
 in the first promise, and clearly expressed in the 
 oft-repeated covenant with Abraham, was never 
 lost sight of. Even amid the narrow restrictions 
 and close lines of Judaism there were significant 
 intimations that the barriers of race were only in- 
 cidental and temporary (see on ii. 11), and that 
 one day the light and life of Zion should extend 
 to the ends of the earth. Just as Isaiah (Ix. 2, 6, 
 9) sets forth the future triumph of the Gospel by 
 representing huge caravans as journeying toward 
 Zion, and the ships of Tarshish as engaged in 
 transporting the sons of strangers thither with 
 their silver and their gold, so our Prophet ex- 
 presses the same truth by depicting the far-off na- 
 tions as builders in the temple. As living stones 
 they come, and insert themselves in the sacred edi- 
 fice, being built upon " Jesus Christ Himself, in 
 whom the whole building groweth into an holy 
 temple in the Lord." And not only that, but un- 
 der the master-builder, they are the means of gath- 
 ering others, and so lifting yet higher the walls 
 of that spiritual house which is the temple of the 
 living God. The chief upholders to-day of heathen 
 evangelization are nations farthest off from the old 
 seat of the theocracy. 
 
 HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : The history of the world is arranged 
 in reference to the destinies of the Church ; and 
 
 the agencies that control that history go forth 
 from the seat of the Church's great head, the un- 
 seen temple. Political changes are after all onlj 
 the moving of the shadow on the earthly dial-plate 
 that marks the mightier revolutions going forward 
 in the heavens 
 
 Bradley : The temple of Jehovah. If God so 
 loves his Church as to call it his house, to dwell 
 in it and delight in it ; if He deems it so sacred as 
 to call it his temple ; if He sees so much grandeur 
 and beauty in it as to speak of its glory ; surely, 
 we may find in it something to love, something to 
 
 delight in, soinetiiing to revere and admire 
 
 He shall build. Christ is the builder. (1.) He 
 forms the ]>lan. (2.) He prepares the materials. 
 (3.) He joins the materials together. 
 
 Jat : The temple is the Church of God. His 
 people, therefore, should remember that all they 
 have and all they are is the Lord's ; and that to 
 take anything pertaining to a temple is not only 
 
 robbery but sacrilege Christ is the sole 
 
 real builder. All others build only as instru- 
 ments. Even Paul and Apollos were only minis- 
 ters by whom men believed, even as the Lord gave 
 to every man. Too often men are insensible of 
 this, and begin like Melancthon, who supposed in 
 his fervor that he should convert all who heard 
 him. 
 
 Pressel : Every contribution toward the build- 
 ing up of the Church, coming from a true heart, 
 has its memorial before God, and as a testimony 
 before the world of the divinity of the Gospel. . . . 
 The slowness of the far-off nations to enter into 
 the kingdom of Christ, is due not so much to tha 
 hardness of their hearts as to the feeble attention 
 of Christians to the voice of their God and Sar- 
 
 in. THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION CONCERNING THE FAST. 
 Chapters VII. and VIIL 
 1. THE QUESTION PROPOSED: THE PROPHET'S REBUKE. 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 A. The Question (vers. 1-4). 
 
 4. 
 
 B. Present Rebuke (vers. 5-7). 
 Past (vers. 8-14). 
 
 C. Appeal to th» 
 
 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king that the word ot 
 Jehovah came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, in Kislev, when 
 Bethel ^ sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and his men, to entreat Jehovah,- to 
 speak to the priests who were at the hoitse of Jehovah of Hosts, and to the proph- 
 ets, saying, Shall I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have now ^ done 
 5 so many years ? And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me, saying. Speak 
 to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned 
 in the fifth (month) and in the seventh, and that fur seventy years, did ye fast at 
 all to me, to me ? And when ye eat ^ and when ye drink, is it not ^ ye who eat 
 and ye who drink ?® [Know ye] not the words which Jehovah proclaimed by the 
 former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and at peace, and her cities round 
 about her, and the South, and the Lowland were inhabited ? 
 
 ^ And the word of Jehovah came to Zecharia^^ saying, 
 
b6 ZECHAKIAH. 
 
 9 Thus spake "^ Jehovah of Hosts, saying, 
 Judge the judgment of truth,* 
 And show kindness and pity ^ one to another. 
 
 10 And widow and orphan, 
 
 And stranger and poor man,^" do not oppress ; 
 And evil against a brother 
 Conceive ye not in your heart. 
 
 11 But they refused to attend. 
 
 And offered a rebellious shoulder, 
 
 And made their ears too heavy to hear." 
 
 12 And their heart they made an adamant, 
 That they might not hear the law 
 
 And the words which Jehovah of Hosts sent by his Spirit^ 
 
 By means of the former prophets ; 
 
 Aid there was great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts. 
 
 13 And it came to pass. 
 
 That as he cried and they did not hear, 
 " So they call and I hear not,^ 
 Saith Jehovah of Hosts ; 
 
 14 And I whirl" them over all the nations whom they knew not:* 
 And the land was made desolate behind them, 
 
 So that no one goes out or comes in. 
 
 And [so] they made the pleasant land a desert." 
 
 TEXTUAL AND ORAMMATIOAL. 
 
 i Ver. 2. — vS'/T'D to a proper name here, as it is in Judges xx. 18, 26, 81. 
 
 t 'Ver. 2 ""iSTIM Hi ^H/. Henderson renders this (here and in riii. 21) in rather inperfin* BnglUh, — to turn 
 
 idxatt the regard. It is not = pray be/ore (E. V.), but simply, to entreat or beseech. Cf. 2 Chion. rxxlll. 12. 
 
 t Ver. 8. nT here is equivalent to our now. Qen. xxxi. 38. See Text, and Gram, on i. 12. 
 
 4 Ver. 6. — The tenses in the first clause cannot grammatically be rendered as preterites, as E. V. 
 
 6 Ver. 6. — The marginal rendering (E. V. ) of the question is better than that of the text, as leaving leas to be Bupi 
 plied. 
 
 6 Ver. 6. — The question, " Is it not ye," etc., implies, " Have I anything at all to do with it? Is it not your owa 
 kOur entirely ? 
 
 7 Ver. 9. — The first verb must be rendered in the preterit; spake, not speaketh. 
 
 8 Ver. 9. — Judgment of truth. The margin of E. V. is better than the text. 
 
 9 Ver. 9. — ~T— i"', kindness. D''^n~l, pity. See for the latter on i. 16. 
 
 10 Ver. 10. — As the first four nouns are anarthrous in the original, it is more literal as well as more spirited to ttn- 
 An them so in the version. 
 
 11 Ver. 11. — In 27i?2t2^Q, 'he preposition has its not unusual privative force. 
 
 13 Ver. 13. — The change of tense in the latter half of this verse is obliterated in the E. V. The writer passes firom 
 narration, and cites the ipsissima verba of Jehovah. This is a better explanation than that which makes the fntore eX' 
 
 pr«es a past action still continuing (Moore). Kohler and Pressel extend the citation as fiir as 2ti?X3, but it is better with 
 
 Bwald and Dmbreit to make it terminate with 0^371^, since the next verb is clearly a preterite. 
 
 18 Ver. 14. — □~1!S[DST is not an Aramaic form, but results from the guttur&l attracting to itself the vowel of tb* 
 preceding vav. (Green* Heb. Gram., 60, 3 c. and 92 e.) 
 
 14 Ver. 14. — To render the last clause impersonally (Maurer), is enfeebling as well as needless. 
 
 KXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This prophecy is separated from what precedes 
 by an interval of nearly two years, during all 
 which time the work upon the Temple had been 
 Bteadily prosecuted. As the buildinrr rose before 
 the eyes of the people and gave promise of a speedy 
 restoration of the ancient worship in its integrity, 
 they became doubtful about the propriety of con- 
 tinuing to observe the solemn fasts by which they 
 commemorated calamitous epochs in their former 
 history, especially the anniversary of the burning 
 >f the city and temple by Nebuchadnezzar on the 
 
 tenth day of the fifth month. Accordingly a mes- 
 sage of inquiry was sent to the priests and the 
 prophets, to which the Lord vouchsafed a direct 
 and abundant answer by the hand of Zechariah. 
 The first part of this answer is contained in the 
 chapter before us. After reciting the occasion of 
 the oracle (vers. 1-3) the prophet rebukes them 
 for the formalism of their services (vers. 4-7), and 
 then reminds them of the disobedience of their 
 lathers and the sad doom which followed (vers. 8- 
 14). 
 
 Vers. 1-3. The Question. Ver. 1. And it cama 
 . . . . Kislev. The original here is peculiar, Id 
 that the note of time is torn apart, the year bein£ 
 
CHAPTEK VII. 1-U. 
 
 57 
 
 first mentioned, and then after the insertion of a 
 clause on another topic, the dav and month are 
 stated. Moreover, the latter notation, in the 
 fourth. .... Kislev, must belong both to the 
 clause which precedes it and to the one which fol- 
 lows it in ver. 2, — of which Kohler jnstlv savs, 
 that although not impossible, it is certainly harsh. 
 The sense, however, is plain. Kislev corresponds 
 to part of November and part of December. The 
 origin and mtaniug of the name are quite uncer- 
 tain. 
 
 Ver. 2. "When Bethel sent, etc. The LXX., 
 Vnlgate, Cocceius. et ai, make Bethel the object 
 or accusative of place, but in that case it would 
 
 have been preceded by --S, or at least HS, or made 
 to follow the subject ; and besides there seems to 
 be no reason why after the Captivity the Lord 
 should have been sought at Bethel, since neither 
 the altar nor the prophet was there at that time. 
 It must then be the. subject, as most expositors 
 hold, but not in the sense of Hengstenberg, as = 
 the congregation of the Lord, the whole people, 
 since there is no nsage to sustain this view, but 
 simply = the people of Bethel, many of whom, we 
 know, had returned with Zerubbabel (Ez. ii. 28, 
 Xeh. vii. 32), and soon rebuilt their city (Neh. xi. 
 31). Some make the two following names to be 
 in apposition with Bethel (Ewald, Hitzig). but 
 this is harsh as well as needless. The Bethelites 
 sent two of their number, one of whom has an 
 Assyrian name (Sharezer), and was probably bom 
 in exile. Their object was to stroke the face, i. e., 
 to conciliate by caresses, or to entreat, Jehovah. 
 It is farther stated in the next verse. 
 
 Ver. 3. To speak to the priests, etc. The 
 priests as well as the prophets were regarded as 
 organs of divine commnnications. See Hag. ii. 
 
 11, Mai. ii. 7. ''.'l|'7 J* not adequately translated 
 by abstaining, i. e., from food, for it means a separ- 
 ation from all the ordinary occupations of life. It 
 is not, therefore, (as Fiirst and Keil say) = Z-12- 
 The question is put in the name of the population 
 of Bethel, but they represented what was a general 
 feeling, and hence the Lord's answer is addressed 
 to the people at large. 
 
 Vers. 4-7 contain a reproof of their manner of 
 observing a fast. 
 
 Ver. 5. Speak to all, etc. The added specifica- 
 tion, to the priests, indicates that they particu- 
 larly needed the information thus given, the sub- 
 stance of which is that the fasting was a matter of 
 no consequence to the Lord. He had not com- 
 manded it, nor was it observed out of regard to 
 Him. When the people fasted, and when they ate 
 and drank, it was in either case simply with a'view 
 to their own interest. It was therefore a matter of 
 supreme inditference to Him, whether they kept 
 this formal observance or not. The text refers not 
 only to the fast in the fifth month, but also to one 
 in the seventh. This was observed on the anni- 
 versary of the murder of Gedaliah and his friends 
 (Jer. xli. Iff.). The emphatic repetition, to me, 
 to me, in the end of the verse, is the key to its 
 meaning. 
 
 Ver. 6. And when ye eat, etc. That is, yonr 
 feasting as well as your fasting, is conducted with- 
 out regard to me. simply for your own gratifica- 
 tion. 
 
 Ver. 7. Know ye not, etc. The sentence being 
 manifestly incomplete, some supply n_" after the 
 Srst word, and render, " Are not these the words," 
 
 I etc. (LXX., Vulgate, Rosenmiiller, E. V. margin) , 
 but this would require a noun with i^?5 to be taken 
 as a nominative, and besides, there is nc record 
 elsewhere of any such utterance of Gcd as thia 
 view requires. It is better (Mark, Ewald, Pressel, 
 et al.) to supply " know ye," and explain the word* 
 
 in question by what follows in vers. 9, 10. T^Z"]"*. 
 Some critics contend for an inrran.sitive rendering 
 as alone p:x)perfor chiz^word (cf. i. 2), but here the 
 sense can scarcely be expressed in English except 
 by a passive form. Certainly it would be an undua 
 
 liberty to supply JniirZ"! from i. 11, as Kliefoth 
 and Kohler do. The South and the Lowland 
 (Shefela), were well detined geographical divisions 
 of Palestine from the time of the Conquest (cf. in 
 Hebrew, Josh. x. 40, xv. 21, 31 ; Smith, Diet. Bib., 
 2291,2296). 
 
 Vers. 8-14. Here the prophet reminds his people 
 that the Lord required something else than formal 
 fastings, and that the disobedience of the fathers 
 was the cause of their ruin. 
 
 Ver. 9. Thus spake Jehovah, etc. The con- 
 nection requires that the first verb should be ren- 
 dered strictly in the preterite, and not as the E. V. 
 in the present. Judgment of truth is that which 
 is founded upon the actual facts in the case without 
 regard to personal considerations (Ezek. xviii. 8). 
 Kindness and pity are related as genus and spe- 
 cies, the latter being kindness shown to the unfor- 
 tunate. 
 
 Ver. 10. And widow and orphan €'c. This 
 verse specifies some of the chief ways of violating 
 the preceding requisition, and shows that it covers 
 the thoughts of the heart as well as the acts of the 
 
 members. The singular occurrence of "'^H'^ ^'^'S 
 after a noun in the construct, is explained by Gen. 
 ix. 5, where it stands appositionally, = the mam 
 who is his brother. Henderson violates all gram- 
 mar by rendering (after the LXX.), '•' think not in 
 your heart of the injury which one hath done to 
 another." The Vulgate would have been a better 
 guide, malum virjratri suo non cogitet in corde sua. 
 
 Ver. 11. But they refused . . . to hear. The 
 figure offered a rebeUious shoulder (Xeh. is. 29), 
 is taken from the conduct of an ox or heifer, refus- 
 ing the yoke. Cf. Hos. iv. 16. 
 
 Ver. 12. And they made, etc. Adamant ia a 
 
 better translation for "'^^^ ^^^^ diamond (Pres- 
 sel, Kohler, etc.), because it suggests only that 
 point for which the term is introduced, namely, its 
 impenetrable hardness. The relative refers to both 
 the preceding nouns, but there is no warrant for 
 giving to the law any but its strict and usual 
 sense. This clause well expresses the two factors 
 in all divine revelation, the guiding Spirit and the 
 inspired instruments. The last clause expresses 
 the result of the disobedience and obduracy of the 
 people. 
 
 Ver. 13. And it came to pass, etc. This verse 
 contains a sudden change in the form of the ad 
 dress. The protasis is in the words of the prophet, 
 but the apodosis. so they call, etc., introduces Je- 
 hovah as the speaker, and He continues to be such 
 until the second clause of the concluding verse. 
 The sentiment echoes the last words of the firsi 
 chapter of Proverbs. 
 
 Ver. 14. And I will whirl them, etc. I prefer 
 the rendering, whom they knew not, of the E. V., 
 following the LXX., to the other, "who knew not 
 them," adopted by most critics after the Vtilgate. 
 In either case the sense is clear, namely, that thej 
 
58 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 would fall into the liands of those who bein<^ total 
 Btrarn,'^ers were the loss likely to show compassion. 
 Goes out or comes in, literally, goes away and 
 returns again, is an idiomatic phrase, first found in 
 Ex. xx.xii. 27, for passing to and fro. Its nega- 
 tive presents a sad picture of entire desolation. 
 The pleasant Aand is a familiar designation of 
 Canaan in its agreeable aspect (Ps. cvi. 24; Jer. 
 iii. 19). This final clause states the result, and to 
 give it its full effect, requires the parenthetic inser- 
 tion of so in the version. Thus it is made plain 
 that all the calamity whicli is bewailed on the fast 
 days was brought on by^ the sinful obduracy of 
 those to whom " the former prophets " spoke by 
 the Spirit, but alas, spoke in vain. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The question of the Bethelites indicates very 
 clearly the wretched formalism into which the peo- 
 ple had degenerated. The fasts about which they 
 inquired were not of divine appointment, and had 
 no hold upon the conscience. The same author- 
 ity which originated them could of course discon- 
 tinue them. The question itself, as well as the 
 motive from which it sprang, betrayed entire ignor- 
 ance of the nature and design of Scriptural fast- 
 ing. It is not an ascetic exercise, and has no in- 
 trinsic value whatever. Hence even in the com- 
 plicated and extensive ritual of the Old Testament, 
 there is mention of only one stated fast — the day 
 of atonement (Lev. xvi. 29), — and that, only by 
 the indirect expression "afflict your souls." In 
 all other cases, and there are very many of them, 
 the sei"vice is set forth as strictly pro re nata, some- 
 thing springing out of the circumstances at the 
 time, and intended to cease as soon as they ceased. 
 It would seem as if the design was to guard 
 against the very error of the Jews mentioned here, 
 — one that long continued to prevail among them 
 and which centuries afterward was distinctly re- 
 buked by our Lord. At one time the objection 
 was made to him by the disciples of John the Bap- 
 tist, " Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but 
 thy disciples fast not ■? And Jesus said unto them, 
 Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as 
 long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days 
 will come when the bridegroom shall be taken 
 from them, and then shall they fast " (Matt. ix. 
 14, 15). That is, while I am present with my dis- 
 ciples, there is no occasion for any such observ- 
 ance, and if I instituted one, its design would sure- 
 ly be mistaken. Hereafter, circumstances will arise 
 when they will instinctively feel that observances 
 of this kind arp called for, and then they will ap- 
 point them, and retain them so long as may be 
 necessary. Our Lord does not deny the lawful- 
 ness or the expediency of fasting ; but He does 
 deny its intrinsic excellence or usefulness. It is 
 an expression of sorrow and humiliation proper 
 to be used oir the occasions which call for such 
 feelings ; then it is fitted to help the discipline of 
 the soul and to lead to benefits quite beyond itself 
 Indeed, on such occasions it is a suggestion of na- 
 ture itself, — nothing being more common than for 
 extreme grief or other mental excitement to take 
 away the appetite for food. But whenever the ex- 
 ercise is made to recur statedly at regular inter- 
 vals without regard to circumstances, its inevitable 
 tendency is to degenerate into a barren form and 
 ft mischievous self-deception. 
 
 2. This error is a serious one. Overstrained 
 
 devotion to ceremonial observances is sure to react 
 disastrously upon morals. Men lose the sense of 
 proportion, and lay more stress upon mint, anise, 
 and cummin than upon judgment and mercy; and 
 they compensate for rigidity in forms by great 
 looseness in substance. Hence in this chapter, 
 Zechariah, before.answering the question proposed, 
 exposes the hollowness of mere outward fastinga 
 (vers. 5,6), and then reminds them of the causes 
 of their fathers' ruin (vers. 11, 12). It was not 
 due to any inattention to ritual, but to the disre- 
 gard of the plainest duties of justice and human- 
 ity. They had not only the law written on the 
 heart, and the law engraved on the two tables of 
 stone, but the express and reiterated injunctions 
 of the Prophets against all injustice and oppres- 
 sion ; and yet they utterly refused to hear. Their 
 children now were in danger of falling into just 
 the same error. It was true then, as it is now, 
 that no religion is worth anything which does not 
 regulate the life and secure the discharge of social 
 and relative duties. Morality is certainly not piety, 
 but the piety which does not include morality is a 
 mere delusion. It mocks God and insults man. 
 
 3. God is represented in Scripture as the guard- 
 ian of the weak. Widows and orphans, the 
 strangers and the poor, they who are especially 
 exposed to ill treatment, are placed under his 
 powerful protection. To them He makes the most 
 precious promises, while upon their oppressors He 
 denounces the heaviest woes. This feature char- 
 acterizes the Mosaic legislation, so often thought- 
 lessly denounced as harsh ; it is renewed in the 
 older Prophets before the Captivity, and now reap- 
 pears again in the closyig accents of Old Testa- 
 ment inspiration (cf. also Mai. iii. 5). In respect 
 to these classes, the later dispensation is no ad- 
 vance upon the older, exce])t in the higher sanc- 
 tion contained in the words and works of God 
 manifest in the flesh. One of the surest tests of 
 an intelligent Christianity as well as of a high 
 civilization, is found in the provision made and 
 maintained for those who so often are the victims 
 either of cruel neglect, or, alas, willful oppression ! 
 Men need to be continually reminded that such 
 provision is a dictate not merely of reason and hu- 
 manity, but of Him who hns proclaimed Himself 
 the judge of the widow and the helper of the fa- 
 therless, who preserveth the stranger, and who 
 hath chosen the poor of this world to be the heirs 
 of his kingdom (Ps. x. 14 ; Ixviii. 5 ; cxlvi. 9 ; Jas. 
 ii. 5). 
 
 4. The most terrible penalties are penalties in 
 kind. Such as the drunkard pays when at last he 
 feels himself the slave of a vicious habit which he 
 knows is ruining body and soul, and yet he is un- 
 able to throw off; or the licentious man when de- 
 sire survives the power of gratification, and he is 
 tortured by appetites for which exhausted nature 
 has no provision. Similar is it in matters of relig- 
 ion. God calls and men refuse to hear. From 
 the days of Enoch down this has been a common 
 experience. Sometimes a judgment falls or wrath 
 is executed speedily. But ordinarily the retribu- 
 tion comes in the line of the sin. Men awake at 
 last to their true situation, and become alarmed. 
 Then the same process begins as before, with the 
 parties reversed. Men call, but they are not heard 
 They seek, but do not find. They knock, but no 
 door is opened. There is a painful reminder of 
 the words of the wise man : " Tliey shall eat of 
 the fruit of their own way and be filled with tkeu 
 own devices" (Prov. i. 31). 
 
CHAPTER Vm. 1-23. 
 
 bi 
 
 " Btkfe we not heard tlie bridegroom is so sweet, 
 
 Oh, let us in, though late, to kiss his feet ! " 
 " No, DO, too late ! ye caonot enter now." 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Wordsworth : Zechariah's typical and pro- 
 phetical visions are succeeded by ))ractical instruc- 
 tions. All theological mysteries are consummated 
 in holiness and love. The Jews did well to fast, 
 but not to boast of their fasting' and self-mortiti- 
 cation. Here is a symptom of that Pharisaical 
 reliance upon outward works of religion, which 
 reached its height in our Lord's age (Matt. vi. 16), 
 and became almost as detrimental to vital piety as 
 idolatry had been in the age before the Captivity. 
 Your fasting was not produced by a deep sense of 
 shame and remorse for sin, as hateful to me and 
 as the cause of your punishment from me. It was 
 not a fast of sorrow lor my offended majesty, but 
 for your own punishment. It was not a God-ward 
 sorrow, but a world-ward sorrow (2 Cor. vii. 10). 
 
 TiLLOTSON : A truly religious fast consists in 
 (1.) The afflicting of our bodies by a strict absti- 
 nence that so they may be fit instruments to pro- 
 mote the grief of our minds. (2.) In the humble 
 confession of our sins to God. (3.) In an earnest 
 
 deprecation of God's displeasure. (4.) In inter- 
 cession for such spiritual and temporal blessings 
 upon ourselves and others as are needful. (5.) Is 
 alms and charity to the poor. (6.) In the actua' 
 reformation of our lives. 
 
 Moore : All stated fasts tend to degenerate into 
 superstition, unless there is some strong counter- 
 acting agency. The original reference to God is 
 lost in the mere outward act. This is the case 
 with Popish observances of the present day. Self- 
 ishness is the bane of all true piety, as godliness 
 is its essence. Warnings of punishment when no 
 signs of it are seen, are often disregarded. They 
 who cherish hard hearts must expect hard treat- 
 ment. The harder the stone, the harder will be 
 the blow of the hammer to break it. They who 
 will not bear the burden of obedience, must bear 
 the burden of punishment. 
 
 Hengstenberg : The Jews' estimate of the 
 value of fasting. A custom which had no mean- 
 ing, except as the outward manifestation of a peni- 
 tent state of heart, was regarded as having worth 
 in itself, as an opus operatum. It was supposed 
 that merit was thereby acquired ; and surprise and 
 discontent were expressed that God had not yel 
 acknowledged and rewarded the service of so many 
 years. 
 
 2. THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE. THE QUESTION ANSWERED. 
 
 A. Cfenercd Promises and Precepts (vers. 1-17). B. Fasts shall become FetHvah^ anti 
 
 whole Nations be added to the Jews (vers. 18-23). 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 1 And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came to me,^ saying, 
 
 2 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 I am jealous ^ for Zion with great jealousy, 
 And with great fury I am jealous for her. 
 
 3 Thus saith Jehovah, I am returned to Zion, 
 And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem ; 
 And Jerusalem shall be called the city of truth,^ 
 
 And the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts the holy mountain. 
 
 4 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 Yet shall there sit* old men and old women in the streets of Jemsaleoif 
 Each having his staff in his hand for very age ; " 
 
 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls, 
 Playing in the streets. 
 
 6 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 Because it wUl be marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this nation in thoae 
 
 _ days, 
 Shall it be marvelous in my eyes also ? saith Jehovah of Hosts. 
 
 7 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 Behold, I save my people from the land of the rising, 
 
 And from the land of the setting of the sun ; 
 6 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of JemsalesDy 
 
 And they shall be my people and I will be their Grod, 
 
 In truth and in righteousness. 
 9 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts 
 
 liCt your hands be strong, 
 
 Ye who hear in these days these words, 
 
:;0 ZF.CHARIAII. 
 
 From the moutli of the prophets who spake' 
 
 On tlie day the house of Jehovah of Hosts, the temple,* 
 
 Was founded, that it might be built. 
 
 10 For before those days there was no wages for a man 
 And no wages for a beast," 
 
 And no peace to him that went out or came in, because of the oppressor ; 
 And I set'" all men, each against his neighbor. 
 
 1 1 Ikit now not as in the former days am I 
 
 To the remnant of this people, saith Jehovah of Hosts. 
 
 12 For" there shall be a seed of peace, 
 The vine shall yield its fruit, 
 
 And tlie earth shall yield its produce, 
 And the heavens shall give their dew, 
 And I will cause the remnant of this people to inherit all these. 
 
 13 And it shall be, that as ye were a curse among the nations, 
 
 house of Judah and house of Israel, 
 
 So will I save you and ye shall be a blessing ; 
 Fear not, let your hands be strong. 
 
 14 For thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 As I. thought to do evil '^ to you when your fathers provoked me, 
 Saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I repented not ; 
 
 15 So have I thought again ''' in these days 
 
 To do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah, 
 Fear ye not. 
 
 16 These are the words which ye are to do ; 
 Speak truth, each to his neighbor : 
 
 Truth and judgment of peace judge ye " in your gates. 
 
 17 And let none of you devise the evil of his neighbor in your hearts, 
 And love not an oath of falsehood ; 
 
 For all these ^'' are what I hate, saith Jehovah. 
 
 18-19 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 The fast of the fourth (month), and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, 
 and the fast of the tenth, shall become pleasure and joy to the house of Judah 
 and cheerful feasts ; but love ye truth '^ and peace. 
 
 20 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 It shall yet ^' be that peoples '^ will come. 
 And the inhabitants of many cities ; 
 
 21 And the inhabitants of one (city) shall go to another, saying, 
 Let us go speedily to entreat Jehovah '^ 
 
 And to seek Jehovali of Hosts. 
 
 1 will go also. 
 
 i'2 And many peoples and strong nations shall come 
 
 To seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem, 
 
 And to entreat Jehovah. 
 23 Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 In those days it shall come to pass 
 
 That ten men of all languages of the nations shall take hold ; 
 
 Even shall take hold of the skirt of a .Jew, 
 
 Saying, we will go with you, 
 
 For we have heard that God is with you. 
 
 TEXTDAL AND UR.\MMAT1CAL. 
 
 >^S.' 
 
 1 Ver. 1. — The word ^ S wanting in the Masoretic text, is found in numerous MSS and several editioiiB, and It 
 lapported by the Syriac and Targum. 
 
 2 Ver. 2. — "I am jealous," not as E. V. - I was. ' The Hebrew tense here seems to be <= the Greek perfe:t, Id Um 
 leoBe " I have been and still am.'" 
 
 8 Ver. 8. — The city of truth, not a city as K. V.. Imt due piei-iiiinent in this respect. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 1-23. 
 
 6] 
 
 i Ver. 4. — 1307^. The literal meaning sit is both more accurate and more expressive than the derived sense ilietU 
 kdopted in the E. V. from the Vulg^te. 
 
 i Ver. 4. — ■' Very age." This archaism is better than the literal " abundance of days " in margin of E. V. 
 
 6 Ver. 6. — Dnn, according to u.«age, must be rendered thosf. So Dr. Riggs (Sus:sested Emendations), who how- 
 STer is not happy in suggesting the marginal rendering of the E. V. as preferable to the textual, in the case of the vert 
 in this clause The literal sense of H 72"* is to be singled out, distins:uished, wonderful, and the word here expressM 
 something no: only difficult, but so difficult as to be marvelous or incredible. 
 
 7 Ver. 9. — ~1tt"'S requires a verb to be supplied. Some suggest ^S12, but ?1'^2"1 seems better. 
 
 8 Ver. 9. — The grammatical construction here is awkward, yet better than E. V., which seems to imply a differeno* 
 Between the house of Jehovah and the temple. 
 
 9 Ver. 10. — The feminine suffix in n33^S refers to the nearer preceding noun. 
 
 10 Ver. 10 — In H vtt7S"T_ the vav convers. takes Pattach in conformity to the compound Sheva wliich foUowi 
 (Green H- G., 99 6). 
 
 11 Ver 12. — Keil renders ^3 but, but the usual signification for is as suitable and idiomatic. 
 
 12 Ver. 14. — 27"inv is in contrast with S'^^'^H/ in ver. 15, and they should be so rendered — to do evil and tg 
 do good ; whereas E V. gives the former as punish, and Henderson afflict 
 
 18 Ver. 15. — ''in^tt? = again. See on v. 1, vi. 1. 
 
 14 Ver. 16. — J11225C — l35tt7J2. To render this " Execute judgment " (B. V., Henderson), is misleading, for tbt 
 words express the pronouncing, not the executing of judgment. Noyes renders, " Judge according to tratli, and for 
 peace," etc. 
 
 15 Ver. 17- — n vN'^S'HS is to be taken as an acctts. absol. 
 
 16 Ver. 19. — The E. V. renders the last clause, " love the truth ; " and so the GenoTan. But both omit the artioli 
 before " peace," although the Hebrew has it before each noun. 
 
 17 Ver. 20. — After ^3? we must supply n^'iT'. 
 
 18 Ver. 20. — D^ffil? = peoples. This plural, found twice in E. V. (Rev. x. 11, xyii. 16), should hare been used hei*, 
 and in x. 9, xii. 2, 3, 4 ,6, xiv. 12, and often elsewhere, to avoid ambiguity. 
 
 19 Ver. 21. — 'ni bnb. See on vU. 2. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 In the preceding chapter the Prophet had re- 
 buked the people for their formalism, and set forth 
 the dreadful consequences of disobedience. Now 
 ne turns to the other side of the subject and paints 
 an exquisite picture of the results of conformity 
 to the Divine will. Vers. 1-3. The restoration 
 of purity. — Vers. 4-6. Wonderful peace and pros- 
 perity. — Vers. 7, 8. Rescue of all captives from 
 every quarter. — Vers. 9-13. General fertility in 
 place of the previous drou<;ht and want. — Vers. 
 14, J 5. Future execution of promises as sure as 
 past execution of threats. — Vers. 16, 17. Moral 
 conditions of prosperity. — Vers. 18, 19. Fasts 
 shall become festivals. — Vers. 20-23. Lively state- 
 ment of the extension of God's kingdom. 
 
 The chapter is divided into two parts by the 
 phrase, " And the word of Jehovah of Hosts came 
 to me " (ver. 1 and ver. 18). Each of these parts 
 is again divided into separate utterances by the re- 
 curring formula, " Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts." 
 The first contains seven of these segments (vers. 
 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 14) ; the .second has but three (vers. 
 19, 20, 23). Jerome justly explains these reiter- 
 ated references to the Almighty as meaning, " Do 
 not consider these words to be my own, and there- 
 fore disbelieve them as coming from a man ; they 
 are the promises of God." 
 
 (a.) General Promises and Precepts, {\ers. 1-17). 
 ' — ver. 1. And the woi:d of Jehovah, etc. See 
 the same formula, ante i. 7, iv. 8. 
 
 Ver. 2. I am jealous .... for her. For the 
 usage and the sense, see on i. 14. Both passages 
 Bpeak of wrath, but there the object of the wrath 
 is stated (the nations), here, the cause (Zion). This 
 rehement affection manifests itself in the ways de- 
 icribed in the next verse. 
 
 Ver. 3. I am returned to Zion. He had for- 
 saken his dwelling-place when Jerusalem was given 
 up to her foes, and Ezekiel had seen in vision the 
 glory of Jehovah departing (xi. 23). Now he 
 would return, and in consequence, the city would 
 be called the city of truth, i. e., where truth is 
 found, and Moriah the holy mountain; which 
 does not mean that they would actually bear these 
 names, but that they would deserve them as ex- 
 pressing their real character. The strict fulfill- 
 ment of this promise must be referred to the Mes- 
 sianic period. 
 
 Vers. 4, 5. Yet shall there sit, etc. This beau- 
 tiful picture represents the extremes of life as dwell- 
 ing in all security and happiness in the midst of 
 Jerusalem. Long life and a multitude of children 
 were ordinary theocratic blessings (Ex. xx. 12 ; 
 Deut. vii. 13, 14; Ps. cxxviii. 3-5), and this prom- 
 ise must in part at least relate to the period between 
 Zerubbabel and Christ. There is a curious verbal 
 coincidence in the words of the author of 1 Mac- 
 cabees (xiv. 9), describing the peaceful prosperity 
 wliich prevailed in Judaea under the rule of Simon ; 
 " The ancient men sat all in the streets, commun- 
 ing together of good things, and the young men 
 put on glorious and warlike apparel." But the 
 full realization has been seen only under a later 
 economy. 
 
 Ver. 6. Because it will be marvelous, etc. 
 The Lord confirms their faith in his words by re- 
 minding them that what seemed incredible to them 
 was not therefore incredible to Jehovah. The com- 
 mon explanation of the second clause, supposes 
 
 C3 to stand for Q^H, as in 1 Sam. xxii. 8, and 
 the question to imply a negative answer. This is 
 simple and pertinent, especially if we, like the E. 
 
 v., render ^\]'C- these, instead of those, which is 
 
&J, 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 Its customary sense as denotinfj the farther demon- 
 Btrative. But even according to the rendering, in 
 those days, i. e., when this sliall come to pass, 
 the sense is better than with Koliler to make the 
 second clause an alfirmation, and explain the pas- 
 sage as saying that it would be right for the peo- 
 ple to regard it as marvelous, for it would appear 
 such even to Jehovah himself. Remnant of this 
 nation. See Haggai i. 12-14. 
 
 Vers. 7, 8. Behold I save my people .... 
 righteousness. .Tehovah will rescue his people 
 from all lands as tar as the sun shines, install them 
 again in Jerusalem and renew the old covenant re- 
 lation, — He their God and they his people (xiii. 
 9) ; and this, in the exercise on both sides of 
 truth and righteousness (Hos. ii. 21, 22). Hen- 
 derson, Koiiler, Pressel, et al., refer this to the res- 
 toration of the Jews still scattered abroad, but the 
 words are too large to admit of so narrow a re- 
 striction, nor is there any historical evidence of 
 any such general retiirn of the diaspora to Pales- 
 tine. Jerusalem must stand here as elsewhere for 
 the Messianic kingdom. On the basis of these 
 promises, Zechariah proceeds to encourage the peo- 
 ple. 
 
 Ver. 9. Let your hands, etc. To have the 
 hands strong = to be of good courage (Judg. vii. 
 11 ; 2 Sam. xvi. 21). A reason for this courage 
 is shown in the description of those to wiiom it is 
 addressed. They are those who hear what the 
 later Prophets say, e. g., in vers. 2-8 of this chap- 
 ter. These later Prophets (Haggai and Zechariah) 
 had appeared at the time when the foundation of 
 the temple was laid, and the good effects of their 
 activity already to be seen were a pledge of what 
 should follow. It is unnecessary with Hitzig to 
 
 conceive CV2 as put for d"*^} but he is happy 
 in the suggestion that the last words of the verse 
 that it might be built, are intended to emphasize 
 the thought that this second founding of the tem- 
 ple (Hag. ii. 15-18), unlike the first (Ezra iii. 10), 
 should issue in the completion of the building. 
 
 Vers. 10-12 present the contrast between the 
 present and the former times. 
 
 Ver. 10. Before those days, namely, in which 
 work on the temple was resumed. No wages. 
 The labor of man and beast yielded so little result 
 that it might be said to be none. There was also 
 an entire absence of internal quiet to him that 
 went out or came in, i. e., men engaged in their 
 
 ordinary occupations, ''^^'^j rendered by the an- 
 cient versions as an abstract noun, is made con- 
 crete by nearly all the moderns. That this does 
 not refer wholly to a heathen oppressor is made 
 plain by the following clause. 
 
 Ver. 11. But now makes vivid the contrast 
 with the opening words of the preceding verse. 
 
 Ver. 12. For there shall be ... . peace. 
 This clause is variously construed. Some say, 
 " the seed shall be secure " (Targum, Peshito), or 
 "prosperous" (E. V., Henderson), which is un- 
 
 f;ramniatical. Others, " the seed of peace, name- 
 y, the vine, shall," etc. (Keil, Kohler), and they 
 say that the vine is thus called because it can be 
 produced only in peaceful times ; but is not war 
 
 {'ust as destructive to any other fruit of the earth? 
 prefer the view of the Vulgate and Pressel given 
 above, a general statement of productiveness of 
 which the following clauses give the details. " Fu- 
 ture abundance will compensate for the drought 
 and scarcity of the past" (Jerome). 
 
 Ver. 1.3 sums up all the blessings in a single 
 utterance. As ye were a curse, etc. This does 
 
 not mean that they wc uld become a source of bless- 
 ing to the nations (a view which Pressel urges with 
 great zeal, but manifestly without ground), but an 
 example of blessedness, and therefore they would 
 be employed in a formula of benediction, just aa 
 they had been used for an imjjrecatorv formula 
 (cf. Gen. xlviii. 20 ; Jer. xxix. 22). — Israel. Sea 
 on p. 30 a the remark on a similar occurrence of 
 this name in i. 19. It is very significant. " The 
 idea that the ten tribes still exist somewhere in the 
 world, and are still to be restored in their tribal 
 state, has arisen from a misconstruction of those 
 prophecies which refer to the return from Baby- 
 lon " (Henderson). 
 
 Vers. 14-17. The two former of these verses 
 confirm the foregoing promise, and the two latter 
 indicate a condition of its performance. 
 
 Ver 14. And I repented not. Just as the 
 threatening did not fail of its execution, so you 
 may be sure the promise will not. 
 
 Vers. 16, 17. These are the words. There is 
 
 no need of giving to 0^7?^'!' the doubtful mean- 
 ing things (E. V., Henderson), since the ordinary 
 sense u;orc?s is entirely suitable. These "words 
 are, just as above in vii. 9, 10, first positive (ver. 
 16), then negative (ver. 17). Judgment of peace 
 is such judgment as promotes peace, but this is al- 
 ways founded upon truth. Your gates, as the 
 places where justice was usually administered. 
 The first clause of ver. 17 is curiously reversed 
 in meaning by Henderson : " think not in your 
 hearts of the injury which one hath done to an- 
 other," — a sense which the Hebrew cannot have. 
 The last clause is very emphatic in the original, 
 lit., " For as to all these things, they are what I 
 hate." 
 
 b. Fasts shall become Festivals, and the Nations 
 attracted (vers. 18-23). — Ver. 18. Here begins the 
 second word of Jehovah. See ver. 1. 
 
 Ver. 19. The fast of the fourth month, etc. 
 For the fasts of the fifth month and the seventh, 
 see on vii. 3-5. The fast of the fourth month was 
 on account of the taking of Jerusalem (Jer. xxxix. 
 2) ; that of the tenth was in commemoration of 
 the commencement of the siege (Jer. Iii. 4). All 
 these fasts were to be turned into festivals of joy. 
 Not, as Grotius says, that the observance should 
 be retained only with a change of feeling and pur- 
 pose ; but that the general condition should be so 
 happy and prosperous as to render fasting unsuit- 
 able. The last clause reminds them of the condi- 
 tion upon which these promises were suspended. 
 
 Ver. 20. Yet shall it be that, etc. The posi- 
 tion of yet renders it very emphatic, as if to say, 
 Notwithstanding all past desolations, this shall 
 surely come to pass. Peoples, that is to say, not 
 individuals merely, but entire nations. The con- 
 nection, apparently dropped at the end of this 
 verse, to allow the mention of the reciprocal sum- 
 mons in the next verse, is resumed with the same 
 
 (1S3^) in ver. 22. 
 
 Ver. 21. And the inhabitants of one city, etc. 
 The mutual appeal stated here greatly enlivens 
 the representation. The emphatic infinitive is very 
 well expressed in the E. V.. Let us go speedily, 
 although Prof. Cowles prefers earnestly. The last 
 clause, I will go also, is the prompt response ot 
 each of the parties addressed. 
 
 Ver. 22. And many peoples, etc. This vers« 
 takes up and completes the statement begun in 
 verse 20, by reciting the object of the journey 
 namely, the worship of Jehovah. 
 
 Ver. 23. Thus sai<^4i Jehovah of Hosts, tte 
 
CHAPTER VIII. l--2:i. 
 
 63 
 
 An important addition. Not only will the heathen 
 go in streams to Jerusalem to worship Jehovah, 
 but they will seek a close and intimate union with 
 
 the Jews as a nation. ~1^^, which Henderson 
 says is redundant, is rather emphatic, and the 
 clause is to be construed as the similar one at the 
 commencement of ver. 20. Ten men, a definite 
 number for an indefinite (Gen. xxxi. 7). Em-.h of 
 these ten representative men stands for a distinct 
 nation, since they each speak a different languajie, 
 as appears from the added clause, of all languages 
 of the nations, where the sinj^ularity of the ex- 
 pression seems desiy;ned to emphasize this diver- 
 sity. •Ip'^ynnT is simply a resumption of the same 
 verb in the former clause. We wiU go with you, 
 not merely to th<! house of God (Hitzis), but in 
 all other ways ( iuth i. 16). On God is with 
 you, cf 2 Chron xv. 9. Henderson explains all 
 this as fulfilled in the number of proselytes made to 
 Judaism after the restoration. But surely neither 
 " many peoples " nor "strong nations" ever in a 
 body joined themselves to the covenant people. 
 He says that " Jerusalem " cannot be understood 
 otherwise than literally. But most persons will 
 think it cannot be understood in that way at all, 
 for how could such a city contain nations 1 " That 
 these are said to come to Jerusalem is due to 
 the necessary modes of Jewish thought. That 
 was the only way in which the Jews before Christ 
 could concdve of real conversions, — the only lan- 
 guage descriptive of conversion which they could 
 understand. They had not yet reached the idea 
 that God can be worshipped acceptably and spirit- 
 ually just as well anywhere else as at Jerusalem. 
 Hence those glorious conversions of Gentile na- 
 tions which are to take place far down in the ages 
 of the Gospel dispensation, if foretold at all by 
 Jewish prophets and for Jewish readers, must be 
 presented in thoroughly Jewish language and in 
 harmony with Jewish conceptions. So we ought 
 to expect to find it throughout the Old Testament 
 Prophets, and so we do find it " (Cowles). 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MOBAL. 
 
 1. The beginning and the indispensable condi- 
 d.»n of all true prosperity is the presence of God. 
 Hence the very first article in the prophet's state- 
 ment of the happy prospects of his countrymen is 
 Jehovah's assurance, " I am returned to Zion." 
 His absence, strikingly depicted in the vision in 
 which Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord depart 
 from the threshold of the sanctuary, had caused 
 all the woes of Israel, — invasion, conquest, exile, 
 bondage. His return was the only sure pledge of 
 permanent restoration. This, according to the 46th 
 Psalm, is the river the streams whereof make glad 
 the city of God ; " God is in the midst of her, she 
 shall not be moved." God's presence in heaven 
 makes all its bliss, and his presence on earth makes 
 the nearest approach to that bliss. But as He is a 
 God of truth and holiness, they who enjoy his pres- 
 ence must partake of both. Wickedness cannot 
 dwell with Him. As Calvin says, " He is never 
 idle while He dwells in his people, for He cleanses 
 away every kind of impurity that the place where 
 He is may be holy." The proof of his presence, 
 therefore, is not any partial, outward, or transient 
 reform, but the growth and prevalence of holiness 
 rounded on truth, &<n6ry]Ti ttjs a,\-r\Q(ias, Eph. iv. 24. 
 
 2. " Longevity and a numerous offspring were 
 specially promised under the old dispensation," but 
 iowhere is that promi.se so beautifully set forth as 
 
 in the scene which Zechariah calls up, — the oW 
 man leaning upon Ids staff, and groups of happj 
 children playing in the streets. No pestilence stalkl 
 over the land, no war decimates the population, no 
 famine wastes fiesh and strength. The extremes 
 of human life are happy, each in its appropriate 
 way, and all that lie between are in the same peace- 
 ful condition. The classes which are most exposed 
 and most defenseless being in complete and con- 
 scious security, the others in the prime and vigor 
 of their days must needs be exempt from fear and 
 anxiety. AH this was the more impressive to the 
 prophet's contemporaries because of its contrast 
 with the days when death came up into the win- 
 dows and cut off the children from the streets, — 
 when the husband was taken with the wife, the 
 aged with him that was full of days (Jer. ix. 21, 
 vi. 11). There is no need of spiritualizing the de- 
 scription. It serves well in its literal sense to ex- 
 press what is realized already under the beneficent 
 reign of the Prince of Peace, and will become uni- 
 j versal and abiding when his kingdom is estab- 
 lished over the earth. 
 
 I 3. The chronic sin of human nature is unbelief, 
 I Men stagger at the greatness of the divine prom» 
 j ises. This is shown not only by the worldly, of 
 I whom the standing pattern is that lord in the 
 court of Jehoram, who, when Elisha predicted in 
 the midst of famine a speedy abundance of sup 
 plies, exclaimed, If the Lord would make windows 
 in heaven, might this thing be ? (2 Kings vii. 2) ; 
 but even by the godly, as illustrated in the case of 
 Moses, who, when God engaged to sate Israel with 
 flesh for a whole month in the wilderness, incred« 
 ulously reminded Him that there were 600,000 
 footmen, plainly implying that the thing was im- 
 possible. And yet Moses had seen all the wonders 
 wrought in Egypt. In like manner the restored 
 exiles regarded the glowing statements of Zech 
 ariah. They refused to accept them, and so lost 
 the comfort and stimulus they would otherwise 
 have enjoyed. The prophet puts his finger upon 
 the cause of this irrational unbelief, when he sug- 
 gests that they judged God by themselves, that 
 they measured his power by their own understand- 
 ing. It is absolutely necessary to raise our thoughts 
 above the world, to bid adieu to human standards 
 of probability, and to keep in mind the infinite 
 excellence of the Most High. There are very 
 many things of which one can only repeat what 
 the Master said to his disciples, — " With men this 
 is impossible, but with God all things are possi- 
 ble " (Matt. xix. 26). Faith in the divine omnip- 
 otence is easy so long as only hypothetical cases 
 are concerned ; but when a question of practical 
 duty is involved, and our faith requires us to run 
 counter to all the maxims of worldly wisdom, it is 
 another matter. It is this feature which gave such 
 a heroic aspect to the course of Abraham when 
 " against hope he believed in hope," and for scores 
 of years persevered in the expectation of an event 
 which was naturally quite impossible, just because 
 he was " fully persuaded that what God had prom- 
 ised He was also able to perform " (Rom. iv. 21), 
 It is needful always to remember that God's 
 thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor his ways as 
 our ways, but as high above them as the heavens 
 are high above the earth. Faith, therefore, always 
 has abundant warrant. The trouble is that so 
 many, like Thomas, want to see first, and then be- 
 lieve. But the special, peculiar blessing is for 
 those who, without seeing, believe what God says, 
 just because He says it. 
 
 4. The argument a fortiori is proverbially strong, 
 and as it is here presented by the propiidt, offere 
 
54 
 
 ZECHARIAli. 
 
 j;;reat cncourapfenient to weak faith. God reminds 
 Israel that the wrath incurred by their fathers had 
 been actually visited upon them, no repentance on 
 God's part interposing to avert the blow. Even so 
 should it be with his purposes of mercy ; and thus, 
 the very sorrows of tlio past became ])ledges for the 
 hopes of the future. The Most High does not will- 
 ingly afflict, He has no ])leasurc in the death of 
 him that dieth ; yet when the limit of forbearance 
 is reached. He executes the fierceness of his anger, 
 and his threatenitigs are verilied to the letter. 
 Every Jew saw this in the deep furrows the Chal- 
 di«an conquest had imprinted on his native land. 
 But if Jehovah carried out his purposes so eft'ec- 
 tively in the strange work of judgment, how much 
 more would He in the kind, congenial work of 
 beneticence and blessing? If the word of justice 
 had such a complete and ample verification, would 
 not the word of mercy be still more signally illus- 
 trated and confirmed ? In this view even the 
 gloomy desolation of the Dead Sea and the ruins 
 of Nineveh and Tyre confirm the faith and hope 
 which expect the world-wide blessings of the latter 
 day. The illustrations of God's severity will be 
 surpassed by those of his goodness. 
 
 5. The truest test of religious character is found 
 in the degree of our sympathy with God. If we 
 love what He loves and hate what He hates, then 
 are we his children, and bear his image. Now 
 what God hates particularly is not neglect of out- 
 ward observances, but all departures from the law 
 of love, — evil acting, evil speaking, evil thinking 
 toward our neighbor. And if we are right-minded 
 we shall shun these things, not for policy's sake, 
 nor even from abstract considerations of propriety, 
 but because they are so offensive to God. This 
 was what underlay the continence of Joseph under 
 a fierce temptation, — How shall I do this great 
 wickedness and sin against God 1 And this is the 
 only trustworthy support against the assaults of 
 the adversary. We must have a resolute loyalty 
 to the divine administration ; and say with David, 
 "I know, O Lord, that all thy judgments are 
 right," or with Paul, " Yea, let God be true, but 
 every man a liar." We may, we must have sym- 
 pathy with our fellows, but first and before all we 
 are to cultivate the same moral affections as our 
 Maker exercises. The farther this culture pro- 
 ceeds, the more acceptable we become to Him and 
 the truer to the best interests of men. It is the 
 more important to emphasize this truth because 
 in our own day there is a persistent attempt 
 in various quarters to introduce in a disguised 
 form the dreadful error which Paul represents 
 (Rom. i. 25), as lying at the root of the gross 
 idolatry and depravity of the heathen world — the 
 worshipping and serving the creature more than 
 the Creator. Men reverse the order laid down by 
 our Saviour, and make regard for man the first 
 and great commandment. The "enthusiasm of 
 humanity " is substituted for obedience to God 
 and love to the Lord Jesus, and the sanctions of 
 religion, properly so called, are quietly ignored. 
 Comte's proposed worship of Le grand Etre, col- 
 lestive humanity, only put in a concrete form the 
 theoretical principles actuating many who ridiculed 
 this new philosophical religion. He pushed things 
 to their logical result. Yet every jiage of Scrip- 
 ture teaches that integrity and philanthropy are not 
 piety, and every fresh leaf that is turned in human 
 experience shows that the true love of man is 
 rooted in the love of God, and that no sympathy 
 can be permanently relied upon which is not fed 
 "rom sujiernal sources. 
 
 6. The lively, dramatic form in which Zechariah 
 
 predicts the conversion of the Gentiles, is note 
 worthy. A general movement among the nations 
 the inhabitants of one city running to another witl 
 the eager summons to seek Jehovah, " let us gc 
 speedily," lest we be too late; the instant answer, 
 " I will go also ; " different nationalities crowding 
 around one Jew and seizing even the hem of his 
 garment ; all coveting fellowship with tiie obscure 
 child of Israel, simply because they had heard that 
 God was with him. Nothing could have seemed 
 more unlikely to the contem])oraries of the proph- 
 et, yet how exactly it has been fulfilled ! The 
 whole Roman Empire with the vast multitude of 
 peoples it contained, and very many more who never 
 saw the imperial eagles, have submitted to the au- 
 thority of a Saviour who was a Jew ; all rested 
 their hopes for eternity upon a Jew. Other na- 
 tions have been centres and sources for philosophy, 
 science, art, literature, law, and government ; but 
 in the matter of the knowledge of God, the writ- 
 ings of Jews are the only and universal standard. 
 For centuries past the mightiest intellects and 
 largest hearts of the race have breathed the spirit 
 and studied the words of these living oracles. The 
 Jewish outward polity has disappeared, the nation 
 has been scattered as no nation ever was before or 
 since, a bitter and irrational prejudice against them 
 characterizes a large part of Christendom ; and yet 
 the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is recog- 
 nized as the one supreme Creator and Lord of the 
 universe, in the best thought of the civilized world. 
 And at this day literally men of all nations and 
 kindreds and tribes and tongues are, almost with- 
 out a figure, laying hold of the skirt of him that is 
 a Jew. They cast in their lot with those whom 
 God chose to be a people for Himself, and are rest- 
 ing their hopes upon that crucified Jew who is the 
 Saviour of the world. All other gods are idols. All 
 other faiths are decrepit. All other religions are 
 forms. The hope of Israel alone has survived the 
 vicissitudes of time and the revolutions of earth, 
 and flourishes in immortal youth, making fresh 
 conquests every day, constantly entering new fields, 
 breaking up the apathy of ages, undermining su- 
 perstitions hoar with the rime of a thousand years, 
 and calling forth from the ends of the earth the old 
 cry. Come, let us go speedily to seek Jehovah of 
 Hosts. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : ver. 2. Men judge God by themselves 
 in interpreting his promises, much oftener than 
 
 in interpreting his threatenings Ver. 17. When 
 
 God covenants with his people. He also covenants 
 with their children. — Ver. 20-23. All true piety 
 is instinct with the missionary spirit, — desire fo- 
 the salvation of others. 
 
 Prbssel : ver. 23. Shall we delay our mission- 
 ary eftbrts until Heathens, Mohammedans, and 
 Jews seize us by the skirt ? No, for if that had 
 been the rule, where would we ourselves have 
 been ? No, but on the contrary, let us like brotners 
 seize them by the hand and lead them to the Lord. 
 
 Again : No one can be another's leader to the 
 Lord, unleas it be perceived that God is with him ; 
 but wherever that is plainly seen, men gladly seek 
 such guidance. 
 
 Jerome. Shall it be marvelous. Who would 
 have supposed that the same imperial power which 
 destroyed our churches and burnt our Bibles, 
 should now rebuild the former at public expense, 
 in splendor of gold and various ma-bles, and_ re 
 store the latter in golden ptrple and jeweled bind 
 ine,s ? 
 
CHAPTERS IX.-XIV. 65 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 FUTURE DESTINY OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE. 
 
 Chapters IX.-XIV. 
 
 The genuineness of these chapters as a constituent part of the prophecies uttered by the Zechariah 
 who flourished after the Captivity, has been contested since the middle of the seventeenth century. 
 The arguments pro and con have been considered in the Introduction. According to tlie traditional 
 and correct view, they contain such further disclosures of God's purposes respecting his kingdom as 
 He was jileascd to communicate to his sei-vant Zechariah after what is coTitained in the previous por- 
 tion of tlie book had been i-ecorded. Whether these six chapters were delivered all at once, or were 
 set forth in parts which afterwards were collected by the author into one whole, cannot now be deter- 
 mined. The only apparent mark of division they contain is found in the title prefixed to ch. ix., and 
 afterwards repeated at the beginning of ch. xii. This is used by some to justify a distribution of the 
 contents into two burdens or oracles — a distribution which may be admitted as a matter of con- 
 venience and as indicating in general a progress in the order of thought and revelation, but which 
 must not be pressed too closely, since at times the prophet, just as is the case with his predecessors 
 before the exile (Is., etc.), turns upon his steps and resumes matters which have been already treated 
 of. The transitions of the writer are often rapid, and the connection is consequently obscure, but the 
 general drift of this outlook upon the future is plain. Great blessings are in store' for the covenant 
 people, sometimes in the shape of victories achieved by them, at others in that of conquests wrought 
 for them. A great deliverer is to appear who unites in himself the seemingly contradictory features 
 found in the earlier Messianic representations ; on one hand suffering, rejected, despised, slain ; on 
 the other, a mighty king, ruling, however, not by force but by spiritual power, attracting multitudes 
 in penitence and love to his side, and establishing a universal dominion. This, however, is not accom- 
 plished without suffering on the part of his people. They make their Shepherd suffer, and in turn 
 themselves are brought under the harrow. They are visited by terrible calamities which purge away 
 the unworthy members of the kingdom. But even the select body, they who are faithful, have fierca 
 conflicts with the outside world. But they are delivered by the wonderful interposition of Jehovah. 
 Then the Gentiles, instead of being destroyed, are converted, and press into the kingdom of God, the 
 limits of which are made coextensive with those of the whole earth. 
 
 Such are the leading points of this interesting portion of prophetic Scripture. The particulars will 
 be elucidated, as far as may be, in the detailed exposition. 
 
 A. THE FIRST BURDEN. 
 Chapters IX.-XI. 
 
 This stretches over the period between the M\ of the Persian Empire and the appearance of our 
 liord. Ch. ix. discloses a series of deliverances for God's people, one of which (vers. 1-8) is wrought 
 by a most destructive visitation upon their present heathen ruler, which falls in desolating strokes upon 
 many of their neighbors, but is effectually warded off from themselves, so that Jerusalem stands like 
 an oasis in the desert. The other describes an actual conflict with an enemy who is named, Javan 
 (= Greece), and who is subdued through the intervention of the Lord going forth with whirlwind and 
 lightning. In consequence, his people shine like the flashing gems of a diadem. Between these two 
 martial scenes, the prophet hails the vision of a lowly, peaceful king, who without arts or arms achieves 
 a bloodless victory, and inaugurates an empire which reaches to the ends of the earth. It would seem 
 as if after the account of the first deliverance, the prophet wished to suggest that this was only an 
 installment of what was to come, and therefore he held up for brief view the glowing picture of 
 the mighty yet peaceful monarch and his world-wide dominion, and then at once turns to remind his 
 readers that there was much to be done on a lower scale before the advent of this peculiar ruler. Ch. 
 X. continues and enlarges the promises with which the previous chapter closed ; especially emphasizing 
 the possession of native rulers. In the latter part the speaker passes insensibly to a similar and yet 
 more glorious achievement of God in behalf of his earthly kingdom, one which looks to a far more 
 distant future. Ch. xi. opens a new disclosure, symbolical and mysterious in its form, yet plainly indi- 
 cating a rejection of the ancient Church because of her rejection of the Good Shepherd, which is de- 
 scribed at length, with wonderful vividness of detail and no small degree of dramatic power. 
 
 These_ three chapters will well reward the most patient study, because if their mutual relations and 
 general import be satisfactorily ascertained, great aid is gained for solving the yet more serious diffi- 
 culties contained in the closing portion of the book. Prophecy, while by its very nature it is lofty and 
 mysterious, is neither arbitrary nor disjointed. It proceeded from one Spirit and has a settled schema 
 and purpose to the consummation of which all its parts directly tend. Notwithstanding the existence 
 of many variations of fori? , style, and outward appearance, there is an underlying coherence worthy 
 of the divine inspiration. A single step firmly gained anywhere, therefore, furnishes good hope foi 
 what is to follow. ^ The ''analogy of faith " is a principle of vast use in doctrinal theology ; it is of 
 acne the less application in the field of exegesis and especially in that of the prophetic Scriptures 
 
m ZECHARIAH. 
 
 I. Judgment upon the Land of Hadrach (ch. ix., vers. 1-8). 2. ZiovUs King of Peaci 
 (vers. 9, 10). 3. Victory over the Sons of Javan (vers. 11-17). 4. Further Bless- 
 ings of God's People (ch. x.). 5. Israel's Rejection of the Good Shepherd (ch. xi.) 
 
 1. JUDGMENT UPON THE LAND OF HADRACH. 
 
 Chapter IX. 1-8. 
 
 A. A destuictive Visitation befalls Hadrach and Damascus (ver. 1). B. It destroys also Hamath, Tyre^ 
 and Sidon (vers. 2-4). C. The Philistine Cities suffer likewise, but a Remnant is saved (vera. 6-7) 
 D The Covenant People are protected from all Harm (ver. 8). 
 
 1 The burden of the word of Jehovah upon the land of Hadrach, 
 
 And Damascus is its resting place ; ^ 
 For Jehovah has an eye'^ upon man, 
 And upon all the tribes of Israel — 
 
 2 And Hamath also [which] ^ borders thereon, 
 Tyre and Sidon, because * it is very wise. 
 
 3 Aid Tyre built for herself a stronghold," 
 
 And heaped up silver as dust, , 
 
 And gold as the mire of the streets. i 
 
 4 Behold the Lord will seize ^ her, 
 
 And smite her bulwark in '' the sea, ' 
 
 And she herself shall be consumed by fire. ' 
 
 5 Ashkelon sees it and is afi'aid, > 
 Gaza also, and trembles exceedingly. 
 
 And Ekron, for her hope is put to shame,' 
 And the king perishes from Gaza, 
 And Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. 
 
 6 And a mongrel ^ dwells in Ashdod, 
 
 And I cut off the pride of the Philistines. 
 
 7 And I take away his blood out of his mouth 
 And his abominations from between his teeth ; 
 And even he ^^ remains to our God, 
 
 And he becomes like a prince " in Judah, 
 And Ekron like the .Jebusite, 
 
 8 And I encamp for my house against ^ an army,^ 
 Against him that goeth hither and thither," 
 
 And no oppressor shall come over them any more, 
 For now I see with mine eyes. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Vei. 1 — innpD = restiug-place, permanent abode. 
 
 5 Ver 1. — D1S T^27, gen. obi., an eye upon man. So LXX. and most criticB. 
 
 T T ' ••' 
 
 8 Ver. 2. — Before v33n we must supply "ItTM . The latter half of ver. 1 is parenthetical. " Hamath oiw,' i * 
 T : • •.' " ; 
 
 IB well as Damascus, is a resting-place of the burden. 
 
 4 Ver. 2. — '^D takes its usual sense, because. To render although. \s enfeebling as well as needless. 
 
 6 Ver. 3. — The paronomasia in "li^JTS "ll^ cannot be reproduced in English. 
 
 6 Ver. 4.— nSirni* is not will dispossess (Burg., Hend.), nor impoverish. (Hitzig, Ewald), aoT deliver up (Heng^, 
 Kliefoth), but seize, conquer, as in exactly similar connection, Josh. viii. 7, xvii. 12 (Maurer, Kohler). 
 
 7 Ver. 4. — 2*2. In, not into, as Henderson and Noyes render. 
 
 g Ver. 5. — tT'^^in. Here, as elsewhere (Jer. il. 26), the Hiphil takes a passive sense : the subject of the Terb ■ 
 not Ekron (as some editions of the E. V. punctuate the clause), but ntOS^, 
 
 » Ver. tj. ~1TT272. Mongrel is a better, because more significant rendering than alien (Genevan, ttrangtr), adSf M 
 
 bj meet iritica, after the LXX. iAAoyevijt. Dr. Van Dyck, in the Arabic Bible, gives (*^^ ■» ba«tard 
 
CHAPTER IX. 1-8 
 
 67 
 
 10 Ver. 7. S^n"33 HStt'D. The E. V., he thai remaineth, is not warranted by graminar nor by the < 
 
 11 Ver. 7. — " Prince," li'erally. tribe-prince or iiead of a thousand, a Pentateuch word. 
 ' IS Ver. 8- — ]^, lit., herause of, here is = against. 
 
 18 Ver. 8. — n25S1!i. The keri undoubtedly gives the true text, S""."''^?, nor is there any need of adopting tin 
 Towel changes proposed by Ortenberg and Ewald. 
 
 14 Ver. 8. — 2ti?I0!1 "1Z37Q the same phrase that occure in vli. 14, where, however, the connection requires a jm 
 riation in the rendering. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CKITICAL. 
 Ver. 1 . The burden of the word. The ancient 
 interpretation of St£7^, = divine declaration, ora- 
 cle, or vision (LXX., Vnlgate), has been adopted 
 by most modern interjDreters (Cocceius, Vitringa, 
 Gcsenius, Ewald, Fiirst) ; but the other, = mina- 
 tory prophecy (Targiim, Aqiiila, Peshito), has 
 been accepted by Jerome, Luther, Calvin, Umbreit, 
 Kliefoth, Pressel, and has especially been vindi- 
 cated by Hengstenbery; ( Chrislologtj). Burden is the 
 admitted meaning of the word in other connec- 
 tions ; it is never joined with the name of God, or 
 of any other person but the subject of the proph- 
 ecy ; and undeniably is in most instances prefixed 
 to a threatening j^rediction. See Isaiah xxii. 1, 
 xiv. 28, XV. 1, etc., and especially Jeremiah xxiii. 
 33 fF. The phrase, " burden of the word of Jehovah," 
 is peculiar to the post-exile prophets (xii. 1, Mai. 
 i. 1). The land of Hadrach is a very obscure 
 fiTraf XeyoiJLfvov. Pressel recounts no less than sev- 
 enteen different explanations of it. They may be 
 thus classified : (1.) It is the name of an ancient 
 city or land (Theodoret Mops., Michaelis, Rosen- 
 miiller, Pressel), but this has arisen from a confu- 
 Bion of the word with Edrei. (2.) An appellative 
 noun denoting the South (Targum), or the sur- 
 rounding region (Jun. and Tremellius), or the in- 
 terior (Hitzig), or the depressed region = Coele- 
 Syria (Maurer). (3.) A corruption of the text is 
 
 assumed, ?|~nn for "TJ'T'^n = Aupafms (Orten- 
 berg, Olshausen). (4.) The name of a Syrian 
 king (Gesenius, Bleek, Vaihinger, Fiirst). (5.) 
 The name of a Syrian god (Movers, Van Alphen). 
 (6.) It is a symbolical name, like Ariel (Is. xxix. 
 1), Rahab (Ps. Ixxxvii. 4). This, the oldest inter- 
 pretation (Jerome, Raschi, Kimchi), is sustained 
 by the fact that the others are all purely conjec- 
 tural. No such name as Hadrach is now or ever 
 has been known. The translators of the LXX. 
 and Vulgate were ignorant of it. All the other 
 proper names in the passage are well understood ; 
 this one, the first, has resisted the eflx)rts of the 
 acutest scholars to give it any historical identifica- 
 tion. We must, therefore, either say that it denotes 
 a region now unknown, near Damascus, which is 
 surely most unlikely in a country so long and 
 thoroughly known as northern Syria ; or else give 
 it a figurative meaning. Assuming the latter, 
 Hengstenberg, Kliefoth, Keil, after Calvin, ex- 
 plain it as a compound term denoting strong-iveak 
 or harsh-gentle} which the prophet employs as a 
 mystical designation of the Persian Empire, which 
 for prudential reasons he was unwilling to specify 
 more distinctly, the epithet meaning, that the land 
 now strong and mighty shall hereafter be humbled 
 and laid low. The subsequent statements are then 
 only enlargements or specifications of the general 
 nsitation directed against the great empire under 
 
 1 Pressel derides this view, saying, Diese etymologischen 
 fertuc/H sind in dtr That aur.h Beides, gar xu scharf und 
 
 which the Jews were now in subjection. Its rest- 
 ing-place. This clause commences the detail of the 
 several parts of the whole designated as Hadrach. 
 The burden is to abide ])ermanently upon Damas 
 cus. Its native rule, which ceased on the Great 
 Conquest, was never afterwards recovered. ' Has 
 an eye, etc. Man, here, as in Jer. xxxii. 20, sig- 
 nifies the rest of mankind as contrasted with Israel. 
 The latter half of the verse gives the reason of the 
 former, namely, that God's providence extends 
 over the whole earth, and He therefore cannot al- 
 low the existing disproportion between his people 
 and the heathen to continue permanently. Some 
 (Kimchi, Calvin, Henderson) render "the eye of 
 man," gen. subj., as E. V., but this requires an 
 
 unusual rendering of "'^j and besides, does not 
 suit the context. 
 
 Ver. 2. And Hamath also. Hamath, the 
 Greek Epiphania on the Orontes, shall also be a 
 resting-place of the burden. Nearly all expos- 
 itors concur in construing the last two words as a 
 relative clause. Hamath and Damascus are closely 
 connected as together representing Syria. Con- 
 tiguous in territory, they were alike in doom. 
 From them the prophet turns to Phoenicia. Tyre 
 and Sidon is= Tyre with Sidon, as the following 
 verb in the singular shows. Tyre was a colony 
 of Sidon, but the daughter soon outstripped the 
 mother, and as early as Isaiah's time the elder 
 city was viewed as an appendage of the younger. 
 Because it is. There is no need of giving to the 
 conjunction, the rare and doubtful meaning, al- 
 though (Calvin, Henderson, E. V.), since its nor- 
 mal -sense suits perfectly. Tyre was very wise, 
 as the world counts wisdom, multiplying wealth 
 and strength, and trusting in them ; but this very- 
 pride of earthly wisdom brought the divine retri- 
 bution (Ezek. xxviii. 2-6. Cf. 1 Cor. i. 19, 27). 
 
 Ver. 3. Describes the resources of the insular 
 city. The stronghold doubtless refers to the im- 
 mense double sea-wall which made the place ap- 
 jiarently impregnable. For her vast accumulation* 
 of wealth, see Is. xxiii., Ezek. xxvii. Y'^lin — 
 shiniiig, is simply a poetical name of gold. 
 
 Ver. 4. Jehovah will seize. An earthly con 
 queror may perform the work, but the ultimate 
 agency is the Lord, who beholds and controls all 
 things. Her bulwark. It is of little consequence 
 
 whether f^^T! be rendered rampart, or might, so 
 long as in is not converted into into. The point of 
 the clause is that the insular position, which appar 
 ently rendered the city invincible, should feel the 
 weight of Jehovah's hand, and prove no protec- 
 tion. The prodigious power and wealth of the 
 Tyrians, and their utter overthrow, are among the 
 most familiar of historical truths. 
 
 Ver. 5. The prophet turns to Philistia. Ash- 
 kelon sees, etc. A vivid description of the effect 
 of the fall of Tyre upon the cities on the coast 
 
 gar zu zart, gar zu stark und gar zu schwach. But where atf 
 are groping in the dark, ridicule is scarcely in place. 
 
cs 
 
 ZECHAHIAH. 
 
 southward (cf. Is. xxiii. 5). Only four of the Phil- 
 istine capitals are mentioned, Gath beins: omitted, 
 as in Amos, i. 6-8, Jer. xxv. 20, Zeph. ii. 4. The 
 oiaission seems due to the fact that Gath, atter 
 being dismantled by Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 6), 
 Bank into iiolitical insiunihcance. " Sees " is to be 
 eup])lied after Gaza, and both " sees " and " fears " 
 after Ekron. The king, in Hebrew, lacks the arti- 
 cle, and the sense is not simply that the reiyning 
 king perishes, but that Gaza henceforth has no 
 king. Of course, such monarchs as it had at this 
 
 time, were only vassal kings. ^V. 0- Hengsten- 
 berg strenuously contends agamst the common 
 passive rendering, but apparently without reason. 
 He (with Ewald and Kohler) renders, it shall sit 
 or remain, in opposition to passing on or passing 
 away. But compare Isaiah xiii. 20, where the 
 
 verb is used as exactly parallel with 15^'- (J. A. 
 Alexander in loc.) 
 
 Ver. 6. And a mongrel dwells. "IJPP. A 
 word of uncertain origin, which occurs in only 
 one other place in Scripture, namely, Deut. xxiii. 3, 
 where it means bastard. The rendering in the ver- 
 sion is from Fiirst (Dictionary), who deduces the 
 verb from an assumed root, signifying to mix the. 
 sexes. It is used in the text to denote a person of 
 blemished birth. Ashdod should lose its native 
 population, and have their place supplied by a 
 mongrel brood. The pride of the Philistines, 
 i. e., all that constitutes their pride. This clause 
 resumes what precedes in relation to the several 
 cities, and applies it to the nation as a whole. In 
 the next verse a further advance is made, and the 
 conversion of the people is set forth. 
 
 Ver. 7. And I take . . . blood. The singular 
 suffixes refer to the ideal unity in which the Phil- 
 istines are conceived of as a single person. See a 
 similar case in ch. vii. 2, 3. The blood mentioned 
 is that of sacrifices, which the heathen sometimes 
 drank, and the abominations = not idols, as if he 
 were going to hold on to them mordicns ( Hengsten- 
 berg), but idolatrous offerings. The whole clause 
 strikingly depicts the abolition of idolatry. The 
 rest of the verse sets forth what comes in its place. 
 And even he, i. e., the nation of the Philistines 
 r-egarded as a person. To our God = the God 
 of Israel. They shall become his worshippers. 
 
 Like a prince, a tribe prince. ^!p^ is a denom- 
 inative from n^'!?! and denotes the head of a thou- 
 sand (cf Micah, v. 2). In the earlier books it is 
 applied only to the tribe-princes of Edora, but is 
 transferred by Zechariah to the tribal heads of Ju- 
 dah. Tbe remnant of the Philistines is to become 
 like a cliiliarch in Judah. The statement is com- 
 pleted by the final clause. And Ekron. This is 
 mentioned not in and for itself, but simply to indi- 
 vidualize the declaration ; any other city would 
 have answered as well. Like the Jebusite, /. e., 
 like the ancient inhabitants of Jel)us, who became 
 incorporated with the covenant people and shared 
 all their privileges. See the case of Araunah, 2 
 Sam. xxiv. 18. 
 
 Ver. 8. Not only shall a judgment fall on the 
 neighboring heathen and the remnant of them be 
 converted, but the Lord will carefully protect his 
 own j)eopli. And I encamp for my house. 
 House, dal. comm., stands for jjeoplc or family of 
 G )d ( Hos. vili. 1). An army is more precisely 
 defined in the next clause as passing through and 
 "etuming, j. e., marching to and fro. No oppres- 
 
 sor, such as Egypt, Assyria, or Babylon. For now 
 I see = am exercising my providential control 
 " In the estimation of men of little faith, God seft 
 only when He is actually interfering " (Heng&ten- 
 berg). But in fact He sees all the time. 
 
 " There can be no doubt that we have here af 
 graphic an account of the expedition of Alexande; 
 the Great as is consistent with the permanent dis 
 tinction between prophecy and history " (Hengsten 
 berg). The capture of Damascus, of Tyre, am 
 of Gaza, are well-known historical facts ; and thes" 
 carry with them assurance that there was also i. 
 fulfillment of the prediction in reference to Hamath 
 and the other cities of Philistia, of the fate of which 
 we have no express account. This fulfillment, 
 however, was manifestly only incipient, inasmuch 
 as the incorporation of the Philistines with Israel 
 did not take place until a later period. On the 
 (jther hand, the attempt of the so-called later crit- 
 icism to refer the passage to the conquests of Uz- 
 ziah mentioned in 2 Chron. xxvi. 6, 7, completely 
 fails ; because Uzziah did not attack Damascus 
 and Hamath nor Tyre, which are here mentioned, 
 while he did subdue other neighboring heathen, 
 Edomites, Arabians, Maonites, who are not men- 
 tioned. The rapid celerity of these conquests is 
 most appropriate to the agency of the " he-goat " 
 whom Daniel saw (viii. 5) coming from the west 
 " on the face of the whole earth, and he touched 
 not the ground." All the great captains from Ses- 
 ostris down yield to Alexander in the swiftness and 
 extent of his conquests. Even Tyre, with all its 
 immense advantages and resources, stayed his 
 march for only what was comparatively a short 
 period. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The word of the Lord endureth forever. 
 Here is a prediction of a heavy calamity, which 
 falls in succession upon Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, 
 Zidon, and the sea-coast cities of Philistia ; yet tbe 
 people of God are safe, guarded not by any human 
 power, but by the unseen presence of their God. 
 Even so it came to pass. The Syrian conquests of 
 Alexander the Great fulfilled the prophecy to the 
 letter. After the battle of Issus, he captured Da- 
 mascus, which Darius had chosen as the strong 
 dspository of his wealth, and this opened to him 
 all Ccele-Syria. Zidon soon surrendered. Tyre, 
 strong in its position, its defenses, its wealth, and 
 its wisdom, made a stubborn resistance, yet after 
 a seven months' siege was taken and " devoured 
 by fire." Gaza, too, although it was, as its name 
 imports, the strong, was conquered after five months' 
 effort, and destroyed. The whole region fell a prey 
 to the imperious conqueror, but the armies passed 
 and repassed by Jerusalem without doing the least 
 injury. Josephus accounts for this remarkable fact 
 by the statement that when the conqueror drew 
 near the city the high priest went forth to meet 
 him, in his official robes, followed by a train of 
 priests and citizens arrayed in white ; and that 
 Alexander was so impressed by the spectacle that 
 he did reverence to the holy name on the high 
 priest's mitre; and when Parmenio expressed sur. 
 prise at the act, he answered that he had seen in a 
 vision at Dium in Macedon, the god whom Jaddua 
 represented, who encouraged him to cross over into 
 Asia and promised him success. Afterwards he 
 entered the city, offered sacrifice, and heard a re^ 
 cital of the prophecies of Daniel which foretold hii 
 victory, in conseauence of which he bestowed inc 
 
CHAPTER IX. 9, 10. 
 
 69 
 
 portant privileges upon the Jews. (See Hengsten- 
 berir, Gmuineneas of Daniel, 224-233 ; Smith's Z)«c- 
 tionary of the Bible, p. 60.) The truth of this nar- 
 rative, although much questioned by Prideaux and 
 others, has of late come to be considered extremely 
 probable, on the ground of both its external evi- 
 dence and its consistency virith the character and 
 policy of Alexander. But there is no doubt what- 
 ever of the main fact, that amid the storm of con- 
 quest which swept over the entire coterminous re- 
 gion, .Jerusalem escaped unharmed. The holy city 
 experienced what David said (Ps. xxxiv. 7), "The 
 angel of the Lovd e?icampeth around them that fear 
 Him and delivereth them." This "captain of the 
 Lord's host " (Josh. v. 15) kept at bay the other- 
 ivise irresistible foe. 
 
 2. Bloodshed and carnage prepare the way for 
 the Prince of Peace. The conquest of Alexander 
 had aims and results far beyond any contemplated 
 by himself even in the most extensive of his fiir- 
 reaching views. He tore down that others might 
 build up. The humiliation of the Syrian powers 
 and provinces was preliminary to their conversion 
 to the true faith. Their cruel and debasing wor- 
 ship disappeared, and the remnant became incor- 
 porated with the Christian Church. They exhib- 
 ited on a small scale what the entire career of Alex- 
 ander exhibited on the world's broad stage, — a 
 secular preparation for the new and final form of 
 the kingdom of God on earth. Well says Words- 
 worth, " We speak of the connection oi' sacred and 
 profane history ; but what history can rightly be 
 called profane ? What history is there, rightly 
 studied, which is not sacred '? What history is 
 there in which we may not trace the footsteps of 
 Christ 1 " A heathen historian (Arrian) said that 
 Alexander, who was like no other man, could not 
 bave been given to the world without the special 
 
 design of Providence. But what to Arrian was 
 an inference from a narrow induction is to us a 
 broad fact stamped upon the face of the world's 
 history, and contirined by the concurrent testimo- 
 nies of two divine seers, Daniel and Zechariah. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Wordsworth: Ver. 1. Hadrach is the desig- 
 nation of the powers of this world generally (of 
 which Persia was a specimen), strong for a while 
 and proudly exulting in their strength, and oppos- 
 ing God and persecuting his Church, and in due 
 time to be laid low and broken in pieces by Him. 
 How many Hadrachs are now vaunting themselves 
 as if they were all-powerful ! how nuiny are raging 
 against Jlini, and how terrible will be their down- 
 fall ! 
 
 Moore : Never has sin more proudly entrenched 
 herself than in godless but magnificent Tyre. Yet 
 all was swept like chati' before the whirlwind of 
 the wrath of God, when the time for the fulfillment 
 of his threatenings had come. Two hundred years 
 passed away after these threatenings were uttered, 
 and Tyre seemed stronger than ever ; yet when 
 the day of doom dawned, the galleys that had left 
 her the queen of seas, when they returned found 
 her but a bare and blackened rock, a lonely mon- 
 ument of the truth that our God is a consuming 
 fire. . . . God will not make Himself a liar to 
 save man in his sins. 
 
 Jay : Ekron as the Jehusite. 1 . It is a great 
 thing to be a Jebusite. 2. Jebusites may be de- 
 rived from Ekronites. Hence lot none despair, 
 either for themselves or for their fellows. God is 
 able of these stones to raise up children to Abra- 
 ham. 
 
 2. ZION'S KING OF PEACE. 
 
 Chapter IX. 9, 10. 
 
 A. The Character of the King (ver. 9). B. The Nature and Extent of his Kingdom (ver. 10). 
 
 9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, 
 Shout,^ daughter of Jerusalem, 
 Behold, thy king cometh to ^ thee, 
 Just and saved is He, 
 Afflicted and riding upon an ass, 
 Even upon a colt, the she-asses' ^ foal, 
 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, 
 And the horse from Jerusalem, 
 And the battle-bow shall be cut oflf ; 
 And he shall speak peace to the nations. 
 And his dominion shall be from sea to sea, 
 And from the river to the ends of the earth. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ter. 9. — " Shout," K. V., \a the exact rendering of '*27''"]rT, which means, to make a .oud noise j xrhethet of Joj 
 n sorrow depends upon the context. 
 
 2 Ver. 9 — ?f 7. Not only to thee, but /or thee, for thy good. Cf. Is. ix. 6. 
 
 ;! Ver. 9. — The E. \.,foal of an ass, by making the last noun a singular instead of a plural, misses the emphasu 
 *i'l iipni] tlif \nuth of the animal as one not yet old enough to go by itself. 
 
70 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 BXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 From the description of deliverance wrought 
 and blessings conferred by means of destructive 
 judgments upon the heathen, the Prophet turns 
 nbruptly to a royal personage who is to appear 
 without armies or weapons, and yet will establish 
 general peace and set up a kingdom of unlimited 
 extent. 
 
 Ver. 9. Rejoice. The value of this blessing is 
 expressed by a summons to joy in view of it. Coc- 
 eeius justly says, that the summons itself contains 
 a prophecy. Daughter of Zion, see on ii. 7-10. 
 The Prophet says, Behold! as if he saw the ani- 
 mating spectacle, thy king — not any ruler, but 
 thine, i. e., the one long promised and expected 
 (Pss. xlv., Ixxxii.), he who alone is thy king, in the 
 highest sense of the word. 
 
 This king is described by four features of char- 
 acter and condition : (1.) Just. The leading vir- 
 tue in a king, and hence emphasized in the Mes- 
 sianic utterances (Is. xi. 3-5 ; Jer. xxiii. 5 ; Ps. 
 
 xlv. 6, 7). (2.) Saved. 17K.'''i3 is rendered active- 
 ly by all the ancient versions (Luther, Grotius, 
 Marckius, Henderson); but the participle is Niphal 
 which, although it may be reflexive, is never ac- 
 tive save in verbs which have no Kal form. Cal- 
 vin, Cocceius, and most of the moderns, give the 
 passive rendering. A tertium quid has been sought 
 by Hengstenberg, Keil, and others, in the sense 
 endued with salvation, but for this I can see no au- 
 thority in the passages quoted (Deut. xxxiii. 29 ; 
 Ps. xxxiii. 16). Pressel follows Fiirst in rendering 
 victorious, which is arbitrary. Nor is there here an 
 exigentia loci, as Henderson claims ; for the king is 
 saved not for his own sake only, but for his peo- 
 ple's, and the blessing, therefore, is not a personal 
 one, but extends to all his subjects. Thus the 
 
 passive suits the connection. (3.) Afflicted, "^3^^. 
 
 The root ^3^ = to be bowed down, in its primary 
 sense of bowed by outward circumstances = af- 
 flicted, gives the adjective found here, but in the 
 secondary sense of inwardly bowed, gives the ad- 
 jective 13^ =meek, patient, lowly. While there 
 is a constant tendency of the two significations to 
 pass into each other, yet the distinction is gener- 
 ally maintained, and "^3^ is found coupled with 
 
 "ji'^SS, bl, 2^3. The E. V. is sustained by the 
 LXX. (Trpoi5s), Targum, Kimchi, and most of the 
 moderns, who cannot see the relevancy of this 
 feature to the character of a triumphant king. But 
 our king triumphs through suffering. His crown 
 springs out of his cross. Hence we agree with 
 the Vulgate (pauper), Aben Esra, Calvin, Cocceius, 
 Hengstenberg, Tholuck, Keil, in considering this 
 one word as summing up the elaborate picture of 
 suffering contained in Is. liii. It is true, Matthew 
 (xxi. .5) ai)parently sustains the other view, but he 
 merely quotes the LXX. as he found it, without 
 endorsing its absolute accuracy in all particulars. 
 Besides, he omits two of the traits mentioned, and 
 dwells only on the last one, for the sake of which 
 his quotation was manifestly made. (4.) Kiding 
 upon an ass. Lit., " upon an ass, even upon a 
 
 young ass, a foal of she-asses." The ^ is epexc- 
 ^etical, just as it is in 1 Sam. xvii. 40, " in a shep- 
 lierd's bag, even in a scrip." nlDDS is simply 
 the plural of species. Gen. xxi. 7 : " who would 
 
 have said that Sarah should give children suck ? * 
 Yet Sarah had but one child. In this case the 
 youthfuiness of the animal is emphasized, sine* 
 the expression implies that it was one not yet rid- 
 den, but still running behind the she-asses. But 
 what does this trait mean ? Many afhrm that it 
 points to the peaceful character of the king, as set 
 forth in the next verse. But this does not account 
 for the marked emphasis given to the youth of the 
 animal. It is better therefore (Hengstenberg, Keil, 
 etc.) to regard it as a token of poverty and mean- 
 ness. The ass was indeed ridden by distinguished 
 persons in the early days of Israel when horses 
 were not used at all" ; but after the time of Solo- 
 mon no instance occurs of its being employed on 
 state occasions. That this king should ride not 
 upon a horse but upon an ass, and that an un- 
 trained foal, indicated how far he should be from 
 possessing any worldly splendor. The close cor- 
 respondence between this ac-count and our Lord's 
 entry into Jerusalem is well known ; and Matthew 
 (xxi. 4) and John (xii. 15) speak of the latter as 
 a fulfillment of the former. And while it is true, 
 as Vitringa says, that the prophecy would have 
 been ful tilled in Christ, even if He had not made 
 his entry into Jerusalem in this manner ; still it is 
 apparent that our Lord designedly framed the cor 
 respondence which we observe, and that he in 
 tended thus to embody the thought which lies a 
 the basis of the whole passage, namely, that thi 
 king Messiah would rise through lowliness and 
 suffering, to might and glory, and would conquer 
 the world not by arms but by suffering and dying. 
 Ver. 10. This verse describes the character and 
 extent of the Messiah's kingdom. And I will 
 cut off, etc. Not only will this king extend his 
 reign by peaceful methods, but all the instruments 
 of war will be effectually removed from his peo- 
 ple. The chariot, the horse, and the battle- 
 i)ow are merely specifications, standing for the 
 whole class of offensive weapons, which are to be 
 cut off. This last word is the one used above 
 (ver. 6) in reference to the pride of the Philistines, 
 and denotes extermination. Both passages rest 
 upon Micah v. 10, 11. The Lord will take away 
 all the outward defenses upon which a carnal reli- 
 ance is placed. The occurrence of the word Eph- 
 raim here does not prove that this prophecy was 
 written before the exile, but only that Zechariah 
 uses the familiar designation of the different parts 
 of the country which still survived after the sep- 
 aration of the two kingdoms had ceased. See 
 mention of Israel in viii. 13, the post exilium origin 
 of which is admitted by all. Speak peace, not 
 that He will teach peace, nor command peace, nor 
 speixk ]>eacefulli/, but that He will s/)eaX- . peace, and 
 that effectually, accomplishing by a single word 
 what worldly kings bring about only by force of 
 arms (cf Ps. Ixxii. 6, 7 ; Micah v. 5). He will do 
 so not merely to the covenant people, but to the 
 nations at large. This point is farther expanded 
 in the boundaries assigned to his sway. From 
 sea to sea, etc. The expressions are l)Oi rowed 
 from the statement of Israel's " bounds " in Ex. 
 xxiii. 31, whence some (Eichhom, Hitzig) have in- 
 ferred that they mean simply the restoration of the 
 earthly Israel to its widest geographical limits. 
 But tliere are changes in the phraseology which 
 conijxl a different view. Instead of saying, from 
 one particular sea to another, Zechariah leaves out 
 all (jualifying ei)ithets and even the articles, so tiat 
 the first clause must mean, from any oct sea tc 
 any other, even the most distant, or from any sea 
 around to the same point again. The other clause 
 
CHAPTER IX. 9, 10. 
 
 71 
 
 will mean, from the Euphrates, or from any other 
 river as a terminus a quo, to the ends of the 
 
 earth. ~''7t ^'^ii^ the article always means the 
 Euphrates, and probably does so here, but an 
 equivalent sense may be gained by the alternative 
 rendering given above. What is meant is that 
 the kingdom should be strictly universal. Our 
 passage is a reproduction of Ps. Ixxii. 8. 
 
 T7ip Histori/ Iff the fnterprftation. The early Jew- 
 ish authorities held that the Messiah is the subject. 
 Thus the Book of Zohar, "On this account it is 
 said of Messiah, Lowly and riding upon an ass." 
 The same view is given by Joshua lien Levi, Sa- 
 adias-Gaon, and others. The testimonies may be 
 found in Wetstein on Matt. xxi. 4. Jarchi, known 
 among the Jews as the prince of Commentators, 
 declares tbat " it is impossible to interpret it of 
 any other than the Messiah." In the twelfth cen- 
 tury other opinions prevailed. One found in the 
 Bab. Talmud evaded the difficulty by saying, "If 
 the Israelites are worthy, the Messiah will come 
 with the clouds of heaven (Dan. vii. 1.3) ; if they are 
 unworthy, he will come poor and riding upon an 
 ass (Zech. ix. 9)." Another resorted to the device 
 of two Messiahs, one of whom should be suffer- 
 ing, and the other, triumphant. Yet manifestly it 
 is one and the same person who is described by the 
 Prophet as uniting in himself the extremes of maj- 
 esty and humiliation, — a combination which on 
 the New Testament view of the case is intelligible 
 and self-consistent, but on any other quite impos- 
 sible. Aben-Ezra refuted the opinion of Rabbi 
 Moses, the priest who referred the prophecy to Ne- 
 hemiah, but himself went as far astray by inter- 
 preting it of Judas Maccabaeus. There were those, 
 however, who adhered to the Messianic interpreta- 
 tion, and resorted to strange expedients to get rid 
 of the implication of weakness and lowliness. One 
 of these was the fable that the ass created at the 
 end of the six days of creation was the same which 
 Abraham saddled when he went to offer Isaac, and 
 which Moses set his wife and sons upon when he 
 came out of Egypt ; and that this distinguished 
 animal was to bear the Messiah. Another was 
 that the ass of King Messiah should be of an hun- 
 dred colors. The more intelligent expositors (Kim- 
 chi, Abarbanel, et al.) explained the reference to 
 the ass as a sign of humility. It is supposed that 
 this prophecy in some way gave rise to the foolish 
 statement of Tacitus, that the Jews consecrated 
 the image of an ass in the inmost shrine of their 
 temple, and hence probably arose the calumny 
 upon the early Christians, who were often con- 
 founded with the Jews, that they worshipped an 
 ass's head, — a fable which Tertullian takes the 
 trouble to confute {Ad Nationes, i. 11). 
 
 Among Christians the reference to Christ was 
 uniform until the time of Grotius, who asserted 
 that its first and literal application was to Zerub- 
 babel, but that in a higher sense it referred to our 
 Saviour. This view " excited universal displea- 
 sure, and called forth a host of rejdies, the first of 
 which was written by Bochart." Such a view re- 
 futes itself Later, the rationalists felt themselves 
 pressed by the same difficult}' as the Jews. They 
 could easily account on natural principles for the 
 anticipation of a Messiah in glory, but were quite 
 unable in this way to explain the prophecy of a 
 Buffering Messiah. They therefore resorted to the 
 Jewish evasions, and sought for somebody else 
 than Christ as the subject. Bauer chose Simon 
 Maccabaus ; Paulus, John Hyrcanus ; Forherg, 
 
 King Uzziah. But the most (Eichhorn, Gesenius, 
 Kwidd, etc.) devised the theory of an ideal Mes- 
 siah, maintaining that this and all other similar 
 prophecies arose simply from th" vague expecta- 
 tion that there would appear in the future some 
 great deliverer springing from tbe Davidic line, 
 who after enduring great personal trials would in- 
 stitute a righteous government, restore the nation 
 to its old prosperity, and overcome its unjust op- 
 pressors. So that what the New Testament con- 
 siders a distinct prediction of the Messiah is mere- 
 ly a jiatriotic dream. For a thorough refutation 
 of this preposterous theory, see Hengstenberg's 
 Christolo;/!/, Appendix v. For a brief outline, see 
 Theological and Moral, 3. 
 
 DOCTRINAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. Here is an unequivocal prediction of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. It is so declared, as we have 
 seen, by the New Testament. It is confirmed by 
 a very peculiar proceeding on the part of our Lord, 
 — his trium])hal entry into Jerusalem, — which 
 was simply exhibiting in symbol what is here ex- 
 pressed in words. It contains striking parallels 
 with other passages unquestionably Messianic ; 
 such as the boundaries of the kingdom compared 
 with Psalm Ixxii. 8, and the destruction of foes 
 compared with Micah v. 9. But the strongest evi- 
 dence is found in the contents of the prophecy it- 
 self It presents a person in whom the greatest 
 grandeur, magnificence, power, and influence are 
 associated, without confusion or contradiction, with 
 the greatest humility, gentleness, poverty, suffer- 
 ing, and weakness. No judge, king, or ruler of 
 any sort in all Jewish history ever united in his 
 character or experience these two extremes. None 
 was so lowly, none so exalted. None without 
 arms spoke peace even to his own people, much less 
 to the heathen, and least of all to the entire known 
 world. It is true of only one being in all human 
 history that he had not where to lay his head and 
 rode upon an ass, and yet acquired a limitless do- 
 minion over land and sea. 
 
 2. What other kings accomplish by force, Zion's 
 king effects without weapons or armies. Our Lord 
 told Pilate, " My kingdom is not of this world." 
 Pilate in surpiise said to Him, " Thou art a king 
 then ? " Jesu answered, " Thou sayest [the truth], 
 for I am a kii g. To this end was I born and for 
 this cause came I into the world, that I might bear 
 witness to the truth ; every one that is of the truth 
 heareth my voice " (John xviii. 37). Truth, the 
 revealed truth of God, is the only weapon this great 
 conqueror employs, and yet with it He has built 
 up the mightiest kingdom the earth has ever seen. 
 It was an unconscious prophecy when the inscrip- 
 tion over his cross. This is the King of the Jews, 
 was recorded in three languages, indicating the 
 comprehensive and far-reaching extent of the spir- 
 itual monarchy thus founded. Christ's followers 
 in different ages have been slow to learn the lesson, 
 and have often invoked the secular arm, but al- 
 ways to their own damage. They that take the 
 sword shall perish by the sword. But the weap- 
 ons which are not carnal are mighty through God 
 They have pulled down many a stronghold, have 
 dismantled many an intellectual fortress, and time 
 and again have brought the world's best thought 
 into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 
 
 3. The " later crilicism " altogether denies tho. 
 existence of Messianic prophecies in the sense in 
 whicl the historical Church has from the betriu 
 
72 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 ning held that they were contained in the Scrip- 
 tares, This school niaiiitaiiis that what is called 
 the Messianic idea arises out of the dissatisfaction 
 which men in every age have had with the exist- 
 ing condition of things. Deeming the continu- 
 ance of this inconsistent with the benevolence of 
 God, they instinctively longed and looked for a re- 
 generation of humanity, when all things would be 
 restored to the state originally designed by the 
 Creator. Hence the classic expectation of a golden 
 age. Moreover, every man is dissatisfied with his 
 own moral condition as well as with that of the 
 race. He is weak and imperfect. He does not 
 live in harmony with what he knows to be true 
 and right. Thence arises the ideal of a perfect 
 man, of one whose whole mode of thought, feel- 
 ing, and action is in accordance with the highest 
 and purest truth. This is the idea of the Messiah 
 of God. But as no such Messiah is to be found 
 within or around us, it is natural to look for Him 
 in the same future in which we expect the regen- 
 eration of society. And the more so as we know 
 by observation how much the advancement of the 
 race has depended upon the appearance from time 
 to time of single persons distinguished by lofty en- 
 dowments. Now this Messianic idea was developed 
 in a very high degree among the Jews, because they 
 had more of the general spirit of prophecy than other 
 nations. The Hebrew Prophet was a man of genius, 
 enthusiasm, and intense moral energy. His pure 
 reason, illumined of God, enabled him to under- 
 stand the character of the divine government and 
 foresee events hidden from common eyes. His 
 exalted imagination and sensitive conscience pre- 
 sented to him the visions of God. Thus he fore- 
 saw not only the general triumph of truth and the 
 exaltation of Israel, but also the means by which 
 these were to be obtained, namely, the Messiah, 
 which term sometimes means a Jewish King, at 
 others the Jewish people, and in a third class of 
 instances, the better portion of that people. But 
 these predictions were always in their nature sub- 
 jective ; their authors neither had nor thought 
 fhey had any objective revelation made to them of 
 actions or events in the life of any future historical 
 person. They were great and excellent men, but 
 not directly inspired nor infallible. And all their 
 sayings can be easily explained by the actings of 
 their own minds according to the time and the cir- 
 cumstances in which they were placed. 
 
 A detailed refutation of this ingenious argument 
 would be beyond the limits of a Commentary. It 
 is enough to say that the parallel instituted be- 
 tween Ethnic and Hebrew views on the subject 
 does not hold. The former were mere scattered, 
 vague, and individual suggestions respecting the 
 future, and even these, there is good reason for 
 supposing, were mere echoes of the voice of the 
 Old Testament or traditions from the primeval 
 revelation which filtered down through the ages. 
 Among the Hebrews, on the contrary, the idea of 
 the Messiah was the central thought of their Scrip- 
 tures and the organizing basis of their national 
 existence. The statement of it begins with the 
 protevangelium in Genesis, and passes with a closer 
 definition and a greater development through Noah, 
 Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Solomon, Hosea, 
 Joel, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Dan- 
 iel, Haggai, and Zechariah, and at last terminates 
 with Malachi, who closed the Hebrew Canon. 
 What was at first a promise to the race, limits it- 
 self in succession to a nation, to a tribe, to a fam- 
 ily. The person set forth is described in turn as a 
 prophet, as a priest, as a king, or as a combina- 
 
 tion of any two, or of all three, of these charac- 
 ters ; and sometimes as in a state of great humili- 
 ation and suffering, and again, as in a })Osition of 
 the greatest power and glory. And the writers all 
 with one consent speak of the conception not as a 
 suggestion of their own minds, but as a disclosure 
 from without or rather fiom above. Their com- 
 mon formula is, Thus saith the Lord. And it ia 
 not possible to reconcile their honesty with the 
 view that they were uttering merely subjective no- 
 tions. Moreover, the origin and continuance of 
 the nation are traced to the divine purpose of send- 
 ing a Messiah. For this Abraham was called from 
 Ur of the Chaldees, the line of his posterity care- 
 fully preserved, Israel kept in Egypt, afterwards 
 put in possession of the promised land, the Mosaic 
 economy instituted, priests and kings and proph- 
 ets raised up, the nation long maintained, then ex- 
 iled, and then restored. Their theocratic consti- 
 tution was not owing to a blind and odious par- 
 ticularism, but was the result of God's wisdom in 
 choosing one race to be the depository of the truth 
 and blessing destined one day to be coextensive 
 with the race. The Jews were trustees for the 
 whole human family. It pleased God to make a 
 gradual and thorough preparation through a long 
 tract of ages for the full and final revelation of 
 his grace. The seed of Abraham was simply the 
 means by which this preparation was accomplished. 
 On this view of their history, all its parts and feat- 
 ures are easily understood, and are seen to consti- 
 tute merely successive stages in the development 
 of God's purpose to bring many sons unto glory 
 through a captain of salvation. On any other 
 view it is a mystery which baffles all thought and 
 comprehension. But what was a mystery before 
 the coming of Christ is an " open secret " under 
 the Gospel, and the key which fits all the wards 
 of the lock must be the right one. " The testi- 
 mony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The re- 
 markable correspondence between his life, words, 
 and works, and the hints and promises and types 
 and predictions of the Old Testament, indicate be- 
 yond question to any unprejudiced person, a pre- 
 siding mind which coordinated the two Testa- 
 ments, and brought about that wondrous harmony 
 of theme and tone which is wholly unexampled in 
 all human literature. And this Messiah objectively 
 revealed is not only the link between the Hebrew 
 Scriptures and the Greek, but the one great thought 
 which gives purpose, symmetry, and consistency t* 
 the entire scheme of the Old Testament. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : Ver. 9. Christians should be happj . 
 No people have a better right or a better reason tD 
 rejoice. A suffering people can find great comfort 
 in the fact that they have a suffering Saviour (Heb. 
 iv. 15). — Ver. 10. War will cease on the earth 
 only when wickedness ceases, and wickedness will 
 cease only when Christ's universal empire begins. 
 
 Wordsworth : It is remarkable that St. John's 
 narrative of the triumphal entry of Christ, riding 
 into Jerusalem on the foal of an ass, is immediate- 
 ly followed by the mention of an incident in the 
 history : " Certain Greeks wished to see Jesus." 
 The entry itself was like a vision of the coming of 
 the Gentile world to Jesus ; these Greeks were iu 
 first fruits. 
 
 Jno. Newton : Messiah is king of Zioa 
 Happy the subjects who dwell under his shadow 
 He rules them not with the rod of iron by whick 
 
CHAPTER IX. 11-17. (2 
 
 He bruises and breaks the power of his enemies, 
 but with his golden sceptre of love. Ho reigns by 
 his own right, and by their full and free consent, 
 in their hearts. He reigns upon a throne of grace 
 to which they at all times have access, and from 
 
 whence they receive the pardon jf all their sins 
 grace to help in time of need, and a renewed sup- 
 ply answerable to all *heir wants, cares, services, 
 and conflicts. 
 
 3. VICTORY 07ER THE SONS OF JAVAN. 
 Chapter IX. 11-17. 
 
 A Deliverance promised (vers. 11, 12). B. Name of the Foe (ver. 13). C. Jehovah fightt for ku 
 
 Peop/e (vtrs. 14, 15). D. baJvution (\qv.\(>). E. General Prosjierili/ {ver 17). 
 
 11 As for thee also, — for the sake of thy covenant-blood,^ 
 
 I send forth ^ thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water. 
 
 12 Return to the strong hold,^ O prisoners of hope. 
 Even to-day I declare, I will repay double ■* to you. 
 
 13 For ^ I bend for me Judah, fill the bow ^ with Ephraim, 
 And stir up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, Javan, 
 And make thee like the sword of a hero. 
 
 14 And Jehovah shall appear above them. 
 And like lightning shall his arrow go forth, 
 And the Lord Jehovah shall blow the trumpet 
 And go forth in the storms of the South. 
 
 15 Jehovah of Hosts shall protect ^ them. 
 
 And they devour, and tread down sling-stones,* 
 
 And they drink and make a noise as from^ wine, 
 
 And become full as the sacrificial bowl,'" as the corners of the altar, 
 
 16 And Jehovah their God saves them in that day, 
 (Saves) like a flock " his people, 
 
 For jewels of a crown shall they be. 
 Sparkling over his land, 
 
 17 For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty ! 
 Corn makes the young men thrive,'^ and new wine the maidens. 
 
 TEXTDAL AND GRAMMATICAL. > 
 
 \ Ver. 11. — /m3, being in thy coTenant-blood = being sprinkled with it. The covenant of Jehovah with his f«o- 
 pie was sealed with sprinkled blood. Ex. xxiv. 8. The compound term covenant-blood best represents the form and 
 ftxve of the original phra.se. 
 
 2 Ver. 11. — ^j*nn vtZ7 is the common prophetic preterite. 
 
 8 Ver. 12. — pn5J3, a cut o/f place, h. inaccessible, fortified, oxvpwjiia (LXX.), munitio (Vulg.). 
 
 4 Ver. 12. — n3tt7tt. Pressel seems to be alone in giving to this word the sense, the second place. The rendering of 
 the E. V. is sustained both by usage and the connection. 
 
 6 Ver 13. — The E. V. needlessly continues here the sentence of the previous verse, and renders ^3 when. A literal 
 rendering is at once more forcible and more accurate. 
 
 6 Ver. 13. — iHtt^p, Some connect this with what precedes, but nothing is gained by departing from the Masoreti* 
 Interpuuction. 
 
 7 Ver. 16. — ^S"* = covers protectingly. Cf. xii. 8. 
 
 8 Ver. 15. — " With sling-stones," in the text of E. V., introduces a needless preposition. The marginal rendering it 
 to be preferred. 
 
 9 Ver. 15. — ^''^"ITSp is an abbreviated comparison. Cf. x. 7. 
 
 10 Ver. 15. — " Sacrificial bowl." The quall/ying epithet must be introduced in order to give the full force of p"1T?3, 
 W xiv. 20. ''' 
 
 11 Ver. 16. — The E. V. " flock of his people," is grammatically impossible. 
 
 \'i Ver. 17. — 33'12\ The first marginal rendering of the E. V., make grow, is better than its text, make cheetfiU 
 Ae word is derived from the sprouting of plants, and evidently refers to a prolific increase. Furst gii es to m ike eU 
 juent, which is conjectural and inept. 
 
74 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 CBITICAL AND EXEGETICAL. 
 
 A new scene opens. The prophet turns away 
 from the beautiful picture of a peaceful king ex- 
 tending his beneficent sway over all the earth, to 
 describe a period of distress and weakness, to 
 which, however, he gives a promise of full deliver- 
 ance, to be gained by actual conflict. This war- 
 like periotl evidently belongs to a nearer future than 
 the one just described, and the prevalent opinion 
 justly refers it to the Maccabean age. The pas- 
 sage begins with a general assurance of deliver- 
 ance (vers. 11, 12) ; the foe is mentioned by name 
 (ver. 13) ; the Lord fights for his chosen (vers. 14, 
 15); the result is salvation (ver. 16); this is fol- 
 lowed by general prosperity (ver. 17). 
 
 Vers. 11, 12 contain a promise of deliverance. 
 As for thee also. The person addressed is the 
 whole nation, as is apparent from the mention of 
 Ephraim and Jerusalem in ver. 10, and of Zion in 
 ver. 13, and also from the phrase " blood of the 
 covenant," which belonged to the twelve tribes ; 
 
 see Ex. xxiv. 8. PS"C2, even thou, stands abso- 
 lutely at the head of the sentence for the sake of 
 emphasis (cf. Gen. xlix. 8), and the sense is, Even 
 though you are in such a forlorn condition, seem- 
 ingly lost, yet I have mercy in store for you. The 
 ground of this promise is stated before the prom- 
 ise itself, in the peculiar Mosaic expression cove- 
 nant blood, the force of which is well expressed 
 by Hengstenberg. " The covenant-blood, which 
 still separates the Church from the world, was a 
 sure pledge to the covenant nation of deliverance 
 out of all trouble, provided, that is, that the nation 
 did not make the promises of God nugatory by 
 wickedly violating the conditions He had imposed." 
 Thy prisoners resumes and explains the thou at 
 the opening of the verse. It does not mean " such 
 of the Jews as were still captives in foreign lands " 
 (Henderson, Kohler), but the entire people. The 
 pit without water, an allusion to the history of 
 Joseph (Gen. xxxvii. 24), denotes not so much a 
 condition of captivity as of general distress. The 
 escape from this condition to one of security and 
 prosperity is predicted under the form of a com- 
 mand, Return to the strong hold. See the same 
 figure in Ps. xl. 2, where the rock and the pit are 
 put in sharp contrast. Since the people had this 
 prospect, they were justly entitled prisoners of hope, 
 a beautiful expression which explains itself. Even 
 to-day, /. e., in spite of all threatening circum- 
 stances (Ewald, Hengstenberg). Repay double, 
 namely, double the prosperity you formerly en- 
 joyed. Cf. Is. xl. 2, xli. 7. 
 
 Ver. 13. The prophet proceeds to show more 
 particularly how the deliverance just promised is 
 to be effected. It is to be by a glorious victory over 
 their oppressors. 'I'he method of this victory is 
 represented by a bold and beautiful figure. Judah 
 is the extended bow ; Ephraim the arrow which 
 the Lord shouts at the foe. Isrs^el therefore is to 
 carry on the conflict, and Jehovah to give them 
 success. For I bend for me Judah, i- e., as a bow. 
 The word rendered bend, literally means tread; be- 
 cause a bow was often stretched by setting the foot 
 upon it, this term came into use. Fill the laow. As 
 only one arrow can be shot at a time from a bow, 
 it is full when this is placed upon it. The complete 
 
 1 '' The beauty of the Lord," in Ps. xc. 17, represents a 
 Ufierent word ( d 
 
 sense of both clauses is, Judah and Ephraim ar« 
 bow and arrow in the hand of Jehovah. I stir up, 
 not brandish as a lance (Hitzig, Kohler), which 
 would reijuire the object to be expressed. Javan, 
 the name of the fourth son of Japhet (Gen. x. 2), 
 is the Hebrew word for Greece, usually i'Jentified 
 with Ion or Ionia. Some suppose the persons 
 meant by the sons of Zion are the Hebrews held as 
 slaves in Greece (Ewald, Hitzig), who are now in- 
 cited to insurrection. It is enough to say in reply 
 that the contest here spoken of is manifestly carried 
 on in the Lord's own land. A comparison with 
 Dan. viii. 21 shows that we must regard Greeca 
 here as a formidable secular power, the Grajco- 
 Macedonian monarchy, especially in its successor 
 in Syria, the Seleucidai To refer the passage to 
 the days of Uzziah on account of the mention of 
 Greece in Joel iv. 6 (cf. Amos i. 6, 9), is wholly 
 unreasonable ; since that passage does not allude 
 to any conflict with the Greeks, but simply speaks 
 of them as the parties to whom the Tyrians had 
 sold certain Jewish captives. And it is the Tyr- 
 ians, not the Greeks, who are there censured. 
 
 Ver. 14. Will appear above them, because He 
 fights from heaven on their behalf. The remainder 
 of the verse is a poetical description of a battle in 
 the imagery of a tempest. The lightnings are Je- 
 hovah's arrows, the thunderblast is the signal of 
 his trumpet, and He Himself marches in a ftirious 
 storm sweeping up from the great southern desert. 
 Storms of the South (cf. Is. xxi. 1 ; Hos. xiii. 15) 
 were always the most violent. 
 
 Ver. 15. Jehovah shall protect, etc. The Lord 
 not only fights for his people, but is also their 
 shield, covering their heads in the day of battle. 
 And they devour, etc. The image is that of a 
 lion who eats the flesh and drinks the blood of his 
 victim. Cf. Num. xxiii. 24. The figure is vigorous, 
 but need not be called " a heathenish abomination " 
 ( Pressel). Tread down sling stones = subdue the 
 enemy, contemptuously styled sling-stones or mere 
 pebbles from the brook. Flesh is to be supplied as 
 the object of devour, and blood as that of drink. 
 The vessel mentioned in the last clause denotes, not 
 any bowl, but one in which the priests catch the 
 blood of a sacrifice. Corners, of course, include 
 the horns which stood upon them. These figures 
 are priestly, and intimate a holy war and victory. 
 
 Ver. 16 gives the result of this victory, — salva- 
 tion. By an exquisite change of figure this is rep- 
 resented as bestowed upon them in the character 
 of the Lord's flock, which at once suggests the 
 peaceful blessings recounted in the 23d Psalm. 
 In the next clause, with a designed antithesis to 
 the sling stones in the previous verse, the prophet 
 compares Zion's sons to jewels of a crown, which 
 sparkle over his land, i. e., Jehovah's. Hengsten- 
 berg takes the participle here in the same way as 
 in Ps. Ix. 6 = rising up. But, as Keil says, crown 
 stones do not lift themselves up. It is better to take 
 the word in the sense of shining, glittering (Ewald, 
 Maurer, Kohler, Fiirst). The reference is to pre- 
 cious gems set in a ciown and flashing from the 
 brow of a conqueror as he stalks over the land 
 
 Ver. 17. For how great, etc. The passage closes 
 with an exulting exclamation. The pronouns in the 
 first clause refer to Jehovah (Hengstenberg, Ewald, 
 Pressel), but mean the goodness and the beauty 
 which He bestows (Henderson). This avoids the 
 difficultv of ascribing beauty to the Lord,i and 
 
 thus : May the loveliness of Jehovah — all that rendtn 
 Him an object of affection and desire — be /uade known ti 
 which, however, is best explained | ^g |„ ^uy experience. Cf. Ps. xxvii. 4. 
 
CHAT TER IX. 11-17. 
 
 7e 
 
 yet retains the full force of the apostrophe. Corn 
 and new wine are the customary expressions of 
 ttbundaiice (Deut. xxxiii. 28 ; Ps. iv. 8), and are 
 here rhetorically divided l)etween the youths and 
 the maidens. Copious supplies of food lead to a 
 japid increase of population. Ps. Ixxii. 16. " The 
 drinking of must by young females is peculiar to 
 this passaue ; but its being here expressly sanc- 
 tioned by divine authority, furnishes an unanswer- 
 able argument against those who would interdict 
 all use of the fruit of the vine" (Henderson). 
 " We know that when there is but a small supply 
 of wine, it ought by right of age to be reserved for 
 the old, but when wine so overflows that young 
 men and young women may freely drink of it, it 
 is a proof of great abundance " (Calvin). 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. Few words are so precious to a devout be- 
 liever as covenant. It suggests thoughts of grace, 
 privilege, and .security which are not easily attained 
 in any other way. Our trust for this world and 
 the next rests not upon voices of nature or con- 
 clusions of reason, but upon the promise of God, 
 — a promise which He has chosen to present in the 
 Sorm of a compact with stipulations (and some- 
 times even when the stipulations were all on one 
 side, Gen. ix. 9), and not only so, but to confirm 
 it by sacrifice. This was vividly set before Israel 
 when the law was given on Sinai. Moses sprinkled 
 the blood of the offerings both upon the altar and 
 upon the people, saying, " Behold the blood of the 
 covenant which Jehovah has made with you con- 
 cerning all these words." Now it is true that the 
 Mosaic dispensation was a national compact with 
 the Hebrew people, and that it also contained a 
 complete and absolute rule of human duty, but be- 
 sides these aspects it was a covenant of grace, rep- 
 resenting the merciful provision God had made for 
 the salvation of his people, and in this sense its re- 
 lation to the Gospel economy was that of sunrise to 
 the blaze of noon. It confii'med the i)romise made 
 to Abraham, and rendered the believer's hope still 
 more firm and clear, as resting upon an immutable 
 bond. The force of that bond continued unim- 
 paired down through the generations. " The Lord 
 made not this covenant with our fathers [only], 
 but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive 
 this day " (Deut. v. 3). Again and again, in times 
 of emergency or doubt, did the Old Testament 
 saints reassure their souls and reanimate their 
 hopes by recurring to that old covenant, " the 
 word which He commanded for a thousand gener- 
 ations" (Ps. cv. 8). They might be involved in 
 gloom and pcrple.xity, and the eye of sense could 
 see no way out ; but they knew that God had made 
 with them a covenant ordered in all things and 
 sure, and this was all their salvation, and all their 
 desire. The same blessed assurance continues to 
 believers under the Gospel. Nay, it is stronger 
 low, for we have the blood of a new covenant 
 (Mark xiv. 24), i. e., of a new administration of 
 the old covenant, to confirm our faith. The cove- 
 ■tajit blood, on which the faith of Christians lays 
 aold, is not that of bulls and goats, but of a 
 iamb without spot, not the crimson stream of a 
 typical sacrifice, but that which jioured from the 
 gaping wounds of the incarnate Son of God. The 
 jompact which has been ratified by such an obla- 
 tion as was made at Golgotha, is necessarily im- 
 perishable. It can never fail. The blood of the 
 cross 's the blood of an everlasting covenant (Ileb. 
 
 xiii. 20). Here the devout soul rests in peace and 
 security. The malice of the world, the roar of 
 Satan, the clamor of conscience, all are still before 
 the thought of the pledged and ratified word of 
 Jehovah. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, 
 but the Word of our God abideth forever. The 
 Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent ; for He 
 is not a man that He should repent. 
 
 2. This portion of the chapter presents a re- 
 markable contrast to the two verses which precede 
 it. There we read of an eminently peaceful king 
 under whom all weapons of war are destroyed. 
 Without noise or conflict he quietly extends his 
 dominion till it becomes universal. Here, on the 
 contrary, Judah is the Lord's bow and Ephraim 
 his arrow, and tliere is a terrible struggle set forth 
 by images taken from the storm, the lightning, and 
 the whirlwind. The language is not an exagger 
 ation of what occurred in the heroic struggle for 
 Judsean independence under the sons of the aged 
 priest Mattathias. That struggle was essentially 
 a religious one. It began in a determined resist- 
 ance to the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to ex- 
 terminate the faith of the Jews and impose the im- 
 pure and idolatrous worship of the Greeks ; and 
 although other elements were developed in the 
 course of time, this always was the chief consider- 
 ation. During the course of it, the " good report 
 through faith" of which the Epistle to the He- 
 brews speaks (xi. 36-39), was obtained by many 
 who " were tortured, not accepting deliverance 
 that they might obtain a better resurrection. 
 Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, 
 yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments. They 
 were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they wera 
 slain with the sword." The atrocities of heathen 
 persecution roused a flame which was irresistible. 
 Neither Antiochus nor any of his sitccessors on 
 the Syrian throne was able to subdue the zeal of 
 the jews for their ancestral faith. Again and 
 again the armies of the alien were put to rout in 
 pitched battles, and veterans of many a well-fought 
 field were no match for men who fought for God 
 as well as their native land. The Maccabees really 
 earned the name (Maccabceus = hammerer) by 
 which they are now generally known, and al- 
 though disregarded by the haughty heathen, still 
 they shine as jewels of a crown among all disin- 
 terested observers. " None have surpassed them in 
 accomplishing a great end with inadequate means; 
 none ever united more generous valor with a bet- 
 ter cause " (Milman). They began with a few per- 
 sonal followers, and they ended with a strong and 
 well-organized nation. The struggle lasted for a 
 quarter of a century (b. c. 168-143), and notwith- 
 standing the unequal resources of the parties, Jeho- 
 vah of Hosts made feeble Jews like the sword of a 
 hero, while the mailed warriors of Syria were trod- 
 den down like the small stones of a sling. 
 
 3. For more than one half of the four centuries 
 which elapsed between the close of the Old Testa- 
 ment and the opening of the New, the history of 
 the Jews is almost a total blank, and of the other 
 half there is much less information to be drawn 
 from Ethnic sources than might have been antici- 
 pated. But it is very apparent from many scat- 
 tered indications that Israel had often occasion to 
 say, How great is his goodness and how great his 
 beauty ! The population multiplied with a rapid- 
 ity like that of their forefathers in Egypt. The few 
 fieeble struggling colonists gradually emerged into 
 a strong, energetic, and well-organized common- 
 wealth. Their land resumed its ancient fertility. 
 Just as in the palmy days of old, its rocki wer« 
 
T6 
 
 ZECHAKIAH. 
 
 crowned with mould and its sands covered with 
 verdure, and a wide-spread commerce on both seas 
 furnished the conditions of growing wealth. At 
 the same time a spirit of enterprise, or a love of 
 adventure, led many to distribute themselves all 
 over the Roman world, so that there was scarcely 
 a province either in the east or the west, where 
 they were not found in numbers. Still in every 
 quarter, under every form of government, and in 
 the midst of every social system, they retained 
 their national fiiith and usages with unconquer- 
 able tenacity. This was manifested not only by a 
 persistent refusal to amalgamate with the various 
 peoples among whom they lived, but by their reg- 
 ular and liberal contributions to the temple. A 
 curious illustration of the latter is seen in the fact 
 mentioned by Cicero, that Flaccus was compelled 
 to forbid such offerings from the province of Asia, 
 because the enormous export of gold affected the 
 markets of the world. Thus even the emigrating 
 Jews contributed to the prosperity of those who 
 remained at home. It is evident then that the 
 statements of increase contained in this chapter 
 and the one that follows were verified to the letter. 
 Parts of the land W2re as thickly settled as any 
 portions of modern Pkirope. And notwithstand- 
 ing all the outward conflicts in which they were 
 engaged, or the suffering they may have experi- 
 enced from the contentions of rival kingdoms 
 around, "corn made the young men thrive, and 
 new wine the maidens," and the covenant people 
 were preserved in their integrity and distinctness, 
 until He came, for whose appearing they had been 
 appointed and preserved for more than twenty cen- 
 turies. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore: Ver. 11. The covenant love of God 
 and his faithful promises that are sealed with blood 
 are the hope of the Church in time of trouble. — 
 Ver. 12. Let sinners who are also prisoners of 
 hope, turn to the stronghold Christ, ere it be for- 
 
 ever too late, and God will give thera a dovbU 
 blessing. 
 
 Pressel : Vers. II, 12. How wide is the range 
 of God's covenant with :nan ! It extends so far 
 that it forms, as our Lord said to the Sadducees 
 the immovable basis of our hope of eternal life. 
 But if the salvation of this covenant, whether in 
 its older or newer form, is ever to become ours, 
 the first condition and the last is — Turn to the 
 strong }wld, ye prisoners of hope. Again: (1) Thera 
 is no imprisonment without hope, for the cove- 
 nant-blood speaks louder than our sins, and the 
 Lord can break every fetter; but (2) There is no 
 hope without conversion, for without conversion 
 we are still in the pit without water, and fall short 
 of the strong-hold which alone secures return to 
 fellowship with God. 
 
 CowLES : Ver. 12. It is altogether the way of 
 the Lord to send grief and affliction only in single 
 measure, but joy and blessing in double, weighing 
 out the retributions of justice carefully, and the 
 inflictions of his rod very tenderly ; but pouring 
 forth the bounties of his mercy as if He could not 
 think of measuring them by any rule less than the 
 impulses of infinite love ! 
 
 Wordsworth. [This learned man spiritual- 
 izes the entire passage, but is not quoted here, be- 
 cause, as Hengstenberg says, " While the outward 
 conflict was undoubtedly the prelude of a still 
 grander conflict between Israel and Greece, to be 
 fought with spiritual weapons, it is opposed to all 
 the principles of sound interpretation to refer the 
 words immediately to the latter."] 
 
 Jay : Ver. 16. Here we see the dignity of thv! 
 Lord's people. They are " stones," precious stones, 
 set in the " crown ' of the King of kings. Hera 
 is also their exhibition ; these stones of a crown 
 are "lifted up." They are not to be concealed. 
 Here is also their utility ; these stones are to be 
 lifted up " as an ensign upon the land." An ori- 
 flamme suspended over the royal tent ; designed 
 to attract followers to the cause in which he is en* 
 
 4. FURTHER BLESSINGS OF GOD'S PEOPLE. 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 A. God sends Blessing, but the Idols Sorrow (vers. 1,2). B. Blessings upon native Rulers {vert. S-m), 
 C. Former Mercies restored loJudah and Ephraim (vers. 6-9). D. Messianic Mercies (vers. 10- 1>). 
 
 1 Ask of Jehovah rain in the time of the latter rain ; 
 Jehovah creates lightnings, 
 
 And showers of rain ^ will He give them, 
 To every one grass in the field. 
 
 2 For the teraphim ^ have spoken vanity, 
 And the diviners have seen a lie, 
 
 And speak dreams of deceit, 
 They comfort m vain ; 
 
 Therefore they have wandered ^ like a flock, 
 They are oppressed ^ because there is no shepherd. 
 8 Against the shepherds my anger is kindled, 
 And the he-goats will I punish ; ^ 
 For Jehovah of Hosts visits his flock, the house of Jndah, 
 
CHAPTER X. 1-12. 
 
 77 
 
 And makes them like his goodly horse in war. 
 
 4 From him the corner-stone, from him the nail, 
 
 From him the war-bow, from him will every riiler® come forth together 
 
 5 And they shall be like heroes treading down [t. «., foes] 
 Into the mire of the streets in the battle ; 
 
 And they fight, for Jehovah is with them, 
 And the riders on horses are put to shame/ 
 
 6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, 
 And the house of Joseph will save, 
 
 And will make them dwell,* because I pity them, 
 And they shall be as if I had not cast them off, 
 For I am Jehovah their God, and will hear them. 
 
 7 And Ephraim ^ shall become like a hero. 
 And their heart shall rejoice as with wine. 
 And their sons shall see and rejoice. 
 Their heart shall exult in Jehovah. 
 
 8 I will hiss to them and gather them. 
 For I have redeemed them. 
 
 And they shall increase as they did increase [before] 
 
 9 And I will sow ^° them among the peoples ^^ 
 And in far countries they shall remember me, 
 And with their children they shall live and return. 
 
 rO And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, 
 
 And from Assyria will I gather them, 
 
 And to the land of Gilead and Lebanon will I bring them« 
 
 And room shall not be found for them.^^ 
 ■•1 And He passes through the sea, the affliction,^^ 
 
 And He smites the waves in the sea. 
 
 And all the depths of the Nile are put to shame ; 
 
 And the pride of Assyria is brought down, 
 
 And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart. 
 "2 And I will strengthen them in Jehovah, 
 
 And in his name shall they walk," saith Jehovah. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 1 Ver 1 — Dt!l7!l""1ttP lit., rain of rain = copious rains. See Job xxxvii. 6, where the words are transpoeed. • -Thi 
 
 Vit of the B. V. gives a singularly inappropriate rendering of the previous noun 2'^T'^Tn, for what consistency is theie 
 
 between " bright clouds " and heavy showers ? 
 
 ■2 Ver 2. C'^D'^n, As this word denotes a peculiar species of idolatrous image, it is best to transfer It 
 
 8 Ver. 2. 5)37D3, lit-, break up, as an encampment, h. to wander They, t. e., the people. 
 
 4 Ver. 2. — 5^3^^ oppressed, sorely afflicted. The troubled of the E. V. is too feeble. The tense is future, implying 
 ^at the condition still exists. 
 
 5 Ver. 3. — There is a play here upon the two meanings of the word ^|22, the one to care for, the other to punish, 
 or in general to visit, for good or for ill. Jehovah visits for evil, i. e., punishes, the goats ; but visits for good, i. e., cares 
 for, his flock. Keil, Henderson, and Cowles err in saying that the meaning to punish requires to be followed by "^V 
 {ler*. See Job xxxi. 14 ; Is. xxvi 14. Henderson (following the E. V.) makes the extraordinary mistake of rendering 
 Ti'^iTS as a preterite, and claiming the vav before b3? as a vav convers. He also renders ^D = nevertheless, a mean- 
 ing which it never has. 
 
 5 Ver. 4. — Ji7ib =ruler, as in Is. iii. 12, Ix. 17. Hengstenberg insists upon the original meaning, (tpFfessar, but 
 thinks the harshness implied is directed against foes. 
 
 7 Ver. 6. -Itr^Zl"'. The Hiphil takes a passive sense, just as in ix. 5. 
 
 8 Ver. 6. — ;Z^niz:l'''in. This anomalous form is best explained as the Hiphil of 3T*"'^ for C"'n3I?''irT. (Qe». 
 enius, Hengstenberg, Maurer). Ewald derives it from H^T, and Kimchi explains it aa a compound of both words unit- 
 ing the senses of both, as in the E. V., " I will bring them again to place them." But it is far better to Interpret it lik« 
 the similar form in Ezek. xxxvi. 11, than to adopt this Rabbinical refinement, which has no precedent elsewhere. 
 
 9 Ver. 7. — -Vni. As Ephraim is a collective noun, there seems to be no reason for the periphrasis of the B. V 
 
 tA«y o/ Ephraim." 
 
 10 Vet. 9. — Henderson's rendering, "Though I have scattered them, . . yet they shall," etc., is grammaticaUJ 
 
78 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 Impossible, is opposed to the true sense of 27JIT, and U not required by the context. His " dirant regions " is !sc im 
 provement upon the E. V.'s "far countries." 
 
 11 Ver. 9. — C^TS^^ Peoples. See on viii. 20. 
 
 12 Ver 10. — S!i^^ S^. Cf. Josh. xvii. 16. (The necessary room) shall not be found for them. 
 
 13 Ver. 11. — rT~1^ is best taken as in apposition to the preceding noun. To make it a verb meaning to cleave, aftei 
 an Aramaic analogy (Maurer, Henderson, et al.), is far-fetched and needless. As a noun, it serves to show that the pro- 
 tIous noun does not mean a literal sea, but affliction represented under that figure. 
 
 14 Ver. 12. — ^D- i^n^. '^^^ fo^<=^ "^ ^^^ Hithpael conjugation here is to express more distinctly than the Kal, 
 the idea of continuous habitual action. For the sentiment, cf. Micah iy. 5, where, however, Kal forms are used. 
 
 EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This chapter does not commence a fresh train 
 of thouj,^ht, but is rather an expansion of the fore- 
 going prophecy. First, there is a promise of rain 
 and fruitful seasons (ver. 1) ; a reference to idol- 
 atry as cause of their afflictions (vers. 2, 3 a) ; de- 
 liverance by God's blessing- upon native rulers (vers. 
 3 b, 4, 5) ; restoration of ancient mercies (ver. 6) ; 
 special mention of P^phraim as participating in the 
 growth and enlargement promised to the whole 
 people (vers. 7-9) ; farther promises to the nation 
 couched in historic allusions to their foinier experi- 
 ence, and fulfilled only in the Messiah's kingdom 
 (vers. 10-12). Some maintain that ver. 1 belongs to 
 the preceding chapter, and ought not to have been 
 separated from it (Hengstenberg), while others 
 affirm the same of ver. 2 also (llofmann, Kohler) ; 
 but ver. 2 is plainly as closely connected with ver. 
 3 as it is with ver. I . The question is of no impor- 
 tance to the interpretation. 
 
 Ver. 1. Ask of Jehovah. This summons to 
 prayer is not a mere expression of God's readiness 
 to give (Hengstenberg), but, both from the force 
 of the words and the connection, is to be literally 
 understood. Rain stands as a representative for 
 all blessings, temporal and spiritual. In the time 
 of the latter rain, is merely a rhetorical amplifica- 
 tion, for it cannot be shown that the latter rain 
 was more necessary than the early rain for matur- 
 ing the harvest. Cf. Deut. xi. 13-15, from which 
 the expressions here are taken. Lightnings are 
 mentioned as precursors of rain. Cf. Jer. x. 13 ; 
 Ps. cxxxv. 7, where, however, a diiferent word 
 
 (C)7~1I?) is used. Give them, i. e., every one who 
 asks. 
 
 Ver. 2. The call to prayer is sustained by a ref- 
 erence to the misery caused by their former depend- 
 ence upon idols and soothsayers. Teraphim, a 
 kind of household gods = Penates, who appear 
 also to have been looked upon as oracles (Hos. iii. 
 4), in which latter light they are regarded here. 
 The etymology of the word is still unsettled. The 
 prevalence of impostors, of the kinds here men- 
 tioned, just before the overthrow of Judah, is.abun- 
 dantly established. Jer. xxvii. 9 ; xxix. 8 ; xxiii. 
 9, 14," 32 ; Ezek. xxi.34, xxii. 28. Therefore, the 
 consequence was that they were compelled to wan- 
 der away, and were without a ruler, i. e., one of 
 their own Davidic line, — a state of things still in 
 existence when Zechariah wrote. 
 
 Ver. 3. Against the shepherds. Israel having 
 lost its native rulers, fell under the power of heathen 
 governors, here styled shepherds and he-goats, 
 (Is. xiv. 9, Ueb.). These are to be punished, be- 
 cause Jehovah regards those whom they oppress as 
 his flock, whom He visits and protects. House of 
 Judah is mentioned not in distinction from Kph- 
 raim (see vers. 6, 7), but as the central point and 
 representative c' the covenant people. A striking 
 
 comparison indicates that the deliverance is effected 
 by an actual military struggle. Just as in ch- ix. 
 13, Jehovah called .Judah and Ephraim his bow 
 and arrow, so here He calls the former his goodly 
 horse, such a horse as for his extraordinary qual- 
 ities is chosen, and splendidly equipped as the war- 
 horse of the general. The House of Judah, there- 
 fore will be well prepared to meet its enemies. 
 
 Ver. 4. From him the corner-stone. ^3^3 
 refers not to Jehovah (Hitzig, Kohler, Pressel), but 
 to Judah, as appears from the connection and from 
 the passage in Jer. (xxx. 21) on which this one 
 leans. From themselves was to come forth every 
 one of their rulers, which is expressed in the for- 
 mer part of the verse by figures, namely, the cor- 
 ner-stone, cf. Ps. cxviii. 22 ; the nail, the largo 
 ornamental pin, built into the wall of oriental 
 houses for the purpose of suspending houseliold 
 utensils (Is. xxii. 23) ; the war-bow, which de- 
 notes military forces and weapons in general (ix. 
 10). 
 
 Ver. 5. The consequence will be the annihila- 
 tion of foes. And .... like heroes. Some 
 explain the allusion as = they trample the mire of 
 the streets, i. e., their foes considered as such (like 
 the sling-stones in ix. 15) ; so Hengstenberg, Keil, 
 etc. But the verb in Kal is always elsewhere tran- 
 sitive, and the 2 ought not to be overlooked. We 
 should render, therefore, treading down (foes) in 
 or into the mire (Fiirst, Kohler). Kiders on 
 horses. Cavalry, the arm in which Israel was al- 
 ways weak, is mentioned in Dan. xi. 40 as the 
 principal strength of the Asiatic rulers (comp. also 
 1 Mace. iii. 39, iv. 1 ). Hence the force of the prom- 
 ise here. 
 
 Ver. 6. And I will strengthen, etc. Judah 
 and Joseph comprehend the entire people as a 
 whole. Make them dwell, i. e., securely and 
 happily as in the olden time, which is suggested 
 also in the next clause but one (cf. Ezek. xxxvi. 
 U ) . Ajid I will hear them, is a very comprehen- 
 sive promise. 
 
 Ver. 7. And Ephraim .... wine. In this 
 verse and the following, the projjhet refers partic- 
 ularly to Ephraim (but not to the exclusion of 
 Judah), for the reason that heretofore the ten 
 tribes had not participated as largely as it was in 
 tended they should, in the return from exile. They 
 and their sons shall share in the coming conflict, 
 and equally with Judah prove tiiemselves to be like 
 a hero. Their exultation in Jehovah is expressed 
 by a comparison which is applied by the Psalmist 
 to the Lord Himself. Ps. Ixxviii. 65. 
 
 Ver. 8. 1 will hiss .... increase. The hiss- 
 ing or whistling is mentioned as a signal (cf. Is. 
 v. 26, vii. 18). It alludes to the ancient method of 
 swarming bees. This verse explains how Israel, 
 so large a part of whom were still in exile, fhonld 
 take part in the victorious stnij-L;lc. Th' Loni 
 
CHAPTER X. 1-12. 
 
 79 
 
 would brin<j them back. The utter downfall of the 
 northern kingdom, so long before that of Jiidah, 
 had removed nearly every political reason for main- 
 taining the old disruption, and all the circum- 
 stances of the time inclined the various tril>es to 
 coalesce again into one jieople. I have redeemed, 
 prei. proph. to express Jeho^'ah's unalteralile pur- 
 pose. The last clause, like ver. 6 b, refers to Kzek. 
 xxxvi. 1 1. The extraordinary innltiplication of the 
 Jews at and after this period is one of the most 
 familiar facts of history. See Merivale, History of 
 the Romans, ch. xxix. " Josephus informs us that 
 two liundred years after the time here referred to, 
 Galilee was peopled to an amazing extent, studded 
 with cities, towns, and villages ; and adds that the 
 villages were not what are usually called by that 
 name, but contained, some of them, fifteen thou- 
 sand inhabitants." Henderson, in loc. 
 
 Ver. 9. And I will sow return. The 
 
 word 3771^ never means scatter in the sense of ban- 
 ishing or destroying (Fiirst, Henderson, llitziy;), 
 but always has the sense of sow im; {aT^pa), LXX. ; 
 seminabo, Vulg. ), and when applied to men, denotes 
 increase (Hos. ii. 24 ; Jer. xxxi. 27). Tlie passage 
 means, then, that Israel while among the nations 
 will repeat the experience of their ancestors in 
 Egypt, " the more they afflicted them, th^' more 
 they multiplied and grew" (Ex. i. 12). They 
 -shall live, is explained in Ezek. xxxvii. 14. The 
 mention of the children with them implies that 
 the blessing would not be transient, but abiding. 
 
 Ver. 10. And I will bring . . . Egypt. Some 
 expositors suppose that by Egypt and Assyria are 
 tneant the lands so named, and vainly attempt to 
 show that many of the ten tribes were carried or 
 escaped to Egypt. It is far better to adopt the 
 opinion of Gesenius, that " Egypt and Assyria are 
 mentioned here in place of the different countries 
 into which the Jews were scattered." Such a typ- 
 ical use of names is neither unnatural nor unusual. 
 Egypt was the first oppressor of the covenant peo- 
 ple, and Assyria was the final instrument of over- 
 throwing the ten tribes, and the two terms might 
 well be combined as a general statement of the 
 lands of the dispersion. See this combination in 
 a similar case in Is. xxvii. 1.3, and cf. Is. x. 24, 
 xi. 11, 16, xix. 23, Hi. 4; Hos. xi. 11. Kohler's 
 objection that in this case Assyria must be taken in 
 its most literal sense, is surely groundless, for the 
 prophet could not have meant that the Ephraim- 
 ites should be restored from certain regions and 
 not from others. The general terms of the preced- 
 ing verses forbid such a narrow view. Nor can 
 Pressel claim the mention of Assyria as favoring the 
 theory which dates the pro]3hecy before the Captiv- 
 ity, because the subject of it is not Judah alone, 
 but the whole nation, with special reference to 
 Ephraim, and therefore Assyria was just the coun- 
 try which it suited the prophet to mention. The 
 land of Gilead and Lebanon := northern Pales- 
 tine on both sides of the Jordan, the former home 
 of the ten tribes. Room . . . found, because of 
 their increase. Merivale, in the place above cited, 
 accounts for the manner in which the Jews 
 m the centuries just before Christ, swarmed over 
 the whole Roman world, " from the Tiber to the 
 Euphrates, from the pines of the Caucasus to the 
 ^pice groves of Arabia Felix," by the insufficiency 
 »f their native land to support the immense popu- 
 fation. 
 
 Ver. 11. And he passes. The subject, of 
 eoorse, is Jehovah, the discourse passing from di- 
 rect to indirect address, in accordance with the He- 
 
 brew usage allowing such rapid transiti )ns. To 
 make n~l!i the subject (Calvin, Cocceius, Syr.), 
 is unnatural and frigid, besides connecting a femi- 
 nine noun with a verb having a masculine suffix. 
 This verse continues the figurative allusions of the 
 preceding. Just as of old God gloriously vindi- 
 cated his people in the passage over the Red Sea 
 so now He marches through the deep at the head 
 of his chosen and smites down the roaring waves. 
 The article in the sea points to the particular body 
 of water through which Israel had once before 
 
 been led, — the Arabian Gulf "liS^ almost al- 
 ways = Nile. Here the term depths or floods is 
 properly applied to its vast and regular inunda- 
 tions. In the last clause the characteristic feature 
 of Assyria is well expressed by pride (Is. x. 7), 
 and that of Egypt by the sceptre or rod of the 
 taskmasters. 
 
 Ver. 12. And I strengthen. The whole sec- 
 tion is appropriately wound up with this emphatic 
 promise. The entire strength, conduct, hope, and 
 destiny of Israel lay in Jehovah. " The name of 
 Jehovah is a comprehensive expression denoting 
 his glory as manifested in history" (Hengsten- 
 berg). Trusting and serving the God thus re- 
 vealed, they would find the past a pledge of the 
 future, and see the divine perfections as gloriously 
 illustrated in their behalf as at any former period. 
 
 This chapter, as has been said, continues and 
 enlarges the promises of the preceding. After 
 tracing the distresses of the people to their apos- 
 tasy, it sets forth their deliverance as effected 
 through actual conflicts, in which the might of 
 Jehovah gives to the native leaders a force and 
 courage which suffice to subdue foes otherwise far 
 superior. This victory is followed by a large in- 
 crease of population, not confined to Judah but 
 also including Israel. Nor is there reason to doubt 
 that the independence achieved by the Maccabees 
 attracted very many of the exiles from the north, 
 em kingdom, who forgot the old causes of dissen- 
 sion, and united heartily in maintaining the rees- 
 tablished national centre in Jerusalem. This fu- 
 sion at home led to a similar fusion abroad ; and 
 wherever Jews were found who preserved their 
 hereditary faith at all, they still remembered Jeho- 
 vah as the one who had chosen Zion, and consid- 
 ered themselves as constituent parts of one cove- 
 nant people. So far the predictions of the chap- 
 ter were fulfilled historically in the period extend- 
 ing from the establishment of Jewish independ- 
 ence to the time of the advent. In the last three 
 verses the Prophet describes a far greater because 
 spiritual blessing in terms borrowed from the old 
 experience of the people. The drying up of the 
 sea, the humiliation of Assyria, the overthrow of 
 Egypt simply set forth the removal of all possible 
 obstacles in the way of a spiritual return to God. 
 The Lord will reclaim and bless them by proced- 
 ures as marvelous as any that ever occurred in 
 their former history. 
 
 But before this great event takes place, before 
 the Church of the Old Testament passes into the 
 form and character of the Church of the New 
 Testament, a sad and peculiar experience is to be 
 gone through. This is set forth in t^ e strikiiig 
 imagery of the next chapter. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. In the opening verse of this chapter th« 
 Prophet comes into direct opposition to many of 
 the so-called Scientists of our day. They affirnc 
 
so 
 
 ZECHAKIAH. 
 
 that " withont a disturbance of natural law quite 
 as serious as the stoppaiio of an eeli[)se or the roll- 
 inir the St. Lawrence up the Falls of Niufi'ara, no 
 act of humiliation, individual or national, could 
 3all one shower from heaven " (Tvndall). It fol- 
 lows, of course, that only those who believe that 
 the miraculous is still active in nature can consist- 
 ently join in prayers for fair weather and for rain. 
 The Prophet, on the contrary, directs the people 
 whenever the heavens withhold their moisture, to 
 ask from the Lord what thoy need, and assures 
 them that askings they shall obtain ; and yet neither 
 he nor his hearers supposed that this process in- 
 volved a miracle in any proper sense of that term. 
 It certainly implies the attainment of an end which 
 without this means would not be accomplished. It 
 is tlie com-jining and directing of natural forces 
 BO as to secure a certain result. This is what men 
 are doing all the time, without dreaming that they 
 are miracle-workers. Much more may God do ii;, 
 who is not, like us, limited by second causes. In 
 this very matter of rain, a scientific man announced 
 some years ago a certain process by which an 
 adequate rain-fall could at any time be secured. 
 Whether his theory was valid or not, no one 
 scouted it as impossible, or preposterous. Yet 
 learned men deny to God what they allow to them- 
 selves. Creatures may compel the clouds, but the 
 Creator may not. They may employ one and an- 
 other natural law so as to achieve novel effects, 
 but the Maker of the whole, 
 
 " Who sets the bright procession oa its way, 
 And marshals all the order of the year," 
 
 18 shut up in the workmanship of his hands, and 
 cannot possibly escape from the regular sequence 
 of cause and effect. But this is simply the re- 
 jection, not merely of Christianity or ol' the Old 
 Testament, but of all religion whatever. A God 
 who has no control over nature is to all in- 
 tents and purposes no God. Sentiments of rever- 
 ence, gratitude, obligation, love, and dependence 
 toward such a Being, are impossible. The doc- 
 trine of prayer, therefore, is a vital one. There 
 never has been, there never can be a religion with- 
 out communion with the object of worship. To 
 deny the eflicacy of prayer, even in such matters 
 as the giving or withholding of rain, is to remand 
 the human race into a state of practical atheism. 
 
 2. The question with man never is whether he 
 will have a religion or not, but always whether he 
 will have that which is true, or one that is false. 
 Not only his intuitions, his moral convictions, but 
 his dependent condition, his exposure to chan^'C, 
 want, sorrow, and death, all compel him to look 
 up to some superior invisible power, something 
 nobler and better than himself. If this craving be 
 not met by the truth, it surely will be by false- 
 hood. A permanent state of atheistic unbelief is 
 impossible. Such a state has never been seen in 
 all the world's history. In ancient Israel there was 
 a constant oscillation between the worship of Jeho- 
 vah and the service of idols, but never the abnega- 
 tion of all worship. And this is the alternative 
 which confronts every man and every age. They 
 i.iay reject the true God and the revealed religion ; 
 but the inevitable result is superstition in some 
 form, more or less refined. Just as among the 
 lews whenever they apostatized, "diviners " came 
 to the front. When Saul could get no answer from 
 'he Ijord, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by 
 Prophets, he -vent to the Witch of Endor. 
 
 Intelligence and culture arc no guard against 
 inch a result. If men will not believe the rational 
 
 and true, they will believe the absurd and the false 
 Our own land at this day furnishes conspicuous 
 examples. Table-turnings and spirit-rappings 
 h, ve led captive many who turned awaj' in scorn 
 from the teachings of Christ and his Apostles 
 The voice of God, uttered with every kind and de* 
 gree of evidence in his Word, has been given up 
 tor the sake of the pretended disclosure? cf the 
 s])irits of the dead ; and the necromancy of the 
 nineteenth century before Christ has been revived 
 in the nineteenth century after Christ, And the 
 results have been what was to be exitected. On 
 one hand a degree of unnatural excitement of the 
 feelings and the imagination which terminated in 
 an eclipse of reason, and on the other, a lowering 
 of the tone of morals which undermined the fam- 
 ily constitution, and swept away the surest safe- 
 guards of human society. It is as criminal and 
 as dangerous to consult diviners now as it ever was 
 in the days of ancient Israel. " Should not a peo- 
 ple seek unto their God ? [Should they seek] for 
 the living to the dead ? To the law and to the 
 testimony ; if they speak not according to this 
 word, it is because there is no light in them " (Is. 
 viii. 19, 20). 
 
 3. The prediction of the return of Ephraim in 
 this chapter (ver. 6) has been sometimes cited as 
 evidence that the ten tribes are still somewhere ex- 
 isting as a separate community, and as such are 
 yet to be restored to their own land. But this is 
 an error. The words of the Prophet were fulfilled 
 in the period to which he refers. Many of the 
 transplanted Ephraimites fell away from the faith 
 and became absorbed in the heathen by whom they 
 were surrounded, but many who remained true to 
 Jehovah, joined their fortunes with those of their 
 brethren of Judah. Their common calamities soft- 
 ened and at last obliterated the old feelings of en- 
 mity toward each other. Jerusalem became again 
 the central point of the whole nation, and while 
 not a few actually shared in the restoration, others 
 who remained in exile, yet adhered to the second 
 temple, aided it by their gifts, and often attended 
 the yearly festivals. Hence all the latter were 
 comprehended under the term, the Diaspora (Jas 
 i. i). In the New Testament there are repeated 
 allusions to the twelve tribes, conveying the dis- 
 tinct impression that the inhabitants of Palestine 
 in our Lord's day represented both parts of the 
 nation. There is no reason, therefore, for the 
 pains which have been taken to discover them in 
 some remote or obscure part of the globe. And 
 indeed the hopeless disagreement of those who 
 seek a historical identification of these exiles shows 
 the vanity of the attempt. The foot of the Him- 
 alayas, the coast of Malabar, the interior of China, 
 the Nestorians of Persia, and the Indians of North 
 America, have all been claimed as containing the 
 veritable descendants of the Hebrews whom Sar- 
 gon carried away. This whole subject is treated 
 with ability and learning in an article in the 
 Princeton Review for April, 1873, by the Rev. John 
 H. Shedd. The conclusions to which Mr. Shedd 
 comes are thus stated : — 
 
 1. That the apostate Israelites were lost among 
 the idolaters of the Assyrian Empire at the time 
 of their apostasy. 
 
 2. That the true Israelites under Persian rule 
 became identified with the capti\-ity of Judah, and 
 the nationality of the Ten Tribes was extinct. 
 
 3. That these Jews, embracing, since the tim« 
 of Cyrus, the faithful of both Judah and Israel 
 greatly increased in numbers, were reinforced by 
 emigrants from Palestine, an J have sent off col 
 
CHAPTER XI. 1-17. 
 
 8j 
 
 onies to all the East, throufjhout Persia, Tnrtary, 
 and Thiliet ; but there is no Scriptural or histor- 
 ical basis for the idea that the '' Ten Tribes " are 
 living- as a body in some obscure legioii or are 
 found in any one nation. 
 
 4. That some at least of the conjinunities of 
 Jews still living in the land of their ori;:inal exile, 
 are lineal- descendants of the Ten Tribes ; and 
 considering the history of those Jews, their pres- 
 ent numbers of fifty or sixty thousand souls in 
 Persia and Assyria, and several thousand more in 
 Babylonia, they sufficiently solve the problem. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Melvill : Ask ye rain. Men seem practically 
 to have but little remembrance that the main- 
 spring of all the mechanism of second causes is in 
 the hands of an invisible Creator ; tiiat it is not 
 from what goes on in the hidden laboratories of 
 what they call nature that season succeeds season, 
 and shower and sunshine alternate with so much 
 of beautiful and beneficent order, but that the 
 whole arrangement is momentarily dependent 
 upon the will and energy of that sui)reme Being 
 who " sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the 
 inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers." 
 
 Calvin : Grass in the field. The Prophet no 
 doubt includes here under one kind all things ne- 
 cessary for a happy life ; for it is not the will of 
 God to fill his faithful people in this world as 
 though they were swine, but his design is to give 
 them by means of earthly things, a taste of the 
 spirituaJ life. 1 am Jehovah their God. He means 
 bj this that although he had for a time rejected 
 
 the Jews, their adojjtion would not be void ; for by 
 calling Himself their God He reminds them of his 
 covenant, as if He said that He had not in vain 
 made a covenant with Abraham, and promised 
 that his seed should be blessed. And 1 will sow 
 thein. This was an instance of the wonderful grace 
 of God ; for hence it happened that the knowledge 
 of celestial truth shone everywhere ; and at length 
 when the Gospel was proclaimed, a freer access 
 was had to the Gentiles, because Jews were dis- 
 persed through all lands. The first receptacles 
 [hospitia] of the Gospel were the Synagogues. 
 God thus scattered his seed here and there that it 
 might in due time produce fruit beyond the ex- 
 pectation of all. 
 
 Pressel: Diviners have seen a lie. Unbelief 
 has recourse to a crowd of superstitious devices, 
 and by their folly and impotence is put to shame : 
 Faith on the contrary turns to prayer and through 
 it works wonders. Passes through the sea. For 
 how many has Israel's wonderful passage through 
 the Red Sea been a pattern of a wonderful escape 
 through straits and sorrows of every kind ! The 
 text is one of the oldest examples of this use of 
 the deliverance, but new ones are constantly oc- 
 curring. 
 
 Jay : / will strengthen them in the Lord. The 
 very assurance our hearts want. Its fulfillment 
 will keep us in our work, not cause us to cease. 
 It will be seasonable and proportioned to our needs. 
 " As thy days," etc. It will come in God's own 
 way, that is, in the use of the means He has ap- 
 pointed. These we are to employ, especially when 
 we are not in a proper or lively frame; as fire u 
 most needful when we are cold. 
 
 6. ISRAEL'S REJECTION OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD 
 
 OHAPTEK XI. 
 
 A. Poetical Introduction (vers. 1-3). B. The Flock of Slaughter {yera. 4-6). C. The Prophet tries t» 
 be their Shepherd (vers. 7, 8). D. He Fails (vers. 9-11 ). E. He is contemptuously Rejected (yem 
 12, 13). F. The Result (ver. 14). G. A worthless Shepherd takes Charge (vers. 15, 16). H. ITuM 
 Shepherd Punished (ver. 17). 
 
 1 Open, Lebanon, thy doors, 
 And let fire devour thy cedars.^ 
 
 2 Howl, cypress, for the cedar has fallen, 
 For the lofty are laid vraste ; 
 
 Howl, ye oaks of Bashan, 
 
 For the high^ forest has gone dovra. 
 
 3 A sound of the howling of the shepherds I 
 For their glory is laid waste ; 
 
 A sound of the roaring of young lions I 
 For the pride of Jordan is laid waste. 
 
 4 Thus saith Jehovah, my God, 
 Feed ^ the flock of slaughter ; * 
 
 5 Whose buyers slaughter them and are not guilty, 
 
 And their sellers say. Blessed be Jehovah, for I am getting rich," 
 And their own shepherds spare them not. 
 
 6 For I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah* 
 And behold I give up the men, 
 
 £ach into the hand of his neighbor and into the hand of his king, 
 
82 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 And they lay waste ® the land, 
 
 And I will not deliver out of their hand. 
 
 7 And I fed '' the flock of slaughter, therefore ^ the most miserable sheep,* and 1 
 took to myself two staves ; the one ^° I called Beauty, the other I called Bands, 
 
 8 and I fed the flock. And I cut off the three " shepherds in one month, and my 
 
 9 soul became impatient with them, and their soul also abhorred me. And I said, 
 
 I will not feed you, 
 
 The dying, let it die, 
 
 And the cut off, let it be cut off, 
 
 And the remaining, let them devour each the flesh of the other. 
 
 10 And I took my staff Beauty and broke it asunder in order to destroy my cove- 
 
 11 nant with all peoples.^- And it was destroyed in that day, and thus^'^ the wretched 
 
 12 of the flock, who gave heed to me, knew that this was the word of Jehovah. And 
 I said to them, If it seem good to you, give me my wages ; ^* and if not, forbear. 
 
 13 And they weighed as my wages thirty ^^ pieces of silver. And Jehovah said to me, 
 Throw it to the potter, the noble price at which I am valued by them ; and I took 
 the thirty pieces of silver, and threw it into the house of Jehovah, to the potter. 
 
 14 And I broke my second staff. Bands, to destroy the brotherhood^® between Judah 
 and Israel. 
 
 15 And Jehovah said to me. Take again the implements ^^ of a foolish shepherd, 
 
 16 For, behold, I raise up a shepherd in the land, 
 The perishing ^^ he will not visit. 
 
 The straying ^^ will he not seek for, 
 
 And the wounded he will not heal, 
 
 The strong ^^ will he not feed ; 
 
 But the fl^esh of the fat one he will eat, 
 
 And their hoofs he will break off. 
 
 Wo to the worthless ^^ shepherd who forsakes ** the flock I 
 
 A sword upon his arm ! 
 
 And upon his right eye ! 
 
 His arm shall be utterly withered, 
 
 And his right eye utterly blinded. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 I Ver. 1. — Perhaps it would be more exact to render, " devour among thy cedars." Of. 2 Sam. zriil. 8 tot tba OM Of 
 
 vDS with the preposition 3. 
 - 1 : 
 
 3 Ver 2. — For ~Ti!J2 many MSS. and two early editions read T'S^, which is also found in the Keri ; but it ii 
 
 generally considered to be a needless attempt at correction. The Kethib is lit., cut off, h. inaccessible, which Dr. Eiggf 
 
 gives in his emendations. 
 
 3 Ver. 4. — n>~l. Feed is a miserably inadequate version of this word. It mean^i to perform the whole work of a 
 ■hepherd, of which feeding is but one part. Guiding, defending, and ruling are also included. The same is true of the 
 Greek equivalent Trotjiatvo), but not of the Latin pasco. 
 
 4 Ver. 4. — " Flock of Slaughter " Keil renders of strangling, and says tbat the cognate verb " does not mean to slay 
 but to strangle " If it has this meaning in the cognate Arabic form, which I doubt, it is certainly lost in tUe Hebrew. 
 
 See any of the Lexicons or Concordances. n2"^nn 'JS2 = nn^lp ^S!^ (Ps. xliv. 23). The flock destined or 
 «ccu8tomed to be slaughtered. 
 
 5 Ver. 5. — "ICPST is merely a syncopated form of "H^il'PSX The vav expresses consequence, and is translated 
 accordingly. The tenses are futures expressing continued action. The plural verbs are employed in a distributive 
 ■ense ; tkey, i. e., each of them, will say, etc. 
 
 6 Ver. 6. — ^nr^D, lit., smite in pieces = lay waste. 
 
 7 ^er. 7. — The E. V " and I will feed," although it follows the LXX. and Vulgate, is opposed alike to grammar and 
 to sense. The full force of the vav com: is, " And so I fed." Exactly the same form is found in the last clause of the 
 ferse. 
 
 8 Ver. 7. — "J^b has been very variously rendered. The LXX. read it and the following word, as one, and so mad« 
 Canaanile of it, which Blayney adopts. The Vulgate, propter hoc = therefore, is the usual sense of tl e word but eonfess- 
 «dly hard here. Some (Kimchi, Ewald, Henderson) make it a noun with a preposition = in respect c truth, t. «., truly, 
 5ut there is no other instance of the kind. Others (Uitzig) render on account of you, which also lacks authority. lo 
 aUs conflict of opinion, it is better to adhere to usage and render therefore; but then this caanot give the reason for th« 
 Shepherd'! assumption of his office as Hengstenberg claims, for it is too far from the verb ; but must assign the conse 
 ^uence of the flock's description, thus, And so I fed the flock of slaughter, therefore (i. e., because so named), a ucei 
 aiiserable flock. 
 
CHAPTEK XI. 1-17. 
 
 88 
 
 8 fer. I-- ^StJn "''^3j? is an emphatic positive = 8uperlat:f» Me most miserahle ihtep. 
 
 10 Ver. 7. — ^^M. Kcihler insists tliat tiiis must be regarded as a true construct, depending upon Cni2 lUldn- 
 Kood, but it is better to take it as construct used for the absolute, as elsewtiere (Green, H. G., § 223 a-). 
 
 U Ver. 8. — '' The three shepherds." Pressel shows that Kohlur has quite failed to overthrow Hitzig's tussertion, that 
 C^l^'in nU?btt7"nS tnuH be thus translated (of. vers. 12, 13 ; Gen. xl. 10, 12, 18). 
 
 13 Ver. 10. — D^^17. Peoples. Cf. Text, and Gram, on viii. 20. 
 18 Ver. 11. — "jD. Not truly, nor there/ore, but thus. 
 
 14 Ver. 12. — ^"^32?. Not price (E. V.), but reward or wages. The word in the next verse, similarly but toneotly 
 rendered price in the E. V., is a totally different one, "Ip^n. 
 
 15 Ver. 12. — ^p.^ ^s usual is omitted before J^D"!;. 
 
 16 Ver. 14. — mnS — air. Key. Found in cognate languages and the Mishna. A token of post-exile composition. 
 
 17 Ver. 15. — "^73 is a collective singular. 
 
 18 Ver. 16. — D3n. The connection requires us to render the participle in the present, instead of the past, as E. V 
 "cut off." 
 
 19 Ver. 16. — nPD is with LXX., Vulg., and Syr. to be taken as formed from "1273, to shake, Piel, to disperse 
 
 Arab, \\jtj = '« fugam vertere (Gesenius, FUrst, el al.). Hengstenberg makes it the ordinary Hebrew word of the 
 
 same radicals, but this is never applied to animals, and if it were, could not have the meaning which he claims, namely 
 tender. 
 
 20 Ver. 16. — n3vi3, what stands upon its feet, i. e., is strong and healthy. Henderson derives it from an Arabic 
 root . . tj^.^ = to be wearied, feeble, wliich he ttiinks required by the connection. But the picture is the more vivid 
 when it shows all classes and conditions of the flock to be equally neglected. Dr. Riggs renders " the well (or sound)." 
 
 21 Ver. 17. — V^ 7S, not idol, but worthless, or, as Kohler says, mock-shepherd. Dr. Riggs ^ves "Shepherd Ol 
 TMiity," wliich itself needs interpretation. 
 
 22 Ver. 17. — ''S'T^) ^^^"^ paragogic vowel (Green, H. G., § 61, 6 a.), found chiefly in poetical passages. 
 
 BXEGETIOAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This chapter, on any view of its meaning, pre- 
 sents a marked contrast to the tenor of chaps, ix. 
 and X. The latter arc full of encouragement. 
 They speak much of conflict, but uniformly repre- 
 sent the covenant people as victorious, and paint a 
 bright picture of increase, prosperity, and happi- 
 ness. Here, on the contrary, is a sad scene of gen- 
 eral overthrow caused by deliberate and persistent 
 wickedness. The explanation is well given by 
 Calvin : " These predictions appear to contradict 
 one another. But it was necessary that the bless- 
 ings of God should first of all be announced to 
 the Jews in order that they might engage with 
 greater alacrity in the work of building the tem- 
 ple, and feel assured that they were not wasting 
 their time. It was now desirable to address them 
 in a different style, lest, as was too generally the 
 case, hypocrites should be hardened by their vain 
 confidence in these promises. It was also requis- 
 ite, in order that the feithful should take alarm in 
 time, and earnestly draw near to God ; since noth- 
 ing is more destructive than false security ; and 
 whenever sin is committed without restraint, the 
 iudgment of God is close at hand." Just then, as 
 in the former part of the book, there is interjected, 
 in the midst of a scries of encouraging symbolical 
 risions, a pair of representations (ch. vi.) setting 
 forth the certainty and severity of the punishment 
 3f wickedness, so here, after exhibiting Judaea's 
 protection from Alexander, and also (with a pass- 
 ng glance at Zion's future king, Messiah) the tri- 
 umph of the Maccabees and the recovery of former 
 itrength and influence, the Prophet passes on to 
 lift the veil from the final outcome of Jewish ob- 
 'nracy, and its terrible results. 
 
 The first three verses describe the ruin of the 
 entire land, in words arranged with great rhetor- 
 ical power, full of poetic imagery and lively dra- 
 matic movement. Then the cause of this' wide- 
 spread desolation is set forth, not by vision as in 
 the earlier portion, but by symbolical action or 
 process subjectively wrought. Israel is a flock 
 doomed to perish by the divine judgment. The 
 Prophet personating his Lord makes an eiFort to 
 avert the threatened infliction. He therefore as 
 sumes the office of shepherd, equipped with staves 
 fitted to secure success. He seeks to rid them of 
 false leaders, and win them to ways of truth and 
 right. But the attempt is vain, because of their 
 obdurate wickedness, and the issue is a mutual re- 
 coil. He loathes them ; they abhor him. Accord- 
 ingly he significantly breaks his staves in token 
 that all is over. But after breaking one, and be- 
 fore doing the same to the other, the shepherd asks 
 a reward for his unavailing effort. He receives 
 one, but it is so trifling that he had better have re- 
 ceived none. They insult him with the offer of 
 the price of a slave (vers. 4-14). Then the scene 
 changes. Instead of a wise, kind shepherd, the 
 Prophet personates one of an opposite character. 
 The gentle crooks, Beauty and Bands, are replaced 
 by knives and battle-axes. The flock, so far from 
 being fed and guided and guarded, is torn and de- 
 voured, and then at last its misguided rulers are 
 smitten and palsied, and so the curtain falls (vers. 
 15-17). 
 
 Vers. 1-3 are a vivid poetical apostrophe, intro- 
 ductory to what follows in the rest of the chapter. 
 A fierce conflagration sweeps over the land, devour 
 ing alike mountain forests, and lowland pastures, 
 and a cry of despair is heard from man and beasi. 
 . Ver. 1. Open, O Lebanon, etc. Instead of 
 simply declaring that Lebanon shall be devastated, 
 
34 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 the Prophet summons the lofty mountain to open 
 its doors for the consuming fire. 
 
 Vcr. 2. Howl, cypress, for the cedar, e'x;. 
 Continuing liis apostrophe, he calls on the less im- 
 portant trees to bewail the fall of the stately cedars 
 as foreshadowing their own impending doom, for 
 if the steep inaccessible forest on the mountain 
 side is prostrated, much more must the cypresses 
 and oaks be consumed. But the crashing ruin 
 extends yet further. 
 
 Ver. 3. A sound of the howhng of the shep- 
 herds ! The flames spread over the low grounds 
 and pastures of the wilderness, and the Prophet 
 hears the outcry of the shepherds over the destruc- 
 tion of what is their hope and dependence. With 
 this is mingled the roaring of young hons, driven 
 by the fiery blast from their favorite lair, the thick- 
 ets on the river banks, known as the pride of the 
 Jordan (Jer. xii. 5 ; xlix. 19 ; 1. 44), so called be- 
 cause the luxuriant bushes and reeds inclose the 
 stream with a garland of fresh and beautiful ver- 
 dure. 
 
 To what does this vivid and startling represen- 
 tation refer"? (1.) Avery old Jewish interpreta- 
 tion makes it descriptive of the overthrow of the 
 temple, which is here called Lebanon, because so 
 much of the wood of that goodly mountain was 
 used in its construction. So Eusebius, Jerome, 
 Grotius, and Henderson. But this, as Calvin says, 
 is frigid. Indeed, it gives no explanation of Ba- 
 shan, or of ver. 3. (2.) Others applied it to Jeru- 
 salem, which is liable to the same objection. (3.) 
 Most of the moderns refer it to the holy land, some 
 supposing that the cedars, cypresses, etc., denote 
 heathen rulers who are swept away by a general 
 
 i'udgment (Hoffman, Umbreit, Kliefoth) ; others 
 olding that these terms denote the chief men of 
 Israel (Hitzig, Maurer, Hengstenberg, Ewald). 
 But any such close pressing of a passage like this, 
 the most vigorous and poetical in all the book, is 
 both needless and unwise. Standing as a prelude 
 to the fearful doom of the flock of slaughter, it is 
 simply a highly figurative representation of the 
 overthrow of all that is lofty and glorious and 
 powerful in the nation and kingdom of the Jews. 
 The choice of the local terms used (Lebanon, Ba- 
 shan, etc.) may have been suggested by ch. x. 10 ; 
 but even if not so, they may very well stand for 
 the whole kingdom. A poet is not to be bound 
 by the rules of a historiographer. Pressel, quite 
 consistently with his general view of the second 
 part of Zechariah, sees in this prelude only a lit- 
 eral description of the march of Tiglath Pileser, 
 when he invaded Israel in the days of Pekah (2 
 Kings XV. 29). But surely the Assyrian king did 
 not set fire to the cedars of Lebanon or the reeds 
 of the Jordan. 
 
 Vers. 4-14. A justly celebrated section, of which 
 Pressel says it " exhibits Isaiah's power and beauty 
 of language, as well as his fullness of Messianic 
 thought." By command of Jehovah the prophet 
 assumes the office of a shepherd over his flock, and 
 feeds it until he is compelled by its ingratitude to 
 break his staves of office and give up the sheep to 
 destruction. 
 
 Ver. 4. Thus saith Jehovah. To whom does 
 He speak? The earlier interpreters said, to the 
 Aiigel of the Lord or Messiah. But this is dis- 
 pr^'ed by the commission in ver. 15 given to the 
 same person : Take a^atn the implements of a fool- 
 ish shepherd, seq., — language which, as all admit, 
 3ould not be addressed to the Messiah. Others say 
 Xhat the prophet in his individual capacity is ad- 
 dressed (Hitzig, Ewald, e< «/.),but the whole stiiin 
 
 of the passage, the illustrative parallels in othei 
 prophets, the destroying of other shepherds (ver. 
 8), and the thirty pieces of silver, all show that 
 Zechariah in person could not have been intended. 
 It remains then to view him as addressed in his 
 typical or representative capacity, not, however, as 
 standing either for the pro])hetic order (HoflTnian), 
 or the mediatorial office (Kohler), for no human 
 agency could possibly perform the works here re- 
 counted ; but as personating the great Being whc 
 was predicted by Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel 
 under the form of the Good Shepherd. Flock of 
 slaughter. Not the whole human race (HoflFman), 
 but, as nearly all agree, the nation of Israel. Their 
 condition is farther described in the next verse. 
 
 Ver. 5. Whose buyers, etc. Not " possessors," 
 as E. v., but " buyers," both because this is the 
 primary signification of the word, and because the 
 antithesis of " sellers " in the next clause requires 
 it. These buyers and sellers are those who do 
 just as they please with the covenant people, con- 
 sulting only their own interests. The one class 
 slaughter them and are not guilty, i. e., do not 
 incur blame, so far, at least, as the mere act is con- 
 cerned, since they only execute what is a righteous 
 punishment from God. This statement is just the 
 reverse of the one in Jer. ii. 3, " Israel is holy to 
 Jehovah ... all who devour him become guilty, 
 evil will come upon them," where it appears that 
 while Israel was holy, none could injure him with- 
 out incurring guilt. Now, however, the case is dif- 
 ferent. Cf Jer. li. 6 (in Hebrew), where the same 
 
 word, di7S, is used. The other class say. Blessed 
 be Jehovah, etc., i. e., they make merchandise of 
 the people, and yet consider the gains thus made 
 perfectly honest, such as they can properly thank 
 God for bestowing. These buyers and sellers are 
 heathen rulers and oppressors. The last clause 
 completes the picture by setting forth their own 
 shepherds, i. e., their domestic rulers, civil and 
 ecclesiastical, as those who do not spare them, — a 
 pregnant negative. 
 
 Ver. 6. For I will no more . . . saith Jeho- 
 vah. This verse assigns the reason for the direc- 
 tion given in ver. 4. Jehovah, being about to visit 
 upon his people the just desert of their sins, will 
 yet make one more eflFort to save them. If this 
 fails, they will be given up to the worst evils, name- 
 ly, inward discord and subjugation to a stranger. 
 Thus apprehended, the land is the land of Israel, 
 and its inhabitants = the flock of slaughter (Cal- 
 vin, Hengstenberg). Others (Keil, Kohler) take 
 the phrase as = the nations of the world, and sup- 
 pose the sense to be that Jehovah will no longer 
 suffer them to oppress his people with impunity. 
 This is grammatically possible, but needlessly di- 
 verts the current of thought in the passage, which 
 is the sins and sufferings of the chosen people. 
 His king, i. e., foreign oppressor. Cf Hos. xi. 5. 
 The last clause fitly completes the sad picture. 
 
 Ver. 7. And I fed, etc. The prophet assumes 
 the duty enjoined upon him. He undertakes to 
 discharge the functions of a shepherd to a flock 
 which is in a very sad condition, — so much so ai 
 to be already devoted to destruction. That is, 
 dropping the figure, he proposes to guide and feed 
 and defend a people so wicked and hardened that 
 they are on the point of being given over to the 
 just retribution of their sinful ways. He begins 
 by assuming the implements of office. I took 
 . . . two staves, such as shepherds use. One of 
 
 these he named D?3, which most expositon 
 
CHAl^TER XI. 1-17 
 
 85 
 
 (Ewald, Umbreit, Keil, Henderson) render, Grace 
 or Favor, but it is better to adhere to the primary 
 BiKnification of the word, Beauty or Loveliness 
 • Hitzig, Hengstenberg, Maiirer, Kohler), as in Ps. 
 xxvii. 4, xc. 17, beauty of Jehovah ^all that makes 
 Him an object of affection or desire. Of course, 
 the staff denotes the loveliness, not of the people 
 (Bleek), but of God. The other staff he named 
 
 Z.y ^f . This word the LXX. ((rxo»'i<TM") ^^^ t^he 
 Vulgate (funiculi) seem to have read as if pointed, 
 C-^/^n, for which there is no authority. As it 
 stands, the word is masc. plural of Kal participle. 
 Luther, and many others after him, render " de- 
 stroyers," but the verb never has this meaning in 
 the Kal. Another class render it " the hound " or 
 "the allied" (Hitzig, Hengstenberg, Maurer, 
 Kliefoth), but this would require a passive partici- 
 ple. It only remains to adopt the legitimate, natural 
 sense — "binders, or binding ones" (Marckius, 
 Gesenius, Fiirsc, Keil). The plural maj- be ex- 
 plained as a plural of excellence, and the general 
 sense is well enough expressed by the E. V., hands. 
 (Gesenius says, Constrimjens poelice pro fane) . And 
 I fed the flock, i. e., with these two staves, one in- 
 dicating God's favor and protection from outward 
 foes ; the other, an internal union and fellowship. 
 The next verse shows what he did in the discharge 
 of this office. 
 
 Ver. 8. And I cut off. . . . one day. Who are 
 the three shepherds? Forty different answers 
 have been given, which may thus be classified : 
 (1.) Those who referred them to individuals, from 
 Jerome's Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, to Calmet's 
 Roman emperors, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. The 
 impossibility of any agreement upon the point 
 shows that three distinct persons cannot be in- 
 tended. (2.) The " later criticism " maintains that 
 the three shepherds are the three kings of Israel, 
 Zechariah, Shallum, and Menahem ; but these 
 were not cut off in one month, and even if that 
 designation of time were referred (as it cannot be) 
 to the duration of their reigns, it would a]jply only 
 to one of them, Shallum; 2 Kings xv. 10-1.3. 
 Nor was their cutting off an act of mercy even to 
 Israel, which the cutting off in the text is evidently 
 meant to be. (3.) Others suppose that the phrase 
 points to the three imperial rulers who became 
 liege-lords of the covenant nation, i. e., the Baby- 
 lonian, Medo-Persian, and Macedonian dynasties 
 { Ebrard, Kliefoth, Kohler, Keil). But it is not con- 
 sistent with usage to call these shepherds ; in no 
 conceivable sense were they cut off in one month ; 
 when cut off they were succeeded b\' another, a 
 fourth, quite as much an oppressor of God's people 
 as they were ; and besides, Babylon was already 
 destroyed at the time Zechariah wrote. (4.) It is 
 better to fall back on the old opinion (Theodoret, 
 Cyril), that the three shepherds are the three orders 
 by which Israel was ruled, — the civil authorities, 
 the priests, and the prophets. These three classes 
 are mentioned together in Jer. ii. 8, 18 as pervert- 
 ers of the nation and causers of its destruction. 
 And although in the future to which the passage 
 refers, there were no longer prophets, yet there was 
 a class, the Scribes or teachers of the law, who 
 Btood in the same relation to the people, and part- 
 ly, at least, discharged the same functions. See 
 the three classes mentioned by our Lord in Matt. 
 xvi. 21 . In one month = in a period which is long 
 when compared with one day, but brief as con- 
 trasted with other periods of time. " It shows that 
 the extermination of the three shepherds is not to 
 
 be regarded as a single act like the expiation (iii 
 ix.), but as a continuous act which occupies some 
 
 time" (Hengstenberg). The plural suffix, C.^Z, 
 in the next clause, My soul became impatient 
 . . . abhorred me. by the earlier interpreters and 
 by Hengstenberg, Kliefoth, et al., is refern^d to the 
 shepherds, but it is certainly more natural to refer 
 it to " the flock " in ver. 7, and consider the clause 
 as furnishing the reason of the rejection stated in 
 the next verse, which is evidently aimed at the 
 Jewish nation as a whole. The (rood Shepherd 
 lost patience with their perverse impenitence, and 
 they, on the other hand, loathed him for his spirit- 
 uality and holiness. 
 
 Ver. 9. And I said. . . . flesh of the other. 
 The shepherd renounces his flock. I will not feed 
 you, i. e., I will no longer be your shepherd. The 
 futures in the second half of the verse are by some 
 taken strictly as predictions, but it is more vivid 
 and more natural, like the older versions, to render 
 them optatively in the sense of surrender. All 
 kindly control is withdrawn, and the flock is left 
 to receive the appropriate consequences of its fatal 
 rejection of the means of deliverance. The three 
 forms of calamity menti(jned are death by natural 
 cau.ses, plague or famine ; violence at the hand 
 of foreign foe ; and intestine discord. On the last 
 clause, compare Is. ix. 20, 21. The fulfillment of 
 these words in the history of Jerusalem is well 
 known. 
 
 Ver. 10. And I took my staff. . . . nations. 
 What is predicted in the foregoing verse is here 
 exhibited in a symbolical action — the breaking of 
 the staff. Beauty, — the explanation of which is 
 immediately added. The Lord will remove the 
 restraint which He had hitherto laid upon the en- 
 mity of foreign nations. See this restraint from 
 violence expressed in the form of a covenant in 
 
 Job V. 23; Hos. ii. 18; Ezek. xxxiv. 25. U^'TpV 
 has here its usual sense of peoples or nations, and 
 not that of the tribes of Israel, as Calvin and some 
 of the moderns affirm (cf xii. 6 ; Micah iv. 5). 
 
 Ver. 11. And it was destroyed . . . word of 
 Jehovah. The covenant was annulled, just as the 
 staff had been broken; the thing signified an- 
 swered to the sign. This was not observed by the 
 flock at large, but the wretched portion of it, tha 
 small company who gave heed to the Lord (cf. 
 John X. 4, 5, 14, 15), recognized the fulfillment of 
 a divine word (cf. Jer. xxxii. 8). "In that day,'' 
 I. e., that in which the staff was broken. 
 
 Ver. 12. And I said to them. , . . pieces of 
 silver. To them would at first sight refer to the 
 wretched among the sheep just mentioned, but the 
 connection, and the form of the inquiry, which 
 aims simply to ascertain whether they are willingr 
 to acknowledge and appreciate his pastoral care, 
 show that it must be addressed to the whole flock. 
 His leaving the matter to their pleasure — "if it 
 seem good," — indicates that he served them not 
 for wages, but in obedience to the Divine will 
 (Kohler). The wages, however, were due. They 
 are usually explained to mean repentance and 
 faith or heartfelt piety. What they offered was 
 thirty pieces of silver, the compensation for a siLve 
 who had been killed (Ex. xxi. 32), the price for 
 which a female slave could be purchased (Hos. iii. 
 2 ). Such an oft'er was " more oft'ensive than a direct 
 refusal" (Hengstenberg). Accordingly it was con- 
 temptuously rejected, as the next verse shows. 
 
 Ver. 13. And Jehovah said. ... to the pot" 
 ter. As the prophet acted in the name of th« 
 
86 
 
 ZKCIIAHIAU. 
 
 Lord, the Lord regards the wages of the shepherd 
 as offered to Himself, and therefore tells his repre- 
 sentative what to do with the miserable sum. " The 
 noble price at whicli I am valued" is, of course, 
 an ironical expression, — one of the few instances 
 iu Scripture in which that form of speech occurs. 
 This renders it exceedingly improbable that the 
 Lord would direct such a sum to be put into the 
 treasury, as many interpret his words, " Throw to 
 
 the potter," to mean, either taking "^^1"^ to be a 
 
 copyist's error for "I^IS = treasury or treasurer 
 (Syr., Kimchi, et cd.) ; or altering the last vowel 
 of the former, and making it synonymous with the 
 latter (Jahn, Hitzig) ; or deriving the word from 
 the intransitive 'H^i'^, to be narrow, and rendering 
 it " cleft ia the treasure chest," which Pressel 
 claims as a ■well-grounded and simple explanation ! 
 There is no authority for altering the text, and 
 
 "^V^^ always means an image-maker or potter. It 
 seems clear that the phrase is a sort of proverb, and 
 is used contemptuously, like our common saying, 
 Throw it to the dogs. So much is evident, even if 
 we reject the account which Hengstenberg gives of 
 its origin. He argues from Jer. xviii. 2, xix. 2, 
 that tfiere was a potter employed aljout the Tem- 
 ple, that his workshop was in the Valley of Hin- 
 nom, which from the time of Josiah had been fear- 
 fully polluted in every possible way, and that hence 
 his pottery became an unclean spot. He insists 
 that our passage contains an allusion to the act of 
 Jeremiah (ch. xix.) when, with several of the elders 
 and priests he went to the Valley of Hinnom, and 
 there broke a potter's earthen vessel, and said, 
 " Even so will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, 
 as one breaketh a potter's vessel that cannot be 
 made whole again, and the\' shall bury them in To- 
 
 phet because there is no more room and I will 
 
 make this city like Tophet." Hengstenberg claims 
 that the casting of the thirty pieces to the ])otter 
 was simply a renewal of the old symbol and a fresh 
 pledge of God's purpose to punish. It is objected 
 to ±is view with much force that the potter did 
 not certainly dwell in Hinnom, and that if he did, 
 this fact would not make him ]jersonally unclean. 
 Ko'hler explains the phrase as meaning, '' The sum 
 is just large enough to pay a jiotter tor the pitch- 
 ers and pots which he furnishes, and whicli are 
 thought of so little value that men are easily com- 
 forted for the breaking of any by the thought that 
 others can readily be obtained in their stead." 
 This, however, does not account for the word 
 " Throw," which is emphatic. It is best to rest in 
 the general conception of a contemptuous rejection 
 of the offered wages. In the execution of the com- 
 mand the prophet threw the money in the house 
 of Jehovah, which Hengstenberg explains as mean- 
 ing that it was to be carried thence to the ])otter, 
 in reply to which it is justly said that if that 
 were the prophet's meaning, he ex])resses himself 
 very obscurely. The circumstance is, no doubt, 
 gignificant, and may express either that the rejec- 
 tion of the wages was done in Jehovah's name and 
 by his authority, or that being done in the sanc- 
 tuary where the people assembled for worship, it 
 indicated that they would be held accountable for 
 their course. This shameful pay menu by the peo- 
 ple leads to another token of Jehovah's dis])leasure. 
 Vcr. 14. And I broke . . . and Israel. The 
 evil threatened here is worse than the former. It 
 is the loss of all fraternal unity, represented under 
 the figure of the old disruption of the naticn in 
 the time of Jeroboam. This verse is a sad iiffi- 
 
 culty in the way of those who refer the comto 
 sition of the Secontl Part of Zechariah to a period 
 prior to the Captivity, for to account for this verse 
 they must put the period back to the days of Sol- 
 omon, which is quite inconceivable. The breaking 
 up of the nation into parties bitterly hostile to each 
 other, was one of the most marked peculiarities of 
 the later Jewish history, and greatly accelerated 
 the ruin of the popular cause in the Roman war. 
 
 Vers. 15-17. Since Israel rejected the good 
 shepherd, they should be tended by she])herds of a 
 very different class. This truth is represented by 
 a fresh symbolical action. 
 
 Ver. 15. And Jehovah said .... shepherd. 
 Again points back to ver. 7, and shows that the 
 present action is of the same symbolic character 
 as the one there recorded. A crook, a bag, a pipe, 
 a knife, etc., were the articles usually carried by 
 shepherds. The nature of these other implements 
 is not specified, but they were doubtless of a char- 
 acter fitted rather to injure than to benefit the 
 flock. Foolish, with the usual Scriptural impli- 
 cation of wickedness. " The term directs atten- 
 tion to the fact that the rulers of the nation are so 
 blinded by the judicial punishment inflicted by 
 God, as to be unable to see that whilst their fury is 
 directed against the nation they are undermining 
 their own welfare" (Hengstenberg). Who is 
 meant by this evil shepherd ? The " later critics " 
 say, Pekah, or Hosea, or Menahem. Others say, 
 Herod (Henderson), the Romans (Hoffman, Kiih- 
 ler, Keil), or the whole body of native rulers 
 (Hengstenberg). I prefer to combine the last two 
 and understand the shepherd to represent the rul- 
 ing power in whomsoever vested. The point of 
 the prediction is that just they who ought to pro- 
 tect and aid the people would oppresis and destroy 
 them. They are presented in the form of an ideal 
 unity in order to complete the antithesis to the one 
 good she])herd. The next verse describes the con- 
 duct of this evil ruler. 
 
 Ver. 16. For behold I raise .... break off. 
 He does the very opposite of what Christ is repre- 
 sented as doing in Is. xlii. 3. He not merely neg- 
 lects, but destroys (cf Ezek. xxxiv. 3, 4). The 
 perishing. The present rendering in the text is 
 equally grammatical with the past adopted in E. 
 v., and more consistent with the verb visit. The 
 whole verse is striking in its complete enumeration 
 of particulars, showing how tar this evil ruler falls 
 short of what is involved in the oriental concep- 
 tion of a shepherd. The history of Israel after 
 the flesh furnishes for centuries one continuous 
 commentary upon the fidelity of this delineation. 
 The breaking off of hoofs expresses the ferocious 
 greed of the shepherds who will rend even these 
 extremities rather than lose a shred of the flesh 
 This is better than the view (Ewald, Hitzig) which 
 makes it refer to injuries caused by driving the 
 flock over rough and stony roads. But these 
 merciless masters are to meet due retribution. 
 
 Ver. 17. Woe to the worthless . . . blinded. 
 The arm is the organ of strength, the right eye 
 of vigilance. As these are the members which in- 
 stead of guarding the flock as they should have 
 done, shamefully abused it, they are specified as 
 the objects of punishment. The apjjarent jumble 
 of metaphorical expressions in threatening a sv/ord 
 upon the arm and the eye, and then declaring that 
 the former shall be withered and the other blinded, 
 has led some (Jahn, Btinsen, Pressel) to give tc 
 
 ^'nrr the pointing UTIH = dryness (as Vulgate, 
 Arab, and Sam. have dune iu Deut. xxviii. 22) 
 
CHAPTER XI. 1-17. 
 
 87 
 
 But it is better to allow that the Prophet connects 
 several punishments tosrether in order to render 
 prominent the greatness of the retribution. The 
 sacred writers are not concerned about the require- 
 ments of an artificial rhetoric where the sense is 
 abundantly plain (cf. Is. Ixii. .5). A similar rea- 
 son may have led Rosenmiiller to follow the Chal- 
 dee in changing the verse tVom the liveliest poetry 
 into the jejunest prose by rendering, " Woe to the 
 shepherd who is like a butcher, whose knife is in 
 his hand and whose eye is upon the sheep to slay 
 t.hem." 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The rejection of Israel after the flesh is the 
 one sad subject of tliis chapter. The picture is 
 wholly dark, unrelieved by a single ray of light. 
 The impression made by the opening verses, the 
 vivid startling prelude, is deepened all the way 
 through to the end. A whirlwind of flame sweeps 
 through the entire land, laying waste mountain 
 and plain, forests and meadows, and drying up 
 even streams and rivers. Men and beasts are over- 
 taken together, and their cries of terror and de- 
 spair indicate the completeness of the fiery ruin. 
 It seems as if the Prophet, rismg with the awful 
 grandeur of his theme, had condensed into a few 
 poetic lines the substance of the long chapters in 
 which Moses of old had predicted the divine judg- 
 ment upon an unfaithful people. The national Is- 
 rael had enjoyed peculiar privileges, but such priv- 
 ileges always draw with them increased responsi- 
 bility. As Jehovah said by the mouth of Amos 
 (iii. 2), " You only have I known of all the fami- 
 ilies of the earth ; therefore will I punish you for 
 all your iniquities." Repeatedly in the course of 
 their previous history had God visited them with 
 his rod, but there had always been a recovery. 
 War, pestilence, or famine had executed his wrath ; 
 or they were sold into the hand of their enemies 
 for a longer or shorter period ; and once they had 
 actually been transplanted into a foreign land 
 where they remained for more than two genera- 
 tions. But in the end the rorl was lifted off, and 
 they resumed their former condition. Now, how- 
 ever, there was to be a final act of judgment, one 
 stiraming uj) in itself all that had gone before, and 
 expressing once for all the wrath of God upon 
 obdurate impenitence. The unfaithful trustees 
 should be dispossessed of their trust, their precious 
 inheritance given to others, and themselves cast 
 out to become a hissing and a by- word. Foreign 
 foes and civil discords would concur to work their 
 destruction, and they who should be their ]n-otec- 
 tors would become their oppressors. So without 
 friends or helpers in heaven or on earth, they would 
 pass away as an organized nation, and live only 
 to perpetuate the memory of their past history, 
 and teach more vividly its great lessons of sin and 
 retribution. 
 
 2. But prior to the consummation of this great 
 act of judgment, before the fire was yet kindled, 
 the Lord determined to make one last effort to 
 Ba\% the wretched people. This is set forth in the 
 striking symbolism of the chapter, by a shepherd 
 who offers to take charge of the flock notw'th- 
 standing its miserable condition. Instead of bear- 
 ing a single crook, he is furnished with two staves. 
 These have names, expressing in one case the di- 
 vine favor which wards off all external foes; in the 
 other, union or <onconi, which when it exists ex- 
 cludes the evils sure to be engendered by mutual 
 distrust and alienation. But the diligence and 
 
 affection of the shepherd produced no effect. The 
 fore-doomed flock turned away from hira with 
 loathing. The kindly effort miserably failed. The 
 passage bears a striking analogy to th'- parable of 
 the wicked husbandinen (Matt. xxi. 33, 34; Mark 
 xii. 1-12). Tiie lord of the vineyaid had repeat 
 edly sent messengers to receive of its fruits, but 
 these were abused and injured as often as they 
 were sent. " At last he sent his Son, saying, They 
 will reverence my Son." But even this means 
 failed. 'JMic Son was no more regarded than the 
 servants had been. On the contrary, he was cast 
 out of the vineyard and slain. The contemporary 
 Jews, when aske<l by our Lord what would be the 
 fate of these wicked husbandmen, answered prompt- 
 ly that they would be miserably desti-oyed, and the 
 vineyard let out to others who would render the 
 fruits in their season. They thus pronounced theii 
 own sentence. For the Saviour, after reminding 
 them of the stone which the builders rejected and 
 which yet became the head of the corner, declared 
 with great solemnity, " Therefore say I unto you, 
 the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and 
 given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." 
 Nothing more was to be done. The last and 
 crowning manifestation of the divine mercy had 
 been made, and yet, so far from awakening and 
 reclaiming the infatuated people, it only incensed 
 them, and brought wrath and ill-doing upon the 
 bearer of the message. Just so with the flock 
 Zechariah describes. They had the services of 
 Him who justly calls himself the Good Shepherd, 
 under whom all may find protection and repose, 
 green pastures, and running streams. But they 
 would none of Him. He came unto his own, and 
 his own received Him not. There was a deliber- 
 ate and peremptory rejection of God's unspeak- 
 aide uift. When the furious crowd, gathered be- 
 fore the tribunal of Pilate, rent the air with shouts, 
 " Away with Him, crucify Him," the Roman gov- 
 ernor asked in wonder. Shall I crucify your king ? 
 Instantly came the startling answer from the heads 
 of the nation, " We have no king but Caesar " 
 (John xix. 15). These decisive words terminated 
 the case. Pilate ceased to remonstrate, and ^j:avQ 
 sentence that it should be as they required. Then 
 was filled the measure of Israel's iniquity. " If I 
 had not come and spoken unto them, they had not 
 had sin ; but now have they no cloke for their sin. 
 .... If I had not done among them the works 
 which none other man did, they had not had sin ; 
 but now have they both seen and hated both me 
 and my F:ither " (John xv. 22-24). Israel rejected 
 the good shepherd, and was itself in turn rejected. 
 The two staves were broken, and he who held 
 them relinquished his office. Neither Beauty nor 
 Bands any longer performed their grateful func- 
 tion. Tobreak a shepherd's crook is a very sim- 
 ]ile act, but as performed by one who represented 
 the Good Shepherd, it expressed a most fearfu. 
 truth — the final abandonment of the flock by the 
 only being who could feed, guide, or defend it. 
 Ever since, the miserable sheep have experienced 
 the we'ght of Jehovah's words : Woe unto them 
 wilier 7 lejiart from them ! 
 
 3. The consideration of the interesting critical 
 and exegetical questions suggested by the quota- 
 tion of vers. 12, 13, in Matthew xxvii. 9, 10, prop- 
 erly belong* to the interpretation of that Gospel. 
 See Lange in loc. Although the Evangelist attrib- 
 utes the language he cites to Jeremiah, there can 
 scarcely be a doubt that he does in fact quote from 
 Zechariah. The case then is one which illustrates 
 very well t' e principle upon which such apiilica 
 
88 
 
 ZECHARIAH 
 
 tions of the Old Testament are made. The sub- 
 stance of the thought contained in vers. 12, 13, is 
 that the services of the good shepherd were con- 
 temptuously undervalued and rejected by the flock, 
 an'^ that this scornful rejection was indignantly 
 rebaked by the Lord. Now this would have been 
 fulhlled even had there been no sale by Judas for 
 a precise sum of money, and no application of that 
 money to a specific purpose. Just as in the cor- 
 responding case in ix. 9, 10, the prediction respect- 
 ing our Lord's lowly and peaceful position and 
 character would have been accomplished, had He 
 not made his formal entry into Jerusalem riding 
 upon an ass. But it pleased the Lord in that case 
 and in this, not only to fulfill the general purport 
 of the prediction, but even to bring about an exact 
 correspondence in minor and unessential details. 
 Thus in the prophecy, Israel depreciates the worth 
 of the shepherd's services, estimating them at 
 thirty pieces of silver; in the narrative of the gos- 
 pels it appears that this is the precise sum for 
 which the Saviour was betrayed. In the prophecy, 
 the sum paid for the possession of the shepherd 
 was indignantly cast away by him ; in the history 
 it was so ordered by the Lord that the priests and 
 elders did not dare to put in the treasury the price 
 of the Saviour's blood, for they said, " it is not 
 lawful." In the prophecy the thirty pieces of 
 silver are thrown to the potter, t. e., contemptu- 
 ously spurned, yet this is done in the temple ; in 
 the history the money which the wretched traitor 
 had received was brought back by him to those 
 who had given it, and when they declined to take 
 it, " he cast down the pieces of silver in the tem- 
 ple ; " but the ecclesiastical authorities, unwilling 
 to apply the coin to any sacred use, devoted it to 
 the purchase of ground to be used as a burying 
 place for strangers, and the land which they pur- 
 chased was " the potter's field," a field which doubt- 
 less was selected because it was so broken and 
 marred as to be unfit for agricultural purposes, 
 but which yet in its very name contained a pecu- 
 liar suggestireness. Thus did divine providence 
 bring about a striking correspondence between 
 the symbolical treatment and action of the prophet 
 and the actual course of events in the betrayal and 
 rejection of our Saviour. 
 
 4. The choice of men never lies between a good 
 shepherd and none at all, but between a good 
 shepherd and a bad one. Israel of old rejected 
 the gracious provision offered by the Lord Jesus, 
 and the alternative was ruin. The language of 
 the prophet is vigorous and incisive. He describes 
 a shepherd who not only fails in every duty of his 
 oflSce, but does the exact opposite, wounding where 
 he should heal, and devouring whom he should 
 feed, until the tlock is miseral»ly destroyed. But 
 even more forcible arc the words of the Saviour 
 (Luke xix. 41), when he wept over Jerusalem, 
 saying, " If thou liadst known, even thou, at least 
 in this thy day, the things which belong to thy 
 peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For 
 the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies 
 shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee 
 round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall 
 lay thee even with the ground, and thy children 
 within thee ; and they shall not leave one stone 
 upon another, because thou knowest not the time 
 of thy visitation." The fulfillment of these fearful 
 words is well known. The ruin of the place and 
 peo]ile was overwhelming. Scarce any siege in 
 the history of the world was attended with such 
 cruelties and horrors as preceded and followed the 
 (all of Jerusalem. There was a deliberate and 
 
 energetic effort to exterminate the race. Th« 
 whole power of the Roman Empire was brought 
 to bear upon this one province, as Merivale says, 
 " with a barbarity of which no other example 
 occurs in the records of civilization." And the 
 subsequent history of the Jctvs for many centuries 
 illustrated in the same manner the symbol of 
 Zechariah. Their rulers were evil shepherds, 
 mock shepherds. Giving nothing, they exacted 
 everything. They taxed, they pillaged, they op- 
 pressed, they insulted, habituaily and on principle. 
 The Jew was an outcast without any rights, and 
 when tolerated it was only as a sponge to be 
 squeezed when it was full. The furious crowd 
 in the judgment hall of l^ilate said, " His blood 
 be on us and on our children." They were taken 
 at their word, and the self-imposed malediction 
 followed them from age to age and from country 
 to country, and does not seem even yet to have 
 been exhausted. 
 
 5. God often uses instruments which He after- 
 wards destroys, scourging with a rod and then 
 breaking the rod and casting it into the fire. The 
 worthless shepherds who battened like vultures 
 on the wretched flock of Judaea, the haughty Ro- 
 mans who inflicted the divine judgments upon the 
 apostate and incorrigible nation, were themselves 
 in turn exposed to a righteous retribution. The 
 time came when there was a sword upon their 
 arms and their eyes. She who had spoiled so 
 many lands and peoples was herself spoiled, and 
 the city which had gathered into her walls the 
 precious things of all the earth became the prey of 
 the barbarian. Her former inhabitants have dis- 
 appeared from the face of the earth, and new races 
 occupy their seats, while the Jew still lives, the 
 lineal and indubitable descendant of the men 
 among whom our Lord was born and by whom Ha 
 was rejected. The arch of Titus commemorates 
 in pictured stone the overthrow of Judaea and the 
 plunder of its sacred vessels, but it likewise com- 
 memorates the overthrow of the conqueror and the 
 utter ruin of that vast empire which survives only 
 in these mute relics of its ancient grandeur. 
 
 HOMILBTICAL AND PRACTICAL 
 
 MooKE . ver. 6. Wicked rulers are a curse of 
 God on a wicked nation. Now as religion tends 
 to prevent such rulers, or at least prevent theii 
 choice, there is an obvious connection between 
 politics and religion. Church and State may and 
 ought to be separated ; politics and religion ought 
 not, for thus the State becomes exposed to the 
 curse of God, and political evil follows in the train 
 of moral evil. — Ver. 7. Bands. Union of feeling 
 in a ])eople is a mark of the favor of God, and dis- 
 union a token of his wrath, and usually the begin- 
 ning of a downfall. — Ver. 8. Christ cannot be 
 rejected with impunity. Even the Jews who " did 
 it igiiorantly in unbelief," paid a terrible penalty 
 for their crime ; how much more terrible will be 
 the punishment of those who have all their unbe- 
 lief without any of their ignoiince. — Ver. 12. Men 
 now sometimes reject Christ for a far less reward 
 that) thirty ])ieces of silver, and of course with far 
 more guilt than Judas. 
 
 VVoitDSWORTH : Ver. 10. Break my covenant 
 with all peoples. " When the Most High divided 
 to the tuitions their inheritance, when he separated 
 the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people 
 according to the number of the children of Israel, 
 for the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob is lh€ 
 
CHAPTERS XII.-XIV. 
 
 89 
 
 lot of his inheritance" (Dent, xxxii. 8, 9). This 
 was God's compact with all nations and with 
 Israel. He assigned a s]ieclal inheritance to Ju- 
 dah ; and no people could deprive them of it as 
 long as they were true to Him. But now that they 
 have rejected Christ, He has broken that compact ; 
 Jerusalem is trodden down by the Gentiles, and 
 the Jews are wanderers and outcasts in all lands. 
 — Ver. 1.5. A foolish Shepherd. Good shepherds, 
 Bays Cyril, have a light pastoral staff by which 
 they guide the sheep ; but the evil shepherd mal- 
 treats and belabors the sheep with rude handling. 
 So in spiritual things, the good Christian pastor 
 deals gently, tenderly, and lovingly with his flock; 
 but the bad pastor is impatient and rules them 
 with roughness and violence ; and does not bring 
 back the sheep when astray, nor guard them 
 against the wolf and the robber, nor heal those 
 which are sick ; and does not feed them with the 
 wholesome food of sound doctrine, but with poison- 
 ous heresies. — Ver. 17. The Idol Shepherd. It 
 would not be easy to point out any other shepherd 
 who makes himself to be an idol, except the Bishop 
 of liome. That he does make himself into an idol 
 is certain. The first act that he performs after his 
 election is to go into the Church of St. Peter, and 
 there taking his seat upon the high altar to claim 
 and receive adoration from the cardinals who kiss 
 his feet. Among the medals struck in the Roman 
 
 mint is one representing the cardinals kneeling 
 before the Pope, with this inscription, Qnem creant, 
 adorant. Count Montalemhert, in a letter wiitte* 
 from his death-bed, Februai-y 28, 1870, protested 
 against those vttaries of the papacy who, as h€ 
 says, " trample under foot all our liberties and 
 principles, in order to immolate justice and truth, 
 reason and history, as a sacrifice to the idol which 
 they have set up for themselves in the Vatican." 
 
 Calvin. A Prayer: Grant, Almighty God, 
 that since thou hast hitherto so paiicntly endured, 
 not only our sloth and folly but also our ingrati- 
 tude and perverseness, — O grant, that we may 
 hereafter render ourselves submissive and obedient 
 to Thee ; and as thou hast been pleased to set over 
 us the best of Shepherds, even thine only begotten 
 Son, cause us willinji^ly to attend to Him, and to 
 suffer ourselves to be gently ruled by Him ; and 
 though thou mayest find in us what may justly 
 provoke thy wrath, yet restrain extreme severity, 
 and so correct what is sinful in us, as to continue 
 our Shepherd until we shall at length under thy 
 guidance reach thy heavenly kingdom ; and thus 
 keep us in thy fold and under thy pastoral staflF, 
 that at last, being separated from the goats, we 
 may enjoy that blessed inheritance which has been 
 ordained for us by the blood of thy beloved Sop 
 — Amen. 
 
 B. THE SECOND BURDEN. 
 
 Chapters Xn.-XIV. 
 
 The fresh title here prefixed sufficiently indicates that a new pericope begins with chapter xii. Its 
 leading themes are the victory of God's kingdom over the heathen world (xii. 1-9), the repentance 
 and conversion of the children of the kingdom (xii. 10; xiii. 1), their purification from all ungodli- 
 ness (xiii. 2-6), a severe sifting of the flock consequent upon the smiting of the shepherd (xiii. 7-9), 
 and the final tremendous conflict of the Church and the world, ending in the assured victory of the 
 former (xiv.). 
 
 If our view of the First Burden be correct, it would seem to follow that the second begins where 
 the first leaves ofl^, and treats of events to follow the coming and rejection of Christ. There are in- 
 deed many particulars which suggest the struggle of the Maccabees as the subject of the former part 
 of the twelfth chapter ; but that has already been treated of in the ninth chapter with specific men- 
 tion of Javan or Greece as the antagonist, and why should we have it renewed here 1 Why should 
 the Prophet halt in his progress and go back over trodden ground? Moreover, the twelfth chapter 
 expressly speaks in several places of the conflict as carried on not against one nation, but against all 
 the peoples of the earth (see ver. 3). There is an aspect of universality of which no sign at all ap- 
 pears in the portion ix. 11 -x. 7. It is the heathen world against the covenant people. Where now 
 are we to look for the outward reality corresponding to this inward vision of the Prophet ? Mani- 
 festly there is nothing in the history of the literal, national Israel which approaches conformity to this 
 vivid outline. Never did they not only resist their foes, but inflict such damage upon them as could 
 be compared to the ravages of fire among wheat sheaves. The covenant people maintained their in- 
 ternal constitution and religious usages until the days of Titus, but in no case did they devour all 
 nations roundabout on the right hand and the left. It only remains then to hold that the Prophet 
 here passes from the old to the new form of the Church, that he refers to the kingdom of God on 
 earth after the appearance of the Messiah, and describes its trials and triumphs, its inward and out- 
 ward development. 
 
 But does he refer to events yet fixture, or may we trace a fulfillment of his words in the past ? The 
 latter seems the more probable. As there was a chronological advance in the previous oracle, it is 
 natural to look for one here, and to consider that the Prophet refers to different stages in the progress 
 of the Christian Israel. In this view the struggle and victory in xii. 1-9 can hardly have any other 
 reference than to the persecutions of the heathen world. Judah invaded, Jerusalem besieged by the 
 ■ations, and yet the attempt at overthrow not only foiled but recoiling in the ruin of those who made 
 it, — what else can this be than the fierce and bloody onslaught of pagan power on the infant Church? 
 Or if Zechariah intended to set it forth, in what other way could he in his historical relations conceive 
 the issue and its result than the way in which it is given here "? Nor is it of use to object that this i? 
 spiritualizing arbitrarily. The Christian Church is the legitimate continuation of the Old Testament 
 Israel. There is but one Israel, one pe»ple of God from the beginning to the end. According to the 
 
90 ZEcmvRiAii. 
 
 Apostle's fi<T:ure, old branches were broken off and new ones grafted on, but tnere was only the ona 
 olive tree throiialiout. Gentiles when they come to Christ, are incorporated into the commonwealtl 
 of Israel, so as to become fellow-citizens with the saints, /. e., those who are already such (Eph. iL 
 12-19). It is one and the same body, differing in outward and unessential characteristics, but main- 
 taining an unbroken identity in all that belongs to substance and life. 
 
 1. ISRAEL'S CONFLICT AND VICTORY. 
 
 Chapter XII, 1-9. 
 
 A. Jehovah's continuous Agency in Nature (ver. 1). B. Jerusalem ruinous to her Besiegers (ren. 8-4) 
 C. Energy of the Chiefs of Judah (vers. 5-7). D. Promise of growing Strength to the FeebU (tW 
 8). E. Final Result (ver. 9). 
 
 1 The burden of the word of Jehovah upon Israel, 
 Saith Jehovah who stretches' forth the heavens, 
 And lays the foundation of the earth, 
 
 And forms the spirit of man within him. 
 
 2 Behold I make Jerusalem a bowl * of reeling 
 To all the peoples ^ round about, 
 
 And upon Judah also shall it be * 
 In the siege against Jerusalem. 
 
 3 And it shall be in that day, I will make Jerusalem 
 A burdensome stone for all peoples, 
 
 All who lift it shall tear themselves ; 
 
 And ^ all nations of the earth shall gather against it. 
 
 4 In that day, saith Jehovah, 
 
 I will smite every horse with terror,® 
 And his rider with madness. 
 
 And upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes, 
 And every horse of the peoples will I smite with blindnen* 
 6 And the chiefs ^ of Judah shall say in their heart, 
 The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength* 
 In Jehovah of Hosts, their God. 
 
 6 In that day I will make the chiefs of Judah 
 As a pan^ of fire among sticks of wood,^" 
 And as a torch of fire in a sheaf, 
 
 And they shall devour on the right hand and on the left 
 
 All the peoples around. 
 
 And Jerusalem shall yet sit in her own place in Jerusalem. 
 
 7 And Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first," 
 That the glory of the house of David, 
 
 And the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 May not exalt itself over Judah. 
 
 8 In that day will Jehovah defend '^ the inhabitant of Jerusalem, 
 And the stumbling '^ among them in that day shall be as David, 
 And the house of David as God," 
 
 As the angel of Jehovah before them. 
 
 9 And it shall be in that day, 
 
 I will seek to destroy all the nations 
 That come against Jerusalem. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND QRAMMATIOAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 1. — Who streufies, lays, forms. The substitution of the preterite for the partiolple by some tiaaalaton no< 
 inly la gratnitous and iaaccurate, but hides the allusion to the creative power of Qod as constantly exhibited in the oon- 
 ttaned existence of his works. 
 
 3 Ver. 2. — r]0. This wore) Hengstenberg, in the first edition of his Christology (followed by Virm»), rendered thruk 
 keU, but in the sec on i, he returns to the old and better version cup or howl. 
 • Ver. 2 - I.^^L''. litre and in vers. 8, 4, 6, peoples- See on viii. 20. 
 
CHAPTEE XII. 1-9. 
 
 91 
 
 * Ver. 2- — The rendering of the second clause in the E. V. is impossible grammatically, and is sustained by no ks 
 (hority that I have seen. 
 
 5 Ver. 3. — SJ51' ^' '^ possible but not necessary to render, as B. V., " though all," etc. 
 
 6 Ver. 4. — 'jin^n. Astonishment hardly expresses the force of this word, which denotes a sort of wondering con- 
 Iternatiou. 
 
 7 Ver. 5. — n^ vS head of a family or tribe, is not well rendered as in E. V., by prince, which necessarily impliet 
 lomething of kingly rank or power. As a title of authority it is elsewhere in Scripture used only of the heads of the 
 Idumean tribes (Gen. xxxvi. 15 ; Ex. XT. 15 ; 1 Chron. i. 51 ff.), whence Hengstenberg deduces an ingenious argument 
 Ki favor of the genuineness of the second part of Zechariah (Christology, iv. 67), cf. on ix. 7. 
 
 8 Ver. 5. — nQ^S oItt. Aev. = 33SW. ** V is the dative of advantage, and the singular is used collectively as ia 
 
 TU. 3. 
 
 9 Ver. 6 — ni^2, usually a basin for washing (the laver of the tabernacle, Ex. xzx. 18), here is a pot or p&n ta 
 soals. 
 
 10 Ver. 6. — D"'l?27 is not " woods " = forest, but sticks of wood or faggots. 
 
 11 Ver. 7 — The reading rT3trS~lD3, adopted by LXX., Vulgate, and Peshito, and foond in five MSS., is manifestly 
 due to an attempt at correction. 
 
 12 Ver. 8. — 72"^ used with another preposition in tlie same sense, in ix. 16. 
 
 13 Ver. 8. — ^W'D'2, feeble (E. V.), is not so expressive as the literal, stumblet ; cf. Ps. ct. 87, " And not a stumblei 
 In his tribes". (Is! v. 27.) 
 
 14 Ver. 8. — D^nvS may here be used as an abstract plural, denoting what is divine and heavenly, or in general 
 cuperhuman (cf. 1 Sam. xxviii. 13 ; Ps. viii. 6), — a view which seems to render more obvious the contrast between tha 
 .wo latter clauses of the verse. LXX. renders " house of Qod," which Lather follows, and wliich accounts for the Vnl< 
 gate, " tt domus David quasi Dei." 
 
 A lively exhibition of the failure of the nations in 
 their attack upon Jerusalem. Zechariah employs 
 the figure common in the older Prophets, of repre- 
 senting Jehovah's wrath as a wine-cup which mad- 
 dens and infatuates nations doomed to ruin. God 
 will administer such a potion as will make them 
 reel and fall in hopeless weakness and misery (cf. 
 Ps. Ixxv. 9, and Is. li. 17-22; Jer. xxv. 15-17). 
 
 What elsewhere is DID = cup, here is P? ^ basin 
 or bowl, the latter being used, perhaps, because 
 many were to drink of it at the same time. And 
 upon Judah also .... Jerusalem. What is to 
 be " upon Judah ? " An old and wide-spread opin- 
 ion says that it is a forced participation in the 
 siege of the capital (Targum, Vulgate, Groiius, 
 Marckius, and many later critics) ; but this is not 
 required by the text, nor consistent with the con- 
 text, which indicates union rather than opposition 
 between the country and the capital. Others say, 
 the bowl of reeling (Kimchi, Hitzig, Maurer, et 
 
 al.), but this would require the preposition 7 in- 
 stead of v37. Kohler proposes to supply ~n2Q 
 as the subject, but this is forbidden by the awk- 
 ward sentence it would make, and by the fact that 
 only a city and not a land can be besieged. It is 
 better to assume as the subject the substance of 
 the previous clause, — what takes place at Jeru- 
 salem ; and the meaning is that the country and 
 the capital shall be involved in the same trial. 
 
 Ver. 3. And it shall be .... a burdensome 
 stone. The Prophet employs another figure bor- 
 rowed, according to the general opinion, from one 
 of the sports of the young men in Palestine de 
 scribed by Jerome as still subsisting in his day. 
 They who, overrating their strength, try to lift a 
 stone too heavy for them, not only fail, but suflFer 
 sprains and dislocations. Such a fate will befall 
 the foes of Jerusalem, i. e., all peoples, all the 
 nations of the earth, for so extensive is the com- 
 bination against the holy city. 
 
 Ver. 4. In that day .... blindness. Horses 
 and riders represent the warlike forces of the en- 
 emy. The terrifying and blinding of these makes 
 them injurious only to themselves. Upon Judah, 
 
 EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This chapter begins the second half of the last 
 division of Zechariah's prophecies. It commences 
 with the same word as does the portion chaps, ix.- 
 xi., but in a different application. Both utterances 
 are burdens, i. e., threatening predictions. The 
 former sets forth calamity as the portion of God's 
 enemies, whether within or without the ranks of 
 his covenant people. The latter represents the 
 same as involving temporarily and partially his 
 own chosen followers, but in the end these attain 
 complete deliverance. 
 
 Ver. 1. Burden. See on ix. 1. /'3z=upon 
 or concerning, not against. The calamity involves 
 Israel, but its full scope takes in the general body 
 of the ungodly. Israel =. the covenant nation, 
 either in itself or as found in its true successor, 
 the Christian Church. The Jewish interpreters, 
 say the former, and with them many Christian 
 critics agree (Theodoret, Calvin, a Lapide, Gro- 
 tius, Vitringa, Bleek, etc.), while an equal number 
 adopt the latter (Jerome, Cyril, Luther, Albertus 
 Magnus, Cocceius, Marckius, Calmet, Hengsten- 
 berg). "Who stretches forth the heavens, ff. 
 For the purpose of allaying any possible doubt as 
 to the fulfillment of the prophecy, there are added 
 to Jehovah's name several striking expressions of 
 bis Almighty power (cf. Is. xlii. 5 ; Am. iv. 13 ; 
 Ps. civ. 2-4). The Scriptures know nothing of 
 the mechanical view of the universe as something 
 from which God, after having created it, stands al- 
 together aloof. " Every day He spreads out the 
 heavens, every day He lays the foundation of the 
 earth, which if it were not upheld by his power 
 would wander from its orbit and fall into ruin " 
 (Hengstenberg). The reference to God's forma- 
 tion of the human spirit is intended to suggest 
 tha.* unrestrained and continuous agency by which 
 He 2ontrols the thoughts and purposes of men, 
 and is able therefore to accomplish his own pur- 
 poses through them, or in spite of them (cf. Num. 
 tvi. 22; xxvii. 16; Ps. xxxiii. 15 ; Prov. xxi. 1. 
 
 Ver. 2. Behold, I make .... round about. 
 
\)2 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 on the contrary, which stands here for the whole 
 nation, Jehovah says, I will open my eyes, i. e., 
 for protection (Ps. xxxii. 8 (Heb.), 1 Kings viii. 29 ; 
 Neh. i. 6). Cowles justly calls attention to the 
 beautiful antithesis. " God smites with blindness 
 the warring powers of his foes, but opens his own 
 eyes widt on his people, to see and provide for 
 their wants. ' The three plagues mentioned are 
 precisely those with whicli Moses threatened rebel- 
 lious Israel in Dent, xxviii. 28 : " The Lord shall 
 smite thee with madness, and blindness, and aston- 
 ishment of heart." A tine historical illustration 
 of the effect of sudden blindness is seen in the his- 
 tory of Elisha (2 Kings vi. 18). 
 
 Ver. 5. And the chiefs of Judah .... my 
 strength. That the leaders find their strength in 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem can mean only that 
 the holy city, made such by the election of the 
 Most High who dwells there, insures his protec- 
 tion for all who seek Him in the appointed way, 
 and that even the most dignified and powerful 
 have no other resource. A parallel sentiment is 
 found in Ps. Ixxxvii. 2 : " The Lord loveth the 
 gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of 
 Jacob." 
 
 Ver. 6. In that day .... in a sheaf. In 
 consequence of this trust in the divine election, 
 the leaders consume their foes on every hand as a 
 basin of fire devours faggots, or a torch burns up 
 a ripe sheaf. The resulting preservation of the 
 city is stated in the last clause, in which the 
 first Jerusalem =^ the population personified as a 
 woman, and the second = the material city as 
 such. For the reverse condition, see Is. xlvii. 1. 
 
 Ver. 7. And Jehovah shall save . . . Judah. 
 The word tents stands in contrast with fortified 
 cities. These spread over the open country Jeho- 
 vah will save Jirst, in order that the well-defended 
 capital may not lift itself above the defenseless 
 land, but that both may acknowledge that " in 
 either case the victory is the Lord's" (Jerome). 
 
 Ver. 8. Will Jehovah defend .... angel of 
 Jehovah. The Loi'd will exalt his people to a 
 degree of strength and glory far transcending any- 
 thing in their past experience. This is expressed 
 by saying that even the stumbler, one who can 
 scarce hold himself up, much less attack a foe, 
 shall become a hero like David ; and even David's 
 house shall exceed its highest fame of old, shall 
 become like God, nay, like the angel of Jeho- 
 vah, that peculiar manifestation of Deity which 
 once marched at the head of the armies of Israel. 
 This very striking and beautiful climax is of itself 
 an answer to those who depreciate the literary 
 merit of Zechariah. But the rhetorical excellence 
 of the passage falls far below its consolatory and 
 stimulating power as a promise. Before them 
 (of. Ex. xxxii. 34; xxiii. 20). 
 
 Ver. 9. I will seek to destroy .... Jeru- 
 salem. This does not mean to seek out in order 
 to destroy, but is spoken, ?«o?-e humano, to express 
 the energetic purpose of the speaker. 
 
 This prophecy is supjjoscd by Vitringa, C. B. 
 Michaelis, Dathe, and others, to refer to the deal- 
 ings of God with the national Israel in the end of 
 the world, in the last gi-eat struggle of ungodliness. 
 It is manifestly easier to interpret the passage in 
 its details upon this literal view of its application. 
 And yet there is great improbability in such a view. 
 Why should the prophet, after de])icting so vividly 
 the rejection of the Good Shepherd, and the conse- 
 quent overthrow of the flock, pass at once to the final 
 Kene, overlooking all the splendid triumphs of the 
 truth during the intervening period 1 Would we 
 
 not naturally, from the case itself and from th« 
 usage of the other prophets, expect some allasioy 
 to the great changes in the developmer.t of the 
 kingdom of God, and to its progressive increase 
 among the nations of the earth? Moreover, if the 
 national Israel are hereafter to be restored to theii 
 own land and to resume the old relations of capital 
 and country, on what ground can we look for a 
 consentaneous attack of all nations upon this one 
 small people and territory 7 Can any imagination 
 conceive the recurrence of a general movement, 
 like that of the Crusades, precipitating the men 
 aiul means of a continent, not to say a world, upon 
 the sacred soil of Palestine "? Oi' course, such a 
 thing is possible, but in view of the vast changes 
 in the current of human thought, in the economy 
 of states and emjiires, in the ways in which racea 
 and dynasties seek to increase or perpetuate their 
 influence, and in the distribution of political and 
 social power, it is the most unlikely of all conceiv- 
 e events. Were the Jews to-day in the posses- 
 sion of the Holy Land, and that whether converted 
 or unconverted, what motive could there be for any 
 existing nation or combination of nations to assail 
 the seed of Abraham with fire and sword 1 If it be 
 claimed that there will be a revival of the bloody 
 ]n"opagandism of infidelity or atheism, as at one 
 period of the French Revolution, why should such 
 an outburst be directed against Jerusalem or Jew- 
 ish believers rather than against the strongholds ol 
 the Gospel found among Gentile believers 1 Such 
 an attack, if successful, would hardly affect more 
 than an outpost of the Christian Church. The 
 great body of the means and resources of evangel- 
 ical Christendom would remain unimpaired. It is, 
 therefore, more natural to consider thxs pericope as a 
 general statement not only of the Christian Israel's 
 victory over the first ten persecutions, but of the 
 result of all its conflicts with the world's power as 
 they are renewed from age to age. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. The fundamental thought in the conception 
 of God is that of Power. Alike in the Scriptures 
 and in human experience we begin our view of the 
 Most High with the fact of creation. In looking at 
 the world around us we have an intuitive and irre- 
 sistible conviction that this visible eflTect must have 
 had an invisible cause, a cause adequate to its pro- 
 duction. The universality of this conviction in all 
 ages and lands, — rendered only the more striking 
 by the occasional exceptions which history dis- 
 closes, — entitles us to rest in it with absolute cer- 
 titude. But the power which created the world 
 must be unlimited. He who without an efibrt'and 
 by a simple volition called the universe into lj\;ing, 
 can do all things. To Him great and small, high 
 and low, difficult and easy, are practically the same. 
 All things are possible with God. But if He be 
 infinite in this direction, He must be equally so in 
 all others. What is there, what can there be, to 
 limit any other aspect of his nature 1 Boundless 
 power implies necessai'ily boundless wisdom and 
 boundless goodness. A truncated Deity, perfect on 
 one side, but imperfect on others, is inconceivable 
 l)y us, or if the vain attempt be made to hold such 
 an inconsequent view, the result is either Dualism 
 or Polytheism. 
 
 Hence the perpetual recurrence in the Scripture* 
 to this attribute of Jehovah. It is as necessary to 
 our practice as to our theories. In all the course 
 of the individual believer and of the Church aJ 
 
CHAPTER XII. 1-9. 
 
 93 
 
 large, there occur seasons when there is no other 
 support for faith and hope than the divine oninip- 
 Dtence. We must look up to Hiia wlio stretcheth 
 abroad the heavens and hiyeth the foundation of 
 the earth and formeth the spirit of man within 
 him. To feel that all thinj^s material and imnui- 
 terial lie at his control as clay in the hands of the 
 potter is a buttress of the believing soul. It sus- 
 tains in the darkest lioius of trial ; it encouragos 
 in the endeavor after the most difficult enterprises. 
 
 (I It is a thought which ever makes 
 Life's sweetest smiles from tears ; 
 It is a daybreak to our hopes, 
 A sunset to oiu- fears." 
 
 2. It is said that on one occasion when at a con- 
 ference of Andrew Rivet with the king of France, 
 the latter thn'arcned some severe measures against 
 the cause of truth, the sturdy reformer answered, 
 " May it please your Majesty, the Church of God 
 is an anvil which hath broken a great many ham- 
 mers." It is even so. Zion is a burdensome stone, 
 and always has been, to her assailants They have 
 harmed not her, but themselves. Pharaoh pursued 
 the children of Israel and caught them " entan- 
 gled in the land, shut in by the wilderness," but 
 when he sought to spring the trap, they escaped in 
 safety, while he and his host sank like lead in the 
 mighty waters. The Philistines captured the Ark 
 of the Covenant, but no defeat was ever so dam- 
 aging to Dagon or his worshippers as this seeming 
 triumph. Babylon rioted in the plunder of Jeru- 
 salem, and the impious king turned the sacred ves- 
 sels of the sanctuary into the drinking cups of an 
 idolatrous revel, but the fingers of doom wrote upon 
 the wall a sentence which numbered and finished 
 his days the same night. Herod sought to slay the 
 infant Redeemer, but while the child was safe in 
 Egypt, the cruel king perished by a painful and 
 loathsome disease. So in the bloody persecutions 
 which attended the introduction of Christianity, 
 one and another took up the Church as a stone to 
 toss hither and thither, but in vain. The stone 
 was unharmed, but the lifters were torn and lacer- 
 ated. All were made to feel what the dying Julian 
 uttered in his despair, " O Galilean, thou hast con- 
 quered ! " Here, more than anywhere else, is ful- 
 filled the saying of the devout Psalmist, " The 
 Lord is known by the judgment which He exe- 
 cuteth ; the wicked is snared in the work of his 
 own hands" (ix. 16). Every assault upon Zion 
 recoils upon the heads of its authors, and that not 
 simply by virtue of " the elastic nature of right 
 according to which every infliction calls forth a 
 counter infliction ; " but in consequence of the de- 
 terminate counsel and foreknowledge of God who 
 taketh the wise in their own craftiness. Times i 
 without number has his providence justified the 
 earnest counsel which Pilate's wife gave to the 
 Roman governor in the great crisis of his life, — 
 Have thou nothing to do with that just man. 
 
 3. Yet when Zion prevails, over her foes, this 
 result is not owing to any human or inherent 
 strength, but to the presence and power of Jeho- 
 vah. / make Jerusalem a bowl of reeling ; 1 
 make her a burdensome stone; / smite every horse 
 with blindness ; / make the chiefs of Judah a pan 
 of fire ; Jehovah saves, Jehovah defends. Thus, 
 throughout, the stress is laid upon the divine arm. 
 This is the essential factor in the case. On human 
 principles, or according to the ordinary operation 
 of cause and effect, the world would prevail. Often 
 every advantage is on its side; arms, wealth, in- 
 flaence, state-craft, learning, prestige, and numbers. 
 
 Yet the few, the weak, the unlettered, the lowly^ 
 the things that are not, bring to nought the things 
 that are. The reason is that the excellency of th< 
 power may be, and may be seen to be. not of man 
 but of God. In all efforts of evangelization this 
 truth is to be distinctly recognized and made prom- 
 inent. For the Lord will not give his glory to an- 
 other. The seer said to Asa (2 Chron. xiv. 8), 
 " Were not the Ethiopians and the Luhims a huge 
 host, with very many chariots and horsemei. ? yet 
 hecnusfi. thou didst relij upon the Lord, He delivered 
 them into thy hand." * 
 
 4r. There is something stimulating in the rich 
 promise of growth contained in Jehovah's assur- 
 ance to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (ver. 8). The 
 stumbler, the man who can scarce hold himself up, 
 much less make an assault upon the foe, shall be 
 made a mighty man of valor like David. Hia 
 feebleness and incapacity shall merge into the 
 strength and skill of a hero, for the Lord shall 
 teach the hands to war and the fingers to fight. 
 Nor is this the end. Even a great captain like 
 David shall surpass himself, shall reach a super- 
 human courage and decision. He shall resemble the 
 manifested Jehovah as he marched at the head of his 
 conquering host in the days of old. In the sphere 
 of spiritual things this illustrious promise verifies 
 itself. The righteous shall hold on his way, and he 
 that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and strong- 
 er. Faith gains by experience. Grace increases by 
 exercise. The sapling which once bent with every 
 blast and had but a precarious chance of life, ripens 
 into a gnarled oak which spreads its branches far 
 and wide and defies the storm. It is literally true 
 that no degree of grace is impossible to him that 
 believeth, for the Apostle's declaration, " I can do 
 all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," 
 did not apply only to himself. The same provis- 
 ions and promises are open to all Christians. He 
 who is able to do exceedinglj'^ abundantly above all 
 that we ask or think, perfects his strength in hu- 
 man weakness, and the trembling believer, follow- 
 ing on to know the Lord, is lifted to a pitch of de- 
 votion or endurance or activity which once seemed 
 as far away as the fixed stars. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : / will open mine eye, etc. The prom- 
 ise of God is the best protection of his Church in 
 the time of peril. He may seem to forget his peo- 
 ple in their trouble, but it will be only a seeming ob- 
 livion, for at the proper time He will open his eyes 
 upon them, and show them that He slumbers not 
 nor sleeps. That the glory . ... do not magnifij, 
 etc. The whole plan of God's dealings with man 
 is to humble that pride, the root of which is self- 
 ishness, and the fruit of which is every form of sin. 
 
 Pressel : The affliction of the Church serves 
 first for a chastisement of God's people, but then 
 falls back in terror and shame upon the heads of 
 their foes. 
 
 Calvin : Though the Church may be griev 
 ously tried and exposed even to death, let us learn 
 from this passage that they are miserable indeed 
 who through fear or cowardice separate themselves 
 from her, and that they who cast on God the care 
 of their safety, shall be made blessed, though the 
 whole world were mad against them, though the 
 weapons of all nations were prepared for their 
 ruin, and horses and riders assembled to overthrow 
 them, for the defense of God is a suflScient proteo 
 tion. 
 
y4 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 2. REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 Chapters XII. lO.-XIII. 1. 
 
 iL, A plentiful Effusion of the Spirit causes Men to look upon the Jehovah they have pierced, and Mown 
 bitterly (ver. 10). B. Greatness of the Mourning (ver. 11). C. Each Family mouma separaUij 
 (vers. 12-14). D. A Provision for the Penitents (ch. xiii. 1). 
 
 10 And I will pour out upou the house of David, 
 And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 
 The Spirit ^ of grace and supplication,^ 
 
 And they shall look upon me ^ whom they pierced, 
 
 And they shall mourn for him * as the mourning over an only one, 
 
 And be in bitterness * for him as one is in bitterness for the first-bom 
 
 11 In that day the mourning shall be great in Jerusalem, 
 
 Like the mourning of Hadadrimmon ^ in the valley of Megiddo. 
 
 12 And the land shall mourn, family by family apart, 
 
 The family of the house of David apart and their wives apart, 
 The family of the house of Nathan apart and their wives apart. 
 
 13 The family of the house of Levi apart and their wives apart, 
 The family of the Shimeite ^ apart and their wives apart. 
 
 14 All the remaining families. 
 
 Family by family apart and their wives apart. 
 Ch. xiii. 1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened 
 
 To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 For sin and for uncleanness. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GBAMMATIOAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 10. — n^"1. Noyes and Henderson render " a spirit," but the absence of the article is eompenmted by tbt 
 eoiurtruot case (Green, H. G., 246, 3). 
 
 2 Ver. 10 — D'^3^"^nn is rendered in E. V. "supplications," but as the word occurs only in the plural, it is doubt- 
 less to be regarded as singular in sense. The Genevan renders compassion, but usage is altogether in favor of the other 
 meaning. 
 
 3 Ver. 10. — ^^S is to be preferred to V^S, because grammatically it is the more difficult reading ; it is opposed 
 to the favorite opinions of the Jews ; it is found in all the ancient MSS., and found not only in the best of the later 
 ones but in by far the largs^t number of them ; and it is sustained by LXX., Aq., Symm., Theod., Syr., Targ., Vulg. 
 and Arab. 
 
 4 Ver. 10- — VjV cannot be rendered " on account of it," because v^ after ^DD always denotes the person 
 tor whom mourning is made, and in all the following instances in this verse in which it occurs, the reference is undoubt- 
 edly to a person. 
 
 6 Ver. 10. — ~ll3n is best understood intransitively with its cognate finite verb. The E. V. is at onoo more literal 
 
 " T 
 
 knd more emphatic than attempted emendations. 
 
 6 Ver. 11. — "ji^^lTrrr. a an. Key. on which etymology throws no light. 
 
 T Ver. 18. — "^ly^^^'n = The Shimeite — a patronymic here just as in the corresponding case (Num. ill. 21). 
 
 EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This passage presents a complete contrast to the 
 one immediately precedinj;. The change is every 
 way startling. There is not a word of war, or con- 
 flict, or victory, no reeling-cup for the nations, no 
 torch among she.aves, no march of a hero at the 
 head of conquering hosts. On the contrary, all is 
 
 one feeling pervades all hearts. The experience 
 of their great ancestor recorded in the 51st Psalm 
 is renewed on a broad scale, and a great sorrow 
 spreads over the communitj', the intensity of which 
 is likened on one hand to that occasioned by the 
 sorest domestic affliction, and on the other to that 
 of a great public calamity felt to be at once uni- 
 versal and irreparable. Each tribe and family goe8 
 apart to weep in silence and solitude over the griev- 
 
 anbjective, subdued, spiritual. It is a picture of 1 ous infliction. What now is the nexus between 
 
 penitence as vivid and accurate as any lound any- 
 where in the Scriptures. The people are seen 
 standing alone in their relation to Him whom they 
 have rejected, and meditating upon the character of 
 Iheir great crime. One thought occupies all minds, 
 
 this passage and that which precedes 1 It seems to 
 be this. As the former portion of the chapter set 
 forth the outward protection of Providence shown 
 toward the New Testament Israel, by raears of 
 which it emerged victor from all trials and con 
 
CHAPTERS XII. 10-XIII. 1. 
 
 0^ 
 
 flicts, and saw its enemies utterly discomfitted, 
 this portion turns to the other side of Israel's ex- 
 perience and deals with its inward character, show- 
 ing how the covenant people liecome snch, how 
 the Church in its new form commences the Chris- 
 tian life^ and obtains a title to the divine protec- 
 tion. It is by the bitter herbs of repentatice. lead- 
 ing to pardon and renovation through a believing 
 sight of the pierced Saviour, — the whole preceded 
 and induced by a cojiious shower of s])iritual in- 
 fluences of the same kind as those predicted by 
 Joel (ii. 28), Isaiah (xliv. 3; xxxii. 15). In this 
 view the two parts of the chapter correspond to 
 each other and make one complete whole. The 
 result of the failure of the shepherd in ch. xi. is 
 shown to be not hnal and absolute, but a link in 
 the chain of events which works out the fultill- 
 ment of the old covenant promises, and the ingath- 
 ering of all the Israel of God. 
 
 A vast spiritual blessing is promised. It begins 
 in the outpouring of a gracious Spirit, which pro- 
 duces an intense and wide-spread penitential sor- 
 row, and this again is followed by purification and 
 forgiveness. 
 
 Ver. 1 0. And I pour out . . , . supplication. 
 The house of David and inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 here and in xiii. 1, stand for the whole covenant 
 people, according to a usage by which the capital 
 represents the nation (ii. 2 ; viii. 8). The men- 
 tion of the royal house indicates that all ranks 
 from the highest to the lowest need and shall re- 
 ceive the promised gift. The " pouring out " rests 
 upon the earlier passage (Joel ii. 28), and differs 
 from it in defining more minutely the character of 
 the effusion. It is a spirit of grace and suppli- 
 cation, which is abundantly bestowed. ^H is not 
 
 = prayer (Gesenius, Noyes), nor love (Ewald), but 
 grace or favor. The Spirit of grace then is the 
 Spirit which brings grace (cf. Heb. x. 29). It pro- 
 duces in the mind of man the experience of the 
 grace of God, and this experience rousing the 
 sense of sin and guilt, naturally leads to " suppli- 
 cation ; " and this in turn suggests the looking 
 
 spoken of. ^"'^T' is applied both to bodily and 
 mental vision, and not unfrequently with the idea 
 of confidence in the object beheld (Num. xxi. 9 ; 
 Is. xxxii. 11 ; Ii. 1). The phrase, upon me, must 
 refer to Jehovah, for according to ver. 1 He is the 
 
 speaker throughout. The HS before "^CPM, as 
 usual defines more clearly the accusative, and thus 
 renders impossible the rendering of Kimchi, be- 
 cause. Ewald and Bunsen prefer the reading of 
 a number of MSS , upon him instead of upon me ; 
 but the authority for the received text is over- 
 whelming, and on every critical ground it is to be 
 adopted (see Text, and Gram.). The other read- 
 ing seems to have arisen from an attempt to cor- 
 rect the Hebrew on the ground that it was impos- 
 sible that God could actually be pierced, — an ob- 
 iection which of course falls away at once when 
 the doctrine of the Incarnation is received. Whom 
 
 they pierced, ■''"'i^'7 ^^^ rendered by the LXX. 
 narapxiiaavTo, reviled, or insulted, probably because 
 they thought the literal meaning of the word un- 
 suitable, since they similarly avoided it in render- 
 ing xiii. 3, where the E. V. has, " His father and 
 his mother shall thrust him through." Several Chris- 
 tian critics have adopted this as the figurative 
 meaning of the verb, and translated or expounded 
 Accordingly (Theodore of iMopsuestia, Calvin, Gro- 
 tios, Rosenmiiller, Gesenius, Maurer) ; but entirely 
 
 without reason, for in every other case the word if 
 confessedly used in its literal sense (Juda: ix. 4.5 ; 1 
 Sam. .xxxi. 4 ; Zech. xiii. 3) ; and the . ^dijiiouf 
 mourning subsequently mentioned, with the com- 
 parisons by which it is set forth, the Ijss of an 
 only son or a first-born, and the wail over the 
 good king Josiah, presupposes the occurrence of & 
 literal death. But the point is put beyond ques- 
 tion by the Apostle John, who after recountii^ th« 
 act of the soldier who pierced the Saviour's side, 
 adds (xix 37), "Another Scripture saith. They 
 shall look on Him whom they pierced ; " of course 
 not meaning that this one act of the soldier ex- 
 hausted the meaning of the prophecy, but that it 
 was u fulfillment of it. The change of person in 
 the quotation — him whom for me whom, — is due 
 simply to the fact that in the Prophet it is Messiah 
 Himself who is speaking, while in the Gospel John 
 speaks of Him. Matthew makes a similar change 
 of person in his quotation (xxvii. 9). The remain- 
 der of the verse describes the result which is to fol- 
 low from this looking to the pierced One. And 
 they shall mourn. The object of this verb is put 
 not in the first person, as we should expect, but in 
 the third, for him ; but such an enallage of per- 
 son is not uncommon in Hebrew. See any of the 
 grammars for examples. That the pronoun is to 
 be in the masculine and not in the neuter (Gous- 
 set, Schultens, etc.), see in Text, and Graram. 
 Mourning over an only son, is of course a sign 
 of the deepest sorrow (cf. Amos viii. 10). Similar 
 is the death-wail over a first-born, of which the 
 great instance is found in the last of Egypt's ten 
 plagues (Ex. xi. 6). There was an incipient ful- 
 fillment of this prophecy in the fact mentioned by 
 Luke (xxiii. 48), that at Christ's crucifixion, "all 
 the people .... smote their breasts." (The prim- 
 ary meaning of ^^p is to strike, especially on the 
 
 breast). But the true fulfillment began when the 
 multitudes at Pentecost were pricked to the heart 
 (Acts ii. 37). 
 
 Ver. 11. The mourning shall be great, fF. 
 The Prophet furnishes an historical illustration of 
 the greatness of the mourning. The reference is 
 generally supposed to be to the lamentation over 
 Josiah, who was mortally wounded " in the valley 
 of Megiddo" (2 Chron. xxxv. 22). Hadadrira- 
 mon appears to have been a city in this valley, 
 and Jerome speaks of such a city as still existing 
 in his day, although he says that its name had 
 been altered to Maximinopolis. Josiah was a king 
 of Judah, a pious king, and one whose death was 
 lamented in an extraordinary manner (2 Chron. 
 xxxv. 25). There is no need to seek for other ap- 
 plications of the text, such as the absurd reference 
 of the Targum to the death of Ahab, who could 
 not have been mourned at all, much less, gener- 
 ally or bitterly ; or the impious suggestion of the 
 heathen weeping for Thammuz or Adonis (Movers, 
 Hitzig) ; or the frivolous notion of Pressel, that the 
 allusion is to Sisera's mother ( Judg. v. 28), as men- 
 tioned in the Song of Deborah ! Equally frivolous 
 are Pressel's objections to the common view, name- 
 ly, (1) That Josiah did not die in Megiddo bu« 
 on the way to Jerusalem, where he was buried and 
 lamented ; (2) that he, being now a man of nearly 
 forty years of age, could not properly be spoken 
 of as a first-born or only son ! Heiigstenberg, on 
 the contrary, states well the reasons why just he 
 should be introduced here as a type of the Mes- 
 siah. " He was slain on account of the sins of the 
 people; his reign was the closing manifestation 
 of mercy on the part of the Lord ; unspeakable 
 
96 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 misery followed immediately afterwards ; the lam- 
 entation for his death rested ii])on the mingled 
 feelings of love, and of sorrow for their own sins 
 as the cause of his death." 
 
 A still more elalmrate description of the mourn- 
 ing is given in the next three verses. 
 
 Vers. 12-14. And the land shall mourn, ft". 
 N^t only the capital, but the whole land shall 
 mourn, and this not only in ^ross but in detail, 
 every family and every subdivision of a femily 
 apart. The mention of the wives apart is not to 
 be explained from the habit of the women in all 
 lands ■' to go into mourning" (Pres.sel), but sim- 
 ply as a further specification of the intensity and 
 universality of the mourning. The mention of 
 David and Levi is easily understood, as these 
 were heads respectively of the royal and priestly 
 lines. The other two names are not so clear. 
 The old Jewish view supposed Nathan to refer to 
 the propiietic order, and Shimeite to the teachers, 
 who were said to have sprung from the tribe of 
 Simeon; but Shimeite is not the patronymic of 
 Simeon, but Shimeonite ; nor is there any evidence 
 that that tribe furnished teachers for the nation, 
 and Nathan the prophet was not the head of any 
 order. It is better to adopt the view (Hengsten- 
 berg, Henderson, Keil, Kohlerj first stated by 
 Luther : " Four fomilies are enumerated, two 
 from the royal line under the names of David and 
 Nathan (son of David), and two from the priestly 
 line, Levi and his grandson Shimei ; after which 
 he embraces all together." Thus he mentions one 
 leading family and one subordinate branch, to 
 §how that the grief pervades all, from the highest 
 to the lowest. All the remaining families. Not 
 those that are left after the judgment (Neumann), 
 nor the less renowned (Kohler), nor as implying 
 that some families shall have become extinct (Hen- 
 derson) ; but simply the remainder after those 
 which have just been specified by way of example. 
 This penitential grief will not be in vain. 
 
 Ch. xiii. 1 . There shall be a fountain opened, 
 ff. This verse resumes and completes the process 
 begun in verse 10 of the preceding chapter. It 
 treats of the same parties, — the house of David 
 and the inhabitant of Jerusalem, standing here 
 as there for the whole nation. He who poured out 
 the spirit of supjjlication will also provide the 
 means of purification from sin. A fountain is 
 shut up as long as it remains under ground, or is 
 sealed from access (Cant. iv. 12) ; it is opened 
 when it breaks forth and flows freely. The refer- 
 ence appears to be to a twofold usage in the 
 Mosaic ritual ; one, the sprinkling of the Levites 
 at their consecration with " water of purifying," 
 lit., sin-water, i. e., for purification from sin (Num. 
 viii. 7), and the other the sprinkling of persons 
 contaminated by contact with death, with the 
 water prepared from the ashes of the red heifer, 
 calhd the water of uncleanness, i. e., which re- 
 moved uncleanness. In both these cases the im- 
 purity denoted the defilement of sin, and the out- 
 ward purification was a symbol of the inward. So 
 the water which flows from the fountain in the 
 text, is a water of sprinkling by which sin and 
 uncleanness are removed. It does not need to be 
 "enewed from time to time, as was the case with 
 the Levitical waters, but issues from a living well- 
 spring. The mtaning cannot be a new water sup- 
 ply for the metropolis (Pressel), nor even grace in 
 general (Kchler), nor the grace of baptism, as the 
 older critics said ; but is the blood which cleanseth 
 from all sin (I John i. 7), the blood of that sacri- 
 ice which was typified in the sin-offering of the red 
 
 heifer, the blood which removes alike the guilt and 
 the dominion of sin. 
 
 Excursus on xii. 10. The history of the inter 
 pretation is interesting. 
 
 I. Among the Jews the early opinion was in 
 favor of the Messianic interpretation. Thus in 
 the Gemara of Jerusalem, it is said, " there are 
 two difierent opinions as to the meaning of this 
 passage. Some refer it to the lamentation for the 
 Messiah ; others to the mourning for sin." Both 
 concurred in thinking oC a dying Messiah, but one 
 thought directly of Him and his suff'ering, the 
 other of the sin which caused his death, directly 
 
 or indirectly. The former took I'^/V ^^ '^ ^^^' 
 culine suffix, the latter as neuter. In contrast to 
 this the Gemara of Babylon maintains the per- 
 sonal application of the passage, but says that it re* 
 fers to Messiah ben Joseph who is to suffer and die, 
 while Messiah ben Judah is always to live. And 
 this convenient fiction of two Messiahs was sub- 
 sequently adopted by Aben Ezra and Abarbanel, 
 the latter of whom confessed that his chief object 
 was to remove the stumbling-block interposed by 
 Christians when they interpreted the prophecy, as 
 relating to the crucified One. Kimchi and Jarchi 
 denied any Messianic reference. They said that 
 there was a change of subject, and either adopted 
 the false reading upon him instead of upon me, or 
 translated the following word because instead of 
 whom, so that they interpreted, " the pierced One" 
 = every one who had been slain in the war with 
 Gog and Magog, and said, " they will all lament 
 for the death of one as if the whole army had been 
 slain." But this view is its own refutation. The 
 translators of the LXX. had the same text as wei 
 have, but gave the sense vex instead of pierce, be- 
 cause they could not see the relevancy of the lit- 
 eral meaning. Some consideration of the same 
 kind operated upon the Chaldee paraphase, which 
 renders " they shall pray before me because they 
 have been carried away (or have wandered about). ' 
 The modern Jews, however, generally adhere to 
 the literal sense of the verb "^p^, and explain it 
 in the method proposed by Kimchi, rejecting either 
 expressly or tacitly the notion of a double Mes- 
 siah. 
 
 XL Among Christians the reference to Christ 
 was adopted without dissent by the early exposi- 
 tors and most of the Reformers. Strange to say, 
 the first exception is found in Calvin, who under- 
 stood the passage as referring to God, who is fig- 
 uratively said to have been pierced, i. e., irritated 
 and provoked by the Jews. He, however, held 
 that as Christ is God, manifest in the flesh, what 
 happened to Him was a visible symbol of the sub- 
 stance of the prophecy, and therefore was justly 
 cited by John as its fulfillment. This view was 
 warmly repudiated by Calvin's contemporaries, 
 and followed only by Grotius, and some Socinian 
 writers. Later writers applied the words to some 
 distinguished Jewish leader or martyr. Jalin sug- 
 gested Judas MaccabiEus, and rendered, " they 
 will look upon Him (Jehovah) on account of Him 
 whom they have pierced." Baur thought it was 
 impossible to determine which of the leaders it 
 was, but it was one of those who had lost their 
 lives in the service of the true God. Bleek adopted 
 the same view, and to get rid of the reference tc 
 
 Jehovah, substituted for ''vM, v.S the pjetic form 
 :f vW, and rendered " thev look to Him whonc 
 
CHAPTERS XII. 10-XIII. 1. 
 
 97 
 
 they pierced." This is simply desperate, for ''...^ 
 occurs only four times in the Old Testament, and I 
 these are all in tlie Book of Job, and immediately ! 
 before a noun, and as it is here in tiie construct! 
 state, it cannot possibly be joined to the accusative I 
 
 nS. Besides, this view fails to account for the i 
 universal mourniutr or the opened fountain. — | 
 Ewald, for one martyr substitutes a plurality of | 
 such as had fallen in the war with the heathen. 
 He renders " they look to Him whom men have 
 pierced," thus ehan;;in,i,^ the text and assuming an- 
 other subject for the verb, and exjilains thus, " the 
 intention is to show that no martyr falls in vain, 
 but will one day be mourned with universal love." 
 But this is opposed to the ruliiiious tone of the 
 first clause, urace and supplication, and to the lact 
 that in both the preceding chapter and the follow- 
 ing, only one person is spoken of as an object of 
 persecution. Hofmann, after giving up his first 
 view of a plural object, adopted another according 
 to which he rendered, " My heroes look at Him 
 whom men have pierced." But bs never means 
 hero (see Fiirst, sub voce), and besides, ^''2^ is 
 usually construed with the preposition 7i|5. Nor 
 does tlie sense he thus obtains at all suit the con- 
 nection. An altogether different view has been 
 adopted by Vogel and Hitzig, whom Pressel for 
 substance follows, namely, that the Prophet speaks 
 of himself whom he identities with Jehovah. " The 
 murder of a Prophet is regarded as an attack upon 
 Jehovah himself." The statement of this view is 
 enough to show its untenableness. For although 
 the sender and the sent are often identified, yet no 
 instance can be found in Scripture, among all its 
 records of martyrdom, of a case in which the 
 death of a prophet is represented or mourned for 
 as if it were the death of Jehovah. Noyes, in his 
 Translation of the Hebrew Prophets (ii. 387), first 
 mentions Calvin's explanation, ^ and then adds, 
 " Or the meaning may be that the people pierced 
 Jehovah, when thej' recently jtut to death some 
 one of his messengers or prophets who is not 
 named." But the violent death of a prophet was 
 not such a rare thing in Jewish history ; and why 
 should it in any case lead to such a great and uni- 
 versal mourning as is here described? Or, if there 
 had been some murder of a prophet so exceptional 
 in its atrocity as to convulse the whole nation in 
 an agony of grief, would there not be some trace 
 of the fact in the books of Kings or Chronicles ? 
 Yet none such is found. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. When our Lord was about to ascend to heaven 
 He commanded the Apostles (Acts i. 4) not to al- 
 low themselves to be drawn or driven from Jeru- 
 salem, but to " wait for the ])romise of the Father." 
 There can scarcely be a doubt that the passage be- 
 fore us contains one form or instance of the prom- 
 ise to which the Saviour referred. The first great 
 gift of heaven, for which men were taught to look 
 in the latter days, was a divine person incarnate to 
 make reconciliation for iniquity and bring in ever- 
 lasting righteousness ; the next one was that of 
 another divine person whose influences should ap- 
 ply the redemption effected, and thus complete the 
 
 1 So far as I have observed, every writer of whatever 
 •ehool is gldd to get the sanction of this great name for 
 Ua opiDion. 
 
 work of the Father's sovereign love. The latter — 
 the Holy Spirit — had of course been present an*, 
 active in the previous stages of the Cnurch's his- 
 tory ; otherwise there could have been no Church, 
 for' the Spirit is the indispensable bond of union 
 between God and bis people. But during the old 
 cconomv, owing to its very nature as an ir.troduc 
 tory, preparatory, and restricted dispensation, tht 
 gifts of the Spirit were far less rich and >>:,7»eiful 
 and genernl and constant, than they were ulti- 
 mately designed and required to be in ord^r t*. 
 effect the purjjoscs of grace. Hence the promise 
 of an eftusion which should not be intermittent 
 or partial, either in its nature or its subjects, but 
 every way adequate to the necessities of the case. 
 This promise was given by the older Prophets, 
 Joel (ii. 28, 29), Isaiah (lix. 21), Jeremiah (xxxi. 
 33, 34), Ezekiel (xxxvi. 27), and is now resumed 
 after the exile by Zechariah, who uses the very 
 
 term ("1?^^ = pour out) employed by Joel three 
 centuries before. (Isaiah uses a different word, 
 p^>, but of the same signification.) The effusion 
 is not to be fitful or scanty, but generous and 
 abundant, a pouring rain from the skies, overcom- 
 ing all obstacles, reaching all classes and effecting 
 the most blessed and durable results. Its precise 
 influence as conceived by Zechariah, is in the way 
 of overcoming depraved natural characteristics by 
 imparting grace and developing this grace in the 
 exercise of supplication. All true and successful 
 prayer is "in the Spirit" (Eph. vi. 18, Jude20). 
 Paul had often gone through the forms of suppli- 
 cation in his unconverted career, but it was only 
 when spiritually enlightened that it could be truly 
 said of him, as it was, " Behold, he prayeth " 
 (Acts ix. 11). In the view of a thoughtful mind, 
 prayer itself is hardly so great a blessing as the 
 promise of a divine Spirit to help our infirmity 
 and make intercession within us. (Rom. viii. 26.) 
 2. This passage is singularly happy in pointing 
 out what all experience has shown to be the chief 
 means of kindling evangelical repentance, — the 
 apprehension of a crucified Saviour. Men are in- 
 deed convinced of sin in various ways. Natural 
 conscience sometimes inflames remorse to a fearful 
 pitch. Sudden judgments, or what are thought to 
 be such, stimulate fear until reason is eclipsed. A 
 keen sense of shame proves to be a sorrow of the 
 world which worketh death. But the true, healthy 
 conviction of sin, the repentance which needeth 
 not to be repented of, is born at the cross. There 
 the sinful soul sees its sin as it sees it nowhere else 
 in the world, sees all the vileness, malignity, and 
 inexcusableness of its past life, and is thoroughly 
 humbled and prostrated in contrition. It becomes 
 conscious of its own share in the dark and bloody 
 crime of Calvary. As one of those for whom 
 Christ died, it had part in driving the nails and 
 pushing the spear, and is justly liable to the ag- 
 gravated doom of those who with wicked hands 
 crucified the Lord of glory. Hence all pleas in 
 extenuation are given up, all excuses are felt to bo 
 frivolous. Nothing is left but a fearful looking for 
 of judgment, so far as the soul's own merits and 
 claims are considered. But this very conviction 
 of total unworthiness is accompanied with a con- 
 viction of Christ's wondrous love in bearing the 
 cross, and an inspiration of hope, in the eflBcacy 
 of his atoning death. Thus the arrow that kills 
 bears with it the balm that makes alive. The true 
 penitent says, " I am lost, for my sins have slain 
 my Lord ; nay, I am saved, for my Lord diei that 
 those very sins should be blotted out." So the r& 
 
98 
 
 ZECHARIAIl. 
 
 [)entance is real, deej), ami hearty, but it is not sul- 
 en, angry, oi despairino;. It <;rows keener and 
 more comprehensive by experienee, but faith and 
 hope are growin<j in like measure, and thus the 
 equipoise in which the spiritual life began is main- 
 tained even to the end. ICven at the height of 
 his nsefulnes.s Paul felt that he was not worthy to 
 be called an Apostle, and at the close of life called 
 himself chief of sinners ; yet he knew whom he 
 Jiad believed, and expected a crown of righteous- 
 r.ess which the Lord, the righteous judge, would 
 give him "in that day." 
 
 3. There are two striking peculiarities of peni- 
 tential sorrow, — its depth and its solitariness. 
 The Prophet uses the strongest metaphors known 
 to human experience. No pang which death can 
 inflict is so severe as that which wrings the heart 
 of parents following to the tomb the remains of a 
 first-born or an onlj' son. It seems as if all hope 
 and joy were interred in the same grave. So 
 again a great national calamity is intensified by 
 the reciprocal influence upon one another of all 
 who are affected by it. When President Lincoln 
 was assassinated in 1865, a shuddering horror 
 seized every heart throughout the land, and multi- 
 tudes who had never seen the kindly leader were 
 as deeply moved as if the blow had fallen on their 
 own kindred. A gloomy pall settled down over 
 all hearts and all households. But penitential 
 grief which is awakened by the sight of a pierced 
 Saviour is as real and pervading as that which 
 proceeds from anj' outward affliction, personal, do- 
 mestic, or national. Its theatre is within. There 
 are no outward manifestations, but the feeling for 
 that reason is the more concentrated and intense. 
 The soul renews the experience of the royal pen- 
 itent, — my sin is ever before me. But the stricken 
 soul mourns apart. As there is a joy, so there is 
 a sorrow, with which a stranger intermeddleth not. 
 The relations of the soul to God are so delicate 
 that all shrink instinctively from exposing them 
 to the view of others. Deep grief is necessarily 
 solitary. In its acme, neither sympathy nor fel- 
 lowship is sought or allowed. Much more must 
 this be the case when the grief is spiritual, for the 
 hand of God whicli causes the pain alone can cure 
 it, and the soul nauseates all other comforters. 
 David Brainerd mentions that on one occasion 
 when he was preaching to his Indians, the power 
 of God came down among them like a mighty 
 rushing wind • " Their concern was so great, each 
 for himself, that none seemed to take any notice 
 of tho>e about him. They were, to their own ap- 
 prehension, as much retired as if they had been 
 alone in the thickest desert. Every one was pray- 
 ing apart, and yet all together." Cowper is not 
 the only j)enitent who could say in truth, — 
 
 i> I was a stricken deer that left the herd." 
 
 The immediate prompting of all who become con- 
 Tinced of sin is to fly to some solitary place and 
 be alone with God, unless indeed, as in the case 
 of Brainerd's Indians, the absorption of mind is so 
 complete that they are insensible to the presence 
 of others. " The heart knoweth its own bitter- 
 ness," and a godly sorrow shuns companions until 
 it has wrought " a rejjentance unto salvation not 
 to be repented of" (2 Cor. vii. 10). 
 
 4. Repentance of itself, however deep and 
 thorough, is of no avail toward justification. It 
 does not repair the evils of wrong-doing even in 
 common life, any more than in the sphere of re- 
 ligion. The spendthrift may bitterly mourn the 
 extravagance which ate up his estatr;, or the deb- 
 
 auchee the excesses which ruined his constitution, 
 but in neither case does the penitence bring back 
 what has been lost. It is the same with the sin- 
 ner. Tears and penances are no compensation for 
 sin. Sin is a debt (Matt. vi. 12), and a debt is 
 satisfied only by payment. The payment may be 
 made by one person or by another, but it must be 
 made, or sin remains witli its legal and endles» 
 consequences. Hence the fullness of this passag« 
 of the Prophet, which to a most elaborate paint- 
 ing of the distress for sin caused by a believing ap- 
 prehension of the cross, appends the true and only 
 source of relief for that distress, — the fountain 
 set flowing on Calvary. There must be aid from 
 without. A continuous baptism of tears is of it- 
 self impotent. Nothing avails but a provision by 
 the Being whom sin has offended, and just this is 
 furnished in that blood of s])rinkling which was 
 symbolized in so many ways in the Old Covenant. 
 Apart from this, nothing is left for a conscious sin- 
 ner but despair. 
 
 5. A striking expression of this is given in two 
 passages in the New Testament, evidently founded 
 upon the words of Zechariah. In Matt. xxiv. 30, 
 our Lord says, " Then shall all the tribes of the 
 earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man 
 coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and 
 great glory." In Rev. i. 7 the beloved disciple re- 
 sumes these words with an additional particular, 
 " Behold, He comcth with clouds, and every eye 
 shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him ; 
 and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of 
 Him." All men are to see Christ, not merely in 
 his glory but as bearing the scars by which that 
 glory was won. Some see Him so as to be sub- 
 dued into a salutary contrition; they are drawn 
 to Him by irresistible attraction, and while they 
 mourn over sin rejoice in the ample and graciom 
 pardon He bestows. Others, alas, are to see Him, 
 not voluntarily but by a necessity which they 
 would fain escape! They see Him a lamb as it 
 had been slain, but no more within their reach 
 and for their advantage. He is to them a lost 
 Saviour, one whose pierced side and mangled limbs 
 express only the fearful wages and terrible iniquity 
 of sin, but offer no hope of forgiveness and accept- 
 ance. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : All true repentance arises from a sight 
 of a dying Saviour, one who has died for us. True 
 repentance is only love weeping at the foot of the 
 cross, the soul sorrowing for sins that have been so 
 freely forgiven. True religion is a personal thing, 
 and when it takes strong hold of the heart, will 
 lead the soul apart to solitary wrestling with God 
 and acts of personal humbling before Him. 
 
 Bradley : Holy mourning for sin is a bitter 
 thing ; there comes along with it many a tear and 
 pang ; but yet there is mingled with it a comfort 
 and a blessedness which must be felt to be known. 
 The very look which makes the heart bleed, is a 
 look at One who can do more than heal it. . . . 
 Pray for this sorrow. When would you mourn 
 and weep for your sins, if nut now '? Somewhere 
 you must weep for them ; would you keep back 
 this weeping till you come to that world where 
 tears are never dried up ; where you must weep, H 
 you weep at all, forever ? And somewhere you 
 must look upon this pierced Jesus '? Will you look 
 on Him for the first time when He opens the heav- 
 ens and calls vou ov*, of vour graves to his judg- 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 2-6. 
 
 9» 
 
 ment-seat 'i It is a blessed though a mournful 
 thing to see Him now, but it is a dreadful thing 
 to see Him for the first time in the very moment 
 when his work of mercy is forever ended, when the 
 fountain He has opened for sin and uncleanness is 
 forever closed. 
 
 McCheyne : 1. The Great Spring. I will pour. 
 2. The Great Agent. The spirit of grace and sup- 
 plication. 3. The Effect. They look; they mourn; 
 they see the fountain opened. 
 
 Jat : There were provisions for ceremonial pol 
 lution under the Mosaic Economy, the brazen sea 
 for the priests and the ten lavers for the things 
 offered in sacrifice. There were also fountains for 
 bodily diseases : the pool of Siloam to which 3ur 
 Saviour sent the man born blind ; and the popl of 
 Bethesda, where lay a number of sufferers waiting 
 for the troubling of the waters. Christ differed 
 from all these, as a fountain for moral and spirit- 
 ual defilement, " for sin and uncleanness." 
 
 4. FRUITS OF PENITENCE. 
 Chapter XIII. 2-6. 
 
 A. The ExHnclion of Idols and False Prophets (ver. 2). B. The Latter to he slain by their own Par* 
 ents (ver. 3). C. Other such Prophets shall be ashamed of their Calling (ver. 4). D. And *vm 
 deny it when charged upon them (vers. 5, 6.) 
 
 2 And it shall be in that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts, 
 I will cut off the names of the idols from the land,^ 
 And they shall be remembered no more ; 
 
 And also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness, 
 Will I cause to pass out of the land. 
 
 3 And it shall be, if a man still prophesy, 
 
 His father and his mother, who begat him, shall say to him, 
 
 Thou shalt not live. 
 
 For thou hast spoken a lie in the name of Jehovah ; 
 
 And his father and his mother, who begat him, 
 
 Shall pierce ^ him through in his prophesying. 
 
 4 And it shall be m that day the prophets shall be ashamed* 
 Each of his vision in his prophesying ; 
 
 And shall no more put on a hairy mantle to lie ; 
 
 5 And [one] shall say,^ I am not a prophet, I am a husbandman. 
 For a man has sold * me from my youth. 
 
 6 And [the other] shall say ^ to him. 
 
 What then are these wounds between thy hands ? 
 And he shall say. Those with which I was wounded 
 In the house of my lovers.' 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 2. — V"1Sn. Henderson In both cases renders earth, but needlessly. The statement is a general one, InM 
 with a local ooloring. 
 
 a Ver. 8. — "Ipl is rendered pierce, in order to show that it is the same word which is used in the fimous passag* 
 xU.lO. 
 
 8 Ver. 4. — Heng. renders ]S3 tTiS, to desist with shame, but the established meaning of the phrase is simply, to 
 
 »« ashamed of. The fem. suffix in inSZian is a peculiarity of this class of verbs (Green, Heb. Or., 166, 2). 
 
 4 Ver. 5. — The singular verb here, following the previovis plurals, indicates that one case is selected as an example. 
 Noyes renders, " each shall say," but the prophet can scarcely mean that every one of the false prophets is to make th* 
 ■ame form of denial. 
 
 6 Ver. 6. — ^-Dpn has been strangely misconceived. LXX. make it iyewiftytv ; Vulg., Adam meum exemplum; 
 P«ech. renders as if it came from S2p. The E. V. followed Kimchl in deriving the verbal form from npj5D v 
 
 ■mail cattle. 
 
 6 Ver. 6. — The implied subject of " shall say "' is, of course, the other interlocutor in the dialogue. 
 
 7 Ver. 6. — "'^nSQ should be rendered lovers, just a« it is in all the t)ther placee where it ocouM : Uun. i H 
 I U. 7, 9, 12, etc. ; friends is too weak. 
 
100 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 BXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 This portion announces the complete extirpa- 
 tion of idolatry and false prophecy, which are here 
 taken to represent all forms of ungodliness and 
 iiLmorality, which they could very properly do, 
 jince they had l)een the chief and most dangerous 
 sins of the covenant people in all their previous 
 history. We have then a vivid presentation of the 
 fruits (jf the penitence mentioned in the jjrevious 
 chapter, and of the conversion and renovation an- 
 Qounced in the opening verse of this chapter. The 
 pa.ssage is not to be restricted to any particular pe- 
 riod, but describes under local and temporary forms 
 the removal of whatever is offensive to a God of 
 holiness and truth. It will therefore apply to every 
 instance in which the Gospel in its leading elements, 
 repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, is truly received. 
 
 Ver. 2. I will cut off the names of the idols. 
 The expressions, " to cut off the names," and " that 
 they be remembered no more," denote the total 
 extinction of idolatry (cf. Hos. ii. 17). Of the 
 latter Calvin says, " his meaning is that the hatred 
 of superstition will be so great that the people will 
 shudder at the very name." Inasmuch as the Jews 
 notoriously after the Captivity shrank from any 
 approach to idol-worship, it has been claimed that 
 this passage shows that the portion of the book to 
 which it belongs was composed prior to the Exile. 
 But the conclusion is not legitimate. Zechariah 
 simply uses the forms of the past in which to de- 
 pict tne future. Idolatry was the common expres- 
 sion of ungodliness in the earlier days of the na- 
 tion ; how could even a post-exilium prophet better 
 set forth the overthrow of false religion in the fu- 
 ture than by predicting the oblivion of idols and 
 their names 1 Kohler indeed deems it possible, on 
 the basis of Rev. ix. 20, xiii. 4, 15, that gross act- 
 ual idol-worship may again return, but this would 
 be to interpret an obscure book by one yet obscurer. 
 Possibly the reference may be to that refined idol- 
 atry which consists in regarding and serving the 
 creature more than the Creator, and which the New 
 Testament has in view when it declares covetous- 
 ness to be idolatry (Col. iii. 5). The prophets 
 must of course be false prophets who spoke with- 
 out authority, as appears from their association not 
 only with idols but also with the spirit of unclean- 
 ness. This latter phrase denotes not merely a 
 pervading principle, but an active, conscious agen- 
 cy, standing in direct contrast with the Spirit of 
 grace (xii. 10), which works in its human instru- 
 ments and leads them to their lying utterances. 
 The false prophets as well as the true were subject 
 to an influence from without (cf. 1 Kings xxii. 21 
 -23, Rev. xvi. 14 with 2 Thess. ii. 9, 10 and 1 Tim. 
 iv. 2). The completeness of the removal of this 
 form of ungodliness is expressed very energetically 
 in the following verses. 
 
 Ver. 3. If a man stUl prophesy. . . . pierce 
 him through. Some infer from the opening words 
 that the mere fact of prophesying will be proof that 
 the man attempting it is a deceiver, since there will 
 be no more prophets (Keil, Kohler), and they refer 
 to Jer. xxxi. 33, 34, Is. liv. 13 ; but this is an ex- 
 travagant and needless assumption, for the connec- 
 tion shows plainly enough that Zechariah has in 
 view simply false pretenders to divine inspiration, 
 and the passages quoted by no mei^ns imply the 
 final cessation of the spirit of prophecy either in 
 Its broad or its narrow sense, as the New Testa- 
 nent plainly shows. The statement in the text 
 
 rests on Deut. xviii. 20, compared with xiii. 6-10 
 The offender shall die, and the first to inflict the 
 sentence shall be his father and his mother, here 
 made more emphatic by the addition, who begat 
 him. Cf. 2 Sara. xvi. 11. Several expositors mod- 
 ify the meaning of "'H'^ so as to make it = to bind 
 ov scourge (LXX., Peshito, Calmet), but there is no 
 ground whatever tor this in the oiigiu or usa^e of 
 the word, nor does it suit the context. 
 
 Ver. 4. Prophets shall be ashamed ... to 
 lie. The revolution will be so ureat that these pre- 
 tenders shall become ashamed of their claims, and 
 strip off the outward token of their occupation. 
 The hairy mantle worn by the prophets (2 Kings 
 i. 8) was not a form of ascetic discipline, but a 
 sermo prophiticiis realis, a symbol of the prophet's 
 grief for the sins which he was commissioned to 
 reprove. It was an acted parable of repentance. 
 The same remark is true of John the Baptist's 
 "raiment of camel's hair and leathern girdle" 
 (Matt. iii. 4). To lie, i. e., to give themselves the 
 appearance of prophets, and thus impose upon the 
 people. Thus far Zechariah has spoken of these 
 who spoke falsely in the name of the Lord, and 
 Hengstenberg supposes that he now turns to an- 
 other class of pretenders who spoke in the name 
 of strange gods, — a view which seems required 
 by his interpretation of the last word of ver. 6, 
 But no break or transition is apparent in the pas- 
 sage, and there is no necessity for violently intio- 
 ducing a new subject. 
 
 Vers. 5, 6. I am not a prophet .... lovers. 
 A dramatic representation of the means by which 
 one of these deceivers endeavors to escape detec- 
 tion. Charged with his crime, he denies it, and 
 claims to have been nothing more than a common 
 tiller of the soil. In support of this claim he as- 
 serts that this is no recent circumstance, but that 
 
 he has been sold from his youth. rT2)7 = to ac- 
 quire, h. buy (Is. xxiv. 2), in Hiphil would nat- 
 urally = to cause to buy, i. e., to sell. Fiirst and 
 others make Hiphil the same as Kal. The sense 
 is the same according to either rendering. There 
 seems to be no reason for considering the verb a 
 
 denominative from npj^D, servum Jacere (Maurer, 
 Kohler). To this denial is opposed the question aa 
 to the origin of the scars the accused person bears, 
 — wounds between thy hands, i. e., upon the 
 breast. Cf. 2 Kings ix. 24, where " between the 
 arms " evidently has this meaning. (In Arabic the 
 
 cognate phrase, Xp9 Jo \^>*^i occurs frequently, 
 
 in the sense coraw eo.) The questioner considers 
 these gashes upon the person as palpable evidences 
 that the man has wounded himself in connection 
 with idolatrous worship (1 Kings xviii. 28 ; Tibul- 
 lus, I. i. 43, respecting the worship of Cybele), and 
 asks an explanation. The reply is that he received 
 them in the house of his lovers, which some ex- 
 plain as ;= impure, sinful lovers, i. e., idols (Heng- 
 stenberg), in which sense they say that the Piel of 
 
 D71W is always used (which, however, cannot be 
 affirmed of Jer. xxii. 20, 22, Lam. i. 19); but as 
 the form necessarily signifies only intense affection 
 without regard to quality, I prefer the opinion of 
 those who explain it as = loving friends, and un- 
 derstand the accused person as maintaining that 
 the scars are simply the result of chastisements 
 which he had formerly received when in the house ol 
 his relatives. It seems more lihely that such a man 
 would resort to an eva.sion of this kind than that 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 2-6 
 
 101 
 
 he would make the frank confession involved in 
 the former view. 
 
 " This verse is commonly applied to the silver- 
 ings of Christ, but without any further ground 
 than its mere proximity to that which follows, in 
 which He and his sufferings are clearly predicted " 
 (Henderson). It is quite impossible on any crit- 
 ical ground to vindicate such an applicati<Jii, al- 
 though Henderson is fiir astray when he assigns as 
 a reason that " in no tolerable sense could the Jews 
 be called Christ's lovers or friends," for it is writ- 
 *,en (John i. 11 ), " He came unto his own, and his 
 >wn {oHdioi) received Him not," and the Apostle 
 (Rom ix. 5) speaks of his kinsmen as those "of 
 whom as concerning the flesh Christ came." 
 
 THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL. 
 
 1. Idolatry and divination are mentioned by 
 Zechariah, as has been said, only as typical forms 
 of error and sin. But it is singular how well they 
 express the prevailing evils with which the Church 
 is called to contend in modern times. The gross 
 idolatry of the heathen has disappeared from Chris- 
 tendom never to return ; but its place is taken by 
 a more refined and more dangerous error of the 
 same sort. There is a devotion rendered to wealth, 
 to pleasure, to position, to genius, which is wholly 
 inconsistent with the just claims of our Maker. 
 There is a materialism which, although glozed 
 over with high-sounding names, is as repulsive to 
 the true honor of God as the worship of Baal or 
 Astarte. It dwells on great physical achieve- 
 ments, discoveries in nature or inventions in art, 
 scientific triumphs, or even the multiplication of 
 social conveniences, as if these were the all in all 
 of life and of man. The next world is ignored. 
 God is turned into a mere name. He is not 
 enough thought of to be actively opposed ; and 
 men say in Gibbon's famous formula, all religions 
 are equally true in the eyes of the people, equally 
 false in the eyes of the philosopher, and equally 
 useful in the eyes of the statesman. Now this 
 cool indifference, this pervading earthliness of 
 character and pursuit, is not simply the rejection 
 of God, but the enthronement of something else 
 in his place, i. e., idolatry. And it needs all the 
 energy of a true spiritual faith to overcome it. If 
 the Church is ever to fulfill her function, she must 
 insist that the life is more than meat and the body 
 than raiment; that means are not ends; that man 
 is not merely an animal of the better class, more 
 highly organized and of larger intelligence ; but 
 that he is a spiritual being, allied to the infinite 
 Spirit and able to reach the true goal of his exist- 
 ence only in willing obedience to that supreme 
 Spirit. Anything else than this, whether it be the 
 worship of wealth, or the worship of science, is 
 treason to Gud. It puts the creature in the place 
 of the Creator, and so prepares the way for all un- 
 godliness and unrighteousness. A religious basis 
 is essential to a permanent morality, and although 
 the late Mr. John Stuart Mill held that there could 
 be a religion without a personal God, all experi- 
 ence is against his crude notion. Men who begin 
 by denying the rights of their Maker will sooner 
 or later end by denying the rights of their fellow- 
 men. 
 
 2. The world has often flattered itself that " the 
 fidse prophet and the unclean spirit" have complete- 
 ly passed away, that science has effectually disposed 
 of superstition, that the progress of educution and 
 intelligence has put an end to soothsayin and nec- 
 
 romancy. Yet our own generation has complete- 
 ly exploded this flattering dream. The heart of 
 our own enlightened land where the schoolmaster 
 has been abroad for generations, has witnessed the 
 resurrection and diffusion of errors which are usu- 
 ally considered as belonging only to the twilight 
 of civilization. The miserable first king of Israel 
 resorted to the witch of Endor, only after every 
 other door of knowledge had been hoi)eles9ly 
 closed against him ; but now under the blaze of a 
 completed revelation, with Christ at the right hand 
 of God, and the Holy Spirit promised to all who 
 seek aright, men revive an antiquated delusion 
 and seek for the living to the dead. Nay, many 
 who reject and scoff at the Scriptures, receive with 
 implicit faith what purport to be communications 
 from the ghosts of the departed. It is a fulfill- 
 ment of the Apostolic declaration (2 Tim. iv. 4), 
 " They who turn away their ears from the truth 
 shall be turned unto fables." Man stands too close 
 to the unseen world to deny or ignore its exist- 
 ence ; his own condition here with its dependence 
 and exposure makes him look wistfully for some- 
 thing higher and better. If that craving is not 
 satisfied legitimately, it will be illegitimately. The 
 alternative to Faith is not unbelief but misbelief. 
 Men must believe something. If they obey the 
 laws of evidence, they will receive the only proven 
 revelation from the invisible world ; if not, tlien 
 all that remains is belief without evidence, that 
 is, superstition. Nor will this be altered if there 
 be a common school, and a printing-press, and a 
 scientific association in every hamlet of the land. 
 No culture of the intellect can destroy or smother 
 man's moral and spiritual nature. The heart, the 
 conscience, the sense of responsibility, will still 
 survive and demand some appropriate nutriment. 
 To offer to these the latest discoveries in physics, 
 is to offer stones instead of bread, or a scorpion in- 
 stead of a fish. If they do not receive the living 
 oracles of the Spirit of holiness, they fall into the 
 hands of " the spirit of uncleanness," whose work- 
 ing is with lying wonders and all deceivableness 
 of unrighteousness in them that perish, because 
 they received not the love of the truth that they 
 might be saved (2 Thes. ii. 9, 10). 
 
 3. The energy of moral rebuke in a healthy 
 state of Zion, is well shown in the pictorial repre- 
 sentation of the Prophet. In the fifth Book of 
 Moses provision is made for the prompt and seven 
 punishment of any one who should introduce the 
 worship of a false god (Dent. xiii. 6-9). The Jev 
 ish commonwealth, being an actual theocracy, idol 
 atry was simply and literally high treason, a blo» 
 at the life of the state, and as such a capital crim« 
 Hence no degree of kindred or affection was al 
 lowed to exempt any one from denouncing such i 
 criminal. Even a man's nearest relatives were t< 
 be the first to put their hands to his execution 
 when he was found judicially obnoxious to tha 
 penalty. Even so, declares Zechariah, in days to 
 come will the parents who naturally cling to a 
 prodigal boy, even when he may by htted f jd de- 
 spised by all the world, yet ovcxome the^r affec- 
 tion, and themselves thrust througji the child who 
 is a lying prophet. The reprtocatation is strong, 
 but not exaggerated. Literally understood it ic 
 of course impossible. T'^nd'cr the Gospel civil pun- 
 ishments for religion? errors have and can have ac 
 place. But the underlying thought — intense an(S 
 absolute loyalty tjiy God — is as appropriate nov 
 as it ever was The religious element in man', 
 nature is to become dominant, nay supreme. Lo'<* 
 to God, like Aaron's rod. is to swallow np all othe 
 
102' 
 
 ZECHAHlAli. 
 
 affections. Nothinjr is to coine into competition 
 with alle.uiancc to truth and holiness. Our Lord 
 
 f)resented the duty with ail plainness : " He that 
 oveth fiitlier or mother more than me is not 
 worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daugh- 
 ter more than me is not worthy of me " (Matt. x. 
 37). It often hajipens that the claims of relatives 
 and the claims of Christ come into collision ; and 
 when they do, the former must give way. We 
 must choose to displease those whom we most love 
 on earth rather than displease Him who died for 
 us on the cross. This doctrine is quite repulsive 
 to the sentimentalists who exalt the domestic af- 
 fections to the highest place in human esteem, but 
 it is none the less true, being indeed a simple co- 
 rollary from the first principle of all religion, that 
 the object of worship is to be loved supremely, and 
 all other beings, however near or dear, subordi- 
 nately. 
 
 4. But this is a very different thing from the 
 self-inflict^' 'ortutss of the heathen and of all false 
 reiigiocii-ji. The man in the text with "wounds 
 between nis hands," represents a class found in 
 all ages and lands. Clear references to these are 
 found in the Scripture (Deut. xiv. 1 ; Jer. xvi. 6 ; 
 xli. 5), and an actual instance is seen in the priests 
 of Baal in their contest with Elijah (1 Kings xviii. 
 28). The custom originated in the uneasy con- 
 scieusness of guilt and of the necessity for expi- 
 ation. Men in their blindness conceived that by 
 the merciless punishment of their own bodies they 
 would render a species of satisfection, and so re- 
 gain the favor of the offended deities. The folly 
 of this form of worship is well exposed by Seneca 
 (quoted by Augustine, Civ. Dei, vi. 10), and yet it 
 is not so absurd as it would seem. For if a man 
 believes that the gods will exact some suffering for 
 sins, and that by inflicting it upon himself he may 
 forestall their action and get off on cheaper terms, 
 it is not easy to refute him on rationalistic grounds. 
 The difliculty in his case is that conscience is 
 aroused, and yet there is no knowledge of the doc- 
 trine of substitution or atonement. Hence even 
 So. Christian lands, whenever that doctrine is not 
 understood in its simplicity and fullness, the same 
 thing occurs in a less aggravated form. Fastings 
 and mortifications and penances of various kinds 
 are cheerfully endured as compensations for guilt. 
 It is hard for poor human nature to leain that 
 "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." 
 Tet nothing is clearer in the Scripture than that 
 
 the will-worship which consists in pains and priva 
 tions, inflicted and endured for their own sake, 
 is most ofll'nsive to the Most High. He Himself 
 never sends afflictions unless there is a needs be, 
 and He does not ask us to be other than Himself. 
 Self-denial is indeed a large part cf thu Christian 
 life, but it is self-denial for an object beyond itself 
 — not as satisfaction for sin or a price paid for 
 heaven, but out of love for Christ, as a means of 
 cultivating holiness or of winning souls for the 
 kingdom. Privation borne with such views is in- 
 deed an honor and a blessing ; but if inflicted for 
 its own sake, it puts even such a transcendent gen- 
 ius as Pascal with his hair shirt and iron-pointed 
 girdle, on the same level with the self-gashed devo- 
 tees of Baal, or the forsworn diviner whom Zech- 
 ariah describes. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : Ver. 3. Love to God must be para- 
 mount to all other affections, even the most ten- 
 der. It is in our present imperfect sanctification 
 inconceivable how we could acquiesce in the per- 
 dition of our children without a pang that would 
 poison all the bliss of heaven, and yet it shall be 
 so. Much as we love them, we shall love God and 
 his law immeasurably more. — Vers. 4-6 : Sinners 
 shall at last be made to confess their sins and the 
 justice of their punishment ; and the bitterest drop 
 in the cup of their agony will be that they have 
 wrung it out for themselves, and that it is all just. 
 
 Calvin : Falsehood hast thou spoken in the name 
 of Jehovah. If we rightly consider what this is, 
 it will certainly appear to us more detestable than 
 to kill an innocent man, or to destroy a guest with 
 poison, or to lay violent hands upon one's owii 
 father. The greatest of all crimes does not come 
 up to this horrible and monstrous wickedness. 
 
 J.\T : Wounded in the house of my friends. There 
 are four kinds of such wounds. (1.) Those aris- 
 ing from their just reprehensions. (2.) Those that 
 result from their sufferings. (3.) Those produced 
 by our being bereaved of them. (4.) Those in- 
 flicted by their improper conduct. Again. If the 
 Lord Jesus be the sufferer, He is wounded in the 
 house of his friends, by their negligent conduct — 
 by their selfishness — by their distrust — by their 
 timidity — by their gloomy conduct — by their un- 
 holines's. His question is, Is this thy kindness to 
 thy friend? 
 
 4. THE SWORD AWAKING AGAINST THE SHEPHERD AND THE FLOCK. 
 
 Chapter XIII. 7-9. 
 
 JL The Shepherd is smitten at Jehovah's Command, and the Sheep scattered, yet not hopelessly (ver. 7). 
 B. The Excision of Two Thirds of the Flock (ver. 8). C. A further Refinement by Sorrow mih a 
 joyful Issue (ver. 9). 
 
 7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, 
 
 And against a man, my fellow,^ saith Jehovah of Hosts ; 
 Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered, 
 And I will bring back my hand ^ upon the little ones. 
 
 8 And it shall be in all the land, saith Jehovah, 
 Two parts therein shall be cut off,^ shall die. 
 And the third shall be left therein. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 7-9. 
 
 103 
 
 And T will bring the third part into the fire,* 
 
 And will refine them as silver is refined, 
 
 And will try them as gold is tried ; 
 
 He ^ shall call upon my name and I will answer;' 
 
 I will say/ It is my people. 
 
 And he shall say, Jehovah is my God. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL. 
 
 1 Ver. 7- — TT^ttl7 "^5?l» '^^^^^ t"o nouns are in apposition, just as in the analogous phnse TT^^Dn tt7^M| 
 to Deut. xxxiii. 8- 
 
 5 Ver. 7. — "^T* ^n^tt^n = return my hand, stretch it out again. Cf. 2 Sam. viii. 3. 
 
 8 Ver. 8. — ^in]^3"J = shall be cut off. In xiv. 2 this verb denotes cutting off by transportation, but here ita mom 
 ia determined by the lollowing verb. 
 
 4 Ver. 9. — tt7M3. Into the fire, is more literal and expressive than the B. V. through. 
 
 6 Ver. 9. — S'lrr . tie shall call. It is better to preserve the singular in the rendering, as more idiomatic and moM 
 TiTid. 
 
 6 Ver. 9. — n327S = not simply will hear, as in B. V. (although that necessarily includes a reply), but distinctly, aiv 
 ncer. Cf. Is. Ixv. 24, xli. 17. So Dr. Riggs (Emendations). 
 
 7 Ver. 9. — Tl^SiM. Before this preterite, the English translator of Calvin says that a vav conversive is dropped, 
 which he undertakes to supply from the LXX., Syriac, and Arabic versions. But the addition is as unauthorized as it i« 
 
 tasteless. 
 
 EXEQETICAL AND CRITICAL. 
 
 Here again there is evidently a very sudden 
 change of subject. The prophet passes at once 
 from recounting the evasions of a pretender to 
 prophecy to a dramatic representation of the good 
 shepiierd suffering under a divine infliction. No 
 transition could well be more abrupt. Moreover, 
 he seems to turn back on his course, quite forsak- 
 ing the chronological order he has heretofore pur- 
 sued in developing the Messianic revelation. In 
 the ninth chajster he set forth the lowly king, indi- 
 vidualizing his peculiar entrance into the holy city ; 
 in the eleventh he gave a symbolical representation 
 of his rejection by the covenant people, with a dis- 
 tinct allusion to the wages of his betrayer; in the 
 twelfth he stated the wonderful efficacy of the sight 
 of his pierced form in awakening the deepest pen- 
 itence and securing pardon and renewal. Yet here 
 instead of advancing farther, a return is made to 
 the fact of the Messiah's death. How are we to 
 account for this startling transition and seemingly 
 retrograde movement ? Of the former, Professor 
 Cowles (M. P., p. 367) suggests an ingenious expla- 
 nation founded upon the law of association of 
 ideas. " The close analogy between the false 
 prophet, whose hands had been gashed and pierced 
 ' in the house of his friends,' and the Messiah, 
 whose hands were pierced in a death by crucifixion 
 among those who ought to have been his friends, 
 suggested the latter case and led the prophet; to 
 speak of it here." The learned Professor has cer- 
 tainly given the clew to the connection, but I should 
 prefer to state it in a different way. The rela- 
 tion is one of contrast rather than of likeness. 
 Zechariah had been speakiTig of a miserable pre- 
 tender to prophecy, a man marked with the scars 
 of his reasonless wounds received in idol-worship, 
 and vainly attempting to falsify their origin. Now 
 he turns to the true prophet and teacher, the faith- 
 ful shepherd whose scars are real and significant, 
 w'ao was not only wounded but slain, and whose 
 ■death was the salvation of his fioek. But in stat- 
 ing this fact, the prophet introduces a new and pe- 
 •uliar element in the tragedy, — ooe which he at 
 
 least had not before emphasized or even adverted 
 to. This is the immediate agency of Jehovah in 
 bringing about the bloody result. It is God who 
 arouses the sword sleeping in its scabbard, He 
 points it at his own fellow, He gives the command 
 to thrust it home. 
 
 Here then is a sufficient reason for the seeming 
 reversion of an orderly progress. It was desirable 
 to suggest the divine agency in the atoning death 
 of the Good Shepherd, and that not simply for its 
 own sake as indicating the completeness and per- 
 petuity of the satisfaction rendered (Is. liii. 10), but 
 also in order to set forth the assimilation of char- 
 acter and course between the Shepherd and his 
 flock. Both are to suffer, although in different re- 
 lations and for different purposes. The smiting of 
 the leader involves in the first instance at least tlie 
 scattering of the sheep. And although Jehovah 
 will turn his hand for good upon the little ones 
 [the little flock, Luke xii. 32 J, yet afterwards there 
 will be severe and most destructive visitations, cut- 
 ting off two parts out of three, and even the third 
 part that remains is not to escape unscathed. It 
 shall be cast into a furnace, and there be subjected 
 to intense and protracted heat, until as in the case 
 of the precious metals the dross and alloy are con- 
 sumed and the pure gold and silver is left. The 
 head and the members of the spiritual body then 
 are to pass through a like experience. He suffered, 
 and they also shall suffer. And this statement 
 forms a necessary limitation of the glowing passages 
 in earlier predictions which seem to promise un- 
 broken prosperity and an endless train of outward 
 blessings (ix. 17, x. 7, 12, xii. 6, 9). On the con- 
 trary, while the flock will have "peace" in its 
 shepherd, peace in its largest and be:ft sense, yet in 
 the world it shall have " tribulation " In the gen- 
 eral it is true, and always has \ een true, that 
 " through much tribulation we mus! enter the king- 
 dom of God " (Acts xiv. 22). The sphere of tha 
 })rL'diction is not to be arbitrarily restricted. It 
 speaks of " the land," of course the land of Israel, 
 but only in so far as it represents the theatre upon 
 which the adherents, nominal or real, of the Mes- 
 siah are found, and whether they belong to Israel 
 after the flesh or not. It is the Church of the future 
 
104 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 in i's composite nature to which Zechariah refers, 
 and of which he affirms a characteristic feature, 
 which is not fortuitous or unmeaning:, but an ex- 
 press appointment of Jehovah of Hosts ; intended 
 to briiio; the followers of the Saviour into a fellow- 
 Ehip of sufferinof with Himself 
 
 The three verses of this passage are closely con- 
 nected. First, there is a clear statement of the 
 smiting of the shepherd by Jehovah Himself, and 
 then a representation of the eftect of this procedure 
 upon the flock. Such effects are not transient but 
 abiding, or rather, the immediate result typifies 
 what is to be the general condition of the flock 
 while it is passing tlirough the wilderness of this 
 world. 
 
 Ver. 1. Awake, O sword .... my fellow. 
 The object of address in this startling dramatic 
 outburst is not some unknown person (Hitzig), but 
 the sword itself as in Jer. xlvii. 6. sword of Je- 
 hovah, how long wilt thou not, etc. The sword here 
 is used representatively for any means of taking 
 life. Ex. v. 21 ; Rom. xiii. 4. The Romans called 
 the right of the magistrates to inflict capital pun- 
 ishment, jus gladii. Uriah was pierced by the ar- 
 rows of the Ammonites, yet the Lord said to David 
 (2 Sam. xii. 9), "Thou hast slain him by the 
 sword of the children of Ammon." The person 
 against whom the sword is to execute its deadly 
 mission is described as Jehovah's shepherd, the 
 natural reference of which is to one or the other of 
 the shepherds mentioned in ch. xi. Some suppose 
 that the foolish shepherd (xi. 15, 17) is intended 
 (Grotius, Ewald, Maurer, Hitzig), but this does 
 not follow necessarily from his being pierced by 
 the sword, since in Is. liii. Jehovah is represented 
 as bruising his righteous servant in whom He finds 
 no fault. It is, moreover, put out of the question 
 by the succeeding clause, the man my fellow, 
 which could not, on any reasonable view, be applied 
 
 to an unworthy person. Tl^'X^P "1?^ is very vari- 
 ously rendered in the versions, — LXX., fellow- 
 citisen, Aqu., kinsman, Sym., of my people, Syr., 
 friend, Targ., associate who is like him, Vulg., 
 who cleaves to me, Theod., neighbor. The word 
 n"^;^!"' is found only here and in Leviticus, where 
 it occurs eleven times (xix. 11, 15, 17, etc.), and 
 always with a pronominal suffix, and as a concrete 
 noun. Its general force is shown in xxv. 1 5, where 
 it is used interchangeably with brother. It is cer- 
 tainly an abstract noun by its formation, and is so 
 rendered by many (Gesenius, Fiirst), but the uni- 
 form usage in Leviticus is decisive against this. 
 Moses employs the term evidently to denote a close 
 and intimate connection. Perhaps there is no nearer 
 English equivalent than that of the E. V., — /el- 
 low. "^5.-1 is not the ordinary word for man, but 
 one derived from a root signifying to be strong, 
 yet it is doubtful if any stress is to be laid upon 
 this circumstance (Neumann), but it is scarcely 
 doubtful that the term calls attention to the fiict 
 that ho who is Jehovah's fellow is also a man (Job 
 xvi. 21). Who now is this peculiar being? Not 
 Jndas Maccabaeus (Grotius), nor Pekah (Bunsen), 
 nor Jehoiakim (Maurer), nor Josiah as represent- 
 ing the Davidic line (Pressel), nor the whole body 
 of rulers including Christ (Calvin), but the Mes- 
 siah (Fathers, Reformers, and most moderns). The 
 nnity indicated by the term fellow is one not merely 
 of will or association, much less of function, but 
 
 1 Stier (Reden Jesu, in toe.) declares that Matthevr did 
 not vu>e the LXX., which is true in respect to the coninion 
 iKit of the SeveDty, but not in regard to the Codex Alex 
 
 of nature or essence. It is common to object to 
 this view that it is foreign to the sphere of the Old 
 Testament, which knows nothing of the trinity of 
 persons in the Godhead, so clearly revealed in the 
 New. But this begs the question. And it it be 
 admitted that a plurality of persons is distinctly 
 taught in the later Scriptures, it is the most nat- 
 ural thing possible to find indications in the earlier 
 revelation pointing in this direction, — not proof- 
 texts, nor direct assertions, but statements like 
 those in Pss. ii., ex., etc., which, although tl.ey 
 may have been mysterious to those who first read 
 or heard them, are to us illuminated by rays re- 
 flected back from the Light of the world. Were 
 there any doubt it would be removed by the express 
 allusion of our Lord in Matt. xxvi. 31, 32, iVIark 
 xiv. 27, where He applies the latter half of the 
 verse to Himself and his disciples. Yet this part 
 cannot be separated from what precedes. Both 
 must have a common subject. Smite the shep- 
 herd. The poetical apostrophe to the sword 
 is here continued. Michaelis and others supposo 
 the address to be indefinite, because the noun is 
 feminine while the verb is masculine, but such an 
 enallage of gender is not uncommon in Hebrew. 
 See an early example in Gen. iv. 7. For the met- 
 aphor in the scattering of the sheep, see 1 Kings 
 xxii. 17. In our Lord's quotation, he uses the 
 LXX.,1 with the exception of the initial word, 
 which he resolves into a future, / vnll smite. This 
 only brings out more clearly what is the obvious 
 thought of the whole passage, — the direct agency of 
 Jehovah in the smiting. As the Apostle Peter said 
 on the day of Pentecost, that while the Jews had by 
 wicked hands crucified the Saviour, yet this was 
 done by the determinate counsel and ibreknowl- 
 edge of God. Our Lord Himself said to the man 
 who ordered the crucifixion. Thou couldest have 
 no power at all against me, except it were given 
 thee from above (John xix. 11). The sheep who 
 are scattered, are most naturally understood as 
 the flock which the shepherd had to feed (ch. xi. 4), 
 i. e., not the entire race of men on one hand, nor 
 merely the Christian Church on the other, but the 
 covenant nation, embracing both believing and un- 
 believing members. This is no hindrance to the 
 specific application of the words made by our Lord 
 in his quotation. The dispersion of the disciples 
 upon the occasion of Christ's arrest, was but one 
 fulfillment of this extensive statement, I will 
 bring back my hand. This phrase = to make a 
 person once more the object of one's active care, is 
 in itself indefinite, and may be used in a good 
 sense or a bad one. Here the former seems prefer- 
 able (as in Is. i. 25), as it indicates an exception 
 to the general rule, and this exception is made in 
 favor of the httle ones, who are apparently " the 
 wretched of the flock," in xi. 7, II, the poor and 
 pious portion of the nation. Hengstenberg in loc. 
 denies this, but does not seem to be consistent with 
 himself Indeed, the difference stated here between 
 the whole flock scattered and the little ones meici- 
 fully revisited, is simply what the two following 
 verses state in a more expanded form as a contrast 
 between a general uevastation of the whole body 
 and the fate of a small portion which is preserved 
 through the trial, and by means of it is refined, puri- 
 fied, and blessed. 
 
 Vers. 8, 9. These verses dilate the thought of 
 the previous verse in regard to the scattering of 
 
 andrinus, from which he differs only in the unimportanl 
 point mentioued iu the text. The Vat. and Sinait. Codi 
 read, jraTdiare tovs Troi/u.e'i'a? xal ciccrjroo'aTe ra irpoBarit 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 7-y. 
 
 IOL 
 
 the flock and the return of God's hand in mercy 
 to the little ones. 
 
 Ver. 9. In all the land = not the earth { Mark., 
 Kliefoth) but the land in which the Lord had un- 
 dertaken the office of a shepherd, and with which 
 the Prophet throuy;hout is chiefly concerned (xii. 
 12), the holy land (Hengstenberg, Ewald, Kohler) ; 
 yet not this in its literal sense, but as representing 
 the domain covered by the kingdom of God. The 
 prediction cannot be consistently interpreted as re- 
 ferring only to the national Israel. 
 
 The peculiar expression D~.3tt!'"'^2 =a mouth of 
 two, is taken from the Pentateuch (Deut. xxi. 17), 
 where it indicates the double portion inherited by 
 the first-born. In the same sense it is used by 
 Elisha (2 Kings ii. 9), where the younger prophet 
 by no means asked to have twice as much of the 
 Spirit as Elijah had, but to receive a first-born's 
 share in what he possessed, so that he might thus 
 become his acknowledged heir and successor. Here 
 the phrase evidently means two-thirds, since what 
 remains is called the third. Shall be cut off, shall 
 die. The latter verb removes any ambiguity lurk- 
 ing in the former, and shows that not only exile 
 but a literal death is intended. This frightful 
 sweep of judgment is paralleled by the words of 
 Ezek. V. 2-12, where the Lord predicts that a third 
 part shall perish by pestilence and famine, another 
 third by the sword, and the remaining third be 
 scattered to the winds, which of course, although 
 it is not so stated, might be recovered again. (Cf. 
 also the preservation of a tenth amid a general 
 overthrow in Is. vi. 13). 
 
 Ver. 9. Bring the third part into the fire. 
 The third part, although it will escape destruction, 
 does not do so on the ground of inherent righte- 
 ousness, but rather of grace. Its constituent parts 
 need a sore discipline, and it is not withheld. They 
 are refined and purified by processes as severe as 
 those to which the precious metals are subjected. 
 The metaphor is common in Scripture (Ps. Ix. 10 ; 
 Is. xlviii. 10 ; Jer. ix. 7 ; Mai. iii. 3. The Apos- 
 tle Peter (1 Pet. i. 6, 7) wrote, "wherein ye great- 
 ly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, 
 ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, 
 that the trial of your faith being much more pre- 
 cious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried 
 with fire, may be found unto praise and honor 
 and glory." But who constitute this third part ? 
 Some say, the entire race of the Jews during the 
 whole period of tbe present dispersion (C. B. 
 Michaelis, Kohler, et al.), but, as Hengstenberg 
 justly urges, in that case unbelieving Judaism 
 would be regarded as the sole and legitimate con- 
 tinuation of Israel, which is simply impossible. 
 The true application is to the entire kingdom of 
 God on earth, whether composed of Jews or of 
 Gentiles. True believers are precious in the Lord's 
 eyes as silver and gold, and He subjects them to 
 an intense and lengthened trial, but the design and 
 result is not to destroy but to refine. The attain- 
 ment of this result is well expressed by the con- 
 cluding words, showing the mutual intercourse 
 and confidence of the people and their Lord. They 
 call and He answers. He claims them for his peo- 
 ple, and they claim Him for their God. Everything 
 IS included under these comprehensive phrases (cf 
 viii. 8 ; Hosea ii. 25 ; Jer. xxiv. 7 ; xxx. 22). 
 
 Professor Cowles thus states the connection of 
 the verses : " The manifestation of Jesus Christ in 
 the flesh served to reveal the utter rottenness of 
 .he visible Jewish Church. When the Shepherd 
 •ras smitten, the mass of that Church went to 
 
 ruin ; only a few of the little ones were saved. Se 
 in the advanced ages of the Christian Church, cor- 
 ruption became again fL-arfuUy prevalent, and an- 
 other great sifting process became indispensable 
 before the era of the final conquest and triumph 
 of Christ's kingdom could open " (M. P., 368). 
 
 THEOLOGICAL ATW MORAL. 
 
 1. The salient point of the enrir-^ passage is th« 
 immediate agency of Jehovah of Hosts in the suf 
 fering and death of the Good Shepherd. We lose 
 sight of an ungrateful people, of their scornful re- 
 jection of the unspeakable gift, and of the spear 
 by which human hands pierce a royal benefactor, . 
 and are set face to face with a tragedy in whici 
 one divine person gives over another to a violent 
 death. A man, a real, veritable man is the sub- 
 ject of the infliction, but that man is the fellow of 
 Jehovah. The wondrous constitution of his per- 
 sonality, a divine nature wrapping around itself 
 our humanity in an indissoluble union, rendered 
 this possible." Its actual occurrence is the most 
 significant truth in Christian theology. The atone- 
 ment of the Lord Jesus Christ was in no sense an 
 act of will-worship, a device from without to ap- 
 pease the wrath of a Moloch sitting upon the 
 throne of the universe. On the contrary, it was 
 the expression of God's infinite wisdom and love, 
 the result of his own self-moved grace and com- 
 passion. As the record runs in the fore-front of 
 the Gospel, God so loved the world as to give hia 
 only begotten Son. And that Son said in proph- 
 ecy, " Lo, I come to do thy will, God " (Ps. xl. 
 7,8 ; Heb. x. 9, 10), and in his own person, " I lay 
 down my life ; this commandment have I received 
 of my Father" (John x. 17). It was then God 
 the supreme, God the judge, God whose law was 
 broken, who originated and carried through the 
 great sacrifice. And behind all the voluntary and 
 wicked actors in the scenes of the praatorium and 
 the Mount of Calvary stood Jehovah of Hosts, 
 saying. Awake, O sword. The Lord laid on him 
 the iniquity of us all. It pleased the Loed to 
 bruise Him. He put his soul to grief The Apos- 
 tle speaks of the love of Christ as that which pass- 
 eth knowledge ; but the same is equally true of 
 the eternal Father. " God only knows the love of 
 God." No human plummet is long enough to 
 sound the depths of that grace which led Jehovah 
 of Hosts to say of bis only-begotten, Smite the 
 shepherd. The Lord Jesus was his own Son, the 
 brightness of his glory and the very image of his 
 being, and therefore the object of infinite compla- 
 cency, dear to Him beyond all human expression 
 or conception, and yet He spared Him not, but 
 freely delivered Him up for us all. 
 
 2. The references of our Lord to this passage 
 bear mainly upon its statement concerning his fol- 
 lowers. In John (xvi. 32) we read, " Behold the 
 hour Cometh, yea is now come that ye shall be 
 scattered every man to his own, and shall leave 
 me alone." Matthew (xxvi. 31) gives a later and 
 fuller expression, " All ye shall be offended because 
 of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the 
 shepherd and the sheep of tbe flock shall be scat- 
 tered abroad." The prophecy was fulfilled, but 
 very far from being exhausted, in the dispersion 
 of the disciples when our Lord was arrested The 
 cause of the flight of the twelve was that their 
 f\iith was staggered and their confidence impaired 
 by such an untoward event So it has always 
 been. " The oflense of the cr ss " shows itself in 
 
lot) 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 tvery generation. The iirnominious death of the 
 Shepherd is a :ftumblin<;-bloek to the Hock. But 
 this does not continue in " the little ones," the 
 faithful few. They are recovered by the Lord's 
 own hand, and made to rejoice in that which once 
 was most offensive. Tliis is intimated by the 
 Saviour in the words which follow the quotation 
 in Matthew given above, " But after I am risen 
 again I will go before you into Galilee." This go- 
 ing before {irpod^(o) , is a pastoral act in which the 
 shepherd leads the way, and is followed by the 
 flock. Just as the Saviour gathered again those 
 who fled in fear on the night of the betrayal, so 
 does He still gather those who at first start back 
 from a near view of the cross. 
 
 They find that cross not only the conspicuous 
 badge of their profession but its characteristic feat- 
 ure. In a remarkable passage in the Gospel of 
 Matthew (xvi. 21-25), our Lord first foretells his 
 own sufferings at the hands of the elders and chief 
 priests and scribes, and then immediately proceeds 
 to set forth similar trials as the necessary result 
 of attachment to Him. His adherents must needs 
 take up their cross and follow Him even to Gol- 
 gotha. The motto of the Reformed in Holland — 
 the Church under the Cross — is true of all believers. 
 " All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suf- 
 fer persecution." " The friendship of the world 
 is enmity with God." " If ye were of the world, 
 the world would love its own, but because ye are 
 not of the world but I have chosen you out of the 
 world, therefore the world hateth you." " If they 
 have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." 
 Believers then are not to count it strange when a 
 tiery trial befalls them, as if it were a strange thing 
 (1 Pet. iv. 12). So far from being strange, it is a 
 normal procedure. God's people are to be " par- 
 takers of Christ's sufferings." In their case, as in 
 his, the cross precedes the crown. 
 
 When great providential calamities, such as war, 
 pestilence, famine, occur, they are not exempt. But 
 the stroke which overwhelms and destroys others, 
 is to them overruled for good. Bad trees are merci- 
 lessly rooted out, but the good are only " purged " 
 or pruned. The spurious, reprobate metal is cast 
 away, but the genuine article comes out of the fur- 
 nace purified and ennobled. It was needful for 
 them to go through the process. The holiest of 
 mere men is improved by passing through the fire. 
 A high encomium was pronounced upon Job be- 
 fore his afflictions, yet the issue of his unparalleled 
 Erobation taught him that he was vile, and laid 
 im in dust and ashes (xl. 4 ; xlii. 6). Sorrows 
 are one of the tokens of sonship ; to forget this is 
 to faint in the day of adversity. " The fellowship 
 of his sufferings" (Phil. iii. 10), the community of 
 shepherd and fiock in trials, is one of the blessed 
 mysteries of the Christian life. Believers drink 
 of Christ's cup and are baptized with his baptism. 
 Companionship in sorrow links them by closer ties 
 and brings them into tenderer communion than is 
 possible in any other way. And so the assimila- 
 tion proceeds rapidly from glory to glory. The 
 Buffering people are changed into the image of 
 their once suffering Lord, and they justly glory in 
 infirmities. 
 
 3. The summit of human felicity is described in 
 the mutual proprietorship which the Prophet, fol- 
 lowing his predecessors, ascribes to God and his 
 people. On the one hand, Jehovah says. It is my 
 people. The foundation passage on this point is 
 given in Ex. xiv. 5 : "Ye shall be a peculiar treas- 
 ure unto me above all peoples; for all the earth 
 is mine." The whole earth is the Lord's, and all 
 
 nations belong to Him as Creator and Preserver 
 
 but He has been pleased to choose one to stand t( 
 Him in a particular and most endearing relation. 
 
 Israel is his H ■- VD, set apart and distingi jshed 
 from all others as a possession of peculiar ralue. 
 Cf. Deut. vii. 6 ; xiv. 2 ; xxvi. 18; Ps. cxxxv. 4, 
 Mai. iii. 17. Language of the same tenor is aj)- 
 plied in the New Testament to the Christian Is- 
 rael ; "a purchased possession" (Eph. i. 14), "a 
 peculiar people " (Titus ii. 14 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9). JB>om 
 the mass of fallen men, Jehovah chooses an in- 
 numerable nmltitude whom He condescends to call 
 his portion or inheritance. On them He lavishes 
 the riches of his grace, and in them He reveals his 
 glory to the admiration of all holy intelligences. 
 And they are fitted to this high destiny, being con- 
 formed to the image of their Lord, and obedient 
 to his will. As such He spares them in times of 
 trial as a man spareth his own son that serveth 
 him (Mai. iii. 17), has "his delights" with them 
 (Prov. viii. 31), and rejoices over them with the 
 joy of a bridegroom over his bride (Is. Ixii. 5). 
 
 On the other hand, the people say, Jehovah is 
 my God. Not only do they acknowledge Him as 
 divine and profess his worship in distinction from 
 heathen or infidels, but they recognize Him as 
 their infinite portion. The knowledge of Him is 
 the best of all knowledges, and his service is the 
 highest form of enjoyment. His favor is life, his 
 loving-kindness better than life. His perfections 
 are a sure pledge of their safety, blessedness, and 
 glory. His gifts are many and precious, but He 
 himself is better than them all, and the intimate 
 and sacred communion his people are permitted to 
 hold with Him fills the measure of their happiness. 
 Even under the shadows of the Old Testament 
 they found their supreme delight here. O God, 
 thou art my God, my soul thirsteth for Thee, my 
 flesh longeth for Thee (Ps. Ixiii. 1). Whom have I 
 in heaven but Thee "? and there is none upon earth 
 that I desire besides Thee (Ps. Ixxiii. 25). 
 
 This thought is applied by Augustine {Civ. Dei, 
 xxii. 20) to the future home of the spirits of the 
 just. " The reward of righteousness will be He 
 who Himself imparted righteousness, and who 
 promises Himself than whom there can be no gift 
 better or greater. For what else has He said by 
 his Prophet, ' I will be to them a God, and they 
 shall be to me a people ; ' what else but this : ' I 
 will be that wherein they shall be satisfied ; I will 
 be all things that men righteously desire ; life and 
 health, and food and abundance, glory and honor, 
 and peace and all things ■? ' For so do we rightly 
 understand also what the Apostle says, That God 
 may be all in all. He will be the end of all our de- 
 sires, who will Himself be seen without end, will 
 be loved without satiety, will be praised without 
 weariness. This affection, this business, this func- 
 tion of our being will be common to us all, like 
 life everlasting itself." 
 
 HOMILEIICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Moore : Ver. 7. Awake, sword, etc. How 
 fearful an evil is sin when it could call forth the 
 sword against God's own coequal and well-beloved 
 Son ! The death of Christ was the judicial sen- 
 tence of God against sin, the endurance of the 
 penalty of thq law, and therefore, strictly vicari- 
 ous and propitiatory. No human merit can min- 
 gle with the infinite merit of the wcrk of Christ 
 for He trod the "'ine-press alone. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 107 
 
 Ralph Erskine : Awak-e, sword, etc. This | and the chaff are cast into the fire, hut without 
 text, sirs, is a very wonderful one, as ever a poor, any benefit, for they are wholly consumed. But 
 liortal man preached upon. For in it there is a when gold and silver are put in the fire, it is that 
 
 lloud, a black cloud, a cloud of divine wrath and 
 vengeance, the cloud of Christ's bloody passion 
 which we are to celebrate the memorials of this 
 day; but like the cloud that led Israel in the wil- 
 derness, though it had a black side toward Christ, 
 yet it has a bright and light side toward all the 
 Israel of God ; for this cloud of blood distills in a 
 sweet shower of blessings unto poor sinners ; there 
 is a light in this cloud wherein we may see God in 
 Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. 
 Calvin : WiU refine them, etc. The stubble 
 
 reater purity may be produced, and what is pre- 
 cious be made more apparent. Do any ask whether 
 God can by his Spirit alone draw the elect to re- 
 ligion, and if so, why this fire of affliction is neces- 
 sary 1 The answer is, that the Prophet speaks not 
 of what God can do but of what He will do, and 
 we ought not to dispute on the subject but be sat- 
 isfied with what He has appointed. Though chas- 
 tisement is hard while we are undergoing it, yet 
 we should estimate it by its result, the peaceable 
 fruits of righteousness (Heb. xii. 11). 
 
 6. FINAL CONFLICT AND TRIUMPH OF GOD'S KINGDOM. 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 A great and at first successful Assault is made upon the Holy City (vers. 1, 2). B. Then God tniraeU' 
 lously interposes, grants Escape, and after a mingled Condition of Things gives a final and glorious Deliver- 
 ance (vers. 3-7). C. A Stream of Salvation pours over the whole Land (xers. 8-1 1 ). D. The Enemim 
 arediastised (vers. 12-15). E. The Remnant of Them turn to the Lord (vers. 16-19). F. Jem- 
 mdem becomes thoroughly Holy (vers. 20, 21). 
 
 1 Behold, a day cometh to Jehovah,^ 
 
 And thy spoil is divided in the midst of thee. 
 
 2 And I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to battle ; 
 And the city shall be taken and the houses ^ rifled, 
 
 And the women shall be ravished ; ^ 
 
 And half the city shall go forth into captivity, 
 
 And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the <ri^ 
 
 3 And Jehovah shall go forth and fight against those nations, 
 As in * his day of battle, in the day of conflict. 
 
 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives 
 Which is before Jerusalem on the east ; 
 
 And the Mount of Olives shall be split in the centre 
 Eastward and westward, a very great valley,* 
 And half of the mountain shall recede towards the Borth) 
 And its (other) half toward the south. 
 
 5 And ye shall flee ^ to the valley of my mountains,' 
 For the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal, 
 And ye shall flee as ye fled before the earthquake, 
 
 In the days of Uzziah the king of Judah ; 
 And Jehovah my God shall come, 
 All the saints with thee ! ^ 
 
 6 And it shall come to pass in that day. 
 
 It will not be light, the glorious ® will withdraw themselTei* 
 
 7 And the day shall be one. 
 
 It shall be known to Jehovah, 
 
 Not day and not night. 
 
 And at evening time there shall be light. 
 
 8 And it shall be in that day, 
 
 Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, 
 Half of them to the eastern ^^ sea, 
 And half of them to the western sea, 
 In summer and in winter shall it be. 
 
 9 And Jehovah shall be king over all the land ; 
 
 In that day Jehovah shall be one " and his name one. 
 
108 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 10 All the land shall be changed like the plain 
 From Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem, 
 And she shall be high,'^ and dwell in her place 
 From Benjamin's gate to the place of the first gate, 
 To the corner gate. 
 
 And from the tower of Hananeel to the king's wine-presses. 
 
 11 Ajid they shall dwell in her. 
 
 And there shall be no more curse,'^ 
 And Jerusalem shall sit secure.'* 
 
 12 And this shall be the plague 
 
 With which Jeho\ah will smite all the peoples '* 
 
 Who have fought against Jerusalem ; 
 
 His "^ flesh shall consume awaj while he stands upon his feet, 
 
 And his eyes shall consume away in their sockets. 
 
 And his tongue shall consume away in their mouth. 
 
 13 Ajid it shall be in that day that 
 
 There shall be among them a great confusion '"^ from Jehovah, 
 
 And they shall seize each his neighbor's hand. 
 
 And his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor; 
 
 14 And Judah also .shall fight at "* Jerusalem, 
 
 And the riches of all the nations around shall be gathere(l. 
 Gold and silver and apparel in great abundance. 
 
 15 Ajid so '^ shall be the plague of the horse, 
 Of th« mule, of the camel, and of the ass, 
 
 And of all the cattle that shall be in th'ese camps, 
 Even as this plague. 
 
 16 And it shall be that 
 
 All that is left of the nations which came against Jerusalem 
 
 Shall ^° go up from ^^ year to year 
 
 To worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, 
 
 And to keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 
 17 And it shall be that whoso of the ^ families of the earth 
 Shall not go up to Jerusalem 
 
 To worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts, 
 Upon them there shall be no rain. 
 
 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up and come not, 
 Upon ^ them there shall be none, 
 
 [Upon them] shall be the plague 
 
 With which Jehovah shall plague the nations 
 
 Which go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 
 19 This shall be the sin "^^ of Egypt, 
 And the sin of all the nations 
 
 Which go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 
 
 20 In that day there shall be on the bells ^ of the horses. 
 Holiness to Jehovah, 
 
 And the pots in the house of Jehovah 
 Shall be as the bowls before the altar. 
 
 21 And every })ot in Jerusalem and in Judah 
 Shall be holiness to Jehovah of Hosts. 
 And all who sacrifice shall come 
 
 And take of tliem and sacrifice therein. 
 
 And there shall no more be a Canaanite * 
 
 In the house of Jehovah of Hosts in that day. 
 
 TEXTUAL AND QRAMMATICAl,. 
 
 1 Ver. 1 nin^^ IB to be connectod with Cil = Jeliovah's da>. See Exee. and Cvl* 
 T I - 
 
 I V«r. 3 - C^i^lSn. The Muaach stauds here in place of Metheg, to show that th' »owel IB luti^ 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 109 
 
 • V«r. 2. — n37!lI5'Fl, The Keri substitutes for this word, here as elsewhere (Deut. xxTiii. 30, etc.)t th« wort 
 33t& — a Teiy needless euphemism. 
 4 Ver 3 - D'1"^3. The preposition is to be supplied from the next clause. 
 6 Ver. 4. — S"^5 is not a cas. construe, of S^D (Ewald, Green), but an absolute form of the same noun (Fiint). 
 
 6 Ver. 5 — In place of 01^03 several MSS. read Dnp3, which is the reading followed by LXX. Aq., Sjm^ 
 Targ. , Arab., the first of which renders eij.<f)ftax6io<rerai., shall be stopped vp. This is adopted by Fliigge, Dathe, Blayneji 
 mad Boothroyd ; but the sense is so inept that some modern critics retuse even to notice it. 
 
 7 Ver. 6. — ''"^n is not a simple plural, but has the suffix of the first person. 
 
 8 Ver. 5. — Instead of Tfl227 many MSS. and all the old versions read iS17, but the former is to be preferred, both 
 •s the more difficult reading and as more vivid and expressive. 
 
 9 Ver. 6. — Henderson claims a preponderance of MSS. autUority for the Keri 5^1 over the Kethib 'D3'' and the 
 
 T ' • : T ; •' 
 
 ancient versions all favor it, yet exegetical necessity compels one to adopt the latter. So Hengstenberg, Hoffinann, Klief- 
 oth, Kohler, Keil, Pressel, Dr. Van Dyck in new AraJi. Bible, Fiirst in his new German Version, etc. 
 
 10 Ver. 8. — ^2i^7j7n. The E. V. " former " is misleading. The Genevan gives " east " which is correct. The 
 Hebrews determined the points of the compass by looking to the east, and so what was before them was the east, and 
 what was "IflS = behind, was west. 
 
 11 Ver. 9. — Henderson objects to the rendering " Jehovah shall be one," that it makes " the passage teach either that 
 Jehovah was not one before, or that he will no longer be three or triune; " and he renders "Jehovah alone shall be." 
 But his scruples are idle. What is meant is the universal recognition of the divine unity and self-existence, and this il 
 obtained just as well by the ordinary rendering as by the one he suggests (cf. Deut. vi. 4). 
 
 12 Ver. 10 — This is the only place where the form CSn occurs ; in all other cases C^l is used. True, here 
 Fiirst takes rtttS"! for a proper noun, and renders, " like the plain of Jordan shall Jerusalem and Bamah be finiitfol 
 and inhabited" (Lex. siib. voc), but this wholly disregards the accents, and furnishes no equivalent, since the mention 
 of such an obscure place would be unmeaning. He himself in his new German Version returns to the old interpretation 
 
 18 Ver. 11. — DT^n. The E. V. "utter destruction," hardly expresses the force of this word, which means soota 
 destruction caused by a divine decree = curse (Mai. iv. 6). 
 
 14 Ver. 11. — n^!2 W^. Here, the strict rendering sit secure, is more vivid tlian the E. V., safely inhabited 
 
 15 Ver. 12. — D^^V = peoples, cf. on viii. 22. 
 
 16 Ver. 12. — His flesh, etc. The suffixes are all singular except in the case of the last noun, their mouth. Of eonxM 
 tbe meaning is " each one's " flesh, etc. 
 
 17 Ver. 18. — " Tumult " does not express the full sense of nJS-inXS = a panic terror or confiision (1 Sam. sly. 20). 
 
 t 
 
 18 Ver. 14. — "'"'2. The text of the E- V. is right, and the marginal reading against to be rcgected. See Exeg. and 
 Crit. 
 
 19 Ver. 15. — ^D here precedes its correlative D • elsewhere the order is just the reverse. 
 
 30 Ver. 16. — The construction is anacolonthic ; the subject standing absolutely at the beginning, whUe the predicati 
 Is appended with vav conver. ^7!S7i. 
 
 21 Ver. 16. — "*^Si is literally "Jrom the sufficiency of year to year," but expresses nothing more than the simola 
 preposition (cf. Is. Ix. 23). 
 
 22 Ver. 17. — The " all " supplied by the E. V. is quite superfluous. 
 
 28 Ver. 18. — Qn^737 S^l introduces the apodosis, and DttJSn is to be supplied from the preceding verse. 
 
 24 Ver. 19. — jHS^n (LXX. : ofiapTta, Vulg. : peccatum) should surely be rendered sin, however it may be ex 
 plained. Dr. Van Dyck, in the new Arabic Bible, conforms to the E. V., as does Fiirst in ills German Version. The 
 Dutch Bible has, de zonde ; Luther, Siinde. 
 
 25 Ver. 20. — Hw^P. LXX. : x<iAiVoi/ ; \\i\g., JrcBnum ; Luther, Rustung ; but the meaning in E. V., bells, ia 
 DOW established. Dr. Riggs gives a wordy paraphrase, tinkling bridle ornaments. 
 
 M Ver. 21. — ''^VSD. L^^- transfer the word. Vulg. translates, — mercator ; Fiirst Krdrrur. 
 
 CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL. 
 
 This concluding chapter of the Prophet has been 
 very variously interpreted. Calvin, Grotius, and 
 others supposed it to refer to the times of the Mac- 
 cabees, which for a variety of reasons is scarcely 
 possible. Marckius, followii g Cyril and Theod- 
 oret, applied its opening verses to the conquest of 
 Jerusalem by Titus, and with him agree Lowth, 
 Adam Clarke, and Henderson ; but the circum- 
 stances here stated do not correspond with the 
 facts of history, nor if they did, could the former 
 var: of the chapter be violently sundered from its 
 
 plain connection with the latter part. The " later 
 criticism" (Hitzig, Knobel, Maurer, Ewald, Ber- 
 theau, etc.), refer the passage to the period immedi- 
 ately preceding the Babylonish exile and the catas- 
 trophe then threatening Jerusalem ; and when re- 
 minded of the contrast between the prediction and 
 the facts, appeal to the ethical aim and conditional 
 nature of prophecy as fully accounting for this. 
 But even admitting their principle, it does not ap- 
 ply here, for this chapter has nothing to say of sin 
 and judgment, of repentance and conversion on 
 the part of the covenant people, but only of their 
 dreadful trials and glorious deliverance. Sucli a 
 prediction, addressed to Judah in the last decen- 
 
110 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 nium before the exile, could have exerted no 
 healthful influence, and certainly the glowing 
 Itatemcnts of the latter jiart of it have no counter- 
 part in any experience of the restored people. It 
 only remains then either with Wordsworth, Blay- 
 ney, Newcome, Moore, Cowles, etc., to refer it to a 
 period yet future, or with Hengstenberg, Keil, etc., 
 to suppose that it describes in general terms the 
 whole development of the Church of God from the 
 commencement of the Messianic era to its close. 
 In either case the chapter must be taken as figura- 
 tive and not literal. The cleaving of the Mount 
 of 01i\ es in two for the purpose of affording escape 
 to fiigitives from Jerusalem ; the flowing of two 
 perpetual streams from the holy city in opposite 
 directions ; the levelling of the whole land in order 
 to exalt the temple-mountain ; the yearly pilgrim- 
 age of all nations of the earth to Jerusalem ; and 
 the renewal of the old sacrifices of the Mosaic rit- 
 ual ; these are plainly symbolical statements, but 
 not therefore by any means unmeaning or useless. 
 The chapter does not stand alone in the Scriptures. 
 Parallels are to be found in Isaiah (Ixv., Ixvi.), 
 Ezekiel (xxxviii., xxxix.), and Daniel (xii.), as 
 well as in the closing book of the New Testament. 
 The Prophet begins with the account of an at- 
 tack made upon the holy city by all nations, who, 
 instead of being destroyed (like Gog and Magog 
 in Ezekiel) before getting possession of the holy 
 city, seize and plunder it and carry away half its 
 
 Jopulation, and then are met and thwarted by 
 ehovah, who provides escape for his people. This 
 feature of escape inclines one to regard the pas- 
 sage as an ideal picture of all the conflicts of the 
 Church with its foes. 
 
 (a.) Vers. 1,2. The Attack. Ver. 1. Behold, a 
 day Cometh, etc. A day to Jehovah = one belong- 
 ing to Him, appointed for the manifestation of his 
 power and glory (cf Is. ii. 12). The final result 
 makes this abundantly plain. Thy spoil, etc. 
 The Prophet addresses the city and says that her 
 booty, not (as T. V. Moore, following the Tar- 
 gum, strangely imagines) that which she takes, 
 but that which is taken from her, is leisurely di- 
 vided among the conquerors in the midst of the 
 city. The details implied in this general announce- 
 ment are stated in the next verse. 
 
 Ver. 2. And I will gather .... ravished. 
 Jehovah collected these nations just as He roused 
 Pharaoh to pursue Israel (Ex. xiv. 4), in the same 
 way and with the same result. The divine pur- 
 pose presides over all human wrath and wicked- 
 ness, and gains its ends, not only in spite, but 
 often by means, of them. The rifling of the houses 
 and dishonoring of the women are expressions 
 taken from Is. xiii. 16, where they are used in ref- 
 erence to Babylon. And half of the city, etc. 
 Only a part of the inhabitants are to be driven 
 into exile, the rest remain. It was different at 
 the Chaldajan conquest of Jerusalem, for then the 
 greater portion were carried away, and afterwards 
 even " the remnant that was left" (2 Kings xxv. 
 11). The verse cannot therefore refer to that sub- 
 jugation. Nor can it be applied to the overthrow 
 of the holy city by Titus, who neither had all na- 
 tions under his banner, nor left a half of the pop- 
 ulation in possession of their homes. 
 
 (b.) Vers. 3-7. The Deliverance. Ver. 3. Jeho- 
 vah goeth forth .... battle. God Himself goes 
 forth against these foes, and fights for his people 
 as He is accustomed to do in a day of battle. The 
 latter clause does not seem to refer particularly to 
 the conflict at the Red Sea (Jerome, Hengsten- 
 4>erg), but rathei to the Lord's general course, as 
 
 shown in many former instances (Keil, Kohler) 
 Josh. X. 14-42 ; xxiii. 3 ; Judg. iv. 15 ; 2 Chron 
 XX. 15. 
 
 Ver. 4. His feet stand .... south. The 
 situation of the Mount of Olives — which is be- 
 fore Jerusalem — is not added as a geographical 
 designation, which surely would be needless, but 
 to indicate its suitableness for the position of one 
 who intended to relieve the holy city. His feet 
 touch it, and the effect is that of an earthquake 
 (Ps. Ixviii. 8 ; Nah. i. 5). The mountain is split 
 through the middle latitudinally, so that the two 
 halves fall back from each other, one toward the 
 north, the other toward the south. The conse- 
 quence would be the formation of a very great 
 valley running east and west. To one fleeing 
 hastily from Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives pre- 
 sented an obstacle of no small importance, as it 
 did to David once (2 Sam. xv. 20) ; and hence the 
 provision here made for removing the difficulty. 
 
 Ver. 5. And ye shall flee .... Judah. The 
 people will flee into the valley of my mountains, 
 not the Tyropoeon (Jerome, etc.), but into the val- 
 ley produced by the two halves of Olivet, which 
 are properly called by Jehovah his, since He had 
 just given them their separate existence (so nearly 
 all critics). The reason why the fugitives should 
 flee thither is that this level opening extends to 
 Azal, which by almost all expositors, ancient and 
 modern, is considered a proper name denoting a 
 place near Jerusalem, but no trace of any such 
 place now exists. Hengstenberg identifies it with 
 the " Beth-Ezel" of Micah i. 11, and explains ita 
 meaning as= " standing still," " ceasing," so that 
 what .is promised is that the valley shall extend to 
 a place which in accordance with its name will 
 afford to the fugitives a cessation of danger. Koh- 
 ler follows Symm. and Jerome in rendering it ad 
 proximum, which he renders " to very near," i. e., 
 to the point where the fugitives actually are. It 
 seems simpler to suppose tliat the term refers to a 
 place east of Olivet, well known in the Prophet's 
 day, which by its position would show the valley 
 to be long enough to furnish all needful shelter 
 and escape for the fleeing people. The swiftness 
 of the flight is expressed by comparison to that 
 occasioned by the earthquake in the days of 
 Uzziah, which is referred to in Amos i. 1, but of 
 which we have no other information. Some think 
 that the fleeing arises from fear of being swallowed 
 up with their foes by the earthquake (Hengsten 
 ber, Keil) ; but it is more natural to refer it to 
 fear of their enemies. The added clause, and 
 Jehovah my God comes, etc., with the suffix of 
 the last word in the second person, indicates the 
 lively joy with which the Prophet hails the ap- 
 pearance of his God, so that as he sees in vision 
 the shining retinue of his saints, he passes from 
 indirect to direct address, and exclaims, all the 
 saints with thee ! The saints here, according to 
 the analogy of other passages (Deut. xxxiii. 2, 3 ; 
 Dan. vii. 9, 10 ; Matt. xxv. 31 ; Rev. xix. 14), are 
 the holy angels, and not (Vitringa) both holy an- 
 gels and holy men. 
 
 Ver. 6. And it shall be, etc. The former part 
 of this verse is very plain, but the last two words 
 are obscure. The Keri represents an early attempt 
 to escape the difficulty by altering the text, giving 
 
 "|iSQp1 instead of 'l"iW9I7% This was adopted by 
 the old versions, which, besides, either assumed 
 that n'l"1i5^ was synonymous with ninj?, soUl, 
 or maintained that the true reading was Hl'^i^^. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Then, rendering the former noun ice, they got the 
 lense, " It will not be light, but (there will be) 
 cold and ice" (Targum, Peshito, Syinin., Itala, 
 and so Luther). Some later critics ado]jting the 
 same text coordinate the three nouns, and bring 
 them all under the negation, thus, " There will not 
 be light and cold and ice," i. e., no alternation 
 of them (Ewald, Bunsen, Urabreit). But this is 
 a very poor sense, unsustained by any analogy in 
 Scripture, and without force in the connection. It 
 is far better to adhere to the Chethib, in which the 
 only grammaticiil difficulty is the combination of 
 a feminine noun with a verb having a nuisculine 
 Buffix, which surely is not insuperable in Hebrew. 
 
 n*l~lp^ means here as elsewhere precious things, 
 with the additional idea of splendor or brilliancy, 
 as in Job xxxi. 26, where the moon is said to walk 
 "ip^ = in brightness or magnificently. The men- 
 tion of light just before suggests the thought of 
 the stars or heavenly bodies in general, as what is 
 intended by the glorious things. The verb then 
 is taken in its primary sense, to be contracted (h. 
 to curdle, to congeal), here = withdraw them- 
 selves. The whole verse then indicates a day of 
 darkness. The lights of the earth will all disap- 
 pear. What the former clause states in plain 
 prose, the latter expresses more figuratively. 
 
 Ver. 7. And the day shall be one, etc. This 
 verse continues the description of the sorrowful 
 time just mentioned. The day shall be one in the 
 sense of solitary, unique, peculiar. See the Lexi- 
 cons. It is known to Jehovah, and by implica- 
 tion to no one else, in its true nature. Not day 
 and not night = not an admixture of both, but 
 neither, not a vvx^Vfiepov at all, because the lights 
 of heaven being put out, there are no means of 
 determining what is day and what night. The 
 whole order of nature is miraculously reversed. 
 The expression at evening time, etc., is the an- 
 tithesis of the declaration in Amos viii. 9, " I will 
 cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will bring 
 darkness upon the land in clear day." At the time 
 when according to the natural course of events 
 larkness should set in, a bright light dawns. 
 Some expositors compare with this verse Rev. 
 xxi. 23-25, but the two passages are radically dif- 
 ferent. It is true not only at the end of all things, 
 but at many a previous period in the history of 
 the Church, that at evening time it becomes light. 
 Some critics give the sense thus stated by Professor 
 Cowles, " There is a gradation through three dis- 
 tinct stages : first, utter darkness ; then, a dim 
 twilight, like that of an eclipse ; then, at the close, 
 when you mij^ht expect darkness soon to cover the 
 earth, lo, the effulgence of full and glorious day" 
 (M. P., 374). 
 
 (c.) Vers. 8-11. Blessings from Jerusalem dif- 
 fuse themselves over the whole land. 
 
 Ver. 8. Living waters shall, etc. A lively 
 image of the abundance and preciousness of spir- 
 itual blessings, as is evident from analogous Scrip- 
 tures and from the fact that here the water flows 
 in two opposite directions at once, and that it runs 
 not only in winter, but in summer, when usually 
 in Palestine the streams are altogether dry. These 
 waters come not from occasional rainfalls, but are 
 living, i. (?., proceed from perennial fountains, and 
 BO cover the whole land from the Dead Sea to the 
 Mediterranean with fertility and beauty. They 
 ssue from Jerusalem, the central point of the 
 kingdom of God under the Old Testament, and 
 ^eri^ therefore appropriately standing for the Chris- 
 
 tian Church, >vhich is that centre under the New 
 Testament. 
 
 Ver. 9. And Jehovah shall be king, etc. Most 
 expositors render " over all the earth," but the con- 
 nection before and after refers certainly to Pales- 
 tine, and there seems no reason for departing from 
 the usual rendering, and the less, inasmuch as be- 
 yond doubt Canaan here stands as a typf of the 
 kingdom of God in its fullest extent in this world. 
 Of course the meaning is that He will be king not 
 only potentiu or c/e jure, but actu ■'' de facto. In 
 this sense He shall be one, i. e., recognized as 
 such, and the same as to his name = outward 
 manifestation of his nature. Not only will gross 
 polytheism come to an end, but also that more re- 
 fined system which regards all forms of worship 
 as different but equally legitimate modes of wor- 
 shipping the one Divine Being. 
 
 Ver. 10. All the land .... wine-presses. 
 The whole land is to be leveled to a plain in order 
 that Jerusalem may be elevated, and then the holy 
 city is to be restored to its former grandeur. The 
 article is emphatic in the plain, which in Hebrew 
 always denotes the Arabah or Ghor, the largest 
 and most celebrated of all the plains of Judsea, 
 the great valley extending from Lebanon to the 
 farther side of the Dead Sea. Geba was on the 
 northern frontier of Judah (cf. 2 Kings xxiii. 8). 
 Rimmon, distinguished from two other Rimmons 
 on the north (Josh. xix. 13 ; Judg xx. 45), by the 
 added clause south of Jerusalem, was a city on 
 the border of Edom, given up by Judah to the 
 Simeonites (Josh. xv. 32; xix. 7). In conse- 
 quence of this depression of all the surrounding 
 country, Jerusalem becomes high. The capital 
 seated on her hills shines conspicuous as the only 
 elevation in a very wide region. Of course the 
 physical elevation thus miraculously caused is only 
 figurative of Jerusalem's spiritual exaltation. An 
 exact parallel is found in the repeated and remark- 
 able prediction of Isaiah (ii. 2) and Micah (iv. 1), 
 in wliich, however, no leveling takes place, but 
 the temple-mountain is so elevated that it over- 
 tops all the mountains of the earth. Professor 
 Cowles connects the plain closely with the two fol- 
 lowing words so as to get the sense " like the plain 
 from Geba to Rimmon ; " but there was no such 
 plain, — the whole territory between these points 
 being hilly in the extreme. The exaltation of 
 Jerusalem is followed by a complete recovery from 
 the ruin brought upon it by the capture and plun- 
 der mentioned in vers. 1, 2. The city shall dwell 
 
 n^/nnn =on its ancient site (cf. xii. 6), and have 
 its old boundaries. These, as they are given here, 
 cannot be determined with certainty. The last 
 
 clause, From the tower .... wine-presses (7^ 
 
 being supplied before 7"iT3^), is generally under- 
 stood to give the extent north and south, the tower 
 of Hanameel being at the northeast corner of the 
 city (Neh. iii. 1 ; xii. 39), and the wine-pressea 
 in the royal gardens at the south side (Neh. iii. 
 15). As to the former clauses, the starting-point 
 is Benjamin's gate, whence some suppose that the 
 line ran eastward lo the first gate, i. q., old gate, 
 (Neh. iii. 6), and westward to the corner gate (2 
 Kings xiv. 13), — the gate of Benjamin being on 
 this supposition in the middle of the northern wall 
 (Hengstenberg, Keil). Others with less probabil- 
 ity make the corner gate simply a more precise 
 definition of the place of the first gate (Hitzig, 
 Kliefbth). It is to be hoped that the toj ograph- 
 ical explorations at present in progress on the site 
 
112 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 of Jernsa em will shed sucli lig:ht upon the whole 
 lubject as will iimke plain what now can be only 
 conjecturally determined. Still, whatever may be 
 the precise force of terms here used, the general 
 sense is clear. The city shall have its former lim- 
 fts. 
 
 Ver. 1 1 . And they shall dwell .... secure. 
 Instead of going out either as captives or fugitives, 
 the inhabitants shall dwell securely and have no 
 reason to dread further hostile attacks (Is. Ixv. 
 13). The ground of this security is the exemption 
 from the curse, the dreadful ban which always fol- 
 lows sin (Josh. vi. 18) ; and the cessation of this 
 impliiis that the people are a holy nation. This 
 clause is used (Rev. xxii. 3) in the description of 
 the holy citj', the new Jerusalem. 
 
 (d.) Vers. 12-15. The destruction of the hostile 
 nations. The Prophet here pauses in his account 
 of the i)lessings destined for the purified Church, 
 to set forth more fully the punishment of the un- 
 godly. 
 
 Ver. 12. TMs will be the plague .... month- 
 
 ^^f5^ according to usage always denotes an in- 
 fliction from the hand of God. The stroke here 
 is the most terrible that can be conceived, — the 
 whole frame rotting away even while the man 
 stands upon his feet, i. e., is alive. To empha- 
 size still more the condition of these living corpses, 
 the Prophet adds the rotting of the eyes which 
 had spied out the nakedness of the city of God, 
 and of the tongue which had blasphemed God and 
 his people. The singular sufHxcs are of course to 
 be ^aken distributively. 
 
 Ver. 13. A great confusion from Jehovah. 
 Another means of destruction is civil discord. 
 The allusion appears to be to a panic terror caus- 
 ing such confusion that each turns his hand upon 
 the other. Instances occur in Israelitish history, 
 Judg. vii. 22; 1 Sam. xiv. 20 (and behold, every 
 man's sword against his neighbor, and there was a 
 
 very great np^nj? = confusion), 2 Chron. xx. 
 23. Seize the hand denotes a hostile grasp, and 
 the next clause graphically depicts the effort of the 
 assailant to give a home thrust. 
 
 Ver. 14. And Judah also shall fight at Jeru- 
 salem, etc. An old and widely accepted view trans- 
 lates the final words of the first clause, " against 
 Jerusalem " (Targum, Jerome, Kimchi, Luther, 
 Calvin, Cocceius, and most of the moderns). But 
 this is so flatly against the context, that it must be 
 
 rejected, even though it be admitted that ? after 
 
 Dn73 usually points out the object of attack. In 
 one case at least (Ex. xvii. 8), the preposition has 
 a local sense, and this is true also of Is. xxx. 32, 
 according to Ewald's explanation of the Kethib in 
 that passage. We therefore understand the clause 
 as teaching that Judah = the whole covenant peo- 
 
 Sle, will take jjart in the conflict and carry it on at 
 erusalem (LXX., Markius, Hengstenberg, Klei- 
 fotb, Keil, Kohler). The consequence of this will be 
 the overthrow of the foes and the capture of all 
 their costly possessions. AppareL As fashions in 
 the East did not and do not change as they do 
 with us, garments of all kinds were kept in great 
 number, and constituted a large part of oriental 
 tvealth (Job xxvii. 16, Matt. vi. 19, Jas. v. 2). 
 
 Vet. 15. And so ... . the plague of the 
 horse, etc. This verse amplifies the crime and 
 punishment, since it shows th^ guilt of these foes 
 ;o l>e such that even their possessions are overtaken 
 )v the divine curse. The case is illustrated by the 
 
 example of Achan, whose oxen and si eep t.nd 
 asses were bu.-ned, along with himself and his chil 
 dren (Josh. vii. 24). 
 
 (e.) Vers. 16-19. The remnant of the heathen 
 shall be converted. 
 
 Ver. 16. All that is left .... tabernacles 
 The prophet states, with an evident allusion to Is 
 Ixvi. 23, that those of the heathen who are not 
 destroyed will all go up yearly to the sanctuary of 
 Jehovah to observe one of the great feasts. This, 
 of course, is figurative, as the most intrepid liter- 
 alist will scarcely maintain that all nations could 
 by any possibility accomplish such a feat. Hen- 
 derson seeks to avoid the difficulty by supposing 
 that they will go up in the person of their repre- 
 sentatives. But even this ingenious device fail? 
 to meet the terms used by Isaiah, /. c, where all 
 flesh is said to come every Sabbath and ever}' new 
 moon. The verse is simply a striking method of 
 depicting the entrance of the heathen into the 
 kingdom of God. Why is the feast of taber- 
 nacles specified ? Not because it occurred in 
 autumn, which is the best season of the year for 
 travelling (Theodoret, Grotius, Rosenmiiller) ; nor 
 because this feast was the holiest and most joyful 
 (Koster, V. Ortenburg, Pressel) ; nor because of 
 its relation to the ingathering of the harvest (Koh- 
 ler) ; nor because such a festival could be observed 
 without any compromise of the principles of the New 
 Dispensation (Henderson) ; but rather in view of 
 its interesting historical relations (Dachs, C. B. 
 Michaelis, Hengstenberg). It was a feast of thanks- 
 giving for the gracious protection afforded by the 
 Lord during the pilgrimage of his people through 
 the desert, and for their introduction into the bless- 
 ings of the land of Canaan. In like manner the 
 nations will celebrate the goodness which has 
 brought them through their tedious and perilous 
 wanderings in this life to the true and everlasting 
 kingdom of peace and rest. Carrying out this fig 
 urative representation, the prophet adds a penalty 
 to be inflicted upon all absentees. 
 
 Ver. 17. Whoso of the families .... no rain. 
 Rain seems to be mentioned as one of the principal 
 blessings of God, that by which the fruitfulness is 
 produced which occasions the joy of the harvest. 
 It therefore appropriately stands here to represent 
 the whole class of providential favors. Compare 
 the notes on x. 1. It shall be withheld from those 
 who fail to fulfill their duties to Him. See a sim- 
 ilar threat, upon Israel, in Deut. xi. 16, 17. Pressel 
 calls attention to the fine use of the word family 
 in this verse in connection with Jehovah as king, 
 indicating that then the various nations of the 
 earth shall be considered as so many families of the 
 one people of God. 
 
 Ver. 18. And if the family of Egypt go not 
 up, etc. The menace of the preceding verse is re- 
 peated with especial application to Egypt. Many 
 have sought the reason of this particular specifica- 
 tion in the natural peculiarities of Egypt, which, 
 being indebted for its fertility not to rain but to the 
 Nile, might seem to be exempt from the threatened 
 drought. But surely, apart from otl er considera- 
 tions, this has no force nor applicati( n, when it is 
 remembered that even the Nile is de;endent upon 
 rains at its source. It is far more natui al to attrib- 
 ute the mention of Egypt to its historical relations 
 to Israel as their hereditary foe. The old enemy 
 of the Church shall either join the procession Zion 
 ward, or else feel the retributive curse. 
 
 Ver. 19. This shall be the sin of £gypi 
 " This," namely, that no raiu falls m them. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 iiy 
 
 Hence many adopt the version of nSISH in the 
 English B\h\e, punishment (Targum, Calvin, Hen- 
 derson), and appeal to Lam. iii. 38, iv. 6, Is. xl. 2. 
 But it is at least doubtful if the word ever has this 
 »ense (see on Lam. iv. 6), and afcordiniily the diffi- 
 culty is avoided by takiuj; it ^ sin, including: its 
 consequences ( Henj^stenberg, Keil, KiJhler). The 
 inseparable connection between sin and punishment 
 is wellex|)ressed in Num. xxxii. 23. The foregoing 
 passage does not require us to believe that at the 
 period spoken of there will still be godless heathen 
 who refuse to acknowledge and worship Jehovah. 
 It may be simply a rhetorical enforcement of the 
 thought that all ungodliness will then entirely 
 ceaje. 
 
 (f.) Vers. 20, 2L Jerusalem becomes thoroughly 
 holy. 
 
 Ver. 20. There shall be on the bells . . . . 
 
 altar. H'i ' -*Pi variously rendered by ancient au- 
 thorities, is now acknowledged to mean bells, which 
 were suspended from horses and mules for the sake 
 of ornament. The phrase inscribed upon these. 
 Holiness to Jehovah, is that which was engraved 
 upon the diadem of the high priest (Ex. xxviii. 
 36). This does not mean that these bells should 
 be employed for religious worship, or used to make 
 sacred vessels ("Jewish Critics, Cyril, Grotius) ; nor 
 that the horses and other means of warfere should 
 be consecrated to the Lord (C. B. Michaelis, Hit- 
 »ig, Ewaki, Maurer) ; but that the distinction be- 
 tween sacred and profane should cease (Calvin, 
 Hengstenberg, Keil, etc.). Even the smallest out- 
 ward things, such as have no connection with wor- 
 ship, will be as holy as those which formerly were 
 dedicated by a special consecration to Jehovah. 
 Of course this involves the cessation of the Levit- 
 ical Economy. An advance upon this thought is 
 contained in the second clause. Not only shall 
 everything profane become holy, but the different 
 degrees of holiness shall cease. The pots used for 
 boiling the sacrificial flesh shall be just as holy as 
 the sacred bowls which received the blood of the 
 j)iacular victims. The two kinds of utensils stood 
 at opposite points of the scale of sanctity ; to put 
 them on the same level was to say that all would 
 not only be holy, but alike holy. Calvin on this 
 passage cites with ridicule the opinion of Theod- 
 oret, that the former part of the verse was fulfilled 
 when Helena, the mother of Constantine, adorned 
 the trap])ings of a horse with a nail of the cross ! 
 Such trifling was too much even for Jerome. 
 
 Ver. 21. And every pot .... in that day. 
 Here the thought is carried yet farther. Not only 
 shall the temple-pots be equal to sacrificial bowls, 
 but every common pot in the city and throughout 
 the land, will become as sacred as the utensils of 
 the temple, and be freely used by all for sacrificial 
 purposes. The substance of the thought is the 
 same, only more emphatic. This now is repeated 
 in the closing words, — no more a Canaanite in 
 
 the house of Jehovah. ^^V..? does not mean a 
 merchant, as in Job xl. 6, Prov. xxxi. 24 (Targum, 
 Aquila, Jerome, Grotius, Bunsen, Hitzig), for there 
 are no indications that traders in Old Testament 
 times frequented the holy courts for traffic ; nor 
 literal Canaanites by birth, such as Gibeonites and 
 Nethinim, who were employed in the lower func- 
 tions of the temple-service (Drusius, V. Hoffman, 
 Kliefoth), for these classes lost none of theiv former 
 esteem after the restoration ; but the term is used 
 as an emblematic designation of godless members 
 of the covenant nation. Canaan was cursed among 
 
 Noah's children, and his descendants were undei 
 the ban (Deut. vii. 2, xx. 16, 17). To say that 
 these should no more be found in the Lord's house, 
 is simply to say that all its frequenters should be 
 righteous and holy. Professor Cowles says, " Ca- 
 naanite was the common Hebrew word for trafFck- 
 er, merchant, — a business in bad repute among th3 
 Hebrews because so much associated with fraud 
 and deceit. See Hos. xii. 7, 8." I am quite un- 
 willing to believe that the voice of inspiration put 
 such a stigma upon a necessary and honorable oc- 
 cupation as this explanation implies. Besides, to 
 say that the love of hi thy lucre shall no more pol- 
 lute the sanctuary, is far less than to say that no 
 form of sin of whatever kind shall be found there. 
 Further, such a view is excluded by the obvious 
 analogy between these two closing verses of Zech- 
 ariah and the statements in the concluding pas- 
 sages of the Apocalypse, where it is plain that 
 universal holiness is promised as the characteristic 
 feature of the kingdom of God in its final consum- 
 mation. 
 
 THBOLOGICAL AND MORAL 
 
 1 . As this chapter is by most sound interpreters 
 admitted to be either as yet wholly unfulfilled, or 
 else an ideal sketch of the experiences of centuries 
 extending from the beginning to the end of the 
 Christian dispensation, there is, of course, consid- 
 erable vagueness in the view taken of its details. 
 This, however, is no valid objection to its place in 
 the canon. Prophecy was never intended to be 
 simply history written in advance. Had it been 
 such, its own ends would have been defeated. Its 
 obscurity prior to fulfillment is a sure evidence of 
 its genuineness. But the broad outlines which defy 
 literal explanation, yet serve to indicate great prin- 
 ciples, to disclose the springs of God's moral gov- 
 ernment, and to furnish useful hints for the guid- 
 ance of his people, warning them against undue 
 expectations and yet furnishing a sure basis for a 
 reasonable and holy hope. Pictures of siege, as- 
 sault, capture, plunder, and exile, as sure to occur 
 in the future, forbid the least intelligent reader from 
 forgetting that he belongs to the Church JMilitant, 
 or from expecting a calm, steady, peaceful, equable 
 advance of Zion to its destined prevalence over the 
 earth. On the contrary, they show that trials of 
 faith and patience must be encountered ; that at 
 times the whole outlook will be dark and discour- 
 aging ; that Satan, like his angels of old in the case 
 of the demoniacs, will fearfully convulse and rend 
 the body from which he is doomed to be driven out. 
 Such suggestions, therefore, however vaguely they 
 may be e.xpreosed, furnish to believers real support 
 in the season when the enemies of the truth seem 
 to triumph, by reminding them that just this en- 
 tered into God's providential purpose. On the 
 other hand, the same prophecy shows the silver 
 lining of the cloud, shows that the check of the true 
 cause is only temporary. The brilliant representa- 
 tions of future and final triumph console and up- 
 hold in the greatest " fight of afflictions." And be- 
 lievers fall back upon the assurance of the Psalm- 
 ist, " When the wicked spring as the grass and all 
 the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they 
 shall be destroyed forever" (xcii. 7). 
 
 2. At evening time there shall be light. This has 
 come to be a watchword of the Church. The cor- 
 responding proverb of the world, " the darkest 
 hour is just before day," has been questioned, both 
 in its literal and its figurative aspects, and perhapf 
 justly. But there is no question of the d'oth of 
 
114 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 Fiechariah's assertioTi. It is God's way to test the 
 faith and patience of his people, to surround them 
 with difficulties, to hedue up their way on every 
 hand until they see and feel their own helplessness 
 and dependence, and then He interposes in a sio^nal 
 manner. In the great trial of Abraliani, when called 
 to oH'er Isaac for a burnt-offeriui;, the preparations 
 had reached the last point, and the patriarcli's arm 
 was uplifted to strike the fatal blow, when the voice 
 from heaven stayed his hand, and the believer 
 gratefully exclaimed, "Jehovah Jireh = The Lord 
 will provide." The experience of Abraham's de- 
 scendants in Egypt led to the proverbial saying 
 which the Rabbins have preserved for us_ " When 
 the straw fails, then comes Moses," or as the mod- 
 ern phrase is, " Man's extremity is God's opportu- 
 nity." When Lazarus was sick our Lord was in- 
 f(jrmed of the fact in ample time to proceed to his 
 bedside and arrest the disease, as He Rad often done 
 in other cases, but He deliberately remained away 
 on the other side of Jordan, and came to Bethany 
 only when the grave had held its victim for days. 
 This was not through coldness or carelessness, but, 
 as He said, for the glory of God (John xi. 4, 40), 
 in order that a miracle so transcendent might con- 
 firm the faith of his disciples and intensify yet 
 more the love and joy of the sisters in their brother 
 whom they received back from the tomb. And so 
 in all cases, whether of individuals or communi- 
 ties, faith is sustained by the assurance that a day 
 of clouds and gloom cannot last forever, that a 
 change will occur just so soon as the purposes of 
 the visitation are accomplished, and that it will 
 come just when, according to the natural course 
 of things, a starless night is about to set in. Earn- 
 est prayer was made by the Church for the impris- 
 oned Fetor (Acts xii. 5), but it was not until the 
 very night before the day appointed for his execu- 
 tion that the angel of the Lord delivered him from 
 his guards and fetters. 
 
 3. Water is a natural image of spiritual bless- 
 ings, and especially of the chiefest of them all, — 
 the influences of the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist 
 speaks of a river whose streams make glad the city 
 of God (xlvi. 4); Joel declares a fountain shall 
 come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water 
 thevalley of Shittim (iii. 18) ; Isaiah promises, "I 
 will pour floods upon the dry ground : I will pour 
 my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon 
 thine offspring " (xliv. 3) ; but Ezekiel (xlvii. 1-12) 
 furnishes a most striking parallel to Zechariah's 
 prediction. He saw water issuing from under the 
 sanctuary, an ever widening, deepening stream, 
 which swept through the desert bearing fertility in 
 its course, until it reached the Sea of Sodom, the 
 standing symbol of desolation and death, and 
 healed its stagnant waters, filling them with animal 
 life and covering its banks with trees whose fruit 
 was food and their leaves medicine. Our proph(;t 
 sees living streams which issue in different direc- 
 tions from Jerusalem, and reach to either sea, east 
 and west ; and as they flow without intermission, 
 winter and summer, they make the land a terres- 
 trial Paradise with undying verdure and perpetual 
 abundance. No one of these figurative descriptions, 
 however large and varied, is overwrought or ex- 
 travagant. They rather fall short of the reality. 
 The blessed Spirit is the author of all the holiness 
 in the world. He indeed uses means. The proph- 
 ecies put Him in close connection with Jerusalem 
 i.nd the Temple. But the means (le))end ujjon 
 Him, just as the bestappointed shij) makes no prog- 
 ress without a breeze. The Apostles were not al- 
 owed to engage in their work until the Spirit was 
 
 poured out from on high, but when the effusioi 
 was felt, the feeblest of them spake as with a 
 tongue of fire. The grand feature of the latter day 
 is copious and continuous effusions of such grace, 
 — no longer intermittent, or scanty, or of small 
 extent, but radiating in all directions at once, per- 
 manently filling every channel, and limited only by 
 the wants of the race. Wherever these living 
 streams reach, the barren soil of nature is fertil- 
 ized and the dead live again. Quickly but surely, 
 with the same noiseless energy with which the 
 great providential forces work, these spiritual agen 
 cies perform their office of reconstructing human 
 society and changing the face of the world 
 
 4. The consequence of such streams of blessmg 
 is a degree of consecration never seen before. The 
 form in which the universal prevalence of holiness 
 is expressed, is noteworthy. Men are not to be- 
 come monks or anchorites, the ordinary conditions 
 of human life are not to be reversed ; but on the 
 contrary the infusion of grace will be so large and 
 general that every rank and class will feel if, and 
 its effects will be seen in all the relations of life, 
 purifying and elevating without upturning or de- 
 stroying. In business, in recreation, in politics, 
 in art, in literature, in social life, in the domestic 
 circle, there will be a distinct and cordial recog- 
 nition of the claims of God and of the supremacy 
 of his law. There will be no divorce anywhere 
 between religion and morality, no demand that 
 any department of human activity shall be deemed 
 beyond the domain of conscience. When even the 
 bells on the horses bear the same sacred inscription 
 which once flashed from the diadem of the High 
 Priest, nothing can be found too small or too fa- 
 miliar to be consecrated to the Lord. The religious 
 spirit will prevail everywhere, securing justice, 
 truth, kindness, and courtesy among men ; doing 
 away with wars, contentions, jealousies, and com- 
 petitions ; hallowing trades and handicrafts ; soft- 
 ening the inevitable contrasts of ranks, gifts, and 
 conditions ; binding men to one another by their 
 devotion to a common master in heaven ; and thus 
 introducing the true city of God on earth for which 
 all saints long with an ever increasing desire. The 
 idea of such a commonwealth originated in the 
 Scriptures, and it can be realized only in the way 
 they point out. All schemes of political, social, or 
 even moral reform, apart from the principles of the 
 Word, are the merest chimeras. They are impos- 
 sible of accomplishment, and if accomplished, 
 would disappoint their projectors. True religion, 
 restoring the Lord to his rightful place in human 
 thought and action, alone furnishes the sanction, 
 the authority, and the power by which men become 
 what they ought to be to themselves, to each other, 
 and to the community. The last Canaanite will 
 perish from the earth, and the people shall be all 
 righteous, when the earth is filled with the knowl- 
 edge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover 
 the sea. 
 
 HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 
 
 Bbadlet : Vers. 6, 7. I. Mixed condition of 
 
 the righteous in this world ; in respect to their 
 knowledge, their outward circumstances, their in- 
 ward comforts, their wavering holiness. II. God's 
 wisdom in allowing it ; to subdue their corrup- 
 tions, to exercise their graces, to bring them to d» 
 pendence on Himself. III. Our consolation undei 
 it ; God notices it, the mixed events work together 
 for good, the scene is short. IV. The happy termi 
 nation of all ; in a state of unmingled good, in as 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 115 
 
 anexpected hoar. Finally, Arc we the people con- 
 cerned in it ? 
 
 Hengstenuerg : Vers. 1 1 . Ctirse. All the 
 dreadful thin<rs th.it can possibly be thought of are 
 included in this one wonl. 
 
 Calvi.v : Ver. 12. The habitation of the godly 
 is secure, not because they dread no attacks of 
 foes, but because they firmly believe that they will 
 be preserved b\' a power from above, even though 
 the devil excites the peoples on all sides to contrive 
 their rain. 
 
 Payson: Vers. 20, 21. I. All common duties 
 will be performed as seriously as solemn worship. 
 II. Every building will be a house of God. III. 
 Every day will be like a Sabbath. IV. Every 
 meal will be what the Lord's Supper is now. V. 
 Yet the distinctions which now prevail will be ob» 
 served. VI. There will be no insincere worship- 
 pers. Infer (1.) How wretchedly we now live. (2.1 
 See whether we have any religion or not. (3.) 
 Learn what pursuits and pleasures are pleasing t« 
 God. 
 
Date Due 
 
 t/ov^ U9 
 
 "MC l*^" ^^jiJigjiiWiiii^ 
 
 NO 3-'5'^ 
 
 JY20'55 
 
 ■to^ 
 
**KJFrt%..