1 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. [Thus] saith Jehovah, who stretcheth out the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him:
Thus saith ùGod, Jehovah, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and its productions, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
Of old hast thou founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands: *They* shall perish, but *thou* continuest; and all of them shall grow old as a garment: as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.
He stretcheth out the north over empty space, he hangeth the earth upon nothing;
Yea, my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spread abroad the heavens: I call unto them, they stand up together.
And, *Thou* in the beginning, Lord, hast founded the earth, and works of thy hands are the heavens. They shall perish, but *thou* continuest still; and they all shall grow old as a garment, and as a covering shalt thou roll them up, and they shall be changed; but *thou* art the Same, and thy years shall not fail.
Thy prophets have seen vanity and folly for thee; and they have not revealed thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee burdens of falsehood and causes of expulsion.
The burden of the word of Jehovah to Israel by Malachi.
For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon mount Zion shall there be deliverance, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
And I will purge them from the blood from which I had not purged them: for Jehovah dwelleth in Zion.
-- therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the remnant of the nations, and against the whole of Edom, which have appointed my land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all [their] heart, with despite of soul, to plunder it by pillage. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the water-courses and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the ignominy of the nations; therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I have lifted up my hand, [saying,] Verily the nations that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
Behold, all the souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
And king Zedekiah swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, [As] Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
And thou, my servant Jacob, fear not, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and at ease, and none shall make [him] afraid.
He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah, and thy God, who pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I take out of thy hand the cup of bewilderment, the goblet-cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street to them that went over.
and forgettest Jehovah thy Maker, who hath stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and thou art afraid continually all the day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepareth to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?
For thus saith Jehovah who created the heavens, God himself who formed the earth and made it, he who established it, -- not as waste did he create it: he formed it to be inhabited: -- I [am] Jehovah, and there is none else.
[It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a gauze curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with [his] span, and grasped the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales?
To him that by understanding made the heavens, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever; To him that stretched out the earth above the waters, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever;
Covering thyself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent-curtain; --
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Zechariah 12
Commentary on Zechariah 12 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 12
The apostle (Gal. 4:25, 26) distinguishes between "Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children'-the remaining carcase of the Jewish church that rejected Christ, and "Jerusalem that is from above, that is free, and is the mother of us all'-the Christian church, the spiritual Jerusalem, which God has chosen to put his name there; in the foregoing chapter we read the doom of the former, and left that carcase to be a prey to the eagles that should be gathered to it. Now, in this chapter, we have the blessings of the latter, many precious promises made to the gospel-Jerusalem by him who (v. 1) declares his power to make them good. It is promised,
These promises were of use then to the pious Jews that lived in the troublous times under Antiochus, and other persecutors and oppressors; and they are still to be improved in every age for the directing of our prayers and the encouraging of our hopes with reference to the gospel-church.
Zec 12:1-8
Here is,
Zec 12:9-14
The day here spoken of is the day of Jerusalem's defence and deliverance, that glorious day when God will appear for the salvation of his people, which, if it do refer to the successes which the Jews had against their enemies in the time of the Maccabees, yet certainly looks further, to the gospel-day, to Christ's victories over the powers of darkness and the great salvation he has wrought for his chosen. Now we have here an account of two remarkable works designed in that day.