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Then Yahweh’s angel replied, “O Yahweh of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?”
Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words. So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
Zechariah 1:12-14 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Then Yahweh’s angel replied, “O Yahweh of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?”
Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words. So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.” Therefore Yahweh says: “I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it,” says Yahweh of Armies, “and a line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem.” ’
Then Yahweh’s angel replied, “O Yahweh of Armies, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years?”
Yahweh answered the angel who talked with me with kind and comforting words.
So the angel who talked with me said to me, “Proclaim, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies says: “I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
Then the angel of the LORD spoke and said: 'O LORD of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have compassion on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
And the LORD answered the angel that spoke with me with good words, even comforting words —
so the angel that spoke with me said unto me: 'Proclaim thou, saying: Thus saith the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy;
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv12–14 The Prophet now shows that the angel who was…
The Prophet now shows that the angel who was his guide and teacher, became even a suppliant before God in behalf of the welfare of the Church. Hence the probable opinion is, that this angel was Christ the Mediator. For they who say that it was the Holy Spirit, who forms prayers in our hearts, seem to depart very far from the meaning of the Prophet: and it is nothing new, that Christ should exercise care over his Church. But if this view be disapproved, we may take any one of the angels to be meant. It is certain that it is enjoined them all to minister to the salvation of the faithful, according to what the Apostle says in the first chapter of the Hebrews Hebrews 1:1; and indeed the whole Scripture is full of evidences, which prove that angels are guardians to the godly, and watch over them; for the Lord, for whose service they are ever ready, thus employs them: and in this we also see the singular love of God towards us; for he employs his angels especially for this purpose, that he might show that our salvation is greatly valued by him.
There is then nothing wrong, if we say that any one of the angels prayed for the Church. But absurdly, and very foolishly do the Papists hence conclude, that dead saints are our advocates before God, or that they pray for us; for we never read that it is an office committed to the dead to intercede for us; nay, the duties of love, we know, are confined to the present life. When, therefore, the faithful remove from this world, having finished their course, they enter on a blessed life. Though then the case is different, yet the Papists foolishly pass from angels to the dead: for as it has been stated, the case of the faithful has been committed to angels, and they ever watch over the whole body, and over every member of it. It is then nothing strange that they offer prayers for the faithful; but it does not hence follow, that angels are to be invoked by us. Why does Scripture testify, that angels supplicate God for us? Is it that each of us may flee to them? By no means; but that being assured of God’s paternal love, we may entertain more hope and confidence; yea, that we may courageously fight, being certain of victory, since celestial hosts contend for us, according to what appears from many examples. For when the servant of Elisha saw not the chariots flying in the air, he became almost lost in despair; but his despair was instantly removed, when he saw so many angels ready at hand for help, (2 Kings 6:17;) so whenever God declares that angels are ministers for our safety, he means to animate our faith; at the same time he does not send us to angels; but this one thing is sufficient for us, that when God is propitious to us, all the angels have a care for our salvation. And we must further notice what is said by Christ,
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“hereafter ye shall see angels ascending and descending,” (John 1:51,)
which means, that when we are joined to the head, there will thence proceed a sacred union between us and angels; for Christ, we know, is equally Lord over all. When, therefore, we are united to the body of Christ, it is certain that angels are united to us, but only through Christ. All this favor then depends on the one true Mediator. Far then is it from being the case, that Scripture represents angels as patrons to whom we may pray. The meaning then is what we have stated, when Zechariah says, that the angel thus prayed, O Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah?
The angel seems in this place to have indirectly blamed God for having too much delayed to bring help to his Church: but this mode of speaking, we know, frequently occurs in the prayers of the saints; they in a manner charged God with delay, that is, according to the perception of their flesh. But this is not inconsistent with the obedience of faith, since the faithful submit at length to the counsel of God. Hence, however familiarly they may often expostulate with God, when he seems to delay and to withhold his aid, they yet restrain themselves, and at length feel assured that what God has appointed is best. But they thus pour forth their cares and their sorrows into the bosom of God, in order to disburden themselves. The angel now adopts this form when he says, “How long wilt thou not show mercy?” It is not however the complaint of unreasonable fervor, as that of the ungodly, who in praying accuse God, rage against him, and quarrel with his judgments. The angel then was not moved by any turbulent feeling, nor were the saints, when they adopted this mode of praying; but they did what God allows us all to do; they thus disburndened their cares and sorrows.
We ought at the same time to notice the special import of the words, “how long,” עד-מתי, od-mati? The angel indeed afterwards explains himself, when he expressly mentions the term of seventy years. It was not then without design, or through a strong impulse of feeling, that the angel said, How long? but he had regard to a memorable prophecy, which was in the mouth of all the godly; for God had fixed seventy years for the exile of the people. Since the people knew that a time had been predetermined by God, he does net here supplicate God according to his own will, but only alleges the promise itself: and it is an usual thing with the saints to plead before God what he has promised to them. What indeed can better sustain our hope? and what can give us a greater encouragement in praying, than when we plead with God according to his promises? For God will have our prayers to be founded first on his gratuitous goodness, and then on the constancy of his faithfulness and truth. When therefore they thus address God, “O Lord, thou art true, and thou hast promised this to us; relying on thy word, we dare ask what otherwise we could not,” — they certainly do not exceed the limits as though they prescribed to God a law, but anxiously seek to obtain what had been freely offered. We have seen that the angel does not here complain of delay, but that he founded his plea on that remarkable prophecy, in which God had fixed the term of seventy years for his people.
The angel seems in this place to have indirectly blamed God for having too much delayed to bring help to his Church: but this mode of speaking, we know, frequently occurs in the prayers of the saints; they in a manner charged God with delay, that is, according to the perception of their flesh. But this is not inconsistent with the obedience of faith, since the faithful submit at length to the counsel of God. Hence, however familiarly they may often expostulate with God, when he seems to delay and to withhold his aid, they yet restrain themselves, and at length feel assured that what God has appointed is best. But they thus pour forth their cares and their sorrows into the bosom of God, in order to disburden themselves. The angel now adopts this form when he says, “How long wilt thou not show mercy?” It is not however the complaint of unreasonable fervor, as that of the ungodly, who in praying accuse God, rage against him, and quarrel with his judgments. The angel then was not moved by any turbulent feeling, nor were the saints, when they adopted this mode of praying; but they did what God allows us all to do; they thus disburdened their cares and sorrows.
I have said, that it is more suitable to the passage to say, that the cities had been despised by God: but if any prefers the other view, I will not contend; yet whosoever will minutely consider the intention of the Prophet, will, I think, readily assent to the idea, that the cities had been despised or rejected by God, because he gave them no sign of his mercy. It now follows —
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 On vv12, 14 That is, Christ the mediator prayed for the salvation…
That is, Christ the mediator prayed for the salvation of his Church, which was now troubled, when all the countries about them were at rest.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Zec 1:12 Then the angel of the LORD answered…
Zec 1:12 Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
Ver. 12. Then the angel of the Lord] That advocate with the Father, Jesus, the just one, 1Jn 2:1, who appeareth to his afflicted people, and feelingly pleads for them, as being afflicted in all their afflictions, even the angel of his presence that saveth them, Isa 63:9. It much moved him to hear that God’s enemies were in better case than his people; and this puts him upon the following passionate expostulation.
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O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, &c.] Usquequo Domine. Calvin had these words much in his mouth; thereby breathing out his holy desires in the behalf of the afflicted Churches, with whose sufferings he was more affected than with anything that befell himself. It is said of Melancthon that the miseries of the Church made him almost neglect the death of his dearest children; and put him upon many prayers and tears; which, like music upon the water, made a most melodious noise in the ears of God. When Luther in a certain epistle checked him, and chided him for his exceeding great care of the Church’s welfare, calling him pertinacissimam curarum hirudinem, &c., he meekly replied, Si nihil curarem, nihil orarem; If I should not care so, I should not pray so. God seemeth sometimes to have lost his mercy (as here, How long wilt thou be unmerciful to Jerusalem?), and then we must find it for him. He seems to have forgotten his people; we must remind him. He seems to sleep, delay; we must waken, quicken him, with "How long, Lord?" "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come," saith Daniel, who is probably held to be the penman of that excellent Psalm {Psa 102:13 cf. Dan 9:2} and he speaks it with as much confidence as if he had been in God’s blessed bosom the while. This also he spake, not now by a spirit of prophecy, or special revelation; but by way of argumentation, or necessary demonstration: "For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof"; they pity her, and melt over her, therefore thou, Lord, much more; since all their tenderness is but a spark of thy flame, a drop of thine ocean.
Against which thou hast had indignation, these threescore and ten years] There is much ado among interpreters about Jeremiah’s seventy years and Zechariah’s seventy years, whether one and the same, or different one from another. That of Scaliger is most unlikely, who reckoneth these years of the captivity from the first year of Xerxes with his father Darius, unto the fourth year of Darius Nothus. How much better our countryman, Lydiat (whom yet Scaliger so much scorned, saying, Quis est ille ex ultima Britannia Canis, qui Ios. Scaligerum audeat allatrare?), who concludes it to be 70 years from the last destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldees to this second year of Darius Hystaspes, wherein Zechariah prophesied. That of a Lapide upon this text I cannot pass by, Moraliter idipsum dicamus, idipsum oremus et obsecremus pro Anglia. Let us say the same, pray the same, for England, Scotland, &c., that the angel here doth for Jerusalem; How long, Lord, wilt thou not have mercy upon England, where heresy hath prevailed now these hundred years and upwards? The English fugitives beyond seas write upon their college and church doors, in great golden letters, Iesu, Iesu, converte Angliam: Fiat, Fiat. Iesu, convert England: Amen, Amen. Why, yet this is somewhat better than that of Pererius, the Jesuit, upon Gen 15:16. If any man marvel, saith he, why England continueth to flourish, notwithstanding the overflow of heresy, and cruel persecution of Catholics (just execution of Catholics, he should have said), we answer, because their iniquity is not yet full (God grant it, Jer 28:6), Sed veniet tandem iniquitatis complementum. But the time is not far off; and forbearance is no quittance.
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 On vv12–14 Then, when the surveying angels had made their report…
Then, when the surveying angels had made their report of the prosperity of the heathen, the angel of the Lord, the Angel, the Lord Christ, Mediator of the church, and Head of the church, answered and said; prays as one interceding.
O Lord of hosts: Christ speaks to his Father, speaks as one much affected with the state of his afflicted church.
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How long wilt thou not have mercy? it is the expostulation that well befits a praying soul; it is not the inquiry of a discontented mind, but the request of one longing for mercy. So David, Psa 13:1,2; and the souls under the altar, Rev 6:10.
On Jerusalem, thy chosen mountain, heir of promises to be re-edified; and on Judah’s cities too, of whose rebuilding, peace, and prosperity thou hast, O Lord, spoken great things, Jer 30; Jer 31; Jer 32; Jer 33, and Eze 36; Eze 37, &c.
Thou hast had indignation; they have felt thine anger and hot displeasure, it was just, and is so still; but it is not to be perpetual. Thine anger hath smoked against the sheep of thy pasture.
These threescore and ten years; the term prefixed for the captivity is fully come, it is the seventieth year of their miserable captivity; now show mercy, build Zion, and glorify thyself in doing it, for the set time is come. It is now seventy years since thy temple was burnt, and Jerusalem sacked; and full eighty years since Jeconiah with many of thy people were carried captive into Babylon, and somewhat more since many were carried with Jehoiakim, from which to the second of Darius are much about eighty-eight or nine years.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said,....…
Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said,.... The same that was among the myrtle trees in the bottom, Zac 1:8,
O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah; which were fallen to ruin, and had lain waste for many years. These words are expressive of the intercession of Christ on the behalf of the people of the Jews, his professing people, both with respect to their temporal and spiritual good:
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against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? the time of the Babylonish captivity, which lasted such a term of time, and which was a token of the divine displeasure with them; but to be reckoned, not from Jeconiah's captivity, to the deliverance from it by Cyrus, as it is reckoned, Jer 25:1 Dan 9:2 but from the taking of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple under Zedekiah, to the rebuilding of the temple under Darius Hystaspis, in whose second year Zechariah now prophesied, Zac 1:7, which was a space of seventy years.
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 On vv12, 14 Angel of the Lord - The angel, the Lord…
Angel of the Lord - The angel, the Lord Christ.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Verse 12. Then the angel of the Lord] He…
Verse 12. Then the angel of the Lord] He who was among the myrtles-the Lord Jesus.
O Lord of hosts, how long] Jesus Christ was not only the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," but was always the sole Mediator and intercessor between God and man.
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These threescore and ten years?] This cannot mean the duration of the captivity for that was nearly twenty years past. It must mean simply the time that had elapsed from the destruction of the temple to the time in which the angel spoke. As the temple was destroyed in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, and this vision took place in the second year of Darius, the term of seventy years was completed, or nearly so, between these two periods.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv12–13 Zec 1:12. Then the angel of the Lord said…
Zec 1:12. Then the angel of the Lord said — “Christ the mediator,” as Bishop Hall explains it, “prayed for the salvation of his church, which was now troubled, when all the countries around were at rest.” But, as we find by the next verse that God’s answer to this petition was given to the angel interpreter, or the angel who talked with the prophet, this seems to determine that the petition was made by that angel. How long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem — At this time Jerusalem lay without any walls or defence, and was not wholly rebuilt; and on the cities of Judah — These still lay wholly in ruins; against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years — There are three ways of computing the seventy years of the captivity, taken notice of in Scripture. The first is, beginning from the fourth year of Jehoiakim to the first of Cyrus: this is Jeremiah’s account, Jer 25:1; Jer 25:11; which Daniel follows, Dan 9:2. Another may be computed from the besieging of Jerusalem in the ninth year of Zedekiah, in the tenth month, for which a solemn fast was kept by the Jews: compare 2Ki 25:1, with Zec 8:19. This computation ends with the second year of Darius, which is the reckoning Zechariah here follows. Or lastly, if we compute the beginning of the seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem and the first temple, which came to pass in the eleventh year of the same reign, they will be accomplished in the fourth year of Darius, and this computation agrees with what is said Zec 7:1; Zec 7:5. The last two ways of reckoning the seventy years may be reduced to one, only by supposing, that the prophet, in this verse, sets down a complete for an incomplete number, and calls that space of time seventy years, which wanted but little of it: a way of speaking of which several instances may be produced.
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 On vv12–14 And the Angel of the Lord answered - the…
And the Angel of the Lord answered - the implied longing, by intercession with God. As the angel-interpreter in Job had “the office of no mere created angel, but one, anticipative of His, who came at once to redeem and justify,” so the Angel of the Lord, in whom God was, exercised at once a mediatorial office with God, typical of our Lord’s high priest’s prayer John 17, and acted as God.
These seventy years - The seventy years of the captivity, prophesied by Jeremiah Jer 25:11-12; Jer 29:10, were on the eve of their conclusion at the time of Daniel’s great prayer of intercession Dan 9:2; they ended with the capture of Babylon, and the edict of Cyrus, permitting the Jews to return 2Ch 36:22-23; Ezr 1:1. Yet there seems to have been a secondary fulfillment, from the destruction of the temple and city, in Zedekiah’s eleventh year 2Ki 25:2, 2Ki 25:8-9, 588 b.c. to the second year of Darius, 519 b.c. Such double fulfillments of prophecy are not like alternative fulfillments. They are a more intricate and fuller, not an easier fulfillment of it. Yet “these 70 years” do not necessitate such a double fulfillment. It might express only a reverent wonder, that the 70 years being accomplished, the complete restoration was not yet brought to pass. Cyril: “God having fixed the time of the captivity to the 70th year, it was necessary to be silent, so long as the time was not yet come to an end, that he might not seem to oppose the Lord’s will. But, when the time was now come to a close and the fear of offending was removed, he, knowing that the Lord cannot lie, entreats and ventures to enquire whether His anger has come to an end, as had those who sinned; or whether, fresh sins having accrued, there shall be a further delay, and their forlorn estate shall be yet further extended. They then who worship God have a good and not uncertain hope, that, if they should offend from infirmity, yet have they those who should entreat for them, not people only, but the holy angels themselves, who render God gracious and propitious, soothing His anger by their purity, and in a manner winning the grieved judge. Then the Angel entreated for the synagogue to the Jews; but we, who believe and have been sanctified in the Spirit 1Jo 2:1-2, “have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins,” and as the inspired Paul writes, “God hath set Him forth as a propitiation through faith, freeing from sin those who come to Him” Rom 3:25.
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 On vv12–14 The seventieth year; viz., from the beginning of the…
The seventieth year; viz., from the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, in the ninth year of king Sedecias, to the second year of king Darius. These seventy years of the desolation of Jerusalem and the cities of Juda, are different from the seventy years of captivity foretold by Jeremias; which began in the fourth year of Joakim, and ended in the first year of king Cyrus. (Challoner) --- Of these Daniel (ix.) speaks. The temple had also been destroyed now seventy years, (Worthington) and the angel prays, (Haydock) while the prophet begs that the people may be inspired to rebuild it. (Worthington) --- Michael takes occasion from the angels’ report, to beseech the Lord to perfect what had been so well begun. He speaks not expressly of the temple, as Aggeus had prevailed on the people to commence that edifice. They had excused themselves that the time was not come, as they probably dated from the burning of the temple; though its desolation began with the siege, thirty months before. See Jeremias xxv. 11., and xxix. 10. (Calmet)
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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv12–14 Not only does Messiah stand among His people (the…
Not only does Messiah stand among His people (the "myrtles," Zac 1:8), but intercedes for them with the Father ("Lord," or "Jehovah of hosts") effectively (Zac 1:13; Heb 7:25). Compare Psa 102:13-20; Isa 62:6-7, as to Judah's restoration in answer to prayer.
answered and said--said in continuation of the discourse: proceeded to say.
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how long--Messiah's people pray similarly to their Head. Rev 6:10, "How long," &c. Heretofore it was vain to pray, but now that the divinely appointed "threescore and ten years" (Jer 25:11; Jer 29:10) are elapsed, it is time to pray to Thee for the fulfilment of Thy promise, seeing that Thy grace is not yet fully manifested, nor Thy promise fulfilled. God's promises are not to make us slothful, but to quicken our prayers. HENDERSON, dating the seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem (588 B.C.), supposes two years of the seventy had yet to run (520 B.C.).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv12–14 12. The purpose of the vision is to remove…
12. The purpose of the vision is to remove this sense of disappointment and despondency by a solemn reaffirmation of the promises of the past (12-17). It is the angel of Jehovah (see on Zec_1:11) who intercedes with Jehovah for Jerusalem and Judah. The fact that the angel intercedes with Jehovah might be urged against the identification of the two (see above); but this representation, which is figurative, disproves the identification no more “than the intercessory prayer of Christ in John 17 is a disproof of his divinity.”
Answered — See on Zec_1:10. The “angel” understands the true significance of the report, and he inquires why Jehovah is withholding his favor, when the allotted time of his displeasure has come to an end.
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Threescore and ten years — Undoubtedly a reference to Jer_25:12; Jer_29:10. The former passage was uttered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, about 604 B.C.; seventy years from that date would bring us to about 534, a few years subsequent to the edict of Cyrus granting permission to the Jews to return from Babylon, and about fourteen years before the date of this vision. If this is the period meant the disappointment can be understood very easily. The pre-exilic prophets had connected the sublimest hopes with the return, but the years immediately following the return of 537 were years of depression and oppression. Many would ask and did ask, What has become of the promises of Jehovah? The angel simply voices the sentiment of the majority in the community. However, it is possible that the beginning of the seventy years should be placed at the destruction of the temple in 586; seventy years from that date would bring us to about 516. As the latter date approached, the people would inquire anxiously whether the promised exaltation would materialize. The former interpretation does justice to the primary reference, but the fact that seventy years from the destruction of the temple were about to expire may have intensified the expectation as well as the disappointment.
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 On vv12–14 12. answered] The word does not necessarily mean replied…
12. answered] The word does not necessarily mean replied to a question, but has here, as elsewhere, the more general signification of speaking in a manner corresponding, or “answering” to the circumstances described and the feelings called forth by them (comp. Job_3:2 (margin); Dan_2:26; Act_5:8). Pitying Zechariah and his countrymen in the disappointment, which the answer of the horsemen (Zec_1:11) could not fail to cause them, inasmuch as it told of rest and quiet, whereas the “shaking of all nations” was the predicted sign of returning favour to Zion (Hag_2:7; Hag_2:21-22), the Angel proceeds to speak “answerably” to this feeling, in the intercession which he now offers on their behalf. His sympathy and intercession make it probable, as Calvin remarks (though he offers the alternative of its being any angel you please), that this Angel of the Lord was “Christ the Mediator.”
these threescore and ten years] Comp. Jer_25:11; Ezr_1:1. The meaning is: Why art Thou still angry with us, when the appointed time of our punishment, the seventy years of our captivity, has expired?
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 On vv12–14 (12) Consequently, the angel of the Lord intercedes for…
(12) Consequently, the angel of the Lord intercedes for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah.
These threescore and ten years.—This is an old English expression. The Hebrew has one word—seventy—which is often used as a round number. From the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 605-6) to the date of the decree of Cyrus for the return of the Jews (B.C. 538) is sixty-eight years. These are the seventy years of captivity foretold by Jeremiah (Jer_25:11; Jer_29:10). But eighteen years had now elapsed since that decree of Cyrus. Consequently the angelic intercessor, in saying “how long . . . these seventy years,” can hardly have referred to the seventy years spoken of by Jeremiah, since the actual number of years was now eighty-eight. Therefore it is most probable that the reference is to the period of sixty-eight years between the second taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, when Zedekiah was removed in chains to Babylon (B.C. 588), and the year of this prophecy (B.C. 520).
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 On vv12–14 Answered. He answered the feeling in the prophet"s mind,…
Answered. He answered the feeling in the prophet"s mind, the unexpressed longing of his heart. O Lord of hosts. The angel is the intercessor for the people. So Christ prays to the Father. (Joh 17) How long wilt thou not have mercy, etc.? He prays that the weary waiting for deliverance may speedily come to an end, and Jerusalem be restored, and Judaea be again inhabited by a happy population. These three score and ten years. The predicted seventy years of captivity (Jer_25:11 Jer_29:10) were past; it was time that the punishment should cease. There are two computations of this period. The first dates from the first capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 606, when Judaea was made tributary to Babylon, (2Ki_24:1 2Ch_36:6 Dan_1:1, etc.) unto the return of the company of exiles under Zerubbabel, B.C. 536; the second dates from the final destruction of Jerusalem, B.C. 588, unto the second year of Darius, B.C. 519, when Zechariah saw these visions. However reckoned, the dark period was now over; might they not now expect the commotion among the nations which was to precede their own restitution?
Vers. 12-16. A vision of mercy.
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"Then the angel of the Lord answered and said," etc. In the last portion (vers. 7-11) we saw Christ, or the Angel-Jehovah, presented to us as a King, exercising visitatorial powers. In the present we seem to read of him under those two other principal aspects in which he is revealed to his people, viz.
(1) as their great High Priest interceding for them with God; and
(2) as their great Teacher or Prophet instructing and comforting them in God"s name.
I INTERCESSION. We find this to be:
1. Exceedingly apposite. Much had already been done for the remnant of the Captivity; but much also remained. A mere handful, (some fifty thousand all told, Ezr_2:64, Ezr_2:65) compared with the many thousands of Israel, had been brought back; a few scattered centres of population only were to be found in the land, and Jerusalem itself was more like a city of the dead than of the living. (compare the description of it in Neh_7:4, many years afterwards) This state of things is exactly recognized in the Angel-Jehovah"s petition, "How long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah?" (For similar and, probably, nearly contemporaneous request for further mercy after much mercy received, comp. Psa_126:4)
2. Very judicious. See what this intercession allows, viz. the justice of God. "Thou hast had indignation;" and rightly, so it implies. (For similar confessions of God"s justice in pleading for mercy, comp. Gen_18:25 Jer_12:1) See also what this intercession relies on, viz. on the one hand, God"s character, as delighting to exercise mercy (so to speak) as soon as he can; and, on the other hand, on God"s faithfulness, as being Sure to confine his indignation strictly to the duration specified by him. "These three score and ten years". (see Jer_26:11, Jer_26:12)
3. Very effectual. This shown by the answer obtained, which consisted, on the one hand, of "good words" i.e. words promising good; and on the other hand, of "comfortable words," literally, words "sighing with," or full of sympathy, in the spirit of Rom_12:15 Isa_63:9; and so being all that could be wished for, both in matter and manner.
II INSTRUCTION. The Angel-Jehovah, having received this reply, then proceeds either personally or, as some think, through the instrumentality of some subordinate angel to instruct the prophet accordingly. In this we may notice:
1. His commission. The satisfactory answer just received by the Angel-Jehovah the prophet was now to make known in his turn: Cry thou. " He was also to tell it aloud, to proclaim it: "Cry" ( bis); comp. Gen_41:43 2Ch_32:18, where the same word is employed. And he was to do so being thus commissioned (this also is mentioned twice, vers. 14, 17) in God"s name.
2. His message. This corresponds, as might be expected, with the "words" of ver. 13. For example, it is a message
(1) of great sympathy; being one, we find, in which God identifies himself with the interests of his people (observe "my," in vers. 16, 17), and even speaks of himself as sharing to some extent in their anxieties and purely national jealousies and rivalries. It was no pleasure to him to see other nations at ease, and them in trouble, however deserved. No doubt he had been "displeased" with them; (Zec_1:1, Zec_1:2) but he was still more so with their foes (ver. 15). A message
(2) of great hope. Much good, in fact, had begun. Not only had the remnant returned to Jerusalem; God himself also had done so (ver. 16), and that "with mercies;" to stay amongst his people, and not merely to "visit" them. More good was to follow. The "house" now building was to be finished; the rest of the now desolate city to be marked out and finished; and the scattered cities of Judah to be so filled as to overflow ("spread abroad;" comp. Zec_2:2) on all sides. All this, however apparently unlikely, was, nevertheless (observe "yet" three times), being God"s settled purpose, to be accomplished; and the prophet also was to go on saying so until this was the case ("Cry yet," ver. 16).
Do we not see illustrated in all this, finally?
1. The perfection of the gospel. "Good words and comfortable words tidings of great joy so we see it to be. How full of sympathy! How full of hope! Its excellency culminating in this, perhaps, above all, that we have not only such a "Propitiation". (1Jn_2:2) but such a perpetual "Advocate" (1Jn_2:1) and Intercessor to plead it. (see also Heb_7:25 Luk_22:31, 32 13:8, 9 Act_7:55)
2. The certainty of the gospel. As to its essence and source, on the one hand. As in ver. 13, it is, in effect, the promise of God to his Son. (comp. Psa_2:7-9 Ps 110, passim) As to its conveyance to us, on the other; being, in effect, as in ver. 14, the message of Christ himself to us through those appointed by him. Compare the visions of Christ to Isaiah (Isa 6 Joh 12) and Daniel; (Dan_10:5, Dan_10:6, and references) also Joh_14:26 Joh_16:13, 14 Col_3:16, etc.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 I am jealous for Jerusalem
Zec_1:14-17
I am jealous for Jerusalem
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Mercy mingled with chastisement
Jealousy is that particular uneasiness which arises in our minds from the fear that some rival may rob us of the affection of one whom we greatly love, or from suspicion that he has already done it.
Gods jealousy, or zeal, denotes His distrust of His creatures, His eminent care of His people, and His readiness to punish such as injure them. He is peculiarly jealous for everything whereby He maketh Himself known. Comparatively speaking, God may be said to be but a little displeased with His people, whatever be the manner of His dealing with them in this world. Their afflictions are only temporary and of short duration. They are also designed for their profit, and overruled for promoting their best interests. And though the troubles that afflict the just be great and many in number, the Lord will deliver him out of them all. Let us take the comfort which the good words spoken to Israel are designed to yield, amid all the trials and afflictive dispensations of providence with which we may be visited in this life. You may be in darkness and in doubts, perplexed on every side, and encompassed with difficulties, but still you need not despair. The Lord is jealous for you with a great jealousy. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Matthew Fraser.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v13 Zec_1:16. Returned] to Jerusalem, from whom God had withdrawn.…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zec_1:16. Returned] to Jerusalem, from whom God had withdrawn. Line] All obstacles removed, the temple completed, and the whole city shall be regular in shape, and exact in its survey.
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Zec_1:17. Cities] Other cities of Judah belong to God, will prosper and spread] Lit. scattered not by an invading foe, but by growth and abundance (cf. Zec_2:4; Zec_8:4).
Zec_1:18-21.] Four horns] The second vision. The foes of the Jews will be destroyed. Scattered] The people of God surrounded by enemies on all sides. The number four referred to the four quarters of the earth in relation to Palestine [cf. Hend]; by others, to four chief nations.
Zec_1:20. Carpenters] Artificers for each horn, indicating the agencies God employs for the destruction of those hostile to his people; “skilful to destroy” (Eze_21:31). Lifted up] Depressed with suffering and fear (Job_10:15). Fray] Terrify and scatter them in their pride and tyranny (Eze_30:9; Psa_75:4-5).
HOMILETICS
COMFORTABLE WORDS.—Zec_1:13-17
Jehovah replied to the intercession of the angel that he loved Jerusalem, and that this love would be displayed in securing its good. If we wait patiently, and commit our trouble to our Intercessor, we shall have “good words” for ourselves, and “comfortable” words for others.
I. God’s love in its objects. He was jealous for his people, and angry with their enemies.
1. He loved Jerusalem. The city had been wronged by others. His honour was involved in its insults. He was zealous for her interests, zealous, “with a great jealousy,” for her good. He had been ill-requited for kindness—had chastised them for deserts—but his love changed not. In the past and in the present he was “a jealous God” (Exo_34:14).
2. He was displeased with their enemies. “I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease.” He was “but a little displeased,” when he gave them permission to chastise his people. But they afflicted them more than he desired, and sought their extinction to gratify lust and revenge. “They helped forward the affliction.” God’s displeasure is temporary and for good; men’s displeasure is lasting and cruel.
II. God’s love in its consequences. “Therefore, thus saith the Lord,” &c. (Zec_1:16). Judgments were designed to restore them to God—that he might return in mercy to them. God hides his face and we are troubled (Psa_30:7); he returns and we rejoice. We have mercy instead of wrath—mercies repeated and manifold. “I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies.”
1. The capital shall be built. All hindrances shall be removed, and instead of scattered houses, the whole city shall be measured in order and regularity. “A line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem.”
2. The temple shall be restored. “My house shall be built in it.” The worship of God should be the concern of men. Cities without churches are cities without ornaments. The palace of the prince must never take the place of the temple of God.
3. The country shall flourish. “Cry yet,” in addition to foregoing promises, “my cities shall overflow with prosperity.” Not only Jerusalem, but subordinate cities of Judah, shall have abundance of outward and spiritual increase. The produce of the vintage and the fruits of the earth; an extension of trade and an increase of population, shall be given. Whatever be the immediate prospects of the Church, God has great consolation for her. He will yet prosper and comfort Zion. The completion of the temple, the restoration of the city, and the increase of the people, are a declaration of his love, a manifestation of his purpose, and a pledge of his fidelity. “The Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.”
THE FOUR HORNS AND THE FOUR SMITHS, OR THE DANGER AND THE DEFENCE OF THE CHURCH.—Zec_1:18-21
This second vision is a fulfilment of the foregoing promise. The horn is an emblem of power. The four mentioned indicate hostile powers on every side, which seek to oppress and crush the people of God. The four smiths signify antagonistic forces which God has raised up and commisioned to destroy. Learn—
I. The Church of Christ exists in the midst of conflict. “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” The Jews, in every age, were opposed by enemies. In Apostolic and succeeding times, the Christian Church had to contend with powers and principalities—persecutions strong and violent. In every quarter of the earth the people of God have been in danger, have had to endure wrath, conflict, and death. Fiery trials await them everywhere. They are left to be tossed by the horns of the enemies, apparently defenceless, though loyal subjects of him who has all power in heaven and earth. It is God’s will that they should struggle and conquer in conflict with evil.
II. In this conflict God raises up men. Enemies and difficulties may surround the Church, but God provides help, and opens our eyes to discern it. “The Lord showed me four (carpenters) smiths.”
1. Men qualified in strength. Workmen are needed. Men of iron hand and resolute will. Smiths who can wield the hammer and smash the horns in pieces. Right kind of men are often wanting. Jeremiah searched in vain (ch. Jer_4:22-25; Jer_5:1), and another cries with a similar result: “I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me, for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none” (Eze_22:30).
2. Men sufficient in number. For every horn there was a smith to fray or destroy it. Strange that a kind of equilibrium between assault and defence should be maintained. But this is no ground for despair. The agencies to foil are as numerous as the enemies themselves. For every evil there is a remedy, and for every danger a deliverer. The horn may do its work, but the smith will follow to take vengeance.
III. Men of the right kind are raised up at the right time. The prophet saw the horns first, but had not long to wait for the carpenters. Just when they wore required they came ready for work. Men will be called and qualified when God has a work for them to do. They may be in the hut of the peasant or in the school of the prophet, preparing for the contest. Moses and Joshua, Paul and Luther, Knox and Whitfield, were raised up at the right time. Have confidence then. A providence silent and unseen works on and prepares the way. Where God has a people, there he is to defend and prosper them. Rutherford wrote to a little church in Scotland, harassed and ready to despair on account of persecution: “So long as there is any of the Lord’s lost money in your town, he won’t put out the candle.”
HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Zec_1:15. God’s displeasure.
1. Towards his people only short. “A little displeased.” “Little,” says Pusey, “in comparison with our deserts; little, in comparison with the anger of the human instruments of his displeasure; little, in comparison with their’s who, in their anger, sought their own ends.”
2. Towards his enemies very great. “I am very sore displeased with the heathen.” At ease themselves they persecute others. Though permitted to correct God’s people, they often with revengeful malice exceed their commission, and thus bring mischief upon themselves (Pro_24:17-18). The chastisement of believers is temporary, and in love; the punishment of the wicked will be in anger, and for ever. “God uses not the rod where he means to use the sword,” says Bishop Hall.
Zec_1:16-17.
1. The nature of the mercies. The rebuilding of the temple—restoration of public worship—rebuilding of the metropolis, and increase of the cities.
2. The source of the mercies. “Thus saith the Lord, I am returned.” “Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (Ezr_9:13; Lam_3:22).
3. The measure of the mercies. In Zec_1:17 there are four yets, and all very gracious ones; to break their hard hearts and to raise their faith on his promised mercies. You shall have plentiful increase of men, cattle, and all manner of fruits of the earth, so that it shall no more be said, This is Zion whom no man careth for (Jer_30:17); yea, you shall have a fulness of all things, not only repletive, but diffusive, not only of abundance but of redundance too; your cup shall overflow into the lesser vessels of others [cf. Trapp].
“Surer to prosper than prosperity
Could have assured us” [Milton].
Zec_1:18-21. We learn from these verses that the friends of Zion are numerous as her foes; that her defence is equal to her danger; that as the state of his people requires it, the Lord will seasonably raise up means and instruments for their succour and deliverance. The assurance may be derived from four principles: the love of God—the power of God—the faithfulness of God—the conduct of God. In the first, we see that he may be inclined to appear for them, as they are infinitely dear to him. In the second, we see that he is able to save them. In the third, that he is engaged to do it. In the fourth, that he always has done it. Scripture, history, and experience, being witness—
“Then let the would forbear their rage,
The Church renounce her fear;
Israel must live through every age,
And be the Almighty’s care” [Jay].
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Zec_1:18-20. Fray. The Church may rest calmly in the assurance that every hostile power shall be judged and destroyed. The primary reference was to the Jews in restoring the city and completing the temple. But it has a wider significance. In the long history of the Church, it is proved that “no weapon formed against her shall prosper” [cf. Lange]. God directs and overrules all counsels and events for the progress and ultimate triumph of his kingdom.
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.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v12 (See Scofield Heb 1:4).
angel
(See Scofield Heb 1:4).
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv12, 14 to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah
to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah
Here the words "Jerusalem" and "cities" refer to the people who live in those cities. AT: "to the people of Jerusalem and to the people of the cities of Judah" (See: Metonymy)
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with good words, words of comfort
"with good, comforting words"
translationWords
angel
Yahweh
Yahweh of hosts
compassion
Jerusalem
Judah
suffer
word
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 On v14 1:14 My love . . . is passionate and…
1:14 My love . . . is passionate and strong: This phrase, sometimes translated as “I am very jealous,” reflects intense, single-minded devotion that could produce hatred and envy or zeal and devotion. God is jealous—as the one true and living God, he has exclusive rights to his creatures’ worship (see Exod 20:5; 34:14). • Jerusalem signifies the territories ruled by Judean kings; Mount Zion was the site of the Lord’s Temple.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.