14 And Judah H3063 also shall fight H3898 at Jerusalem; H3389 and the wealth H2428 of all the heathen H1471 round about H5439 shall be gathered together, H622 gold, H2091 and silver, H3701 and apparel, H899 in great H3966 abundance. H7230
For the Lord H136 had made the host H4264 of the Syrians H758 to hear H8085 a noise H6963 of chariots, H7393 and a noise H6963 of horses, H5483 even the noise H6963 of a great H1419 host: H2428 and they said H559 one H376 to another, H251 Lo, the king H4428 of Israel H3478 hath hired H7936 against us the kings H4428 of the Hittites, H2850 and the kings H4428 of the Egyptians, H4714 to come H935 upon us. Wherefore they arose H6965 and fled H5127 in the twilight, H5399 and left H5800 their tents, H168 and their horses, H5483 and their asses, H2543 even the camp H4264 as it was, and fled H5127 for their life. H5315 And when these lepers H6879 came H935 to the uttermost part H7097 of the camp, H4264 they went H935 into one H259 tent, H168 and did eat H398 and drink, H8354 and carried H5375 thence silver, H3701 and gold, H2091 and raiment, H899 and went H3212 and hid H2934 it; and came again, H7725 and entered H935 into another H312 tent, H168 and carried H5375 thence also, and went H3212 and hid H2934 it. Then they said H559 one H376 to another, H7453 We do H6213 not well: this day H3117 is a day H3117 of good tidings, H1309 and we hold our peace: H2814 if we tarry H2442 till the morning H1242 light, H216 some mischief H5771 will come H4672 upon us: now therefore come, H3212 that we may go H935 and tell H5046 the king's H4428 household. H1004 So they came H935 and called H7121 unto the porter H7778 of the city: H5892 and they told H5046 them, saying, H559 We came H935 to the camp H4264 of the Syrians, H758 and, behold, there was no man H376 there, neither voice H6963 of man, H120 but horses H5483 tied, H631 and asses H2543 tied, H631 and the tents H168 as they were. And he called H7121 the porters; H7778 and they told H5046 it to the king's H4428 house H1004 within. H6441 And the king H4428 arose H6965 in the night, H3915 and said H559 unto his servants, H5650 I will now shew H5046 you what the Syrians H758 have done H6213 to us. They know H3045 that we be hungry; H7457 therefore are they gone out H3318 of the camp H4264 to hide H2247 themselves in the field, H7704 saying, H559 When they come out H3318 of the city, H5892 we shall catch H8610 them alive, H2416 and get H935 into the city. H5892 And one H259 of his servants H5650 answered H6030 and said, H559 Let some take, H3947 I pray thee, five H2568 of the horses H5483 that remain, H7604 which are left H7604 in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude H1995 of Israel H3478 that are left H7604 in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude H1995 of the Israelites H3478 that are consumed:) H8552 and let us send H7971 and see. H7200 They took H3947 therefore two H8147 chariot H7393 horses; H5483 and the king H4428 sent H7971 after H310 the host H4264 of the Syrians, H758 saying, H559 Go H3212 and see. H7200 And they went H3212 after H310 them unto Jordan: H3383 and, lo, all the way H1870 was full H4392 of garments H899 and vessels, H3627 which the Syrians H758 had cast away H7993 in their haste. H2648 And the messengers H4397 returned, H7725 and told H5046 the king. H4428 And the people H5971 went out, H3318 and spoiled H962 the tents H4264 of the Syrians. H758 So a measure H5429 of fine flour H5560 was sold for a shekel, H8255 and two measures H5429 of barley H8184 for a shekel, H8255 according to the word H1697 of the LORD. H3068 And the king H4428 appointed H6485 the lord H7991 on whose hand H3027 he leaned H8172 to have the charge of the gate: H8179 and the people H5971 trode H7429 upon him in the gate, H8179 and he died, H4191 as the man H376 of God H430 had said, H1696 who spake H1696 when the king H4428 came down H3381 to him. And it came to pass as the man H376 of God H430 had spoken H1696 to the king, H4428 saying, H559 Two measures H5429 of barley H8184 for a shekel, H8255 and a measure H5429 of fine flour H5560 for a shekel, H8255 shall be to morrow H4279 about this time H6256 in the gate H8179 of Samaria: H8111
And Asa H609 and the people H5971 that were with him pursued H7291 them unto Gerar: H1642 and the Ethiopians H3569 were overthrown, H5307 that they could not recover H4241 themselves; for they were destroyed H7665 before H6440 the LORD, H3068 and before H6440 his host; H4264 and they carried away H5375 very H3966 much H7235 spoil. H7998 And they smote H5221 all the cities H5892 round about H5439 Gerar; H1642 for the fear H6343 of the LORD H3068 came upon them: and they spoiled H962 all the cities; H5892 for there was exceeding much H7227 spoil H961 in them. They smote H5221 also the tents H168 of cattle, H4735 and carried away H7617 sheep H6629 and camels H1581 in abundance, H7230 and returned H7725 to Jerusalem. H3389
And when Jehoshaphat H3092 and his people H5971 came H935 to take away H962 the spoil H7998 of them, they found H4672 among them in abundance H7230 both riches H7399 with the dead bodies, H6297 and precious H2532 jewels, H3627 which they stripped off H5337 for themselves, more than H369 they could carry away: H4853 and they were three H7969 days H3117 in gathering H962 of the spoil, H7998 it was so much. H7227 And on the fourth H7243 day H3117 they assembled H6950 themselves in the valley H6010 of Berachah; H1294 for there they blessed H1288 the LORD: H3068 therefore the name H8034 of the same place H4725 was called, H7121 The valley H6010 of Berachah, H1294 unto this day. H3117 Then they returned, H7725 every man H376 of Judah H3063 and Jerusalem, H3389 and Jehoshaphat H3092 in the forefront H7218 of them, to go again H7725 to Jerusalem H3389 with joy; H8057 for the LORD H3068 had made them to rejoice H8055 over their enemies. H341
And they that dwell H3427 in the cities H5892 of Israel H3478 shall go forth, H3318 and shall set H1197 on fire H784 and burn H5400 the weapons, H5402 both the shields H4043 and the bucklers, H6793 the bows H7198 and the arrows, H2671 and the handstaves, H3027 H4731 and the spears, H7420 and they shall burn H1197 them with fire H784 seven H7651 years: H8141 So that they shall take H5375 no wood H6086 out of the field, H7704 neither cut down H2404 any out of the forests; H3293 for they shall burn H1197 the weapons H5402 with fire: H784 and they shall spoil H7997 those that spoiled H7997 them, and rob H962 those that robbed H962 them, saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069
And, thou son H1121 of man, H120 thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Speak H559 unto every feathered H3671 fowl, H6833 and to every beast H2416 of the field, H7704 Assemble H6908 yourselves, and come; H935 gather H622 yourselves on every side H5439 to my sacrifice H2077 that I do sacrifice H2076 for you, even a great H1419 sacrifice H2077 upon the mountains H2022 of Israel, H3478 that ye may eat H398 flesh, H1320 and drink H8354 blood. H1818 Ye shall eat H398 the flesh H1320 of the mighty, H1368 and drink H8354 the blood H1818 of the princes H5387 of the earth, H776 of rams, H352 of lambs, H3733 and of goats, H6260 of bullocks, H6499 all of them fatlings H4806 of Bashan. H1316 And ye shall eat H398 fat H2459 till ye be full, H7654 and drink H8354 blood H1818 till ye be drunken, H7943 of my sacrifice H2077 which I have sacrificed H2076 for you. Thus ye shall be filled H7646 at my table H7979 with horses H5483 and chariots, H7393 with mighty men, H1368 and with all men H376 of war, H4421 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069
Out of him came forth H3318 the corner, H6438 out of him the nail, H3489 out of him the battle H4421 bow, H7198 out of him every oppressor H5065 together. H3162 And they shall be as mighty H1368 men, which tread down H947 their enemies in the mire H2916 of the streets H2351 in the battle: H4421 and they shall fight, H3898 because the LORD H3068 is with them, and the riders H7392 on horses H5483 shall be confounded. H3001
And the governors H441 of Judah H3063 shall say H559 in their heart, H3820 The inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem H3389 shall be my strength H556 in the LORD H3068 of hosts H6635 their God. H430 In that day H3117 will I make H7760 the governors H441 of Judah H3063 like an hearth H3595 of fire H784 among the wood, H6086 and like a torch H3940 of fire H784 in a sheaf; H5995 and they shall devour H398 all the people H5971 round about, H5439 on the right hand H3225 and on the left: H8040 and Jerusalem H3389 shall be inhabited H3427 again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. H3389 The LORD H3068 also shall save H3467 the tents H168 of Judah H3063 first, H7223 that the glory H8597 of the house H1004 of David H1732 and the glory H8597 of the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem H3389 do not magnify H1431 themselves against Judah. H3063
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Zechariah 14
Commentary on Zechariah 14 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 14
Zec 14:1-21. Last Struggle with the Hostile World-Powers: Messiah-Jehovah Saves Jerusalem and Destroys the Foe, of Whom the Remnant Turns to the Lord Reigning at Jerusalem.
1. day of the Lord—in which He shall vindicate His justice by punishing the wicked and then saving His elect people (Joe 2:31; 3:14; Mal 4:1, 5).
thy spoil … divided in the midst of thee—by the foe; secure of victory, they shall not divide the spoil taken from thee in their camp outside, but "in the midst" of the city itself.
2. gather all nations, &c.—The prophecy seems literal (compare Joe 3:2). If Antichrist be the leader of the nations, it seems inconsistent with the statement that he will at this time be sitting in the temple as God at Jerusalem (2Th 2:4); thus Antichrist outside would be made to besiege Antichrist within the city. But difficulties do not set aside revelations: the event will clear up seeming difficulties. Compare the complicated movements, Da 11:1-45.
half … the residue—In Zec 13:8, 9, it is "two-thirds" that perish, and "the third" escapes. There, however, it is "in all the land"; here it is "half of the city." Two-thirds of the "whole people" perish, one-third survives. One-half of the citizens are led captive, the residue are not cut off. Perhaps, too, we ought to translate, "a (not 'the') residue."
3. Then—In Jerusalem's extremity.
as … in … day of battle—as when Jehovah fought for Israel against the Egyptians at the Red Sea (Ex 14:14; 15:3). As He then made a way through the divided sea, so will He now divide in two "the Mount of Olives" (Zec 14:4).
4. The object of the cleaving of the mount in two by a fissure or valley (a prolongation of the valley of Jehoshaphat, and extending from Jerusalem on the west towards Jordan, eastward) is to open a way of escape to the besieged (compare Joe 3:12, 14). Half the divided mount is thereby forced northward, half southward; the valley running between. The place of His departure at His ascension shall be the place of His return: and the "manner" of His return also shall be similar (Ac 1:11). He shall probably "come from the east" (Mt 24:27). He so made His triumphal entry into the city from the Mount of Olives from the east (Mt 21:1-10). This was the scene of His agony: so it shall be the scene of His glory. Compare Eze 11:23, with Eze 43:2, "from the way of the east."
5. ye shall flee to the valley—rather "through the valley," as in 2Sa 2:29. The valley made by the cleaving asunder of the Mount of Olives (Zec 14:4) is designed to be their way of escape, not their place of refuge [Maurer]. Jerome is on the side of English Version. If it be translated so, it will mean, Ye shall flee "to" the valley, not to hide there, but as the passage through which an escape may be effected. The same divinely sent earthquake which swallows up the foe, opens out a way of escape to God's people. The earthquake in Uzziah's days is mentioned (Am 1:1) as a recognized epoch in Jewish history. Compare also Isa 6:1: perhaps the same year that Jehovah held His heavenly court and gave commission to Isaiah for the Jews, an earthquake in the physical world, as often happens (Mt 24:7), marked momentous movements in the unseen spiritual world.
of the mountains—rather, "of My mountains," namely, Zion and Moriah, peculiarly sacred to Jehovah [Moore]. Or, the mountains formed by My cleaving Olivet into two [Maurer].
Azal—the name of a place near a gate east of the city. The Hebrew means "adjoining" [Henderson]. Others give the meaning, "departed," "ceased." The valley reaches up to the city gates, so as to enable the fleeing citizens to betake themselves immediately to it on leaving the city.
Lord my God … with thee—The mention of the "Lord my God" leads the prophet to pass suddenly to a direct address to Jehovah. It is as if "lifting up his head" (Lu 21:28), he suddenly sees in vision the Lord coming, and joyfully exclaims, "All the saints with Thee!" So Isa 25:9.
saints—holy angels escorting the returning King (Mt 24:30, 31; Jude 14); and redeemed men (1Co 15:23; 1Th 3:13; 4:14). Compare the similar mention of the "saints" and "angels" at His coming on Sinai (De 32:2, 3; Ac 7:53; Ga 3:19; Heb 2:2). Phillips thinks Azal is Ascalon on the Mediterranean. An earthquake beneath Messiah's tread will divide Syria, making from Jerusalem to Azal a valley which will admit the ocean waters from the west to the Dead Sea. The waters will rush down the valley of Arabah, the old bed of the Jordan, clear away the sand-drift of four thousand years, and cause the commerce of Petra and Tyre to center in the holy city. The Dead Sea rising above its shores will overflow by the valley of Edom, completing the straits of Azal into the Red Sea. Thus will be formed the great pool of Jerusalem (compare Zec 14:8; Eze 47:1, &c.; Joe 3:18). Euphrates will be the north boundary, and the Red Sea the south. Twenty-five miles north and twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem will form one side of the fifty miles square of the Lord's Holy Oblation (Eze 48:1-35). There are seven spaces of fifty miles each from Jerusalem northward to the Euphrates, and five spaces of fifty miles each southward to the Red Sea. Thus there are thirteen equal distances on the breadth of the future promised land, one for the oblation and twelve for the tribes, according to Eze 48:1-35. That the Euphrates north, Mediterranean west, the Nile and Red Sea south, are to be the future boundaries of the holy land, which will include Syria and Arabia, is favored by Ge 15:8; Ex 23:31; De 11:24; Jos 1:4; 1Ki 4:21; 2Ch 9:26; Isa 27:12; all which was partially realized in Solomon's reign, shall be antitypically so hereafter. The theory, if true, will clear away many difficulties in the way of the literal interpretation of this chapter and Eze 48:1-35.
6. light … not … clear … dark—Jerome, Chaldee, Syriac, and Septuagint translate, "There shall not be light, but cold and ice"; that is, a day full of horror (Am 5:18). But the Hebrew for "clear" does not mean "cold," but "precious," "splendid" (compare Job 31:26). Calvin translates, "The light shall not be clear, but dark" (literally, "condensation," that is, thick mist); like a dark day in which you can hardly distinguish between day and night. English Version accords with Zec 14:7: "There shall not be altogether light nor altogether darkness," but an intermediate condition in which sorrows shall be mingled with joys.
7. one day—a day altogether unique, different from all others [Maurer]. Compare "one," that is, unique (So 6:9; Jer 30:7). Not as Henderson explains, "One continuous day, without night" (Re 22:5; 21:25); the millennial period (Re 20:3-7).
known to … Lord—This truth restrains man's curiosity and teaches us to wait the Lord's own time (Mt 24:36).
not day, nor night—answering to "not … clear nor … dark" (Zec 14:6); not altogether daylight, yet not the darkness of night.
at evening … shall be light—Towards the close of this twilight-like time of calamity, "light" shall spring up (Ps 97:11; 112:4; Isa 30:26; 60:19, 20).
8. living waters—(Eze 47:1; Joe 3:18).
former sea—that is, the front, or east, which Orientalists face in taking the points of the compass; the Dead Sea.
hinder sea—the west or Mediterranean.
summer … winter—neither dried up by heat, nor frozen by cold; ever flowing.
9. king over all … earth—Isa 54:5 implies that this is to be the consequence of Israel being again recognized by God as His own people (Da 2:44; Re 11:15).
one Lord … name one—Not that He is not so already, but He shall then be recognized by all unanimously as "One." Now there are "gods many and lords many." Then Jehovah alone shall be worshipped. The manifestation of the unity of the Godhead shall be simultaneous with that of the unity of the Church. Believers are one in spirit already, even as God is one (Eph 4:3-6). But externally there are sad divisions. Not until these disappear, shall God reveal fully His unity to the world (Joh 17:21, 23). Then shall there be "a pure language, that all may call upon the name of the Lord with one consent" (Zep 3:9). The Son too shall at last give up His mediatorial kingdom to the Father, when the purposes for which it was established shall have been accomplished, "that God may be all in all" (1Co 15:24).
10. turned—or, "changed round about": literally, "to make a circuit." The whole hilly land round Jerusalem, which would prevent the free passage of the living waters, shall be changed so as to be "as a (or the) plain" (Isa 40:4).
from Geba to Rimmon—Geba (2Ki 23:8) in Benjamin, the north border of Judah. Rimmon, in Simeon (Jos 15:32), the south border of Judah; not the Rimmon northeast of Michmash. "The plain from Geba to Rimmon" (that is, from one boundary to the other) is the Arabah or plain of the Jordan, extending from the Sea of Tiberias to the Elanitic Gulf of the Red Sea.
it shall be lifted up—namely, Jerusalem shall be exalted, the hills all round being lowered (Mic 4:1).
inhabited in her place—(Zec 12:6).
from Benjamin's gate—leading to the territory of Benjamin. The same as Ephraim's gate, the north boundary of the city (2Ki 14:13).
the first gate—west of the city [Grotius]. "The place of," &c. implies that the gate itself was then not in existence. "The old gate" (Ne 3:6).
the corner gate—east of the city [Grotius]. Or the "corner" joining the north and west parts of the wall [Villalpandus]. Grotius thinks "corners" refers to the towers there built (compare Zep 3:6, Margin).
tower of Hananeel—south of the city, near the sheep gate (Ne 3:1; 12:39; Jer 31:38) [Grotius].
king's wine-presses—(So 8:11). In the interior of the city, at Zion [Grotius].
11. no more utter destruction—(Jer 31:40). Literally, "no more curse" (Re 22:3; compare Mal 4:6), for there will be no more sin. Temporal blessings and spiritual prosperity shall go together in the millennium: long life (Isa 65:20-22), peace (Isa 2:4), honor (Isa 60:14-16), righteous government (Isa 54:14; 60:18). Judgment, as usual, begins at the house of God, but then falls fatally on Antichrist, whereon the Church obtains perfect liberty. The last day will end everything evil (Ro 8:21) [Auberlen].
12. Punishment on the foe, the last Antichristian confederacy (Isa 59:18; 66:24; Eze 38:1-39:29; Re 19:17-21). A living death: the corruption (Ga 6:8) of death combined in ghastly union with the conscious sensibility of life. Sin will be felt by the sinner in all its loathsomeness, inseparably clinging to him as a festering, putrid body.
13. tumult—consternation (Zec 12:4; 1Sa 14:15, 20).
lay hold … on … hand of … neighbour—instinctively grasping it, as if thereby to be safer, but in vain [Menochius]. Rather, in order to assail "his neighbor" [Calvin], (Eze 38:21). Sin is the cause of all quarrels on earth. It will cause endless quarrels in hell (Jas 3:15, 16).
14. Judah … fight at Jerusalem—namely, against the foe: not against Jerusalem, as Maurer translates in variance with the context. As to the spoil gained from the foe, compare Eze 39:10, 17.
15. The plague shall affect the very beasts belonging to the foe. A typical foretaste of all this befell Antiochus Epiphanes and his host at Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 13:49; 2 Maccabees 9:5).
16. every one … left—(Isa 66:19, 23). God will conquer all the foes of the Church. Some He will destroy; others He will bring into willing subjection.
from year to year—literally, "from the sufficiency of a year in a year."
feast of tabernacles—The other two great yearly feasts, passover and pentecost, are not specified, because, their antitypes having come, the types are done away with. But the feast of tabernacles will be commemorative of the Jews' sojourn, not merely forty years in the wilderness, but for almost two thousand years of their dispersion. So it was kept on their return from the Babylonian dispersion (Ne 8:14-17). It was the feast on which Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:8); a pledge of His return to His capital to reign (compare Le 23:34, 39, 40, 42; Re 7:9; 21:3). A feast of peculiar joy (Ps 118:15; Ho 12:9). The feast on which Jesus gave the invitation to the living waters of salvation ("Hosanna," save us now, was the cry, Mt 21:9; compare Ps 118:25, 26) (Joh 7:2, 37). To the Gentiles, too, it will be significant of perfected salvation after past wanderings in a moral wilderness, as it originally commemorated the ingathering of the harvest. The seedtime of tears shall then have issued in the harvest of joy [Moore]. "All the nations" could not possibly in person go up to the feast, but they may do so by representatives.
17. no rain—including every calamity which usually follows in the East from want of rain, namely, scarcity of provisions, famine, pestilence, &c. Rain is the symbol also of God's favor (Ho 6:3). That there shall be unconverted men under the millennium appears from the outbreak of Gog and Magog at the end of it (Re 20:7-9); but they, like Satan their master, shall be restrained during the thousand years. Note, too, from this verse that the Gentiles shall come up to Jerusalem, rather than the Jews go as missionaries to the Gentiles (Isa 2:2; Mic 5:7). However, Isa 66:19 may imply the converse.
18. if … Egypt go not up—specified as Israel's ancient foe. If Egypt go not up, and so there be no rain on them (a judgment which Egypt would condemn, as depending on the Nile's overflow, not on rain), there shall be the plague … . Because the guilty are not affected by one judgment, let them not think to escape, for God has other judgments which shall plague them. Maurer translates, "If Egypt go not up, upon them also there shall be none" (no rain). Ps 105:32 mentions "rain" in Egypt. But it is not their main source of fertility.
19. punishment—literally, "sin"; that is, "punishment for sin."
20. shall there be upon the bells—namely, this inscription, "Holiness to the Lord," the same as was on the miter of the high priest (Ex 28:36). This implies that all things, even the most common, shall be sacred to Jehovah, and not merely the things which under the law had peculiar sanctity attached to them. The "bells" were metal plates hanging from the necks of horses and camels as ornaments, which tinkled (as the Hebrew root means) by striking against each other. Bells attached to horses are found represented on the walls of Sennacherib's palace at Koyunjik.
pots … like … bowls—the vessels used for boiling, for receiving ashes, &c., shall be as holy as the bowls used for catching the blood of the sacrificial victims (see on Zec 9:15; 1Sa 2:14). The priesthood of Christ will be explained more fully both by the Mosaic types and by the New Testament in that temple of which Ezekiel speaks. Then the Song of Solomon, now obscure, will be understood, for the marriage feast of the Lamb will be celebrated in heaven (Re 19:1-21), and on earth it will be a Solomonic period, peaceful, glorious, and nuptial. There will be no king but a prince; the sabbatic period of the judges will return, but not with the Old Testament, but New Testament glory (Isa 1:26; Eze 45:1-25) [Roos].
21. every pot—even in private houses, as in the temple, shall be deemed holy, so universal shall be the consecration of all things and persons to Jehovah.
take of them—as readily as they would take of the pots of the temple itself, whatever number they wanted for sacrifice.
no … Canaanite—no unclean or ungodly person (Isa 35:8; 52:1; Joe 3:17). Compare as to the final state subsequent to the millennium, Re 21:27; 22:15. Maurer not so well translates "merchant" here, as in Pr 31:24. If a man would have the beginnings of heaven, it must be by absolute consecration of everything to God on earth. Let his life be a liturgy, a holy service of acted worship [Moore].