In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
Parallel Translations
-
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
-
In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
-
IN THE eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying:
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Zechariah 1:1 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Nehemiah 12:4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah,
- Matthew 23:35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
- Ezra 4:24–5:1 Then work stopped on God’s house which is at Jerusalem. It stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. Now the prophets, Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem. They prophesied to them in the name of the God of Israel.
- Haggai 1:1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
- Zechariah 1:7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
- Zechariah 7:1 In the fourth year of king Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev.
- Nehemiah 12:16 of Iddo, Zechariah; of Ginnethon, Meshullam;
- Haggai 2:10 In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
- Luke 11:51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.
- Ezra 6:14-15 The elders of the Jews built and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
- Haggai 1:15–2:1 in the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. In the seventh month, in the twenty-first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai the prophet, saying,
- Haggai 2:20 Yahweh’s word came the second time to Haggai in the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (25 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophecies of Zechariah come next. He was a…
The Prophecies of Zechariah come next. He was a fellow-helper and colleague Of Haggai, and also of Malachi, as it will presently appear. These three, then, were sent by God nearly at the same time, that they might assist one another, and that they might thus by one consent and one mouth confirm what God had committed to them. It was indeed of great service that several bore their testimony: their prophecies gained thus greater authority; and this was needful, for the people had to contend with various and most grievous trials. Satan had already raised up great opposition to them; but there were still greater evils at hand. Hence, to prevent them from despairing, it was necessary to encourage them; by many testimonies.
But what our Prophet had especially in view was, to remind the Jews why it was that God dealt so severely with their fathers, and also to animate them with hope, provided they really repented, and elevated their minds to the hope of true and complete deliverance. He at the same time severely reproves them; for there was need of much cleansing, as they still continued in their filth. For though the recollection of their exile ought to have restrained them, and to have made them careful to fear and obey God, yet it seemed to have been otherwise; and it will appear more fully as we proceed, that being not conscious of having been punished for their sins, they were so secure, that there was among them hardly any fear of God, or hardly any religion. It was therefore needful to blend strong and sharp reproofs with promises of favor, that they might thus be prepared to receive Christ. This is the substance of the whole I shall now proceed to the words.
Read full note →
We here learn what we have already stated, — that Haggai and Zechariah were by God joined together, that they might confirm each other’s doctrine, for they had to do with a refractory people: besides, the people had to endure hard and arduous trials, so that they needed more than a common testimony to confirm them. Haggai commenced the work of his office in the sixth month; Zechariah shortly followed him, in the eighth month of the same year. It has already been shown who was the Darius mentioned here; though some interpreters dissent, we may yet learn from certain and indubitable proofs, that he was the son of Hystaspes. We shall again speak of this Darius, when a better occasion will offer itself: I wished only in passing to say thus much.
The word of Jehovah came to Zechariah. We have already said that the word of God comes in two ways to men. God addresses all from the least to the greatest; but in the first place he sends his word especially to his Prophets, to whom he commits the office of teaching. The word of God thus comes to private individuals, and it comes also to teachers, who sustain a public character, and become God’s interpreters or messengers. It was thus that God’s word came to Zechariah, not that he might keep to himself what God had said, but that he might be a faithful dispenser of his truth.
With regard to Zechariah, they are mistaken who regard him as the son of Jehoiadah, they are mistaken by Christ in Matthew 23:35. Zechariah is indeed said there to have been killed between the temple and the altar, and he is called the son of Barachiah: but the counting of years will easily prove their mistake, who would have him to be the same Zechariah. The former, who is called in sacred history the son of Jehoiadah the priest, was slain under Joash. Let us now see how many kings succeeded him, and also how many years he reigned. That Zechariah must have been almost two hundred years old at the Babylonian exile, if he was alive, had be been a boy when he was stoned. Now this Zechariah, of whom we now speak, performed the office of a Prophet after the return of the people from exile. He must then have been not only more than a hundred and fifty years of age, but must have exceeded two hundred years when he died. The idea respecting the renascence of men, being a reverie of the Jews, is not worthy of a record, much less of a refutation. He is however called the son of Barachiah; but the probable conjecture is that Jehoiadah the priest had two names, and it does not appear that he was a prophet. However this may be, the Zechariah who was stoned in the temple by the order of the king, was the son of the high priest, and died more than a hundred years before the Babylonian exile. For we have said that this Darius was not the Mede who reigned with Cyrus, but the son of Hystaspes, who reigned a long time after, that is, after Cambyses and the Magi. Their want of knowledge is easily proved, who think that these Prophets were sent by God before the completion of the time mentioned by Jeremiah. As then the seventy years had elapsed, this Prophet was no doubt born after the time when the city was destroyed, the temple pulled-down, and the people led captive into Babylon. I come now to the doctrine itself.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain This was not that Zechariah, whereof is mentioned 2…
This was not that Zechariah, whereof is mentioned 2 Chron. 24:20, but had the same name, and is called the son of Berechiah, as he was, because he came of those progenitors, as of Joiada or Berechiah, and Iddo.
Who was the son of Histaspis.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second…
Zec 1:1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
Ver. 1. In the eight month, in the second year of Darius] Two months after Haggai began to prophesy. {See Trapp on "Hag 1:1"} These two prophets did jointly together reprove the Jews for their sloth in rebuilding the temple, and incite them to set forward the work, Ezr 5:1, contributing their utmost help thereunto, Zec 1:2. They were also a singular help the one to the other, in the execution of their office. For "two are better than one"; and why, see Ecc 4:9. {See Trapp on "Ecc 4:9"} For which cause also Christ sent out first the twelve, and then the seventy, by two and two, Mar 6:7 Luk 10:1. So Paul and Barnabas were sent abroad; the two faithful witnesses, Rev 11:8. Sυν τε δυ ερχομενω, as the poet speaks of Ulysses, and Diomedes sent to fetch in the palladium. {a} One good man may be an angel to another (as Bradford was to his fellow martyr, Dr Taylor), nay, a god to another, as Moses was to Aaron, Exo 4:16. And for others; in the mouth of two or three witnesses a truth is better believed by them; and a twisted cord not easily broken. Haggai lays down the mind of God to the people more plainly in direct and downright terms; Zechariah flies a higher pitch, abounding with types and visions; and is therefore worthily reckoned among the abstrusest and profoundest penmen of Holy Scripture, Prae caeteris obscurus est, profundas, varius, prolixus, et aenigmaticus (Cor. a Lapide). For it must be understood (and let it here be prefaced) that albeit all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable to instruct, 2Ti 3:16, pure, precious, and profitable, every leaf, line, and letter of it, Psa 12:6 Pro 30:5; yet, between Scripture and Scripture there is no small difference; some pieces of God’s Book for their antiquity, and some other for their obscurity, do justly challenge our greater attention and industry. Of the former sort, famous for their antiquity, are the five Books of Moses, whom Theodoret fitly calleth the great Ocean of divinity (τον της Yεολογιας ωκεανον), the fountain of the following Scriptures. Of the second sort, noted for their difficulty, and that will not be acquainted with us but upon further suit, some are hard through their fulness of matter in fewness of words, as the poetical books, wherein (no doubt) the verse also hath caused some cloud: and others again, by the sublimity of the subject they handle; such as are the Books of Ezekiel, and Daniel, and this of Zechariah, who is totus fere symbolicus, the whole is to take symbolically and is much followed by St John in his Revelation. Hence Jerome in his prologue to this prophet saith, Ab obscuris ad obscuriora transimus, et cum Mose ingredimur ad nubem et caliginem. Abyssus abyssum invocat. We pass from dark prophecies to that which is much more dark; and with Moses we are entering into the cloud and thick darkness. Here one deep calleth upon another. And, being in a labyrinth, we hope to get out by Christ’s golden clue; concerning whose passion, resurrection, and glory, he speaketh more like an evangelist than a prophet, and may therefore be rightly styled, The evangelical prophet.
Read full note →
Came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah] Therefore the same that our Saviour speaketh of Mat 23:35 Luk 11:51, though I once thought otherwise, after Jerome, Luther, Calvin, Beza, Glassius, Grotius. But, 1. the name of his father, Berechiah; 2. the manner of Christ’s account (reckoning from Abel, the first martyr, to this, penultimus prophetarum, last, save one, of the prophets, and last of all that was slain by the Jews, after the rebuilding of the temple, whither, being assaulted, he ran for sanctuary), easily persuades me to alter mine opinion. As for those that hold that our Saviour there speaketh of Zacharias, the father of John Baptist, Luk 1:59, slain by the Jews, because he preached Virginis partum et Christi ortum, Christ born of a virgin, Baronius, Tolet, and others, as they affirm it without reason, so they may be dismissed without refutation. Hoc, quia de scripturis non habet authoritatem, eadem facilitate contemnitur, qua probatur, saith Jerome.
The son of Iddo the prophet] Whether the word prophet be to be referred to Zechariah or to Iddo is uncertain. That there was a prophet Iddo we read, and Zechariah might well be of his line, after many descents, 2Ch 12:15. He is here mentioned (as also Ezr 5:1) ut nepoti suo Zachariae nomen et decus conciliet, for an honour to his ab-nephew, Zechariah; according to that of Solomon, "The glory of children are their fathers," to wit, if they be godly and religious, Pro 17:6. What an honour was it to Jacob that he could swear by the fear of his father Isaac! to David, that he could say, "Truly, Lord, I am thy servant, I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid!" Psa 116:16; to Timothy, that he had such a mother as Lois, such a grandmother as Eunice! 2Ti 1:5; to the children of the elect lady, to the posterity of Latimer, Bradford, Ridley, and other of those men of God, who suffered for the truth! If the degenerate Jews so boasted of Abraham, their father, Joh 8:33 Mat 3:9, how much more might Zechariah (no degenerate plant, no bastardly brood, as they were, Mat 12:39, γενεα μοιχαλις) boast and bear himself bold on his lather, Berechiah (the blessing of God), and his grandfather, Iddo (God’s witness, confessor, or ornament), since he trod in their holy steps, and was adorned with their gifts and virtues! The Papists brag much of Peter, and other apostles, their founders and predecessors; but this is but an empty title, to talk of personal succession (which yet cannot be proven), unless they could also show us their gifts and graces, as all the world may see they cannot. We read of a painter who, being blamed by a cardinal for colouring the visages of Peter and Paul too red, tartly replied that he painted them so, as blushing at the lives of their successors.
{a} Gr. and Lat. Myth. The image of the goddess Pallas, in the citadel of Troy, on which the safety of the city was supposed to depend, reputed to have been thence brought to Rome. ŒD
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain In the eighth month; called both Marchesvan and Bul…
In the eighth month; called both Marchesvan and Bul by the Hebrews, and answers to part of our October and November. Two months after Haggai began to encourage the Jews to build the temple.
Darius; son of Hystaspes, and the third Persian monarch: see Hag 1:1; and again Zec 1:15, at large.
Read full note →
Came the word of the Lord: here is his warrant and Divine call, the Lord communicated to him what he was to communicate to, others.
Zechariah: his name bespeaks him a remembrancer of God, or it may speak God remembering him, and the rest of this people.
The son; the Jew called the descendants in right line sons, though they were grandsons, or great-grandsons; and in this sense some say Zechariah is the son of Baruch, and the son of Iddo. This Zechariah is not he that is mentioned 2Ch 24:20, this is too early by many years; nor is this Zechariah the father of John Baptist, this is as much too late; but most likely it is that Zechariah whom the Jews slew between the temple and the altar, Mat 23:35.
Berechiah: this name is expressly mentioned Mt 23, and his time exactly suits the time pointed at by the evangelist.
Iddo: one of this name you have 2Ch 9:29, but this is too old to be this in the text, for there will be found (as Wolphius in Ezram notes) four hundred and fifty years' distance between Iddo the seer and this Iddo mentioned in the text.
The prophet; whether Zechariah or Iddo I determine not.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, I. The foundation of Zechariah's ministry; it…
Here is, I. The foundation of Zechariah's ministry; it is laid in a divine authority: The word of the Lord came to him. He received a divine commission to be God's mouth to the people and with it instructions what to say. He received of the Lord that which also he delivered unto them. The word of the Lord was to him; it came in the evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, as a real thing, and not a fancy. For the ascertaining of this, we have here, 1. The time when the word of the Lord came first to him, or when the word that next follows came to him: it was in the second year of Darius. Before the captivity the prophets dated their writings by the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel; but now by the reigns of the kings of Persia, to whom they were subjects. Such a melancholy change had sin made of their circumstances. Zerubbabel took not so much state upon him as to have public acts dated by the years of his government, and in things of this nature the prophets, as is fit, complied with the usage of the time, and scrupled not to reckon by the years of the heathen kings, as Dan 7:1; Dan 8:1. Zechariah preached his first sermon in the eighth month of this second year of Darius; Haggai preached his in the sixth month of the same year, Hag 1:1. The people being readily obedient to the word of the Lord in the mouth of Haggai, God blessed them with another prophet; for to him that has, and uses well what he has, more shall be given. 2. The name and family of the prophet to whom the word of the Lord came; He was Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo, and he was the prophet, as Haggai is called the prophet, Hag 1:1. For, though in former ages there was one Iddo a prophet (Ch2 12:15), yet we have no reason to think that Zechariah was of his progeny, or should be denominated from him. The learned Mr. Pemble is decidedly of opinion that this Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, is the same that our Saviour says was slain between the temple and the altar, perhaps many years after the rebuilding of the temple (Mat 23:35), and that our Saviour does not mean (as is commonly thought) Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, for why should Jehoiada be called Barachiah? And he thinks the manner of Christ's account persuades us to think so; for, reckoning up the innocent blood shed by the Jews, he begins at Abel, and ends even in the last of the holy prophets. Whereas, after Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, many prophets and righteous men were put to death by them. It is true there is no mention made in any history of their slaying this Zechariah, but Josephus might industriously conceal that shame of his nation. Perhaps what Zechariah spoke in his prophesying concerning Christ of his being sold, his being wounded in the house of his friends, and the shepherd being smitten, was verified in the prophet himself, and so he became a type of Christ. Probably, being assaulted by his persecutors, he took sanctuary in the court of the priests (and some think he was himself a priest), and so was slain between the porch and the altar.
II. The first-fruits of Zechariah's ministry. Before he came to visions and revelations, and delivered his prophetic discourses, he preached that which was plain and practical; for it is best to begin with that. Before he published the promises of mercy, he published calls to repentance, for thus the way of the Lord must be prepared. Law must be first preached, and then gospel. Now,
Read full note →
1. The prophet here puts them in mind of the controversy God had had with their fathers (Zac 1:2): "The Lord has been sorely displeased with your fathers, and has laid them under the tokens of his displeasure. You have heard with your ears, and your fathers have told you of it; you have seen with your eyes the woeful remains of it. God's quarrel with you has been of long standing, and therefore it is time for you to think of taking it up." Note, The judgments of God, which those that went before us were under, should be taken as warnings to us not to tread in their steps, and calls to repentance, that we may cut off the entail of the curse and get it turned into a blessing.
2. He calls them, in God's name, to return to him, and make their peace with him, Zac 1:3. God by him says that to this backsliding people which he had often said by his servants the prophets: "Turn you to me in a way of faith and repentance, duty and obedience, and I will turn to you in a way of favour and mercy, peace and reconciliation." Let the rebels return to their allegiance, and they shall be taken under the protection of the government and enjoy all the privileges of good subjects. Let them change their way, and God will change his. See Mal 3:7. But that which is most observable here is that God is called here the Lord of hosts three times: "Thus saith the Lord of hosts. It is he that speaks, and therefore you are bound to regard what he says." Turn you to me, saith the Lord of hosts (this intimates the authority and obligation of the command), and I will turn to you, saith the Lord of hosts - this intimates the validity and value of the promise; so that it is no vain repetition. Note, The consideration of God's almighty power and sovereign dominion should both engage and encourage sinners to repent and turn to him. It is very desirable to have the Lord of hosts our friend and very dreadful to have him our enemy.
3. He warns them not to persist in their impenitence, as their fathers had done (Zac 1:4): Be you not as your fathers. Instead of being hardened in their evil courses by the example of their fathers' sins, let them rather be deterred from them by the example of their fathers' punishment. We are apt to be governed very much by precedent, and we are well or ill governed according to the use we make of the precedents before us. The same examples to some are a savour of life unto life, to others a savour of death unto death. Some argued, "Shall we be wiser than our fathers? They never minded the prophets, and why then should we mind them? They made laws against them, and why should we tolerate them?" But they are here taught how they should argue: "Our fathers slighted the prophets, and God was sorely displeased with them for it; therefore let us the more carefully regard what God says to us by his prophets." "Review what is past, and observe,"
(1.) "What was the message that God sent by his servants the prophets to your fathers: The former prophets cried to your fathers. cried aloud, and did not spare, not spare themselves, not spare your fathers; they cried as men in earnest, as men that would be heard; they spoke not as from themselves, but in the name of the Lord of hosts; and this was the substance of what they said, the burden of every song, the application of every sermon - Turn you now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings; the very same that we now preach to you. Be persuaded to leave your sins; resolve to have no more to do with them. A speedy reformation is the only way to prevent an approaching ruin: Turn you now from sin to God without delay."
(2.) "How little this message was regarded by your fathers: But they did not hear, they did not heed. They turned a deaf ear to these calls: They would not hearken unto me, saith the Lord. They would not be reclaimed, would not be ruled, by the word I sent them; say not then that you will do as your fathers did, for they did amiss;" see Jer 44:17. Note, We must not follow the examples of our dear fathers unless they were God's dear children, nor any further than they were dutiful and obedient to him.
(3.) "What has become both of your fathers and of the prophets that preached to them? They are all dead and gone," Zac 1:5. [1.] Your fathers, where are they? The whole generation of them is swept away, and their place knows them no more. Note, When we think of our ancestors, that have gone through the world and gone out of it before us, we should think, Where are they? Here they were, in the towns and countries where we live, passing and repassing in the same streets, dwelling in the same houses, trading in the same shops and exchanges, worshipping God in the same churches. But where are they? They are somewhere still; when they died there was not an end of them. They are in eternity, in the world of spirits, the unchangeable world, to which we are hastening apace. Where are they? Those of them that lived and died in sin are in torment, and we are warned by Moses and the prophets, Christ and his apostles, to look to it that we come not to that place of torment, Luk 16:28, Luk 16:29. Those of them that lived and died in Christ are in paradise; and, if we live and die as they did, we shall be with them shortly, with them eternally. [2.] The prophets also, did they live for ever? No, they are gone too. The treasure is put into earthen vessels, the water of life into earthen pitchers, often cracked, and brought home broken at last. Christ is a prophet that lives for ever, but all other prophets have a period put to their office. Note, Ministers are dying men, and live not for ever in this world. They are to look upon themselves as such, and to preach accordingly, as those that must be silenced shortly, and know not which sermon may be the last. People are to look upon them as such, and to hear accordingly, as those that yet a little while have the light with them, that they may walk and work while they have the light. Oh that this weighty consideration had its due weight given it, that we are dying ministers dealing with dying people about the concerns of immortal souls and an awful eternity, which both they and we are standing upon the brink of! It concerns us to think of the prophets that are gone, that were before us of old, Jer 28:8. Those that were the glory of men withered and fell; but the word of the Lord endures for ever, Pe1 1:24, Pe1 1:25. The prophets that are now, do we live for ever? (so some read it); no, Haggai and Zechariah will not be long with you, and prophecy itself shall shortly cease. In another world both we and our prophets shall live for ever; and to prepare for that world ought to be our great care and business in this.
(4.) "What were the effects of the word which God spoke to them by his prophets, Zac 1:6. The preachers died, and the hearers died, but the word of God died not; that took effect, and not one iota or tittle of it fell to the ground." As the rain and snow from heaven, it shall not return void, Isa 55:11. He appealed to themselves; they knew very well, [1.] That the judgments God had threatened were executed upon their fathers, and they were made to feel what they would not believe and fear: "My statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets, the precepts with the penalties annexed, which I charged them with the delivery of, did they not take hold of your fathers?" Though God's prophets could not fasten convictions upon them, the calamities threatened overtook them, and they could not escape them, nor get out of the reach of them. God's words took hold of them as the bailiff arrests the debtor, and takes him in execution for contempt. Note, The unbelief of man cannot make the threatenings of God's word of no effect, but, sooner or later, they will take place, if the prescribed course be not taken to prevent the execution of them. God's anger will certainly take hold of those that will not be taken hold of by his authority; for when he judges he will overcome. [2.] That they themselves could not but own the accomplishment of the word of God in the judgments of God that were upon them, and that therein he was righteous, and had done them no wrong: They returned, and said (they changed their mind, and when it was too late to prevent the ruin of their nation they acknowledged), Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us according to our ways and doings, to reckon with us for them, so has he dealt with us, and we must acknowledge both his truth and his justice, must blame ourselves only, and have no blame to lay to him. Sero sapiunt Phryges - It is late before the Phrygians become wise. This after-wit, as it is a proof of the truth of God, so it is a proof of the folly of men, who will look no further than they can see. They would never be persuaded to say in time, "God will be as good as his word, for he is faithful; he will deal with us according to our deserts, for he is righteous." But now they see both plainly enough when the sentence is executed; now he that runs may read, and publish the exact agreement that appears between the present providences and the former predictions which then were slighted, between the present punishments and the former sins which then were persisted in. Now they cannot but say, The Lord is righteous, Dan 9:11-13.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain In the eighth month,.... The month Marchesvan, called the…
In the eighth month,.... The month Marchesvan, called the month Bul, in Kg1 6:38 which answers to part of our October, and part of November: this was but two months from the first prophecy of Haggai, Hag 1:1 and but a few days after his second, Hag 2:1 so near were the prophecies of these two prophets together:
in the second year of Darius: king of Persia; not Darius the Mede, but Darius the son of Hystaspes:
Read full note →
came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah; that is, "the word of prophecy from before the Lord", as the Targum paraphrases it; which came to him, either in a dream, or in a vision, or by an impulse on his mind; who is described by his descent, the son of Barachias; mention is made of this name in Mat 23:35. It signifies "the blessed of the Lord", and is the same with Eulogius or Benedictus:
the son of Iddo the prophet: the word "prophet", as Kimchi observes, belongs to Zechariah; not but that his grandfather Iddo might be a prophet too; and the same writer takes notice, that in the Midrash mention is made of Iddo the prophet; and so there is an Iddo that is called the seer and the prophet in Ch2 9:29 but whether the same with this is not certain. The name is by some thought to be the same with Firmicus, Statius, Robertus:
saying; as follows:
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain A call to repentance, ver. 1-6. The vision of…
A call to repentance, ver. 1-6. The vision of the horses, ver.7-11. The prayer of the angel for Jerusalem answered, ver. 12-17. The vision of the four carpenters, ver. 18-21
In the eighth month - Two months after Haggai began to encourage the Jews to build the temple. Zechariah - Probably this is that Zechariah whom the Jews slew between the temple and the altar, Matt. xxiii, 35.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Chronological Notes relative to this Book
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH
Chronological Notes relative to this Book
Read full note →
-Year from the Creation, according to Archbishop Usher, 3484.
-Year of the Julian Period, 4194.
-Year of the Jewish era of the world, 3241.
-Year from the Flood, 1828.
-Year from the vocation of Abram, 1401.
-Year since the first celebration of the Olympic games in Elis, by the Idaei Dactyli, 934.
-Year since the destruction of Troy, according to the general account, 664.
-Year since the foundation of the monarchy of the Israelites by the Divine appointment of Saul to the regal dignity, 576.
-Year from the foundation of Solomon's temple, 492.
-Year from the division of Solomon's monarchy into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 456.
-Year since the re-establishment of the Olympic games in Elis by Lycurgus, Iphitus, and Cleosthenes, 365.
-Year since the conquest of Coroebus at Olympia, usually called the first Olympiad, 257.
-First year of the sixty-fifth Olympiad.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to the Varronian or generally received computation, 234.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Cato and the Fasti Consulares, 233.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Polybius the historian, 232.
-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 228.
-Year of the era of Nabonassar, 228.
-Year since the destruction of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, 202.
-Year since the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 68.
-Year since the destruction of the Chaldean empire by the Persians, 18.
-Year before the birth of Christ, 516.
-Year before the vulgar era of Christ's nativity, 520.
-Cycle of the Sun, 22.
-Cycle of the Moon, 14.
-Second year of Darius I., king of Persia.
-Twenty-eighth year of Amyntas, king of Macedon.
-Seventh year of Demaratus, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Proclidae.
-Eleventh year of Cleomenes, king of Lacedaemon, of the family of the Eurysthenidae.
-Fifteenth year of Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of the Romans.
-This was about twelve years before the commencement of the consular government. According to some chronologers this was the age of Confucius.
CHAPTER I
The prophet earnestly exhorts the people to repentance, that
they may escape such punishments as had been inflicted on
their fathers, 1-6.
The vision of the horses, with the signification, 7-11.
The angel of the Lord successfully intercedes in behalf of
Jerusalem, 12-17.
The vision of the four horns, and of the four carpenters,
18-21.
NOTES ON CHAP. I
Verse 1. In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius] This was Darius Hystaspes; and from this date we find that Zechariah began to prophecy just two months after Haggai.
Son of Iddo] There are a number of various readings on this name, ידו Iddo, and עדוא Iddo, both in MSS. and in editions; but they are only different ways of writing the same name.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Zec 1:1-2. In the eighth month — This month,…
Zec 1:1-2. In the eighth month — This month, according to that reckoning which begins the year with the month Abib, or Nisan, Exo 12:2, falls in with the latter part of our October, and the beginning of November. Haggai had begun to exhort the Jews to resume the work of building the temple two months before this, and they had actually resumed it on the 24th day of the sixth month, that is, in the beginning of September. In the second year of Darius — That is, Darius the son of Hystaspes, as Dr. Blayney and many other learned men have proved to a demonstration. Came the word of the Lord to Zechariah — Here we see the prophet did not run before he was sent, or undertake a work to which he was not called: as also, that what he communicated to the people, was first communicated to him by the Lord. Saying, The Lord, &c. — Blayney here supplies, Speak unto all the people of the land, saying, &c. He supposes that some words, expressive of that or a similar sense, have been omitted by the carelessness of some transcriber. The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers — He was so long and so much provoked, that his displeasure at last broke out into that flame which consumed your city and temple, and even desolated your country, nay, and punished the inhabitants thereof, and their children, with the captivity of seventy years; yet now he declares himself willing to be reconciled to you upon your repentance.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain In the eighth month - o. The date joins…
In the eighth month - o. The date joins on Zechariah’s prophecy to those of Haggai. Two months before, “in the sixth month” Hag 1:1, had Haggai, conjointly with Zechariah Ezr 5:1-2, exhorted Zerubbabel and the people to resume the intermitted building of the temple. These had used such diligence, notwithstanding the partial discouragement of the Persian Government, that God gave them “in the seventh month” Ezr 5:3-5, the magnificent promise of the later glory of the temple through the coming of Christ Hag 2:1-9. Still, as Haggai too warned them, the conversion was not complete. So Zechariah in the eighth, as Haggai in the ninth Hag 2:10-14 month, urges upon them the necessity of thorough and inward repentance, as the condition of partaking of those promises.
Osorius: “Thrice in the course of one saying, he mentions the most holy name of God; partly to instruct in the knowledge of Three Persons in one Nature, partly to confirm their minds more strongly in the hope of the salvation to come.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Barachias adopted him, (1 Esdras v. 1.) or rather…
Barachias adopted him, (1 Esdras v. 1.) or rather Addo was his grandfather.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Zechariah 1-8
PART FIRST
UTTERANCES FOR THE PRESENT TIME
Read full note →
Zechariah 1-8
I. THE INTRODUCTION
Zec_1:1-6
A. A Call to Repentance (Zec_1:1-3). B. Enforced by an Appeal to the Experience of their Fathers (Zec_1:4-6).
1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
2 Jehovah hath been sore displeased with your fathers.1
3 Therefore say thou2 unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Return ye unto me, saith Jehovah of Hosts,
And I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of Hosts.
4 Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried, saying,
Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts,
Turn, I beseech you, from your evil ways and from your evil doings;3
But they hearkened not, and paid no attention to me,
Saith Jehovah.
5 Your fathers, where are they?
And the prophets, can they live forever?
6 Nevertheless,4 my words and my statutes,5
Which I commanded my servants the prophets,—
Did they not overtake6 your fathers, so that they turned and said,
Like as Jehovah of Hosts purposed to do unto us,
According to our ways and according to our doings,
So hath He dealt with us.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The main design of Zechariah’s prophetic activity was to administer consolation and encouragement to the people of God still in a condition of weakness and suffering. This plainly appears from the general tenor of the night-visions, form the promised change of fasts into festivals, and from the glowing pictures of future blessedness and honor which occur in the latter portion of his book. Yet it was necessary to prevent these consolations from being usurped by any to whom they did not belong, and to show that repentance and holy living were indispensable conditions of the attainment of any of these blessings. This thought is again and again expressed in the course of the prophetic revelations (Zec_3:7, Zec_6:15. Zec_7:7-10, Zec_8:16-17, Zec_10:1-2, Zec_11:10, Zec_14:20), but it is made especially prominent in these opening verses, which seem to be a kind of introduction both to the prophet’s labors in general, and also to the present collection of his utterances. In them Zechariah sounds the key note of all spiritual religion, a return to God, and urges its importance by the mention of their fathers’ sins and their fathers’ punishments.
Zec_1:1. In the eighth month, etc. The first note of time does not mean, “In the eighth new moon” (C. B. Michaelis, Köhler), because chôdesh is never used in this sense in chronological notices. The general, introductory nature of this particular address did not require that the precise day of the month should be indicated. On other points in this verse, see the Introduction.
Zec_1:2. Jehovah hath been sore displeased, etc. The mention of God’s wrath is the ground of the summons in the following verse. Because God had been so angry with the fathers, the children should now repent in all sincerity. The severity of this wrath had been painfully shown in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the bitter exile in Babylon (Psalms 137). The contradiction between this verse and the statement in Zec_1:17, that Jehovah was “but a little displeased,” is only apparent, for the latter refers to the duration of the wrath, while the former expresses its intensity.
Zec_1:3. Return ye … I will return. The exhortation and promise contained in this verse, often repeated elsewhere (Mal_3:7, Jam_4:8), are remarkably strengthened by the trine repetition of “Saith Jehovah of Hosts.” The occasion of the summons is not to be sought in a temporary abandonment of the work of rebuilding the Temple, for which there is no historical ground, but in the spiritual condition of the people. It reminded them that the mere outward work was not enough, but there was need of a thorough conversion, a genuine heartfelt return from their former works and ways to the service and enjoyment of God.
Zec_1:4. Be not as your fathers. Since naturally parents are apt to transmit their own character and course to their children, the prophet here repeats his injunction in a negative form, bidding his countrymen carefully to shun the example of their predecessors, who had utterly scorned the Lord’s remonstrances. The former prophets are those before the exile, and Zechariah intentionally overlooks Daniel, because he officiated at a heathen court and not in the midst of his people, and his prophecies treated not so much of the inward duties of Israel as of its outward fortunes amid the mighty revolutions of the heathen world. For a full summation of the course of the former prophets as here set forth, see 2Ki_17:13-23. The ways and works of the earlier generation are called evil, in the first instance, because they were morally corrupt, but also because they were followed by sore consequences (Köhler).
Zec_1:5. Your fathers, where are they? The concluding verses of the section sustain the warning not to imitate the fathers, by pointing out the fate which overtook them in consequence of their disobedience. The general sense is plain, and acknowledged by all interpreters, but the precise force of the questions in Zec_1:5 is variously stated. Both, of course, imply a negative answer, but in what sense is the decease of the prophets mentioned? Some (Jerome, Cyril), referring to Jer_37:10, suppose that false prophets are intended; but the persons spoken of here must be the same as those mentioned in the preceding verse, who are manifestly true servants of God. Others make the second question a rejoinder of the people to the first (Raschi, Burger, etc.), which seems forced. Others say that a contrast is presented between the fleeting, dying prophets, and the ever-living word of Jehovah (Calvin, Grotius, Hitzig, etc.), as if the meaning were, I allow that both your fathers and my prophets are dead; but my words, are they dead? but the. latter part of this contrast is not found in the text, but supplied by the interpreters. Another, class conceive that the point of the second question is to remind Zechariah’s contemporaries that the voice of prophecy would soon cease, and therefore they should heed it while they had the opportunity (Abarb., Ewald), which is a very natural sense of the words if they stood alone; but it is contradicted by Zec_1:6, which shows that the reference is not to the existing, but to the former prophets. The true view is the one given by Köhler and others, that the former of the two verses contains a concession which is limited and corrected by the latter. Thus: Your fathers are long since dead, and it may seem as though they had thus escaped the threatenings pronounced against them; the prophets, too, have gone the way of all flesh, and apparently their words died with them; nevertheless your fathers did not die until the threatenings of the shortlived prophets had overtaken them, nor until they themselves had acknowledged that fact. This view is sustained by the strong disjunctive conjunction at the commencement of Zec_1:6. The phrase, take hold,” in E. V., fails to give the force of the Hebrew verb. The prophet conceives of God’s purposes of wrath as commissioned messengers which followed the Israelites and overtook them (cf. Deu_28:15; Deu_28:45). Mournful acknowledgments of this fact are to be found in Lam_2:17, in Daniel’s penitential prayer (Zec_9:4 ff.), and in Ezra’s humbling confession (Zec_9:6-7). There may be long delay, and consequently a growing hope of escape, but sooner or later every transgressor makes the affecting acknowledgment of the Psalmist (Psa_40:13), “mine iniquities have overtaken me.”
THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL
1. The opening words of Zechariah state a truth of great importance,—and none the less so because in every age a persistent attempt has been made to deny or to evade it—that God has wrath. The blinding influence of their own depravity renders men insensible to the evil of sin, and they easily come to transfer their own views to their Maker—“thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” (Psa_50:21). Hence they attribute to Him an easy good nature which readily condones moral offenses and is quite too gentle to give effect to the forebodings of a guilty conscience. To set forth his justice, and assert his prerogative as governor of the world, is regarded as an unwarrantable disturbance of men’s peace and an impeachment of the amiableness of the divine character. This device is as old as the Apostles, and Paul exposes it with his usual vehemence, “Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience” (Eph_5:6). God has wrath. Nature bears witness to the fact. The earth does not everywhere smile with verdure and beauty, but all over its surface shows blots and scars which suggest the moral disorder of the race. This fact has been set forth with equal eloquence and truth by Mr. Ruskin. Speaking of the revelations of God made on the face of creation, he says, “Wrath and threatening are invariably mingled with love; and in the utmost solitudes of nature, the existence of hell seems to me as legibly declared by a thousand spiritual utterances as of heaven. It is well for us to dwell with thankfulness on the unfolding of the flower and the falling of the dew, and the sleep of the green fields in the sunshine; but the blasted trunk, the barren rock, the moaning of the bleak winds, the roar of the black, perilous whirlpools of the mountain streams, the solemn solitudes of moors and seas, the continual fading of all beauty into darkness and of all strength into dust, have these no language for us? We may seek to escape their teachings by reasonings touching the good which is wrought out of all evil; but it is vain sophistry. The good succeeds to the evil as day succeeds the night, but so also the evil to the good. Gerizim and Ebal, birth and death, light and darkness, heaven and hell, divide the existence of man and his futurity.”
2. The words in Zec_1:2 do not belong to the message to the people, but were delivered only to the Prophet; and they disclose to us the internal pressure under which he entered upon his office (Pressel). A due sense of the power of God’s wrath lies at the basis of all true earnestness on the part of his Prophets. It is the “burning fire shut up in the bones” (Jer_20:9) which imparts its own vehemence to the message, and produces corresponding conviction in them that hear. We observe it in the Prophet of all Prophets, the Saviour Himself. His groaning in spirit at the grave of Lazarus, his tears at the sight of Jerusalem, show how deeply he felt the terribleness of God’s anger. Bunyan’s Grace Abounding affords a remarkable testimony from his own experience. “Now this part of my work I fulfilled with great earnestness, for the terrors of the law and guilt for my transgressions lay heavy on my conscience; I preached what I felt, what I smartingly did feel, even that under which my poor soul did groan and tremble to astonishment. Indeed, I have been as one sent to them from the dead; I went myself in chains, to preach to them in chains; and carried that fire in my own conscience that! persuaded them to be aware of.”
3. The Lord’s first message to the people by the mouth of Zechariah contains the fundamental principle of all his communications to fallen men, alike in the Old Testament and in the New. There is a command and a promise, each comprehending in itself all others of the same class. Men are summoned to turn back to God, and then He engages to return to them. Alienation from God is the primary sin. Men turn away from their Maker, hide from Him like Adam, or wander off like the prodigal, and of course are dissatisfied and wretched. Having left the fountain of living waters, they find the cisterns they hew out for themselves to be broken cisterns which can hold no water. No matter how often the experiment is repeated, it always fails. The only escape, the first duty, is to turn to the Lord. This duty would be difficult, nay, it would be impossible, but for the gracious promise which accompanies it. God is found of those who seek Him. This is a truth of the older dispensation as well as of the later. The father in our Saviour’s parable who, while yet the wayward son was a great way off, discerned, and welcomed, and ran to meet his returning steps, is only a vivid picture of him who waited to be gracious all through the history of his ancient people. Even in the early days of Job, Eliphaz announced (Job_22:21) the cheering assurance, “Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee.”
4. God’s providence not only insures the fulfillment of his threatenings, but compels the acknowledgment of that fulfillment from those who suffer it. In the case of the Jews this recognition was frequently uttered, as mentioned before. (See Exeget. and Crit., ad finem.)
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
T. V. Moore: It is a sign of a sickly piety when men are willing to hear nothing of the wrath of God against sin. If men expect God to return to them in prosperity, they must return to Him in penitence. The flower averted from the sun must turn toward it, to catch its genial smile.
Pressel: No mercy without return, and no return without mercy. He who will not hear, shall feel. Haste (eile) that you may not be overtaken (ereilt). 1. Haste, for your day of grace is short, and even the messengers of grace are passing away. 2. If once you are overtaken, your eyes will open too late, and only with trembling lips can you give honor to the Lord.
Wordsworth: Zechariah comes forth like John the Baptist, and begins his preaching with a call to repentance, and warns the people by the history of their fathers, that no spiritual privileges will profit them without holiness, but rather will aggravate their guilt and increase their condemnation if they disobey God.
Calvin: We learn here that the examples set up as a shield for wrong-doing are so far from being of any weight before God that they enhance our guilt. Yet this folly infatuates many, for the Papists claim their religion to be holy and irreprehensible, because it has been handed down by their fathers.
Footnotes:
[1]Zec_1:2.—The collection of the verb and its cognate noun renders this verse very emphatic. Literally, Angry was Jehovah at your fathers with anger.
[2]Zec_1:3.—The vav conv. with the Perfect, indicating a necessary consequence from what precedes, is rendered in the imperative.—אֲלֵדֶם does not refer to the nearest antecedent “fathers,” but to the prophet's contemporaries, implied in the pronoun “your.”
[3]Zec_1:4.—The Kethib מֵעֲלִילֵיכֶם is to be retained both because the preposition is wanting in the Keri, and also because the latter seems to have originated in the offense taken at the masculine ending in the plural of a noun feminine in the singular, although similar cases are not rare (Green, Heb. Gram., § 200 b).
[4]Zec_1:6.—אַךְ. This word is very inadequately rendered in the E. V., by the simple adversative but
[5]Zec_1:6.—הֻקַּי. For a precisely similar use of this word, see Zephaniah 2 :and Job_23:14.
[6]Zec_1:6.—הִשִּׂיגוּ. The marginal rendering of E. V., overtake, is to be preferred to the text, take hold.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 1. The title.
1. The title.
Eighth month — Called before the exile Bul (1Ki_6:38); after the exile, by the Babylonian name Marcheshvan. It corresponds to the latter part of October and the early part of November.
Read full note →
Second year of Darius — See on Hag_1:1. Zechariah delivered his first message about two months after Haggai’s first appearance. The day of the month is not given; some have thought that it has dropped out accidentally, which may be possible; but it is by no means certain that it was there originally.
Zechariah — See Introduction, p. 571.
Son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo — See Introduction, p. 571 (compare Ezr_5:1; Ezr_6:14).
The prophet — Refers to Zechariah, not to Iddo. CALL TO REPENTANCE, 2-6.
In these verses Zechariah urges his contemporaries to return to Jehovah, in order that they may enjoy once more the divine favor. He reinforces this exhortation by an appeal to the experiences of their ancestors, who suffered severe punishments because they disregarded the teaching of the prophets. The disobedience of the present generation may be followed by a similar catastrophe.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain Chap. Zec_1:1-6. Introductory call to Repentance
Chap. Zec_1:1-6. Introductory call to Repentance
1. The Author and date of his first Prophecy
Read full note →
the eighth month, in the second year of Darius] The Jews after the Captivity substituted for the years of the reigns of their own kings, by which they had been accustomed to date their history, those of the foreign kings to whom they were subject. But they retained their own months, though with altered names. The eighth month had before been called Bul (1Ki_6:38). No name is given to it in the Bible after the return, but we learn from the Talmud and from Josephus that it was called Marcheshvan. This name has been supposed to be “a purely Hebrew term,” and to signify “wet” or “rainy.” The month coincides with our November and with the rainy season in Palestine. See Dict. of the Bible, Art. Month.
Haggai’s first prophecy had been delivered in the sixth month, and his second prophecy in the seventh month of this same year. (Hag_1:1; Hag_2:1.)
the son of Berechiah] called elsewhere, the son of Iddo. Ezr_5:1; Neh_12:16. See Introd. to Zech. Chap. 1. p. 47.
1. The prophet;
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) The prophet is (in spite of the accents),…
(1) The prophet is (in spite of the accents), no doubt, to be referred to Zechariah. (See further in my Hebrew Student Commentary.) LXX., πρὸς Ζαχαριαν τὸν τοῦ Βαραχιου υἱὸν Αδδω τὸν προφήτην, in which υἱὸν appears to be a corruption of υἱοῦ, caused by the common Greek collocation τὸν τὸῦ . . . υἱὸν.
(1-6) On the four-and-twentieth day of the sixth mouth of the second year (B.C. 520) of Darius Hystaspis, the re-building of the Temple had been resumed (Hag_1:15); and in the seventh month, on the twenty-first of that month, the prophet Haggai had foretold “the latter glory of this house shall be greater than its former” (Hag_2:9); and now, but a few weeks later, Zechariah receives his mission. He is commanded to exhort the people to avoid such punishments as fell on their fathers, and to make themselves worthy of the glory which should be revealed, by turning unto the Lord with sincere repentance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ver. 1-ch. 1Ki_6:38) and afterwards Marchesvan (Josephus, "Ant.," 1:3…
Ver. 1-ch. 1Ki_6:38) and afterwards Marchesvan (Josephus, "Ant.," 1:3 3); it answered to parts of October and November, and was a time of rain. Haggai had first prophesied two months earlier. The second year of Darius. Being now under foreign rule, the prophet uses the regnal years of the king to whom his people were subject. (see note on Hag_1:1) Son of Berechiah (see Introduction, The prophet. This appellation belongs to "Zechariah," as the LXX and Vulgate take it. A comma should be inserted after "Iddo" here and in ver. 7. Saying. The visions virtually spoke to him, communicated to him the Lord"s will; but first he has to deliver the following warning.
Vers. 1-6. A timely warning.
Read full note →
"In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet," etc. Special attention seems invited in the opening verse of this opening prophecy to the question of time. Probably because the time of its utterance was a time of much hope, as shown by the cotemporaneous prophecies of Hag_1:13-15 ("sixth month"); Hag_2:1-9 ("seventh month"); and Hag_2:18, 19 ("ninth month"). Probably also because a time of much hope is a time of much fear; the season of bloom is the season of blight. Accordingly, the whole of this opening message a kind of prologue to the visions that follow is one of admonition and warning, a warning which turns
(1) on the present position, and
(2) on the past experience, of the Jewish people and Church.
I PRESENT POSITION.
1. The fact. How did they stand before God? As the children of sinners (ver. 2). This is the first thing to be remembered by them, as also by us all. (Eph_2:3, end)
2. The significance of the fact; and that in two opposite directions.
(1) As to God"s attitude towards them. His favour was turned away from them. As he had been "displeased" with their "fathers," so also, though not irretrievably, with themselves. This implied in the very promise of ver. 3, "I will turn to you." This same truth, again, both in the second commandment, and also in the gracious declaration of Exo_34:5-7, is set forth as part of God"s uniform rule.
(2) As to their (natural) attitude towards God. Their hearts were turned away from him. Hence the exhortation of ver. 3. Their attitude was one even of malignant aversion, if so we may speak, always tending of itself, like certain malignant bodily diseases, to become aggravated and worse. The longer we postpone our repentance the more difficult it becomes. This is the most serious consideration of all.
II PAST EXPERIENCE. (See vers. 5, 6) In these they are reminded:
1. That some things belonging to the past had indeed passed away, as it were. "Their fathers," e.g. who had received so many warnings, and despised them. Even "the prophets" also, who had delivered these warnings, and believed them, had fulfilled their days, and departed. Like a scene in a play, like a picture in a magic lantern, there was something else in their place.
2. Some things belonging to the past were still remaining. The truth of God"s Word, for example. (see Psa_6:6-8) This manifest to their senses. Did not "my words and my statutes take hold of your fathers"? All their recent history, their complete and long enduring captivity, their partial return, their present condition, an affirmative answer to this question. This same truth acknowledged, too, by those gone. They acknowledged the fact: "As God thought to do, so he did." They acknowledged Its justice. According to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he" done. (comp. Lam_2:17, Lam_2:18; and as to the general principle, Jud_1:7) This the special triumph of God"s Word, that it is vindicated and preached at times by its bitterest foes. (Gal_1:23Jo Gal 11:49-52. Also the saying attributed to Julian the Apostate, "Thou hast conquered, O Galilaean!
In conclusion, we may note and admire in this passage:
1. The discrimination of Scripture. How exactly suited the whole tenor of this passage to the case of those here addressed! Reminding us of the "wise steward," who gives to "every one a portion of meat in due season." Also of the declaration of the apostle, that all inspired Scripture is so variously profitable as to make "the man of God" complete, or perfect, as to all that he needs. (2Ti_3:16, 2Ti_3:17)
2. The faithfulness of Scripture. How different all this from the flattery with which most nations are addressed by their teachers; and which most nations also demand! Contrast "When France is content, Europe is tranquil;" also, as to our own country, the words of the poet"Thou shalt flourish, great and free, The dread and envy of them all.
3. The mercy of Scripture. Notwithstanding all provocations all personal, all patrimonial, iniquity the language of God here is, with outstretched hand, (Rom_10:21) "Be ye reconciled unto me". (2Co_5:20; comp. also Hos 3, and the emphatic "only" in Jer_3:12-14) Note also how greatly this mercy is set forth by the greatness of the faithfulness before named. In the words of our English laureate "He showed me all the mercy, For he showed me all the sin.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH Vers. 1-6. God"s call to repentance.
Repentance is turning from sin unto God.
I THE CALL IS FOUNDED ON GOD"S ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO OBEDIENCE. "Lord of hosts." Sublime title. Thrice used, to give the greater impressiveness. Implies that God"s rule is wide as creation. Mark the "host" of stars. (Isa_40:26) Higher, behold the "angels and principalities and powers". (Psa_103:20, Psa_103:21) God is Lord of all, and it is this God that claims our homage. To turn from him is folly and ruin; to turn to him is the highest wisdom and blessedness.
II URGED BY GOD"S JUDGMENTS ON TRANSGRESSORS. Israel is our "ensample". (1Co_10:11) The sun dues not ripen the corn more surely than God"s favour attended the Jews when they were steadfast to walk in his ways; nor are thorns and briars more certain to spring up in a neglected field than God"s judgments to fall on Israel when their hearts were set in them to do evil. God is not changed. The world is governed now on the same principles as in the past.
III ENCOURAGED BY GOD"S PROMISES. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." So of God"s Word. It reveals his heart. There is no bar on God"s part to the sinner"s return. He himself has opened the way, and his promise is to those who turn to him. "I will turn unto you." Here is hope held out, help graciously offered, joyful welcome assured. We have not only doctrines, but facts. Great cloud of witnesses, who can say each for himself, like Paul, "I obtained mercy.
IV ENFORCED BY THE EXPERIENCES OF LIFE. Every man"s life is separate. But much common. The brevity of life. Delay is dangerous. The confessions of life. God"s Word is truth. Faithful are his promises and his threatenings. The monitions of life. Voices of the past, of the good, and of the evil, of earth and heaven, all combine and cry with awful and convincing force, "Repent! F.
HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS Vers. 1-6. The importance of repentance.
"In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechish, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers," etc. Zechariah and Haggai were contemporaries prophets of the restoration. The former began to prophesy about two months after Haggai. Like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, he was of priestly descent; a son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo, the chief of one of the priestly families that returned from exile along with Zerubbabel and Joshua. (Neh_12:4) He commenced his prophetic labours in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, B.C. 520. The most remarkable portion of the book consists of the first six chapters, where we have a record of a series of extraordinary visions, all of which seem to have been vouchsafed to the prophet during one night. The two succeeding chapters (7 and 8) contain an answer to a question which the inhabitants of Bethel proposed, reelecting the observance of a certain fast. The remaining six chapters contain a variety of predictions. The authenticity of these chapters is denied by some scholars, and doubted by many more. His style is varied, sometimes almost colloquial; at other times sublimely poetic, abounding with gorgeous symbols. The subject suggested by these words isthe importance of repentance. There are three grounds in this passage on which this subject is urged.
I FROM THE DIVINE DISPLEASURE TOWARDS THE IMPENITENT MEN OF THE PAST. "The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers." This "may be interpreted as bearing reference to the whole of their previous history. They had all along shown a mournfully strong and inveterate propensity to depart from God and from his ways. They had needed incessant repetitions of Divine admonitions, entreaties, promises, and threatenings; and many a time all had proved unavailing. Jehovah bound them to himself with "cords of love." But "they brake the bands asunder, and cast away the cords from them." They chose their own ways; they followed the wicked devices of their own hearts. They thus provoked him to anger; they drew down upon themselves his judicial visitations. From one of these visitations the people whom the prophet now addressed had but recently, in the faithfulness and mercy of a covenant keeping and compassionate God, been delivered. And I cannot doubt that to that most recent manifestation of the Divine displeasure Zechariah specially referred. Their fathers had by their sins brought that heavy seventy years" judgment upon themselves. And he who in justice had executed the judgment, had returned in mercy, and rescued them from their second bondage" (Dr. Wardlaw). Now, the displeasure of God to sinners of the past is here referred to in order to induce the Jews to repent of the selfish negligence which they had evinced concerning the building of the temple. (Hag_1:2-7) The argument here is the kind called enthymeme, in which one premise only is expressed, and the consequent proposition is left to be supplied by the reader. It means this: the great God has been displeased with your fathers on account of their sins, and he will be displeased with you except you repent. This is an argument that preachers may well urge at all times. They may call up to their hearers the judgments that have fallen on the wicked of the past ages, in order to urge reformed life on the existing generation.
II FROM GOD"S ASSURANCE OF A WELCOME TO ALL THAT TRULY REPENT, "Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts." Blessed truth this! Proved:
1. By his invitation to the impenitent. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord," etc.; "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord," etc.; "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." The infinite Father is infinitely more ready to welcome true penitence than the father of the prodigal to welcome the return of his long lost son.
2. By the experience of mankind. Manasseh, David, Saul, Bunyan, and millions more returned to him, and he not only received them, but rejoiced over them. This being the case, how powerful is the exhortation here, "Be not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying," etc.! Your fathers, who rejected the call of my prophets of the past, bad as they were, would not have met with their terrible fates had they returned to me. Be not like them; Take warning from the past.
III FROM THE TRANSITORINESS OF HUMAN LIFE, WHETHER WICKED OR GOOD, "Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?" By "the fathers" here undoubtedly reference is to those spoken of in the former verses with whom the Almighty is displeased. These have disappeared; they have vanished from the earth. The prophets, too, the good men who spoke to them and whose call they rejected, useful men as they were, they did not live forever. The impenitent hearers and their faithful preachers are both gone. How solemnly true this is! All pass away from the stage of life, whether good or had, useful or mischievous. The life of a generation is but a vapour that will endure for a little and then vanish away. What an argument this:
1. For the wicked to repent! Impenitent hearers of the gospel, you will soon be gone. Ere another century passes over this globe, your bodies will be in the dust and your spirits in the awful Hades of retribution; therefore listen and repent. Ye preachers of the gospel, what an argument this:
2. For faithfulness and for persevering zeal! You will soon have finished your mission. A few more sermons, and all will be over. "The prophets, do they live forever?" etc. "Fathers," the ungodly men of the past, where are they? Ah! where are they? Echo answers, "Where? D.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain (Zechariah 1-8)
ZECHARIAH
(Zechariah 1-8)
Read full note →
"Not by might, and not by force, but by My Spirit, saith Jehovah of Hosts."
"Be not afraid, strengthen your hands! Speak truth every man to his neighbor; truth and wholesome judgment judge ye in your gates, and in your hearts plan no evil for each other, nor take pleasure in false swearing, for all these things do I hate-oracle of Jehovah."
ZECHARIAH THE PROPHET
Zec_1:1-6, etc.; Ezr_5:1; Ezr_6:14
ZECHARIAH is one of the prophets whose personality as distinguished from their message exerts some degree of fascination on the student. This is not due, however, as in the case of Hosea or Jeremiah, to the facts of his life, for of these we know extremely little; but to certain conflicting symptoms of character which appear through his prophecies.
His name was a very common one in Israel, Zekher-Yah, "Jehovah remembers." In his own book he is described as "the son of Berekh-Yah, the son of Iddo," and in the Aramaic document of the Book of Ezra as "the son of Iddo." Some have explained this difference by supposing that Berekhyah was the actual father of the prophet, but that either he died early, leaving Zechariah to the care of the grandfather, or else that he was a man of no note, and Iddo was more naturally mentioned as the head of the family. There are several instances in the Old Testament of men being called the sons of their grandfathers; {Gen_24:47, cf. 1Ki_19:16, cf. 2Ki_9:14; 2Ki_9:20} as in these cases the grandfather was the reputed founder of the house, so in that of Zechariah Iddo was the head of his family when it came out of Babylon and was anew planted in Jerusalem. Others, however, have contested the genuineness of the words "son of Berekh-Yah," and have traced their insertion to a confusion of the prophet with Zechariah son of Yebherekh-Yahu, the contemporary of Isaiah. This is precarious, while the other hypothesis is a very natural one. Whichever be correct, the prophet Zechariah was a member of the priestly family of Iddo, that came up to Jerusalem from Babylon under Cyrus. {Neh_12:4} The Book of Nehemiah adds that in the high-priesthood of Yoyakim, the son of Joshua, the head of the house of Iddo was a Zechariah. If this be our prophet, then he was probably a young man in 520, and had come up as a child in the caravans from Babylon. The Aramaic document of the Book of Ezra {Ezr_5:1; Ezr_6:14} assigns to Zechariah a share with Haggai in the work of instigating Zerubbabel and Jeshua to begin the Temple. None of his oracles is dated previous to the beginning of the work in August, 520, but we have seen that among those undated there are one or two which by referring to the building of the Temple as still future may contain some relics of that first stage of his ministry. From November, 520, we have the first of his dated oracles; his Visions followed in January, 519, and his last recorded prophesying in December, 518.
These are all the certain events of Zechariahs history. But in the well-attested prophecies he has left we discover, besides some obvious traits of character, certain problems of style and expression which suggest a personality of more than usual interest. Loyalty to the great voices of old, the temper which appeals to the experience, rather than to the dogmas, of the past, the gift of plain speech to his own times, a wistful anxiety about his reception as a prophet, {Zec_2:13; Zec_4:9; Zec_6:15} combined with the absence of all ambition to be original or anything but the clear voice of the lessons of the past and of the conscience of today these are the qualities which characterize Zechariahs orations to the people. But how to reconcile them with the strained art and obscure truths of the Visions-it is this which invests with interest the study of his personality. We have proved that the obscurity and redundancy of the Visions cannot all have been due to himself. Later hands have exaggerated the repetitions and raveled the processes of the original. But these gradual blemishes have not grown from nothing: the original style must have been sufficiently involved to provoke the interpolations of the scribes, and it certainly contained all the weird and shifting apparitions which we find so hard to make clear to ourselves. The problem, therefore, remains-how one who had gift of speech, so straight and clear, came to torture and tangle his style; how one who presented with all plainness the main issues of his peoples history found it laid upon him to invent, for the further expression of these, symbols so labored and intricate.
We begin with the oracle which opens his book and illustrates those simple characteristics of the man that contrast so sharply with the temper of his Visions.
"In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of Jehovah came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berekhyah, son of Iddo, saying: Jehovah was very wroth with your fathers."
"And thou shalt say unto them: Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts: Turn ye to Me-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts-that I may turn to you, saith Jehovah of Hosts! Be not like your fathers, to whom the former prophets preached, saying: Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, Turn now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds, but they hearkened not, and paid no attention to Me-oracle of Jehovah. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live for ever? But, My words and My statutes, with which I charged My servants the prophets, did they not overtake your fathers? till these turned and said, As Jehovah of Hosts did purpose to do unto us, according to our deeds and according to our ways, so hath He dealt with us."
It is a sign of the new age which we have reached, that its prophet should appeal to the older prophets with as much solemnity as they did to Moses himself. The history which led to the Exile has become to Israel as classic and sacred as her great days of deliverance from Egypt and of conquest in Canaan. But still more significant is what Zechariah seeks from that past; this we must carefully discover, if we would appreciate with exactness his rank as a prophet.
The development of religion may be said to consist of a struggle between two tempers, both of which indeed appeal to the past, but from very opposite motives. The one proves its devotion to the older prophets by adopting the exact formulas of their doctrine, counts these sacred to the letter, and would enforce them in detail upon the minds and circumstances of the new generation. It conceives that truth has been promulgated once for all in forms as enduring, as the principles they contain. It fences ancient rites, cherishes old customs and institutions, and when these are questioned it becomes alarmed and even savage. The other temper is no whit behind this one in its devotion to the past, but it seeks the ancient prophets not so much for what they have said as for what they have been, not for what they enforced but for what they encountered, suffered, and confessed. It asks not for dogmas, but for experience and testimony. He who can thus read the past and interpret it to his own day-he is the prophet. In his reading he finds nothing so clear, nothing so tragic, nothing so convincing as the working of the Word of God. He beholds how this came to men, haunted them and was entreated by them. He sees that it was their great opportunity, which being rejected became their judgment. He finds abused justice vindicated, proud wrong punished, and all Gods neglected commonplaces achieving in time their triumph. He reads how men came to see this, and to confess their guilt. He is haunted by the remorse of generations who know how they might have obeyed the Divine call, but willfully did not. And though they have perished, and the prophets have died and their formulas are no more applicable, the victorious Word itself still lives and cries to men with the terrible emphasis of their fathers experience. All this is the vision of the true prophet, and it was the vision of Zechariah.
His generation was one whose chief temptation was to adopt towards the past the other attitude we have described. In their feebleness what could the poor remnant of Israel do but cling servilely to the former greatness? The vindication of the Exile had stamped the Divine authority of the earlier prophets. The habits, which the life in Babylon had perfected, of arranging and codifying the literature of the past, and of employing it, in place of altar and ritual, in the stated service of God, had canonized Scripture and provoked men to the worship of its very letter. Had the real prophet not again been raised, these habits might have too early produced the belief that the Word of God was exhausted, and must have fastened upon the feeble life of Israel that mass of stiff and stark dogmas, the literal application of which Christ afterwards found crushing the liberty and the force of religion. Zechariah prevented this-for a time. He himself was mighty in the Scriptures of the past: no man in Israel makes larger use of them. But he employs them as witnesses, not as dogmas; he finds in them not authority, but experience. He reads their testimony to the ever-living presence of Gods Word with men. And seeing that, though the old forms and figures have perished with the hearts which shaped them, the Word itself in its bare truth has vindicated its life by fulfillment in history, he knows that it lives still, and hurls it upon his people, not in the forms published by this or that prophet of long ago, but in its essence and direct from God Himself, as His Word for today and now. "The fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? But My words and My statutes, with which I charged My servants the prophets, have they not overtaken your fathers? Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, Be ye not like your fathers, but turn ye to Me that I may turn to you."
The argument of this oracle might very naturally have been narrowed into a credential for the prophet himself as sent from God. About his reception as Jehovahs messenger Zechariah shows a repeated anxiety. Four times he concludes a prediction with the words. "And ye shall know that Jehovah hath sent me," as if after his first utterances he had encountered that suspicion and unbelief which a prophet never failed to suffer from his contemporaries. But in this oracle there is no trace of such personal anxiety. The oracle is pervaded only with the desire to prove the ancient Word of God as still alive, and to drive it home in its own sheer force. Like the greatest of his order Zechariah appears with the call to repent: "Turn ye to Me-oracle of Jehovah of Hosts-that I may turn to you." This is the pivot on which history has turned, the one condition on which God has been able to help men. Wherever it is read as the conclusion of all the past, wherever it is proclaimed as the conscience of the present, there the true prophet is found and the Word of God has been spoken.
This same possession by the ethical spirit reappears, as we shall see, in Zechariahs orations to the people after the anxieties of building are over and the completion of the Temple is in sight. In these he affirms again that the whole essence of Gods Word by the older prophets has been moral-to judge true judgment, to practice mercy, to defend the widow and orphan, the stranger and poor, and to think no evil of one another. For the sad fasts of the Exile Zechariah enjoins gladness, with the duty of truth and the hope of peace. Again and again he enforces sincerity and the love without dissimulation. His ideals for Jerusalem are very high, including the conversion of the nations to her God. But warlike ambitions have vanished from them, and his pictures of her future condition are homely and practical. Jerusalem shall be no more a fortress, but spread village-wise without walls. Full families, unlike the present colony with its few children and its men worn out in middle life by harassing warfare with enemies and a sullen nature; streets rife with children playing and old folk sitting in the sun; the return of the exiles; happy harvests and spring-times of peace; solid gain of labor for every man, with no raiding neighbors to harass, nor the mutual envies of peasants in their selfish struggle with famine.
It is a simple, hearty, practical man whom such prophesying reveals, the spirit of him bent on justice and love, and yearning for the un-harassed labor of the field and for happy homes. No prophet has more beautiful sympathies, a more direct word of righteousness, or a braver heart.
"Fast not, but love truth and peace. Truth and wholesome justice set ye up in your gates. Be not afraid; strengthen your hands! Old men and women-shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand for the fullness of their years; the citys streets shall be rife with boys and girls at play."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Zec_1:2. Sore] Lit. displeased with displeasure, wrath not common,…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zec_1:2. Sore] Lit. displeased with displeasure, wrath not common, whose greatness is given as a ground for their return.
Read full note →
Zec_1:3. Therefore] Lit. and thou sayest, or must say. Return] (cf. Mal_3:7; Jas_4:8) Amendment of life and return to work not enough; conversion must be thorough. The threefold “thus saith the Lord,” shows the importance of the admonition, and indicates the boundless power of God.
Zec_1:4. Fathers] Warning to shun the example of their predecessors, who were disobedient. Former prophets] before captivity.
HOMILETICS
THE PROPHET’S COMMISSION.—Zec_1:1-3
Zechariah was sent to console and encourage God’s people in distress. But the ground must be prepared Law before gospel, repentance before blessing. Hence in the first words we have the key-note to his message, and the introduction to his labours. In the prophet’s commission we have—
I. Its Divine origin. “The word of the Lord came to him”—his call was Divine not human, real not fanciful; a token of God’s great work among his people, and a guarantee that it would be successfully carried on.
II. Its solemn nature. “Therefore, say unto them,” that God was angry with their fathers, and will be with them if they repent not. The first message is one of warning and judgment. He has to set forth the justice and assert the prerogative of God in the government of the world. Men consider Divine displeasure to be an unreasonable disturbance of their ease, and an impeachment upon the Divine character. But God’s anger is real and terrible. It is visible in providence and in nature. “Wrath and threatening are invariably mingled with love; and in the utmost solitudes of nature, the existence of hell seems to me as legibly declared by a thousand spiritual utterances as of heaven” [Ruskin]. Persistent attempts are made to deny and evade this fact. Sin blinds men, and makes them transfer their own views to God. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee” (Psa_50:21).
III. Its inward pressure. The words in Zec_1:2 were delivered to the prophet, and contain the reason for the summons to the people in Zec_1:3. “They disclose to us the internal pressure under which he entered upon his office. A due sense of the power of God’s wrath lies at the basis of all true earnestness on the part of his prophets. It is the ‘burning fire shut up in the bones’ (Jer_20:9), which imparts its own vehemence to the message, and produces corresponding conviction in them that hear. We observe it in the Prophet of all prophets, the Saviour himself. His groaning in spirit at the grave of Lazarus, his tears over Jerusalem, show how deeply he felt the terribleness of God’s anger” [Lange]. There is a great demand now for honest, enlightened, and seasonable speech in the Christian ministry. “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Act_4:20; Job_32:18-20; Act_18:5).
THE CALL TO REPENTANCE.—Zec_1:3-4
Like John the Baptist, Zechariah begins his preaching with a call to repentance, and warns the people, by the history of their fathers, that no spiritual privileges will profit them without holiness, but rather will aggravate their guilt and increase their condemnation if they disobey God. He declares to them that no outward profession of religion will avail; that all notions of self-righteousness are offensive to God; and that what he looks for is personal holiness, and a practical discharge of the duties of piety and mercy [Wordsworth].
I. They had need to repent. “Therefore, say unto them, Turn ye.”
1. Their return was defective. God had delivered them from captivity, and stirred them to work; but zeal without real conversion will soon die out. We must give our whole heart to God, leave self-interest behind, and seek nearer access. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
2. Their delay would be dangerous.
(1) Disobedience would be imitation of their fathers. “Be ye not as your fathers.” Precedents have great influence. Men decry good, but follow evil customs. The sin of Jeroboam was held sacred by his successors. But we should be warned by the sins, and deterred by the punishment, of our fathers. “They did not hear nor hearken unto me.”
(2) Disobedience would bring God’s displeasure upon them. God was sore displeased with their fathers, and would be with them if they refused to turn. Heavier scourges were ready, and symptoms of displeasure already appeared in “sowing much” to “bring in little” (Hag_1:6). God’s dealings with the past are designed to instruct the present generation. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples (types): and they are written for our admonition (instruction)” (1Co_10:11).
II. They had encouragement to repent. “And I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts.” This promise was a motive and a help to them. The duty would be difficult, if not impossible, but for this encouragement. God is always found of those who seek him. If we desire God to turn to us, we must return to him. The flower turned from the sun can never catch its genial rays.
1. The promise is necessary. We require something positive. “We are saved by hope.” The beginning of religious life and duty is often a kind of venture. Hence failure and turning back.
2. The promise is certain. We have not mere possibility or probability, but certainty; assurance which cannot deceive. “I will.”
3. The promise is confirmed. Israel returned to God, and he returned to them. Manasseh sought the Lord and found him. The prodigal went home and was received. “Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord” (Jer_3:12; Mal_3:7; Eze_18:30).
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zec_1:4.
1. The advantages of their fathers. “The former prophets” enforced the law, and proclaimed the word of God; exhorted to repentance; and predicted Divine judgments.
2. The guilt of their fathers. “But they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the Lord.” Their guilt aggravated by their privileges. “Unto me.” God was in the voice of prophets, but was despised. “He that receiveth you, receiveth me.” “We learn here that the examples set up as a a shield for wrong-doing are so far from becoming of any weight before God that they enhance our guilt. Yet this folly infatuates many, for the Papists claim their religion to be holy and irreprehensible because it has been handed down by their fathers” [Calvin]. Ancient example and long usage will not justify disobedience (2Ch_26:15-16) [Fausset].
No mercy without return, and no return without mercy. Haste that you may not be overtaken.
1. Haste, for your day of grace is short, and even the messengers of grace are passing away.
2. If once you are overtaken, your eyes will open too late, and only with trembling lips can you give honour to the Lord [Lange]. Evil ways. The ways and works of the earlier generations are called evil; in the first instance, because they were morally corrupt, and also because they were followed by sore consequences [Lange].
Zec_1:3; Zec_4:1. Sin creates distance from God. The sinner is alienated in heart, and turned back from God in his works and pursuits.
2. Repentance is a full return to God. Not partial amendment, but entire renunciation of sin, and coming close up to God in reconciliation and fellowship.
3. God calls men to this repentance. “Say unto them.” His voice is heard in the ministry. His judgments rightly studied declare his will, and are often suspended till we return. But some return, and others do not.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Zec_1:2-3. Turn. Let every man that would avoid a return to his former iniquity, be infinitely careful to avoid every new sin, for it is like a blow to a broken leg, or a burden to a crushed arm. Every little thing disorders the new health and unfinished recovery. [J. Taylor.]
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain Zec 1:5-6
Zec 1:5-6
I. Consider, first, the solemn and yet familiar thought here of the passing away of the hearers and the speakers alike.
Read full note →
II. Notice, next, the contrast between the fleeting hearers and speakers and the abiding word. There is nothing so transient as the words that are spoken by Christian teachers. Of all the seed that is sown, our Master taught us that three-fourths, at least, was likely to perish. And even where the word takes root in men’s hearts, how swiftly the speaker of it passes and is forgotten! And yet, in all these fleeting and mingled human utterances, does there not lie an immortal and imperishable centre, even the word of the living God? The word of the Lord endureth for ever, and this enduring word is that story of Christ’s incarnation, death for our sins, resurrection, and ascension, which by the Gospel is preached unto you.
III. Consider the witness of the past generations to the immortal word.
Our prophet is speaking to the men who returned from exile, and he appeals to them concerning the history of the preceding generations which had been carried away into captivity, according to the threatenings of the pre-exilian prophets. And, says Zechariah in effect, though the prophets’ words no more sound, and the men that heard them are stiff in death, that past generation is a witness that even through human lips and to careless ears a word is preached that will be fulfilled.
A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, December 9th, 1886.
Zec 1:7-17
The rider in the myrtle grove.
I. The prophet saw a grove of myrtle trees in a hollow or low place. By the myrtle grove all are agreed is signified the covenant people, the nation of Israel, and by its being in a low place is indicated their depressed and sad condition. In the Hebrew mind the idea of modest beauty and freshness was associated with the myrtle, and hence we find this introduced as symbolical of the Church under the reign of the Messiah, when, "instead of the briar," the symbol of the world under the curse, "shall come up the myrtle tree" (Isa 55:13).
II. The mounted rider, though in appearance as a man, is described as the angel of Jehovah. By this appellation is designated in Scripture a being who on various occasions appeared to men, and who, though coming forth as the angel or messenger of Jehovah, is at the same time represented as a Divine being, having the power of God, receiving the honours due only to God, and exercising the proper functions of the Almighty (cf. Gen 16:7-14, Gen 22:11-19, Gen 21:11, etc., Gen 48:15-16; Exo 13:2, Exo 23:20-21; Jos 5:13-15). A comparison of these passages leads to the conclusion that the angel of Jehovah is none other than God manifest in human form, the Being who, as the Captain of the Lord’s host, led up Israel to Canaan, the Being who came forth to execute vengeance on the enemies of the covenant people, and who was known to Israel as their Protector and Advocate. That this Being is the same who in the fulness of time came to our world as the Angel of the Covenant the teachings of the New Testament lead us confidently to believe.
III. For the consolation and encouragement of the people, the prophet had to tell them that, depressed as was their condition, the Angel of the Lord, the Leader, the Protector, the Redeemer of Israel, was still in the midst of them. He was there, standing and still, but ready to ride forth in their defence, and to send judgments on their adversaries, which was indicated by the vision of His being mounted on a red horse, the symbol of war and bloodshed. He is also with them as their Intercessor with God. Hence He appears in this vision as making intercession for them, beseeching God to have pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah; and, now that the time of chastisement was at an end, that He would be gracious to them, grant them full restoration and establishment in their own land.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Zechariah’s Visions and Warnings, p. 1; see also Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 61.
References: Zec 1:8.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 270. Zec 1:8-21.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. x., No. 598. Zec 1:12, Zec 1:13.—Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 55.
Zec 1:18-21
I. As physical emblems of force, horns are in the prophetic visions representative of earthly powers or kingdoms. The number four, in its prophetic acceptation, is the signature of the world, and is used here to indicate powers coming on every side or from all quarters. As in the former vision the riders were represented as having gone over the whole earth and found all quiet, so here all the earthly powers hostile to the people of God are, in general, indicated by the four horns.
II. As the prophet continued to look, Jehovah showed him—rather caused him to see—four workmen or artificers, and informed him that the workmen had come to frighten away, or discomfit and cast down, these oppressors. "These are come to fray them." In modern usage the verb "fray" signifies to rub or file down, but in old English it is used in the sense of terrify or frighten. The four workmen do not symbolise four special powers by which the enemies of Judah were to be discomfited and cast down; as the horns were four, so an equal number of workmen came to indicate the completeness of the overthrow of the enemies of Judah. Each horn has its destined destroyer.
III. What was thus showed for the comfort of the people of God in the old time is no less for the comfort and encouragement of the Church in all ages and places. The Angel of the Lord, the Divine Redeemer, abides for ever with that Church which He hath purchased with His blood. And exalted as He is to the throne of His glory, having all power in heaven and on earth, He can send forth at any time agencies by which the power of the Church’s enemies shall be broken and all their forces routed. It behoves the Church, then, to have faith in her exalted Head, and patiently to wait for Him.
W. Lindsay Alexander, Zechariah’s Visions and Warnings, p. 17; see also Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 220.
References: Zec 1:20.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 342. Zec 2:1-5.—Ibid., Sermons, vol. x., No. 604.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Lessons from the Past. The First and Second Visions
Lessons from the Past. The First and Second Visions
1-6. The Prophet's message. He calls the people to repentance.
Read full note →
8-17. The First Vision: The Divine Messengers ever watching over the affairs of the nations.
18-21. The Second Vision: Hostile nations subdued by divinely-appointed agents.
1. The eighth month] the month Bul (see 1Ki_6:38), corresponding to part of October-November. The second year of Darius] i.e. 520 b.c. This was the first Darius, son of Hystaspes, who had just succeeded to the Persian throne. Babylonia formed part of his dominions. He found the old decree of Cyrus in the archives of Babylon, permitting the Jews to return and build the Second Temple, and renewed it (Ezr_6:1). The son of Iddo the prophet] There should be a comma after Iddo. Zechariah was the prophet.
2-6. The people are warned to repent by the fate of their fathers, who suffered exile because they refused to listen to God's word by the earlier prophets.
3. Unto them] i.e. the people. The Lord of hosts] a frequent phrase in Zechariah. Probably the original idea was of Jehovah as the leader of Israel's armies, then of sun, moon, and stars, the hosts of heaven, then of angelic hosts. The title expresses God's supreme power and majesty.
4. Zechariah evidently knows the works of the earlier prophets: cp. Amos passim, Jer_26:5; Jer_35:15, etc.
5, 6. Prophets and people alike die, but the Word of God lives anew in every generation, and from the experience of the past appeals to men to shun those errors of their fathers which brought such dire punishment. Take hold of] RV 'overtake.'
8-17. The First Vision: The horseman among the myrtles. The seven visions have one date, viz. the twenty-fourth day of the month Sebat, RV 'Shebat' (the name is Babylonish), i.e. part of January and February, 519 b.c. The occasion of the visions is the growing impatience of the returned exiles. They could perceive no sign of God's presence, or of His interest in their labours and difficulties. Haggai had assured them that in 'a little while' God would 'shake the kingdoms' and fill His house with glory (Zec_2:6-7). But time passed and there was no sign of this. The people began to lose faith in God. These visions of Zechariah thus came at a most important crisis. To his countrymen they were a bright panorama of hope, revealing the marvellous providence of God, and His love for His people.
The first vision assures them that God knows every detail of their circumstances. His messengers are ever on the alert, bringing tidings to their King from all parts of the earth.
8. Myrtle trees] rare in Palestine today, but once common around Jerusalem: cp. Neh_8:15. They have no special significance in the vision. Bottom] RM 'shady place.' Red horses, speckled, and white] RV horses, 'red, sorrel, and white.' Some take the colours to indicate various countries whence the messenger came, but this is unlikely.
9. O my lord] addressing the angel of the Lord, who has not yet been mentioned.
10. The figure is military and suggests horsemen hovering on the flanks of an army—the scouts of God's great host.
11. At rest] probably a lull in the wars of Darius, and so all the more remarkable.
12. One angel speaks from among the myrtle trees, another from beside the prophet. The second asks why in this universal peace Jerusalem alone is unvisited of God. To the nations He sends peace as a sign, to Jerusalem He seems to give no sign. Threescore and ten years] in round numbers: cp. Jer_25:11; Jer_29:10. The first captivity took place in 597 b.c.; the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586; Cyrus' decree for return in 537 this prophecy in 519.
14, 15. Outward condition may be no indication of God's favour. Though the nations are at rest, God is angry with them. They have exceeded their commission in punishing Judah so severely. Though Jerusalem is troubled, yet God is returning with mercies for her.
16. A line] the measuring line which the builders would use in restoring her ruined streets.
17. Shall yet be spread abroad] better, 'shall yet overflow with prosperity' (RM), i.e. the cities of Judah: see v.
12. Zion] a synonym for Jerusalem; properly the higher of the two spurs on which Jerusalem was built.
18-21. The Second Vision: The four horns and the four smiths. This vision forms a fitting supplement to the first, and describes the destruction of those enemies of Israel (the four horns) who, having been too zealous in punishing her for her sins, are now themselves worthy of punishment.
18. Four horns] Vain efforts have been made to identify these with four nations or races, who at one time or another were Israel's oppressors, e.g. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia. A more likely suggestion is that' four' may indicate the whole of Israel's enemies from the four quarters of the globe. But even this seems arbitrary. On 'horns,' as a symbol of military power, see 1Ki_22:11.
20. Four carpenters (RV 'smiths')] lit. 'workers' (sc. in iron), as in Isa_44:12. Probably one to deal with each horn. The language is symbolic, and does not necessarily imply the sending of four deliverers.
21. No man did lift up his head] In the events culminating in the captivity, the people were utterly crushed. Fray] an obsolete word meaning 'terrify': cp. Deu_28:26. The root is seen in 'afraid,' i.e. affrayed. But the reading in LXX suggests a Hebrew word meaning 'file down,' which certainly gives a better sense to the whole passage. Cast out] RV 'cast down.'
Gentiles] RV 'nations,' and so throughout.
The imagery of this vision is somewhat difficult, but the meaning is quite plain, viz. the judgment of those nations who had harried God's people.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain eighth month
eighth month
i.e. November.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain Analysis and Annotations
Analysis and Annotations
1. THE NIGHT VISIONS
Read full note →
CHAPTER 1
1. The introduction (Zec 1:1-6)
2. The first night vision (Zec 1:7-17)
3. The second night vision (Zec 1:18-21)
Zec 1:1-6. The first utterance of Zechariah concerns the past. “The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.” They were a disobedient, stiff-necked people. The pre-exilic prophets had called them to repentance, but they did not hearken. Then he gives the message to turn to the Lord, with the promise that He will turn to them; they should not be like their fathers. And their fathers, where were they? They had passed away like the disobedient ones in the wilderness; God’s judgment and displeasure had overtaken them and they perished.
Zec 1:7-17. After this opening message with its call to return, delivered probably before the assembled congregation, the prophet received his great night-visions. These were not mere dreams, but the things he describes passed before him in divine vision. He beheld them in one night. They were not only given in one night, but just as one followed the other with out interval, so are they closely connected, giving progressively coming events. There is, of course, to a certain extent in some of these visions the message of hope for the Jewish remnant of that day, but the visions concern the future, and can only be understood in the light of other prophecies concerning the end of the age and the glorious future of Israel and Jerusalem. To apply them to the Church produces the greatest possible confusion. We shall see how these visions concern the Gentiles first and the overthrow of the world-powers, followed by the blessings and glory promised to Israel, which all will be given to the nation in the day when Gentile dominion ceases forever. When the visions end, the morning comes after that memorable night of revelation, the command to crown the high-priest is given.
Without quoting the text in full we give the interpretation of each vision. He beheld an army of riders upon different colored horses, led by a man riding a red horse, who is the center of the vision. There is an interpreting heavenly messenger, to whom the prophet turns to find out who the riders are. They do not represent the Persians, as some expositors have stated; they are angels. It is the man upon the red horse who speaks. “These are they whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.” The riders upon the horses give their report to the man in the middle. “Behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest.”
Who is the rider upon the red horse? He is called the “Angel of the LORD.” There is no question but that the rider and the Angel of the LORD are the same person. And the Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament is an uncreated Being; He is the Son of God in His pre-incarnation glory. There are three very good reasons for this interpretation. 1. The color red identifies him with our Lord. He is the Lamb of God who shed His blood in redemption; He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah Rev 5:1-14) who will arise in judgment upon the nation in the coming days of vengeance and trample His enemies under foot Isa 63:1-19). 2. He is the Leader as well as the Center of the heavenly hosts; they are subject unto Him; all things are in His hands. 3. He makes intercession, which marks Him as the one who is the intercessor before God in behalf of His people. Our larger exposition of Zechariah quotes the Jewish interpretation (Studies in Zechariah, pp. 11-12).
The report of the angelic hosts was that the earth sitteth still and is at rest. The nations were at rest, in the state of prosperity; but His people is in trouble, the land of promise under Gentile rule and dominion. While the cities of the nations were increased and had plenty, the city of the King was under the hoof of the Gentiles; His people suffered. Such is the condition of things throughout the time of the Gentiles. In our comment, written in 1899 we made the following remarks:
“Prosperity, universal prosperity, and with it universal peace, is the cry at the close of another century, and will be more so as we advance towards the end of this age. Civilization, world conquest, commercial extension, and a universal peace, seem to be the leading thoughts among the nations of our times. Truly it is realized by some that our boasted civilization, liberty and prosperity, is nothing but a smoldering volcano which may burst open at any moment and make an end of all boasting; but the majority of the people even in Christendom are sadly deluding themselves with idle dreams. And what of God’s thoughts and His eternal purposes? What of His oath-bound covenant promises? They are being misinterpreted, set aside and forgotten. Thus it will continue till the climax is reached, so clearly foretold in the Second Psalm.”
This forecast has come true; the great war has come and gone and now the age is rapidly approaching its predicted end.
Then follows in the vision the intercessory cry of the Angel of the LORD. It concerns in the first place the indignation of the seventy years. But that dispersion is the prophetic type of their greater dispersion. What was true then concerning the nations and the state of Jerusalem, is true of the present and future. The nations helped forward their affliction by hating the Jew. The great sin of the nations is Anti-semitism, which is the result of not believing the Word of God. The hatred of the Gentiles will culminate in the end of the age in coming against the partially restored nation, as we shall learn at the close of our prophecy. Then the assurance is given that the Lord in His jealousy will remember His people and Jerusalem will be chosen and Zion comforted.
Zec 1:18-21. He saw next four powerful horns, the emblems of the powerful Gentile nations who have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. The four horns are the same four world-powers announced in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and in Daniel’s vision Dan 2:1-49; Dan 7:1-28. They are symbolized by the locusts in their four stages Joe 1:1-20. Four smiths appear in the vision to fray them and to cast them out. The vision teaches two facts: first, the horns will be broken and cast down; and in the second place, God has for every power which has sinned against His people a corresponding instrument, to overcome and to break into pieces.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain A Call to Repentance
A Call to Repentance
v. 1. In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, that is, in the year 520 B. C. came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
Read full note →
v. 2. The Lord hath been sore displeased, with a vehement anger, with your fathers, as shown in the overthrow of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile in Babylon.
v. 3. Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the almighty Sovereign of the universe, Turn ye unto Me, saith the Lord of hosts, a most impressive call to the children of the former trespassers to repent. and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.
v. 4. Be ye not as your fathers, those before the exile, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Turn ye now from your evil ways and from your evil doings, this being the gist of many admonitions in the earlier prophets, Cf Isa 31:6; Jer 3:12; Jer 18:11; Eze 18:30; Hos 14:1; but they did not hear nor hearken unto Me, saith the Lord. Cf 2 Kings 17.
v. 5. Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? The former members of Israel and Judah had perished, as God had threatened; and if the people should say that the prophets also were dead, the Lord would remind them of the fact that His words, as spoken through these prophets, are not dead, but had been abundantly fulfilled.
v. 6. But My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants, the prophets, namely, that they should proclaim them, threatening the Lord’s punishment in case of disobedience, did they not take hold of your fathers? the threatened punishments having overtaken them like swift messengers. And they, the fathers before the exile, returned and said, in acknowledging their afflictions as the result of their wickedness, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways and according to our doings, just as they had deserved it, so hath He dealt with us. This was the state of mind which the Lord wanted to find in the midst of His people in making known to them the wonderful facts contained in the visions of Zechariah, The proper attitude for hearing and learning the Word of God is that of a humble acknowledgment of one’s sinfulness.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 In the eighth month
In the eighth month
This is the eighth month of the Hebrew calendar. It is during the last part of October and the first part of November on Western calendars. (See: Hebrew Months and Ordinal Numbers)
Read full note →
the second year of Darius' reign
"the second year of the reign of Darius the king" or "the second year since Darius became king" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
the word of Yahweh came
This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. AT: "Yahweh gave a message" or "Yawheh spoke this message" (See: Idiom)
Yahweh
This is the name of God that he revealed to his people in the Old Testament. See the translationWord page about Yahweh concerning how to translate this.
Berechiah ... Iddo
These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
exceedingly angry with your fathers
"very angry with your forefathers"
Turn to me ... and I will return to you
Yahweh speaks of having a change of attitude toward another person as if it were turning or returning. The people turning to Yahweh means that they will again be devoted to him and worship him, while Yahweh returning to the people means that he will again bless them and help them. (See: Metaphor)
this is the declaration of Yahweh of hosts
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. AT: "this is what Yahweh of hosts has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh of hosts, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
year
Darius
reign
word of God
Yahweh
Zechariah (OT)
prophet
Yahweh of hosts
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:1-6 The prelude identifies the book’s themes as repentance…
1:1-6 The prelude identifies the book’s themes as repentance and spiritual renewal, and establishes a tone of hope and encouragement.
1:1 This superscription, or introductory statement, classifies the book of Zechariah as an oracle, an authoritative message inspired by God. The prophet Zechariah was God’s emissary, designated to speak with God’s authority. • King Darius’s reign (521–486 BC) was in the early years of the Persian Empire (539–331 BC).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.