10 And widow, and fatherless, Sojourner, and poor, ye do not oppress, And the calamity of one another ye do not devise in your heart.
They have been fat, they have shone, Yea, they have overpassed the acts of the evil, Judgment they have not judged, The judgment of the fatherless -- and they prosper, And the judgment of the needy they have not judged.
Thy princes `are' apostates, and companions of thieves, Every one loving a bribe, and pursuing rewards, The fatherless they judge not, And the plea of the widow cometh not to them.
For they stretched out against Thee evil, They devised a wicked device, they prevail not,
Therefore, because of your trampling on the poor, And the tribute of corn ye take from him, Houses of hewn work ye have built, And ye do not dwell in them, Desirable vineyards ye have planted, And ye do not drink their wine. For I have known -- many `are' your transgressions, And mighty your sins, Adversaries of the righteous, taking ransoms, And the needy in the gate ye turned aside.
Wo `to' those devising iniquity, And working evil on their beds, In the light of the morning they do it, For their hand is -- to God. And they have desired fields, And they have taken violently, And houses, and they have taken away, And have oppressed a man and his house, Even a man and his inheritance. Therefore, thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am devising against this family evil, From which ye do not remove your necks, Nor walk loftily, for a time of evil it `is'.
And I say, `Hear, I pray you, heads of Jacob, And ye judges of the house of Israel, Is it not for you to know the judgment? Ye who are hating good, and loving evil, Taking violently their skin from off them, And their flesh from off their bones, And who have eaten the flesh of My people, And their skin from off them have stript, And their bones they have broken, And they have spread `them' out as in a pot, And as flesh in the midst of a caldron. Then do they cry unto Jehovah, And He doth not answer them, And hideth His face from them at that time, As they have made evil their doings.
Wo `to' the rebellious and polluted, The oppressing city! She hath not hearkened to the voice, She hath not accepted instruction, In Jehovah she hath not trusted, Unto her God she hath not drawn near. Her heads in her midst `are' roaring lions, Her judges `are' evening wolves, They have not gnawn the bone in the morning.
And each the evil of his neighbour ye do not devise in your heart, And a false oath ye do not love, For all these `are' things that I have hated, An affirmation of Jehovah.'
And I have drawn near to you for judgment, And I have been a witness, Making haste against sorcerers, And against adulterers, And against swearers to a falsehood, And against oppressors of the hire of an hireling, Of a widow, and of a fatherless one, And those turning aside a sojourner, And who fear Me not, said Jehovah of Hosts.
for from within, out of the heart of men, the evil reasonings do come forth, adulteries, whoredoms, murders, thefts, covetous desires, wickedness, deceit, arrogance, an evil eye, evil speaking, pride, foolishness; all these evils do come forth from within, and they defile the man.'
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, the reign of God shall inherit.
lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you -- doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered;
Every one who is hating his brother -- a man-killer he is, and ye have known that no man-killer hath life age-during in him remaining,
`And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, and ye -- ye have known the soul of the sojourner, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt.
`Thou dost not oppress a hireling, poor and needy, of thy brethren or of thy sojourner who is in thy land within thy gates; in his day thou dost give his hire, and the sun doth not go in upon it, for he `is' poor, and unto it he is lifting up his soul, and he doth not cry against thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee -- sin. `Fathers are not put to death for sons, and sons are not put to death for fathers -- each for his own sin, they are put to death. `Thou dost not turn aside the judgment of a fatherless sojourner, nor take in pledge the garment of a widow; and thou hast remembered that a servant thou hast been in Egypt, and Jehovah thy God doth ransom thee from thence; therefore I am commanding thee to do this thing.
Iniquity he deviseth on his bed, He stationeth himself on a way not good, Evil he doth not refuse.'
Who have devised evils in the heart, All the day they assemble `for' wars.
A heart devising thoughts of vanity -- Feet hasting to run to evil --
Rob not the poor because he `is' poor, And bruise not the afflicted in the gate. For Jehovah pleadeth their cause, And hath spoiled the soul of their spoilers.
`And a sojourner thou dost not oppress, nor crush him, for sojourners ye have been in the land of Egypt. `Any widow or orphan ye do not afflict; if thou dost really afflict him, surely if he at all cry unto Me, I certainly hear his cry; and Mine anger hath burned, and I have slain you by the sword, and your wives have been widows, and your sons orphans.
Wash ye, make ye pure, Turn aside the evil of your doings, from before Mine eyes, Cease to do evil, learn to do good. Seek judgment, make happy the oppressed, Judge the fatherless, strive `for' the widow.
And I `am' as a trained lamb brought to slaughter, And I have not known That against me they have devised devices: We destroy the tree with its food, and cut him off From the land of the living, And his name is not remembered again. And O Jehovah of Hosts, judging righteousness, Trying reins and heart, I do see Thy vengeance against them, For unto Thee I have revealed my cause.'
Dost thou reign, because thou art fretting thyself in cedar? Thy father -- did he not eat and drink? Yea, he did judgment and righteousness, Then `it is' well with him. He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then `it is' well -- is it not to know Me? An affirmation of Jehovah. But thine eyes and thy heart are not, Except on thy dishonest gain, And on shedding of innocent blood, And on oppression, and on doing of violence.
Father and mother made light of in thee, To a sojourner they dealt oppressively in thy midst, Fatherless and widow they oppressed in thee.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Zechariah 7
Commentary on Zechariah 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Zec 7:1-14. II. Didactic Part, Seventh and Eighth chapters. Obedience, Rather than Fasting, Enjoined: Its Reward.
1. fourth year of … Darius—two years after the previous prophecies (Zec 1:1, &c.).
Chisleu—meaning "torpidity," the state in which nature is in November, answering to this month.
2. they … sent unto … house of God—The Jews of the country sent to the house of God or congregation at Jerusalem. The altar was long since reared (Ezr 3:3), though the temple was not completed till two years afterwards (Ezr 6:15). The priests' duty was to give decision on points of the law (De 17:9; Mt 2:4). Beth-el is here used instead of Beth-Jehovah, because the religious authorities, rather than the house itself (designated "Beth-Jehovah" in Zec 7:3), are intended. The old Beth-el had long ceased to be the seat of idol-worship, so that the name had lost its opprobrious meaning. "The house of the Lord" is used for the congregation of worshippers headed by their priests (Zec 3:7; Ho 8:1). Maurer makes the "house of God" nominative to "sent." Henderson makes "Beth-el" so.
Sherezer—an Assyrian name meaning, "Prefect of the treasury."
Regemmelech—meaning, "The king's official." These names perhaps intimate the semi-heathen character of the inquirers, which may also be implied in the name "Beth-el" (Hebrew for "house of God"), so notorious once for its calf-worship. They sent to Jehovah's house as their forefathers sent to old Beth-el, not in the spirit of true obedience.
pray before the Lord—literally, "to entreat the face of," that is, to offer sacrifices, the accompaniment of prayers, to conciliate His favor (1Sa 13:12).
3. Should I weep in the fifth month—"I" represents here the people of God (compare Zec 8:21). This rather favors Maurer's view, taking "the house of God," the congregation, as nominative to "sent." Their hypocrisy appeared because they showed more concern about a ceremony of human institution (not improper in itself) than about moral obedience. If, too, they had trusted God's promise as to the restoration of Church and State, the fast would have now given place to joy, for which there was more cause than for grief [Pembellus].
to the prophets—Haggai and Zechariah especially. The tenth day of the fifth month was kept a fast, being the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer 52:12-14). They ask, Should the fast be continued, now that the temple and city are being restored?
separating myself—sanctifying myself by separation, not only from food, but from all defilements (compare Joe 2:16) as was usual in a solemn fast.
5. Speak unto all—The question had been asked in the name of the people in general by Sherezer and Regemmelech. The self-imposed fast they were tired of, not having observed it in the spirit of true religion.
seventh month—This fast was in memory of the murder of Gedaliah and those with him at Mizpah, issuing in the dispersion of the Jews (2Ki 25:25, 26; Jer 41:1-3).
did ye … fast unto me?—No; it was to gratify yourselves in hypocritical will-worship. If it had been "unto Me," ye would have "separated yourselves" not only from food, but from your sins (Isa 58:3-7). They falsely made the fast an end intrinsically meritorious in itself, not a means towards God's glory in their sanctification. The true principle of piety, reference to God, was wanting: hence the emphatic repetition of "unto Me." Before settling questions as to the outward forms of piety (however proper, as in this case), the great question was as to piety itself; that being once settled, all their outward observances become sanctified, being "unto the Lord" (Ro 14:6).
6. did not ye eat for yourselves?—literally, "Is it not ye who eat?" that is, it is not unto Me and My glory. It tends no more to My glory, your feasting than your fasting.
7. Should ye not hear the words—rather, "Should ye not do the words," as their question naturally was as to what they should do (Zec 7:3); "hearing" is not mentioned till Zec 7:12. The sense is, It is not fasts that Jehovah requires of you, but that ye should keep His precepts given to you at the time when Jerusalem was in its integrity. Had ye done so then, ye would have had no occasion to institute fasts to commemorate its destruction, for it would never have been destroyed (Zec 7:9-14) [Maurer]. Or, as the Margin, "Are not these the words" of the older prophets (Isa 58:3; Jer 14:12) which threatened a curse for disobedience, which the event has so awfully confirmed. If ye follow them in sin, ye must follow them in suffering. English Version is good sense: Ye inquire anxiously about the fasts, whereas ye ought to be anxious about hearing the lesson taught by the former prophets and verified in the nation's punishment; penitence and obedience are required rather than fasts.
the plain—southwest of Jerusalem. They then inhabited securely the region most unguarded.
9. speaketh—implying that these precepts addressed to their ancestors were the requirements of Jehovah not merely then, but now. We must not only not hurt, but we must help our fellow men. God is pleased with such loving obedience, rather than with empty ceremonies.
10. imagine evil—that is, devise evil. The Septuagint takes it, Harbor not the desire of revenge (Le 19:18). "Devise evil against one another" is simpler (Ps 36:4; Mic 2:1).
11. pulled away the shoulder—literally, "presented a refractory shoulder"; an image from beasts refusing to bear the yoke (Ne 9:29, Margin).
stopped … ears—(Isa 6:10; Jer 7:26; Ac 7:57).
12. hearts … adamant—(Eze 3:9; 11:19).
Lord … sent in Spirit by … prophets—that is, sent by the former prophets inspired with His Spirit.
therefore … great wrath—(2Ch 36:16). As they pushed from them the yoke of obedience, God laid on them the yoke of oppression. As they made their heart hard as adamant, God brake their hard hearts with judgments. Hard hearts must expect hard treatment. The harder the stone, the harder the blow of the hammer to break it.
13. he cried—by His prophets.
they cried—in their calamities.
I … not hear—retribution in kind (Pr 1:24-26; Isa 1:15; Mic 3:4).
14. whirlwind—of wrath (Na 1:3).
nations whom they knew not—foreign and barbarous.
desolate after them—after their expulsion and exile. It was ordered remarkably by God's providence, that no occupants took possession of it, but that during the Jews' absence it was reserved for them against their return after seventy years.
they laid … desolate—The Jews did so by their sins. The blame of their destruction lay with themselves, rather than with the Babylonians (2Ch 36:21).
pleasant land—Canaan. Literally, "the land of desire" (Jer 3:19).