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Zechariah 7:10 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

10 And oppress H6231 not the widow, H490 nor the fatherless, H3490 the stranger, H1616 nor the poor; H6041 and let none of you imagine H2803 evil H7451 against H376 his brother H251 in your heart. H3824

Cross Reference

Jeremiah 5:28 STRONG

They are waxen fat, H8080 they shine: H6245 yea, they overpass H5674 the deeds H1697 of the wicked: H7451 they judge H1777 not the cause, H1779 the cause of the fatherless, H3490 yet they prosper; H6743 and the right H4941 of the needy H34 do they not judge. H8199

Isaiah 1:23 STRONG

Thy princes H8269 are rebellious, H5637 and companions H2270 of thieves: H1590 every one loveth H157 gifts, H7810 and followeth H7291 after rewards: H8021 they judge H8199 not the fatherless, H3490 neither doth the cause H7379 of the widow H490 come H935 unto them.

Psalms 72:4 STRONG

He shall judge H8199 the poor H6041 of the people, H5971 he shall save H3467 the children H1121 of the needy, H34 and shall break in pieces H1792 the oppressor. H6231

Psalms 21:11 STRONG

For they intended H5186 evil H7451 against thee: they imagined H2803 a mischievous device, H4209 which they are not able H3201 to perform.

Amos 5:11-12 STRONG

Forasmuch H3282 therefore as your treading H1318 is upon the poor, H1800 and ye take H3947 from him burdens H4864 of wheat: H1250 ye have built H1129 houses H1004 of hewn stone, H1496 but ye shall not dwell H3427 in them; ye have planted H5193 pleasant H2531 vineyards, H3754 but ye shall not drink H8354 wine H3196 of them. For I know H3045 your manifold H7227 transgressions H6588 and your mighty H6099 sins: H2403 they afflict H6887 the just, H6662 they take H3947 a bribe, H3724 and they turn aside H5186 the poor H34 in the gate H8179 from their right.

Amos 4:1 STRONG

Hear H8085 this word, H1697 ye kine H6510 of Bashan, H1316 that are in the mountain H2022 of Samaria, H8111 which oppress H6231 the poor, H1800 which crush H7533 the needy, H34 which say H559 to their masters, H113 Bring, H935 and let us drink. H8354

Micah 2:1-3 STRONG

Woe H1945 to them that devise H2803 iniquity, H205 and work H6466 evil H7451 upon their beds! H4904 when the morning H1242 is light, H216 they practise H6213 it, because it is H3426 in the power H410 of their hand. H3027 And they covet H2530 fields, H7704 and take them by violence; H1497 and houses, H1004 and take them away: H5375 so they oppress H6231 a man H1397 and his house, H1004 even a man H376 and his heritage. H5159 Therefore thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 Behold, against this family H4940 do I devise H2803 an evil, H7451 from which ye shall not remove H4185 your necks; H6677 neither shall ye go H3212 haughtily: H7317 for this time H6256 is evil. H7451

Micah 3:1-4 STRONG

And I said, H559 Hear, H8085 I pray you, O heads H7218 of Jacob, H3290 and ye princes H7101 of the house H1004 of Israel; H3478 Is it not for you to know H3045 judgment? H4941 Who hate H8130 the good, H2896 and love H157 the evil; H7451 who pluck off H1497 their skin H5785 from off them, and their flesh H7607 from off their bones; H6106 Who also eat H398 the flesh H7607 of my people, H5971 and flay H6584 their skin H5785 from off them; and they break H6476 their bones, H6106 and chop them in pieces, H6566 as for the pot, H5518 and as flesh H1320 within H8432 the caldron. H7037 Then shall they cry H2199 unto the LORD, H3068 but he will not hear H6030 them: he will even hide H5641 his face H6440 from them at that time, H6256 as they have behaved themselves ill H7489 in their doings. H4611

Zephaniah 3:1-3 STRONG

Woe H1945 to her that is filthy H4754 and polluted, H1351 to the oppressing H3238 city! H5892 She obeyed H8085 not the voice; H6963 she received H3947 not correction; H4148 she trusted H982 not in the LORD; H3068 she drew not near H7126 to her God. H430 Her princes H8269 within H7130 her are roaring H7580 lions; H738 her judges H8199 are evening H6153 wolves; H2061 they gnaw not the bones H1633 till the morrow. H1242

Zechariah 8:17 STRONG

And let none H376 of you imagine H2803 evil H7451 in your hearts H3824 against his neighbour; H7453 and love H157 no false H8267 oath: H7621 for all these are things that I hate, H8130 saith H5002 the LORD. H3068

Malachi 3:5 STRONG

And I will come near H7126 to you to judgment; H4941 and I will be a swift H4116 witness H5707 against the sorcerers, H3784 and against the adulterers, H5003 and against false H8267 swearers, H7650 and against those that oppress H6231 the hireling H7916 in his wages, H7939 the widow, H490 and the fatherless, H3490 and that turn aside H5186 the stranger H1616 from his right, and fear H3372 not me, saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635

Matthew 23:13 STRONG

But G1161 woe G3759 unto you, G5213 scribes G1122 and G2532 Pharisees, G5330 hypocrites! G5273 for G3754 ye shut up G2808 the kingdom G932 of heaven G3772 against G1715 men: G444 for G1063 ye G5210 neither G3761 go in G1525 yourselves, neither G3756 suffer ye G863 them that are entering G1525 to go in. G1525

Mark 7:21-23 STRONG

For G1063 from within, G2081 out of G1537 the heart G2588 of men, G444 proceed G1607 evil G2556 thoughts, G1261 adulteries, G3430 fornications, G4202 murders, G5408 Thefts, G2829 covetousness, G4124 wickedness, G4189 deceit, G1388 lasciviousness, G766 an evil G4190 eye, G3788 blasphemy, G988 pride, G5243 foolishness: G877 All G3956 these G5023 evil things G4190 come G1607 from within, G2081 and G2532 defile G2840 the man. G444

1 Corinthians 6:10 STRONG

Nor G3777 thieves, G2812 nor G3777 covetous, G4123 nor G3777 drunkards, G3183 nor G3756 revilers, G3060 nor G3756 extortioners, G727 shall inherit G3756 G2816 the kingdom G932 of God. G2316

James 1:14-15 STRONG

But G1161 every man G1538 is tempted, G3985 when he is drawn away G1828 of G5259 his own G2398 lust, G1939 and G2532 enticed. G1185 Then G1534 when lust G1939 hath conceived, G4815 it bringeth forth G5088 sin: G266 and G1161 sin, G266 when it is finished, G658 bringeth forth G616 death. G2288

James 5:4 STRONG

Behold, G2400 the hire G3408 of the labourers G2040 who G3588 have reaped down G270 your G5216 fields, G5561 which G3588 is of G575 you G5216 kept back by fraud, G650 crieth: G2896 and G2532 the cries G995 of them which have reaped G2325 are entered G1525 into G1519 the ears G3775 of the Lord G2962 of sabaoth. G4519

1 John 3:15 STRONG

Whosoever G3956 hateth G3404 his G846 brother G80 is G2076 a murderer: G443 and G2532 ye know G1492 that G3754 no G3756 G3956 murderer G443 hath G2192 eternal G166 life G2222 abiding G3306 in G1722 him. G846

Proverbs 23:10-11 STRONG

Remove H5253 not the old H5769 landmark; H1366 and enter H935 not into the fields H7704 of the fatherless: H3490 For their redeemer H1350 is mighty; H2389 he shall plead H7378 their cause H7379 with thee.

Exodus 23:9 STRONG

Also thou shalt not oppress H3905 a stranger: H1616 for ye know H3045 the heart H5315 of a stranger, H1616 seeing H3588 ye were strangers H1616 in the land H776 of Egypt. H4714

Deuteronomy 24:14-18 STRONG

Thou shalt not oppress H6231 an hired servant H7916 that is poor H6041 and needy, H34 whether he be of thy brethren, H251 or of thy strangers H1616 that are in thy land H776 within thy gates: H8179 At his day H3117 thou shalt give H5414 him his hire, H7939 neither shall the sun H8121 go down H935 upon it; for he is poor, H6041 and setteth H5375 his heart H5315 upon it: lest he cry H7121 against thee unto the LORD, H3068 and it be sin H2399 unto thee. The fathers H1 shall not be put to death H4191 for the children, H1121 neither shall the children H1121 be put to death H4191 for the fathers: H1 every man H376 shall be put to death H4191 for his own sin. H2399 Thou shalt not pervert H5186 the judgment H4941 of the stranger, H1616 nor of the fatherless; H3490 nor take H2254 a widow's H490 raiment H899 to pledge: H2254 But thou shalt remember H2142 that thou wast a bondman H5650 in Egypt, H4714 and the LORD H3068 thy God H430 redeemed H6299 thee thence: therefore I command H6680 thee to do H6213 this thing. H1697

Deuteronomy 27:19 STRONG

Cursed H779 be he that perverteth H5186 the judgment H4941 of the stranger, H1616 fatherless, H3490 and widow. H490 And all the people H5971 shall say, H559 Amen. H543

Psalms 36:4 STRONG

He deviseth H2803 mischief H205 upon his bed; H4904 he setteth H3320 himself in a way H1870 that is not good; H2896 he abhorreth H3988 not evil. H7451

Psalms 140:2 STRONG

Which imagine H2803 mischiefs H7451 in their heart; H3820 continually H3117 are they gathered together H1481 for war. H4421

Proverbs 3:29 STRONG

Devise H2790 not evil H7451 against thy neighbour, H7453 seeing he dwelleth H3427 securely H983 by thee.

Proverbs 6:18 STRONG

An heart H3820 that deviseth H2790 wicked H205 imaginations, H4284 feet H7272 that be swift H4116 in running H7323 to mischief, H7451

Proverbs 22:22-23 STRONG

Rob H1497 not the poor, H1800 because he is poor: H1800 neither oppress H1792 the afflicted H6041 in the gate: H8179 For the LORD H3068 will plead H7378 their cause, H7379 and spoil H6906 the soul H5315 of those that spoiled H6906 them.

Exodus 22:21-24 STRONG

Thou shalt neither vex H3238 a stranger, H1616 nor oppress H3905 him: for ye were strangers H1616 in the land H776 of Egypt. H4714 Ye shall not afflict H6031 any widow, H490 or fatherless child. H3490 If H518 thou afflict H6031 them in any wise, H6031 and they cry H6817 at all H6817 unto me, I will surely H8085 hear H8085 their cry; H6818 And my wrath H639 shall wax hot, H2734 and I will kill H2026 you with the sword; H2719 and your wives H802 shall be widows, H490 and your children H1121 fatherless. H3490

Isaiah 1:16-17 STRONG

Wash H7364 you, make you clean; H2135 put away H5493 the evil H7455 of your doings H4611 from before H5048 mine eyes; H5869 cease H2308 to do evil; H7489 Learn H3925 to do well; H3190 seek H1875 judgment, H4941 relieve H833 the oppressed, H2541 judge H8199 the fatherless, H3490 plead H7378 for the widow. H490

Jeremiah 11:19-20 STRONG

But I was like a lamb H3532 or an ox H441 that is brought H2986 to the slaughter; H2873 and I knew H3045 not that they had devised H2803 devices H4284 against me, saying, Let us destroy H7843 the tree H6086 with the fruit H3899 thereof, and let us cut him off H3772 from the land H776 of the living, H2416 that his name H8034 may be no more remembered. H2142 But, O LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 that judgest H8199 righteously, H6664 that triest H974 the reins H3629 and the heart, H3820 let me see H7200 thy vengeance H5360 on them: for unto thee have I revealed H1540 my cause. H7379

Jeremiah 18:18 STRONG

Then said H559 they, Come, H3212 and let us devise H2803 devices H4284 against Jeremiah; H3414 for the law H8451 shall not perish H6 from the priest, H3548 nor counsel H6098 from the wise, H2450 nor the word H1697 from the prophet. H5030 Come, H3212 and let us smite H5221 him with the tongue, H3956 and let us not give heed H7181 to any of his words. H1697

Jeremiah 22:15-17 STRONG

Shalt thou reign, H4427 because thou closest H8474 thyself in cedar? H730 did not thy father H1 eat H398 and drink, H8354 and do H6213 judgment H4941 and justice, H6666 and then it was well H2896 with him? He judged H1777 the cause H1779 of the poor H6041 and needy; H34 then it was well H2896 with him: was not this to know H1847 me? saith H5002 the LORD. H3068 But thine eyes H5869 and thine heart H3820 are not but for thy covetousness, H1215 and for to shed H8210 innocent H5355 blood, H1818 and for oppression, H6233 and for violence, H4835 to do H6213 it.

Ezekiel 22:7 STRONG

In thee have they set light H7043 by father H1 and mother: H517 in the midst H8432 of thee have they dealt H6213 by oppression H6233 with the stranger: H1616 in thee have they vexed H3238 the fatherless H3490 and the widow. H490

Ezekiel 22:12 STRONG

In thee have they taken H3947 gifts H7810 to shed H8210 blood; H1818 thou hast taken H3947 usury H5392 and increase, H8636 and thou hast greedily gained H1214 of thy neighbours H7453 by extortion, H6233 and hast forgotten H7911 me, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069

Ezekiel 22:29 STRONG

The people H5971 of the land H776 have used oppression, H6231 H6233 and exercised H1497 robbery, H1498 and have vexed H3238 the poor H6041 and needy: H34 yea, they have oppressed H6231 the stranger H1616 wrongfully. H4941

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Zechariah 7

Commentary on Zechariah 7 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-3

Zechariah 7:1-3 describe the occasion for this instructive and consolatory “word of God,” which was addressed to Zechariah in the fourth year of Darius, i.e., two years after the building of the temple was resumed, and two years before its completion, and therefore at a time when the building must have been far advanced, and the temple itself was possibly already finished in the rough. Zechariah 7:1. “It came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came to Zechariah, on the fourth (day) of the ninth month, in Kislev.” In this definition of the time we are surprised first of all at the circumstance, that, according to the Masoretic accentuation, and the division of the verses, the statement of the time is torn into two halves, and the notice of the year is placed after ויהי , whilst that of the month does not follow till after התה דבר יי ; and secondly, at the fact that the introduction of the occurrence which led to this word of God is appended with the imperfect c. Vav rel. ( vayyishlach ), which would then stand in the sense of the pluperfect in opposition to the rule. On these grounds we must give up the Masoretic division of the verses, and connect the notice of the month and day in Zechariah 7:1 with Zechariah 7:2, so that Zechariah 7:1 contains merely the general statement that in the fourth year of king Darius the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. What follows will then be appended thus: On the fourth day of the ninth month, in Kislev, Bethel sent, etc. Thus the more precise definition of the time is only given in connection with the following occurrence, because it was self-evident that the word of God which was addressed to the prophet in consequence of that event, could not have been addressed to him before it occurred. The rendering of the words in Zechariah 7:2 is also a disputed point. We adopt the following: Zechariah 7:2. “Then Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and his people, to entreat the face of Jehovah, (Zechariah 7:3) to speak to the priests who were at the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, thus: Shall I weep, abstaining in the fifth month as I have now done so many years?” As Bēth - ēl may either signify the house of God, or be the name of the town of Bethel, it may be taken either as accus. loci , or as the subject of the sentence. Against the first explanation, which is very widely spread, viz., “it sent to the house of God, or to Bethel, Sharezer,” etc., or “they sent to the house of God Sharezer,” etc., it may be argued not only that the prophet, in order to make himself intelligible, ought either to have written 'el Bēth - 'ēl , or to have placed Bēth - 'ēl after the object, but also that beeth-'eel cannot be shown to have been ever applied to the temple of Jehovah, and that it would have been altogether out of place to speak of sending to Bethel, because Jehovah could not be prayed to in Bethel after the captivity. We must therefore take bēth - 'ēl as the subject, and understand it as denoting the population of Bethel, and not as a name given to the church of the Lord, since there are no conclusive passages to support any such use, as bēth Y e hōvâh only is used for the church of God (see at Hosea 8:1), and here there could be no inducement to employ so unusual an epithet to denote the nation. A considerable number of the earlier inhabitants of Bethel had already returned with Zerubbabel, according to Ezra 2:28 and Nehemiah 7:32; and, according to Nehemiah 11:31, the little town appears to have been soon rebuilt. The inhabitants of this city sent an embassy to Jerusalem, namely Sharezer and Rechem-Melech, and his men. The omission of the nota accus. את has indeed been adduced as an objection to this interpretation of the names as the object, and the names have been therefore taken as the subject, and regarded as in apposition to Bēth - ēl : “Bethel, namely Sharezer and Rechem, etc., sent;” that is to say, two men are mentioned in connection with Bethel, who are supposed to have acted as leaders of the embassy. But there is something so harsh and inflexible in the assumption of such an apposition as this, that in spite of the omission of the את we prefer to regard the names as accusatives. The name Sharezer is evidently Assyrian (cf. Isaiah 37:38; Jeremiah 39:3, Jeremiah 39:13), so that the man was probably born in Babylonia.

The object of sending these men is given first of all in general terms: viz., להלּות את־פּני יי , lit., to stroke the face of Jehovah, - an anthropomorphic expression for affectionate entreaty (see at Psalms 119:58), and then defined more precisely in Zechariah 7:3, where it is stated that they were to inquire of the priests and prophets, i.e., through their mediation, to entreat an answer from the Lord, whether the mourning and fasting were to be still kept up in the fifth month. Through the clause אשׁר לבית יי the priests are described as belonging to the house of Jehovah, though not in the sense supposed by Kliefoth, namely, “because they were appointed to serve in His house along with the Levites, in the place of the first-born, who were the possession of Jehovah” (Numbers 3:41; Deuteronomy 10:8-9). There is no such allusion here; but the meaning is simply, “as the persons in the temple, who by virtue of their mediatorial service were able to obtain an answer from Jehovah to a question addressed to Him in prayer.” The connection with the prophets points to this. The question האבכּה is defined by the inf. absol. הנּזר , as consisting in weeping or lamentation connected with abstinence from food and drink, i.e., with fasting. On this use of the inf. abs. , see Ewald, §280, a ; הנּזר , to abstain (in this connection from meat and drink), is synonymous with צוּם in Zechariah 7:5. זה כּ מּה שׁנים : “these how many years,” for which we should say, “so many years.” Kammeh suggests the idea of an incalculably long duration. זה , in this and other similar combinations with numerical data , has acquired the force of an adverb: now, already (cf. Zechariah 1:12, and Ewald, §302, b ). The subject to אבכּה is the population of Bethel, by which the men had been delegated. The question, however, had reference to a subject in which the whole community was interested, and hence the answer from God is addressed to all the people (Zechariah 7:5). So far as the circumstances themselves are concerned, we can see from Zechariah 7:5 and Zechariah 8:19, that during the captivity the Israelites had adopted the custom of commemorating the leading incidents in the Chaldaean catastrophe by keeping fast-days in the fifth, seventh, fourth, and tenth months. In the fifth month ( Ab ), on the tent day, because, according to Jeremiah 52:12-13, that was the day on which the temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by fire in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, though the seventh day of that month is the date given in 2 Kings 25:8-9 (see the comm. in loc. ). In the seventh month, according to Jewish tradition, they fasted on the third day, on account of the murder of the governor Gedaliah, and the Judaeans who had been left in the land (2 Kings 25:25-26; Jeremiah 51:1.). In the fourth month Tammuz ) they fasted on the ninth day, on account of the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in the eleventh year of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 39:2; Jeremiah 52:6-7). And lastly, in the tenth month, a fast was kept on the tenth day on account of the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar on that day, in the ninth year of Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:1 and Jeremiah 39:1).

(Note: The later Jews kept the 9th Ab as the day when both the first and second temples were destroyed by fire; and in Mishna Taanit iv. 6, five disasters are enumerated, which had fallen upon Israel on that day: viz., (1) the determination of God not to suffer the fathers to enter the promised land; (2 and 3) the destruction of the first and second temples; (4) the conquest of the city of Bether in the time of Bar-Cochba ; (5) the destruction of the holy city, which Rashi explains from Micah 3:12 and Jeremiah 26:18, but which others refer to the fact that Turnus Rufus (either Turannius Rufus or T. Annius Rufus : cf. Schöttgen, Horae hebr. et talm. ii. 953ff., and Jost, Gesch. des Judenthums , ii. 77) ploughed over the foundation of the temple. Also, on the seventeenth of the fourth month ( Tammuz ), according to Mishna Taan. iv. 6, five disasters are said to have befallen Israel: (1) the breaking of the tables of the law (Exodus 32); (2) the cessation of the daily sacrifice in the first temple from the want of sacrificial lambs (cf. Jeremiah 52:6); (3) the breach made in the city walls; (4) the burning of the law by Apostemus ; and (5) the setting up of the abomination, i.e., of an idol, in the temple (Daniel 11:31; Daniel 12:13). Vid., Lundius, Codex talm. de jejunio, Traf. ad Rhen. 1694, p. 55ff.; also in abstract in Mishna ed. Surenhus. ii. pp. 382-3.)

The question put by the delegates referred simply to the fasting in the fifth month, in commemoration of the destruction of the temple. And now that the rebuilding of the temple was rapidly approaching completion, it appeared no longer in character to continue to keep this day, especially as the prophets had proclaimed on the part of God, that the restoration of the temple would be a sign that Jehovah had once more restored His favour to the remnant of His people. If this fast-day were given up, the others would probably be also relinquished. The question actually involved the prayer that the Lord would continue permanently to bestow upon His people the favour which He had restored to them, and not only bring to completion the restoration of the holy place, which was already begun, but accomplish generally the glorification of Israel predicted by the earlier prophets. The answer given by the Lord through Zechariah to the people refers to this, since the priests and prophets could give no information in the matter of their own accord.

The answer from the Lord divides itself into two parts, Zechariah 7:4-14 and ch. 8. In the first part He explains what it is that He requires of the people, and why He has been obliged to punish them with exile: in the second He promises them the restoration of His favour and the promised salvation. Each of these parts is divisible again into two sections, Zechariah 7:4-7 and Zechariah 7:8-14; Zechariah 8:1-17 and Zechariah 8:18-23; and each of these sections opens with the formula, “The word of Jehovah (of hosts) came to me (Zechariah), saying.”


Verses 4-7

The first of these four words of God contains an exposure of what might be unwarrantable in the question and its motives, and open to disapproval. Zechariah 7:4. “And the word of Jehovah of hosts came to me thus, Zechariah 7:5. Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh (month), and that for seventy years, did ye, when fasting, fast to me? Zechariah 7:6. And when ye eat, and when ye drink, is it not ye who eat, and ye who drink? Zechariah 7:7. Does it not concern the words, which Jehovah has preached through the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and satisfied, and her towns round about her, and the south country and the low land were inhabited?” The thought of Zechariah 7:6 and Zechariah 7:7 is the following: It is a matter of indifference to God whether the people fast or not. The true fasting, which is well pleasing to God, consists not in a pharisaical abstinence from eating and drinking, but in the fact that men observe the word of God and live thereby, as the prophets before the captivity had already preached to the people. This overthrew the notion that men could acquire the favour of God by fasting, and left it to the people to decide whether they would any longer observe the previous fast-days; it also showed what God would require of them if they wished to obtain the promised blessings. For the inf. absol. see at Haggai 1:6. The fasting in the seventh month was not the fast on the day of atonement which was prescribed in the law (Leviticus 23), but, as has been already observed, the fast in commemoration of the murder of Gedaliah. In the form צמתּני the suffix is not a substitute for the dative (Ges. §121, 4), but is to be taken as an accusative, expressive of the fact that the fasting related to God (Ewald, §315, b ). The suffix is strengthened by אני for the sake of emphasis (Ges. §121, 3). In Zechariah 7:7 the form of the sentence is elliptical. The verb is omitted in the clause הלוא את־הדּברים , but not the subject, say זה , which many commentators supply, after the lxx, the Peshito, and the Vulgate (“Are these not the words which Jehovah announced?”), in which case את would have to be taken as nota nominativi . The sentence contains an aposiopesis , and is to be completed by supplying a verb, either “should ye not do or give heed to the words which,” etc.? or “do ye not know the words?” ישׁבת , as in Zechariah 1:11, in the sense of sitting or dwelling; not in a passive sense, “to be inhabited,” although it might be so expressed. שׁלוה is synonymous with שׁקטת in Zechariah 1:11. ישׁב , in the sense indicated at the close of the verse, is construed in the singular masculine, although it refers to a plurality of previous nouns (cf. Ges. §148, 2). In addition to Jerusalem, the following are mentioned as a periphrasis for the land of Judah: (1) her towns round about; these are the towns belonging to Jerusalem as the capital, towns of the mountains of Judah which were more or less dependent upon her: (2) the two rural districts, which also belonged to the kingdom of Judah, viz., the negeb , the south country (which Koehler erroneously identifies with the mountains of Judah; compare Joshua 15:21 with Joshua 15:48), and the sh e phēlâh , or lowland along the coast of the Mediterranean (see at Joshua 15:33).


Verses 8-12

The second word of the Lord recals to the recollection of the people the disobedience of the fathers, and its consequences, viz., the judgment of exile, as a warning example. The introduction of the prophet's name in the heading in Zechariah 7:8 does not warrant the strange opinion held by Schmieder and Schlier - namely, that our prophet is here reproducing the words of an earlier Zechariah who lived before the captivity - but is merely to be attributed to a variation in the form of expression. This divine word was as follows: Zechariah 7:9. “Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute judgment of truth, and show love and compassion one to another. Zechariah 7:10. And widows and orphans, strangers and destitute ones, oppress not; and meditate not in your heart the injury of every brother. Zechariah 7:11. But they refused to attend, and offered a rebellious shoulder, and hardened their ears that they might not hear. Zechariah 7:12. And they made their heart diamond, that they might not hear the law and the words which Jehovah of hosts sent through His Spirit by means of the former prophet, so that great wrath came from Jehovah of hosts.” כּה אמר is to be taken as a preterite here, referring to what Jehovah had caused to be proclaimed to the people before the captivity. The kernel of this announcement consisted in the appeal to the people, to keep the moral precepts of the law, to practise the true love of the neighbour in public life and private intercourse. Mishpat 'ĕmeth , judgment of truth (cf. Ezekiel 18:8), is such an administration of justice as simply fixes the eye upon the real circumstances of any dispute, without any personal considerations whatever, and decides them in accordance with truth. For the fact itself, compare Exodus 22:20, Exodus 22:21; Exodus 23:6-9; Leviticus 19:15-18; Deuteronomy 10:18-19; Deuteronomy 24:14; Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 7:5-6; Jeremiah 22:3; Ezekiel 18:8; Hosea 12:7, etc. רעת אישׁ אחיו , the injury of a man who is his brother (as in Genesis 9:5); not “injury one towards another,” which would suppose a transposition of the אישׁ = אישׁ רעת אחיו . In Zechariah 7:11, Zechariah 7:12 the attitude of the people towards these admonitions of God is described. Nâthan kâthēph sōrereth : to give or offer a rebellious shoulder, as in Nehemiah 9:29. The figure is borrowed from an ox, which will not allow a yoke to be placed upon its neck (cf. Hosea 4:16). To make the ears heavy ( hikhbı̄d ), away from hearing, i.e., so that they do not hear (cf. Isaiah 6:10). To make the heart diamond ( shâmı̄r ), i.e., as hard as diamond. A stony heart is a heart not susceptible to impressions (cf. Ezekiel 11:19). The relative אשׁר before shâlach refers to the two nouns named before, viz., tōrâh and d e bhârı̄m , though we need not on that account take tōrâh in the general sense of instruction. God also sent the law to the people through the prophets, i.e., caused them to preach it and impress it upon their hearts. The consequence of this obduracy of the people was, that “there arose great wrath from Jehovah” (cf. Zechariah 1:2; 2 Kings 3:27).


Verse 13-14

This wrath is described in Zechariah 7:13, Zechariah 7:14. Zechariah 7:13. “It came to pass: as he cried and they did not hear, so will they cry and I shall not hear, said Jehovah of hosts. Zechariah 7:14. And I will scatter them with a whirlwind over all nations, who did not know them, and the land is laid waste behind them, so that no one passes to and fro. And thus they made the choice land a desert.” The form of the address changes in Zechariah 7:13. Whereas in the protasis the prophet is still speaking of Jehovah in the third person, in the apodosis he introduces Jehovah as speaking (so will they cry, and I, etc.) and announcing the punishment, which He will inflict upon the rebellious and has already inflicted in their captivity. This address of God is continued in Zechariah 7:14 as far as וּמשּׁב . The opinion, that the address terminates with לא ידעוּם , and that והארץ commences the account of the accomplishment of the purpose to punish, is not so much at variance with the circumstance, that in that case the last two clauses of Zechariah 7:14 would say essentially the same thing, as with the fact that והארץ וגו cannot, from its very form, be taken as an account of the accomplishment of the divine purpose. The perfect nâshammâh in this clause does not preclude our connecting it with the preceding one, but is used to set forth the devastation as a completed fact: the land will be (not become) waste. The infliction of the punishment is expressed in Zechariah 7:13 in the form of a divine talio . As they have not hearkened to the word of God, so will God, when they call upon Him, namely in distress (cf. Hosea 5:15), also not hear (cf. Jeremiah 11:11), but whirl them like a tempest over the nations. The form אסערם is the first pers. imperf. piel for אסערם or אסערם , and Aramaic (cf. Ges. §52, 2, Anm. 2). On the nations whom they do not know, and who will therefore have no pity and compassion upon them, compare Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 16:13. מעבר וּמשּׁב (cf. Zechariah 9:8), that not one goes to and fro in the desolate land; lit., goes away from a place and returns again (cf. Exodus 32:27). In the clause ויּשׂימוּ וגו the result of the stiff-necked obstinacy of the fathers is briefly stated: They have made the choice land a desert ( 'erets chemdâh , as in Jeremiah 3:19 and Psalms 106:24), so that they have brought upon the land all the calamity which is now bewailed upon the fast-days.