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Zechariah Chapter Seven

 

Zechariah 7

Obedience Better than Fasting (v.1~7)

Disobedience Resulted in Captivity (v.8~14)

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 7

This chapter treats concerning the nature and use of certain fasts kept by the Jews on account of the destruction of the temple and other things; and concerning the message of the former prophets to them and the effects of it. The occasion of the former was an embassy sent by the Jews to the priests and prophets to know whether they should continue the fast of the fifth month; upon which the prophet was sent by the Lord unto them. The time of the prophecy is noted Zechariah 7:1. An account of the embassy is given of the persons that were sent and to whom and upon what account Zechariah 7:2. The answer of the Lord to it by the prophet showing the usefulness of fasts to him and putting them upon hearkening to his voice by the former prophets when Jerusalem was in great prosperity Zechariah 7:4 and then they are exhorted by him in the ministry of the present prophet to acts of righteousness several species of which are mentioned; and which were the same they had been exhorted to by the former prophets but had neglected and hardened their hearts against all exhortations and instructions Zechariah 7:8 and were the reason of their captivity and desolation Zechariah 7:13.

 

Zechariah 7:1   Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month Chislev

   YLT  1And it cometh to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king hath a word of Jehovah been unto Zechariah in the fourth of the ninth month in Chisleu.

And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Darius .... Near two years after the foundation of the temple was laid Haggai 2:10 and near two years before it was finished Ezra 6:15 when the work was going forward and there was a great deal of reason to believe it would be completed:

that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month even in Chisleu: which answers to part of our October and part of November.

 

Zechariah 7:2   2 when the people[a] sent Sherezer [b] with Regem-Melech and his men to the house of God [c] to pray before the Lord

   YLT  2And Beth-El sendeth Sherezer and Regem-Melech and its men to appease the face of Jehovah

When they had sent unto the house of God .... It is in the Hebrew text "when he sent Bethel"; which some as Kimchi observes take to be the name of a man that was sent along with those after mentioned; but the Targum and the Septuagint render it "when" or "after he had sent unto Bethel": not the place so called in Jacob's time; but Jerusalem where the temple or house of God was now building; and it may be observed that the words are expressed in the singular number "when he had sent"F20וישלח "cum misisset sub. populus" Junius & Tremellius Piscator Drusius Tarnovius; "et misit" Pagninus Montanus; "miserat autem sub". Israel Vatablus; "et miserat" Cocceius; "et misit Bethelum" i. e. "urbem" Burkius. ; and not as we render them "when they had sent"; and agreeably in Zechariah 7:3 it is said "should I weep" &c. as if these messengers were sent by a single person and yet a body of people is meant; and not the captives that remained in Babylon as most interpreters understand it; but the Jews that were returned from thence and were in Judea as Junius and Tremellius observe; for to them the answer is returned and to them does the Lord by the prophet direct his speech throughout the whole chapter. The persons sent were

Sherezer and Regemmelech and their men; who these persons were is not known; they were no doubt principal men of the people by whom they were sent and the chief of the embassy and had others with them inferior to them: part of their business at Bethel or the house of God was

to pray before the Lord; that they might be directed aright and have a proper answer returned to the question they came with. The temple at Jerusalem was the place where men used to go up to pray; see Luke 18:10.

 

Zechariah 7:3   3 and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets saying “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?”

   YLT  3speaking unto the priests who [are] at the house of Jehovah of Hosts and unto the prophets saying `Do I weep in the fifth month -- being separated -- as I have done these so many years?'

And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts .... That ministered in the sanctuary as the Targum explains it who offered sacrifices &c. and who were to be consulted in matters of religion Malachi 2:7

and to the prophets; who were then in being as Haggai Zechariah and Malachi:

saying Should I weep in the fifth month; which is the month Ab and answers to July: now on the seventh day of this month according to 2 Kings 25:8 the temple was burnt by the Chaldeans; and according to Jeremiah 3:12 it was on the tenth of this month which day was kept by the Jews as a day of fasting and humiliation in commemoration of it; and by the Misnic doctorsF21Misn. Taanith c. 4. sect. 7 8. T. Bab. Taanith fol. 29. 1. afterwards was removed and kept on the ninth day of the said month; but seeing the temple was in great forwardness of being rebuilt the question with those Jews was whether they should continue any longer mourning and fasting on that account:

separating myself: that is from eating and drinking and not taking the lawful pleasures and recreations of life:

as I have done these so many years? for the space of seventy years as in Zechariah 7:5.

 

Zechariah 7:4   4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying

   YLT  4And there is a word of Jehovah of Hosts unto me saying:

Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me saying. Upon the sending of this embassy and upon putting this question.

 

Zechariah 7:5   5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years did you really fast for Me—for Me?

   YLT  5`Speak unto all the people of the land and unto the priests saying: When ye fasted with mourning in the fifth and in the seventh [months] -- even these seventy years -- did ye keep the fast [to] Me -- Me?

Speak unto all the people of the land .... Of Judea who had sent these men on this errand and whom they represented and in whose name they spake:

and to the priests; who were consulted on this occasion:

saying When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth; on the seventh or tenth day of the fifth month Ab on account of the temple being burnt by Nebuchadnezzar:

and seventh month; the month Tisri which answers to September; on the third day of this month a fast was kept on account of the murder of Gedaliah Jeremiah 41:1 though Kimchi says he was slain on the first day of the month; but because that was a feast day keeping a day for a fast on this occasion was fixed on the day following:

even those seventy years; of their captivity during which they kept the above fasts. The Jews sayF23T. Bab. Pesachim fol. 54. 2. there was no fast of the congregation or public fast kept in Babylon but on the ninth of Ab or the fifth month only; and if so other fasts here and in Zechariah 8:19 must be private ones. These seventy years are to be reckoned from the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar when the city was destroyed to the second or fourth of Darius:

did ye at all fast unto me even to me? the fast they kept was not according to the command of God but an appointment of theirs; nor was it directed to his glory; nor was it any profit or advantage to him; and therefore it was nothing to him whether they fasted or not; see Isaiah 58:3.

 

Zechariah 7:6   6 When you eat and when you drink do you not eat and drink for yourselves?

   YLT  6And when ye eat and when ye drink is it not ye who are eating and ye who are drinking?

And when ye did eat and when ye did drink .... Either at common meals or at their festivals:

did not ye eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? merely and only for their own refreshment and pleasure and not for the glory of God; though that ought to be the principal end in eating and drinking 1 Corinthians 10:31.

 

Zechariah 7:7   7 Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous and the South[d] and the Lowland were inhabited?’”

   YLT  7`Are not [these] the words that Jehovah proclaimed by the hand of the former prophets in Jerusalem's being inhabited and [in] safety and its cities round about it and the south and the plain -- abiding?'

Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets .... As Hosea Isaiah Jeremiah and others; suggesting that it would have been much better for them to have regarded the exhortations and instructions which the Lord sent them by his servants which would have prevented their captivity; and so would have had no occasion of fasting and mourning: for those prophecies were delivered out

when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity and the cities thereof round about her; when Jerusalem and the cities about it were full of people and enjoyed all the blessings of life in great plenty; and which would have continued had they attended to the exhortations cautions and warnings given them:

when men inhabited the south and the plain? the land of Judea as the MisnicF24Misn. Sheviith c. 9. sect. 2. doctors say was divided into three parts; the mountainous part the plain and the valley. Jerusalem was in the mountainous part and these are the other two; and not only those parts of the land which were hilly and those cities that were encompassed with mountains were in safety and prosperity; but those also that were in the champaign country and in the low valleys. The "south" was that part of the land of Canaan formerly inhabited by the Amalekites and which they invaded when David was at Ziklag Numbers 13:29. Sometimes it was called Negeb as here; and sometimes Daroma as frequently in the Jewish writings; in which Judea is often called the south with respect to Galilee; for they distinguish between the inhabitants of Galilee and the inhabitants of the south country: and say a disciple might intercalate the year for Galilee but not for the south i.e. Judea. It reached from Eleutheropolis to the south of the land eighteen or twenty miles: it was distinguished by the JewsF25T. Hieros. Maaaser Sheni fol. 56. 3. & Sanhedrin fol. 18. 4. into upper and nether Daroma or south country: the upper consisted of the hilly part of it; the nether of the plain; and by JeromF26De locis Hebr. fol. 91. C. & 92. I. mention is made of interior Daroma by which there should be an exterior one. The "plain" or "Sephela" was all the champaign country near to Eleutherepolis to the north and west; and so the above writerF1Ibid. fol. 94. M. says it was called in his times: now each of these were well inhabited; Daroma or the southern part; hence it is frequent in Jewish writingsF2T. Hieros. Beracot fol. 2. 2. & 11. 4. & Succah fol. 53. 4. to read of such a Rabbi of Daroma or the south as R. Jacob R. Simlai and others; and of the elders of the southF3T. Hieros. Erubin fol. 23. 3. ; and so Jerom speaks of Eremmon and Duma large villages in his days in Daroma or the south; the one sixteen the other seventeen miles from Eleutheropolis; and of Ether Jether and Jethan one of which was eighteen and another twenty miles from itF4Ut supra fol. 90. K. & 91. C. & 92. I. ; and in the Apocrypha:

"Simon also set up Adida in Sephela and made it strong with gates and bars.' (1 Maccabees 12:38)

mention is made of Adida in Sephela fortified by Simon; and in which also were various other places well stored with inhabitants. This expresses the happy and safe state the Jews were in before their captivity and in which they would have remained had they hearkened to the words of the Lord.

 

Zechariah 7:8   8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying

   YLT  8And there is a word of Jehovah unto Zechariah saying:

And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah saying. Giving him orders to repeat what the former prophets had said and to urge the same things on the people which they had before rejected the rejection of which had issued in their ruin.

 

Zechariah 7:9   9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother.
   YLT 
9`Thus spake Jehovah of Hosts saying: True judgment judge ye And kindness and mercy do one with another.

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying .... The same things as he had before; for the things following are ever in force and always to be attended to and to be regarded and preferred before anything merely ritual and ceremonial; and especially before the traditions and commandments of men of which nature the above fasts were:

Execute true judgment; or "judge judgmentF5משפט אמת "judicium veritatis" Montanus Calvin Cocceius Burkius; "jus veritatis" Junius & Tremellius Tarnovius. of truth"; this is addressed to the judges of the people that when any cause came before them between man and man that they would judge righteously according to the law of God; and without respect to persons pass sentence as the truth of the case required:

and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother; whether in want of food raiment or in whatsoever distress whether of body or mind; which is much more acceptable to God than any legal sacrifices or outward abstinences and humiliations Hosea 6:6.

 

Zechariah 7:10   10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’

   YLT  10And widow and fatherless Sojourner and poor ye do not oppress And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart.

And oppress not the widow nor the fatherless the stranger nor the poor .... Such as have no husband to provide for them nor father and mother to care for them and are in a strange land where they have no friends or acquaintance and are poor and can not help themselves. Laws of this kind were frequently inculcated among the Jews; see Deuteronomy 24:14

and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart; thoughts of evil are sinful and forbidden by the law of God as well as actions which agrees with our Lord's sense of the law Matthew 5:22 see Leviticus 19:17.

 

Zechariah 7:11   11 “But they refused to heed shrugged their shoulders and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.

   YLT  11And they refuse to attend And they give a refractory shoulder And their ears have made heavy against hearing.

But they refused to hearken ..... That is the Jews before the captivity refusal to give heed to the above exhortations and obey the voice of God in them:

and pulled away the shoulder; from serving the Lord and supporting his interest: or "they gave" or presented "a rebellious shoulder"F6כתף סררת "scapulam aversam" Pagninus; "deflectentem" Montanus; "rebellem" Munster Tigurine version; "refractarium" Junius & Tremellius Piscator; so Ben Melech. ; a refractory one that slides back like a backsliding or refractory heifer that will not admit of the yoke Hosea 4:16 so these could not bear the yoke of the law nor the burden of duty; nor suffer the words of exhortation or receive the admonitions given them:

and stopped their ears that they should not hear; like the deaf adder Psalm 58:4 they would not hear and pretended they could not; which was an instance of contempt to the speakers.

 

Zechariah 7:12   12 Yes they made their hearts like flint refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.

   YLT  12And their heart they have made adamant Against hearing the law and the words That Jehovah of Hosts sent by His Spirit By the hand of the former prophets And their is great wrath from Jehovah of Hosts.

Yea they made their hearts as an adamant stone .... The word here used is translated a "diamond" in Jeremiah 17:1 and it is said to be harder than a flint Ezekiel 3:9. The Jewish writers sayF7Misn. Sota c. 9. sect. 12. Pirke Abot. c. 5. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. Kimchi in 1 Reg. vi. 7. Jarchi in Isa. v. 6. it is a worm like a barley corn so strong as to cut the hardest stones in pieces; Moses (they say) used it in hewing the stones for the two tables of the law and in fitting the precious stones in the ephod; and Solomon in cutting the stones for the building of the temple; and is so hard that it cannot be broken by iron: and as hard is naturally the heart of man and which becomes more so by sinning and obstinate persisting in it that nothing can remove the hardness of it but the powerful and efficacious grace of God: as hard as the adamant is it is to be softened by the blood of a goat as naturalists saysF8Pausan. Arcadica sive l. 8. p. 485. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 37. c. 4. ; so the blood of Christ sprinkled on the heart and a sense of forgiveness of sin by it will soften the hardest heart:

lest they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts hath seat in his Spirit by the former prophets; the words of reproof admonition caution and exhortation which Jeremiah and others were sent to deliver to them under the influence of the Spirit of God:

therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts; which brought the Chaldeans upon them who carried them captive into Babylon.

 

Zechariah 7:13   13 Therefore it happened that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear so they called out and I would not listen ” says the Lord of hosts.

   YLT  13And it cometh to pass as He called And they have not hearkened So do they call and I do not hearken Said Jehovah of Hosts.

Therefore it is come to pass that as he cried .... The Lord by the former prophets called them to repentance and obedience:

and they would not hear; his words nor obey his voice:

so they cried: when they were besieged in Jerusalem and were carried captive into Babylon:

and I would not hear saith the Lord of hosts; so as to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies; see Proverbs 1:24.

 

Zechariah 7:14   14 “But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

   YLT  14And I toss them on all the nations That they have not known The land hath been desolate behind them Of any passing by and turning back And they set a desirable land for a desolation!

But I scattered them with a whirlwind .... Denoting the fierceness of his wrath and the strength of his fury seen in their dispersion:

among all the nations whom they knew not; such as the Babylonians Medes and Persians people before unknown to the Jews:

thus the land was desolate after them; that is the land of Judea was destitute of inhabitants or had but few remaining in it after the Jews were carried captive into Babylon; for the rest after the death of Gedaliah fled into Egypt:

that no man passed through nor returned; neither from Egypt nor from Babylon until the seventy years of captivity were ended; nor indeed did any from other nations pass through and fro or settle in it during this time that we have any account of:

for they laid the pleasant land desolate; either the Israelites by their iniquities which were the cause of it; or the Babylonians as the instruments of God's vengeance. This pleasant land is the land of Canaan a land flowing with milk and honey; the glory of all lands for its great fruitfulness and delightful situation; and especially for being the seat of the divine Majesty and where his people dwelt and where his temple was and he was worshipped; see Ezekiel 20:6 Deuteronomy 8:7.

 

──John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

Footnotes:

  1. Zechariah 7:2 Literally they (compare verse 5)
  2. Zechariah 7:2 Or Sar-Ezer
  3. Zechariah 7:2 Hebrew Bethel
  4. Zechariah 7:7 Hebrew Negev