These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,
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These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,
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These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
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These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth with his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates;
Cross-references (23)
Passages linked to Zechariah 8:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 4:25 Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
- Zechariah 7:9 “Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
- Psalms 15:2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;
- Deuteronomy 10:12-13 Now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you, but to fear Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep Yahweh’s commandments and statutes, which I command you today for your good?
- Luke 3:8-14 Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.” The multitudes asked him, “What then must we do?” He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.” Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”
- Proverbs 12:17 He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.
- Proverbs 12:19 Truth’s lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.
- Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.
- Zechariah 8:19 Yahweh of Armies says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months shall be for the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.”
- Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
- Leviticus 19:11 “ ‘You shall not steal. “ ‘You shall not lie. “ ‘You shall not deceive one another.
- Deuteronomy 11:7-8 but your eyes have seen all of Yahweh’s great work which he did. Therefore you shall keep the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess;
- Hosea 4:1-2 Hear Yahweh’s word, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land. There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed.
- Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
- Amos 5:24 But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream.
- Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
- Micah 6:12 Her rich men are full of violence, her inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their speech.
- Ephesians 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
- 1 Thessalonians 4:6 that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.
- 1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Isaiah 11:3-9 His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears; but he will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked. Righteousness will be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
- Jeremiah 9:3-5 “They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood. They have grown strong in the land, but not for truth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says Yahweh. “Everyone beware of his neighbor, and don’t trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go around like a slanderer. Friends deceive each other, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. They weary themselves commiting iniquity.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain Zechariah exhorts them here to true repentance, by showing…
Zechariah exhorts them here to true repentance, by showing that more things were to be hoped for than what they saw with their eyes; and at the same time he shows that it was not enough for them assiduously to build the city and the temple; but he requires other things, even that they should observe integrity and justice towards one another. We indeed know that the Jews were so given to their own ceremonies, that they thought that holiness existed in them: and this error Zechariah had before condemned, and now he inculcates the same truth, — that if they wished to have God propitious to them, and also wished to enjoy continually that goodness which they had already tasted, they were to strive to secure it not only by sacrifices and other ceremonies, but especially by attention to justice and equity.
But the Prophet does not here mention every part of an upright life, but only refers to some things. This mode of speaking is quite common, as we have already often noticed. The Prophet then states a part for the whole; but still he includes generally the whole of the second table, when he says that these things were to be observed, even that they should speak the truth; that is, deal faithfully with one another, abstain from every falsehood and deceit, and from every kind of craftiness, — and also that they should execute justice in their gates. And because he names neighbors here, it would be very absurd for anyone hence to conclude, that it is lawful to defraud strangers, or those with whom we have no near connection: but the Prophet by this term meant only to set forth the atrocious conduct of the Jews, who spared not even their friends and their brethren. Though then it is a wicked thing to deceive any one, even the farthest from us, it is yet a greater crime when one lies in wait for his near neighbor and brother: and we know that this mode of speaking occurs everywhere in the law; for God, in order to restrain us from evil deeds, has set before us that kind of sin which we are constrained by the impulse of nature to detest. Thus he speaks of secret hatred as being murder. Then the Prophet in this place meant more sharply to reprove the Jews, because such barbarity had prevailed among them, that no one regarded his neighbor, but raged as it were against his own bowels.
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As to the words, truth and the judgment of peace, he intimates by them, that not only individuals were privately given to evil deeds, but that also the court of justice was full of frauds and wrong acts, while it ought to have been the sanctuary of justice. Though many may be perversely wicked among the people, yet their audacity and wickedness are always restrained, when the laws are put in force, and incorrupt judges rule. But the Prophet shows that the judges had become like robbers, for there was no integrity in the gates. He mentions truth first, for the judges craftily perverted all truth by misrepresentations, as it is commonly the case. For even the worst of men do not openly say that they approve of a wicked deed; but they find out disguises by which they cover their own baseness, and that of those who do wrong, whom they favor, when bribed with money. It is then necessary that truth should have the first place in courts of justice. By the judgment of peace he understands, when his own is given to every one. Some think that what is right is called the judgment of peace, because when mercenary judges condemn and oppress the innocent, and for gain’s sake patronise what is wrong, many tumults often arise, and then open war ensues: but as the word peace has a wide meaning in Hebrew, we may take the judgment of peace as meaning only a calm and a rightly formed judgment. The Jews, we know, administered justice in the gates.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Zec 8:16 These [are] the things that ye shall…
Zec 8:16 These [are] the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
Ver. 16. These are the things that ye shall do] Heb. These are the words. God will not so do all good for his people, but that they should reciprocate and do something for him by way of thankfulness. Particularly; these are the words, or commands, that ye shall not only know, but do. They are verba vivenda non legenda; word to live by not to be read, as lessons of music must be practised, and a copy not read only, but written after.
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Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour] Let your words be few and ponderous. Lie not in jest, lest ye go to hell in earnest. Let Socrates be your friend, and Plato; but the truth much more. Rather die than lie for any cause.
Execute the judgment of truth and peace] That is, upright judgment pronounced or delivered with a calm and quiet mind; not angry, nor partial, nor of any distempered or troubled affection; such as hatred, fear, favour, Iudicium pacis, id est, placidum et rite compositum (Calv.). All that savours of self should be strained out, and justice, justice (as Moses speaketh), that is, pure justice without mud, should run down as a river, Deu 16:20. That magistrate hath too impotent a spirit whose services, like the dial, must be set only by the sun of self and sinister respects. He should have, as nothing to lose, so nothing to get; he should be above all price or sale, and "neither respect persons, nor receive gifts," 2Ch 19:7.
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 These are the things that ye shall do; you…
These are the things that ye shall do; you to whom I am returned, whom I have promised to bless, you have something to do that the blessing may come upon you, and look you do it. Beside building the temple and restoring public worship in sacrifices, these things ye must do.
Speak ye every man the truth; be true of your word, and lie not one to another, as becomes such a people, Psa 24:4; Pro 12:19; Hos 4:1.
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To his neighbour; to all men: it hath been the sin of your fathers, they have lived, deceived, and cheated, not strangers, but brothers and neighbours; but do not ye so; every one you deal with is your neighbour, do you speak truth to every such one.
Execute the judgment of truth: see Zec 7:9.
And peace; that may restore, settle, and promote peace among you, as righteous judgments will do.
In your gates; either referring to the places of judicature, where the judges sat; or more generally and comprehensively through the whole land, Exo 20:10.
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 And let none of you imagine evil in your…
And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour,.... See Gill on Zac 7:10 hatred without a cause was a governing vice under the second temple, and Jarchi says was the cause of the destruction of it; see Joh 15:25,
and love no false oath; whereby the character and property of a fellow creature are hurt; nor any vain one, which the Jews were addicted to, Mat 5:34,
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for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord; as being contrary to his nature, and to his law; and is a reason why they should be hated and avoided by men.
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 Judgment of truth - True judgment. Peace - That…
Judgment of truth - True judgment. Peace - That may restore, and settle peace among you. Gates - The places of judicature, where the Judges sat.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Speak ye every man the truth] See…
Verse 16. Speak ye every man the truth] See Zec 7:9-10.
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 8:16-17. These are the things that ye shall…
Zec 8:16-17. These are the things that ye shall do, &c. — But these my promises of good to you are conditional, and the performance of them will depend upon your observing the laws of justice and righteousness; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour — Let no one deceive another by guile or falsehood. Execute the judgment of truth — True judgment; and peace in your gates — Use all means to restore and establish peace among you. Or, Let those who have the administration of justice committed to their charge endeavour to search out the truth from the witnesses, in the trials which come before them; and decide according to the law, and do all in their power to uphold truth and integrity, and maintain the public peace. The judges, it is to be remembered, used to execute their office at the gates of each city, and therefore it is said here, Execute judgments, &c., in your gates. Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts — See note on Zec 7:10. And love no false oath — See note on Zec 5:3-4. For all these are things which I hate — God, as he essentially, by his nature, loves that which is good and excellent, so must he hate that which is the contrary.
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 These are the things that ye shall do -…
These are the things that ye shall do - He exhorts them to the same duties, to which the former prophets had exhorted their fathers, Zec 7:9-10, and, as before, first positively to truth and peace; then to avoid everything contrary to it. “Judgment of peace” must be judgment which issues in peace, as all righteous judgment righteously received, in which case each party acquiesces, must. Kimchi: “If ye judge righteousness, there will be peace between the litigants, according to that proverb, Sanhedr. f. 7. a. quoted by Me. Caul, p. 78), ‘He that hath his coat taken from him by the tribunal, let him sing and go his way’ (“because,” says a gloss (Rashi, quoted Ibid.), “they have judged the judgment of truth, and have taken away that which would have been stolen property, if he retained it,” being in fact not his). And they have quoted that, “And all this people shall go to their place in peace” Exo 18:23. : “All this people,” even he that is condemned in judgment. It is also interpreted of arbitration. What sort of judgment is that, in which there is peace? It is that of arbitration.”
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 Of peace, or perfect. Shew no partiality.
Of peace, or perfect. Shew no partiality.
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 The promised blessings are connected with obedience. God's covenanted…
The promised blessings are connected with obedience. God's covenanted grace will lead those truly blessed by it to holiness, not licentiousness.
truth to . . . neighbour--not that the truth should not be spoken to foreigners too; but He makes it an aggravation of their sin, that they spared not even their brethren. Besides, and above all outward ordinances (Zac 7:3), God requires truth and justice.
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judgment of . . . peace--Equitable decisions tend to allay feuds and produce peace.
gates--the place where courts of judicature in the East were held.
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 16, 17. The conditions on which these blessings may…
16, 17. The conditions on which these blessings may be secured are essentially the same as those proclaimed by the earlier prophets (see on Zec_7:9-10).
Speak… truth — Without truthfulness among its members no community can prosper permanently.
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Execute the judgment of truth and peace — Margin R.V., more literally, “judge truth and the judgment of peace.” Judge truth is equivalent to give true and righteous judgment (see on Zec_7:9); the judgment of peace is “such an administration of justice as tends to promote peace and establish concord between those who are at strife.” Some commentators omit the second truth as an erroneous repetition suggested by Zec_7:9.
In your gates — The place where justice was administered (see on Amo_5:10; compare 2Sa_15:2; Deu_21:19).
Let none… imagine evil — See on Zec_7:10.
Love no false oath — See on Zec_5:3. All these things Jehovah hates, and therefore he is bound to punish them (compare Amo_5:21).
Fasting and mourning will be changed into joy and glory, 18-23.
The emphasis upon the real requirements of Jehovah and the promise of a speedy redemption (Zec_7:4; Zec_8:17) would suggest a solution of the problem raised in Zec_7:3; in Zec_8:18-23, the prophet gives a direct answer: the fasts will give place to “joy and gladness and cheerful feasts” (19), because the blessing and favor of Jehovah will be restored to the people (20-23).
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 16. the judgment of truth and peace] Rather, truth…
16. the judgment of truth and peace] Rather, truth and the judgment of peace judge ye, as in R. V. margin. Jerusalem would indeed “be called a city of truth” (Zec_8:3), when alike in the private intercourse of her citizens (speak ye every one the truth to his neighbour), and in the public administration of justice (in your gates, Deu_25:7; Job_5:4), truth reigned supreme. The judgment of peace is righteous judgment, which alone secures peace.
“If ye judge righteousness, there will be peace between the parties in the lawsuit, according as our rabbies have said in a proverb of the children of men, ‘He that hath his coat taken from him by the tribunal, let him sing and go his way.’ And they have adduced in proof that verse, ‘And all this people shall also go to their place in peace’ (Exo_18:23). ‘All the people,’ even he that is condemned in judgment. And our rabbies of blessed memory have interpreted, and the judgment of peace, of reconciliation, for it is said, ‘What sort of judgment is that in which there is peace? They answered, ‘That of arbitration.’ ” Kimchi (McCaul’s Trans.), quoted by Wright.
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 (16) Judgment of truth and peace—i.e., in accordance with…
(16) Judgment of truth and peace—i.e., in accordance with the true facts of the case, and such judgment as would tend to peace between man and man. (Comp. Zec_7:9; and contrast Mal_2:8-9.)
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 These are the things. To secure the fulfilment of…
These are the things. To secure the fulfilment of the promise of good, they must do the will of God. (Zec_7:9. etc.) Truth. This was to be observed in all conversation and transactions with their neighbours. St. Paul quotes this injunction. (Eph_4:25) Execute the judgment of truth and peace; literally, judge ye truth and the judgment of peace. So the Septuagint and Vulgate. Practise perfect equity in judgments, and so decide, according to truth and justice, as to secure peace and concord between the parties concerned. In your gates. Where the judges sat, and justice was administered. (Deu_16:18 Deu_21:19; see note on Amo_5:10)
Vers. 16-23. A universal revival of genuine religion.
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"These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour," etc. The whole of this paragraph may be taken as setting forth a universal revival of genuine religion; and, looking at it in this light, we have here two things: the essential prerequisites; and the signal manifestations of a universal revival of genuine religion.
I THE ESSENTIAL PREREQUISITES. We discover in these verses four prerequisites or preparatories for a universal revival of genuine religion.
1. There must be truthfulness in speech. "These are the things which ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour." Truthful speech is somewhat rare in all social circles, and in all departments of life. Fallacious statements abound in markets, senates, courts, and even families. Men are constantly deceiving one another by words. It is not so easy a matter to speak truthfully as one might think. To speak is easy enough; but to speak truthfully is often very difficult. Truthful speaking involves two things.
(1) Sincerity. To speak a true thing insincerely is not to speak truthfully. A man must conscientiously believe that what he speaks is true, before he can be credited with veracity. There is more truthful speaking in the man who is telling a falsehood sincerely than there is in the man who is telling the truth in insincerity.
(2) Accuracy. A man may speak with sincerity, and yet, from ignorance or mistake, may not speak according to fact; and unless he speaks according to fact, he can scarcely be said to speak truthfully. His speech unintentionally conveys falsehood. Hence, truthful speaking requires a strong sense of right, and an adequate acquaintance with the subjects of the speech. Considerable effort is herein demanded effort to discipline the conscience and to enlighten the judgment. But difficult as truth speaking is, it is incumbent. "Every man should be swift to hear, but slow to speak.
2. There must be rectitude in conduct. "Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates." In the East the courts of justice were held at the gates of the city; and perhaps the primary reference here is to the pronouncing of judgment on cases that were righteous and tended to peace. But rectitude of life is even more important and urgent than rectitude in judgment. In fact, scarcely can a man be morally qualified to sit as a judge in a court of justice who is not righteous in all his life and conduct; and yet, alas! it is not uncommon, even here in England, to have men of the lowest morality enthroned on the bench of justice. The great law of social life is, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.
3. There must be benevolence in feeling. "Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour." We must not only keep our hands from evil, but we must watch over our hearts that they imagine not any evil against our neighbour. Mischief must be crushed in the embryo. "Charity thinketh no evil," and this charity must be cultivated.
4. There must be abhorrence of falsehood. "Love no false oath" If the oath is false, whether sworn by others or yourself, do not bind yourself to it, recoil from it with horror and abomination. Don"t espouse a falsehood because it is sworn to; nay, repudiate it the more resolutely and indignantly. A strong reason is here assigned for a practical respect to all these injunctions; it is this God abhors the opposites. "For all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord". (see Pro_6:19) Whatever God hates, we should hate.
II THE SIGNAL MANIFESTATIONS. It is suggested that where these prerequisites are found, i.e. where a revival takes place, three things are manifest.
1. An increased pleasure in religious ordinances. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts." "The fast of the fourth month was on account of the taking of Jerusalem; (Jer_39:2 Jer_52:5-7) that of the tenth was in commemoration of the commencement of the siege. (Jer_52:4) The Jews are distinctly informed that these fasts should be turned into festivals of joy" (Henderson). The idea is, perhaps, that these fast days are no longer seasons of mourning and penitential confession, but seasons of rejoicing. The first sign of a true revival of religion, in an individual or a community, is a new and happy interest in the ordinances of religion.
2. A deep practical concern for the spiritual interests of the race. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also." There will be a mutual excitation amongst the people to seek the one true and living God. Not only shall the inhabitants of one house go to another house, but the inhabitants of one city shall go to another city and say, "Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord." "Speedily;" there is no time to be lost; religion is for all, and for all an urgent duty.
3. A universal desire to be identified with the people of God. "In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men a definite number for an indefinite multitude, indicating many rather than a few shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew." The Jew (the representative of the people of God), to him men shall go, they shall lay hold of the "skirt" of his garment an expression conveying the idea either of anxious entreaty or conscious inferiority. Dr. Henderson says, in relation to this, "The prophecy is generally regarded as having respect to something yet future, and is often interpreted of the instrumentality of the Jews when converted in effecting the conversion of the world. I can find no such reference in the passage. "Jerusalem " cannot be understood otherwise than literally, just as the term "Jew" is to be so understood; but according to our Lord"s doctrine respecting the new dispensation, that city is no longer the place where men are exclusively to worship the Father. (Joh_4:21-23) Incense and a pure offering are now presented to his Name in every place where his people assemble in the name of Jesus and with a view to his glory. (Mal_1:10, Mal_1:11) it was otherwise before the advent of Christ. Jerusalem was the place which Jehovah had chosen to put his Name there; and thither all his true worshippers were expected to come to the great festivals, in whatever country they might reside. Thus the treasurer of Candace went all the way from Abyssinia, (Act_8:27) and thus numbers from all parts of the Roman empire assembled in that city at the first Pentecost after our Saviour"s resurrection. As the Hellenistic Jews and the Gentile proselytes travelled along in companies, they could not but excite the curiosity of the pagans through whose countries and cities they passed; and, celebrated as the metropolis of Judaea had become for the favours conferred upon it by some of the greatest monarchs of the times immediately gone by, and for the prosperity and warlike prowess of the Jewish people, it was impossible that it should not attract the attention of the surrounding nations to the character and claims of the God who was there adored, and who accorded such blessings to his worshippers. Men, for ages, had to go to the Jew for the true religion; the Gentiles in the apostolic times received it from the Jew; Christ and his apostles were Jews; but in these times the Jews have to come to the Gentiles for the true religion. Still, inasmuch as the Bible is a book of the Jews, Jewish histories, poetries, moralities, etc., and inasmuch as the grand Hero of the book was a Jew, it will, perhaps, ever be true that all nations shall take hold of the Jew in order to "seek the Lord" with success.
CONCLUSION. When will this universal revival of religion take place? The signs are scarcely visible anywhere. We can only hasten it by attending to the prerequisites truthfulness in speech, rectitude in conduct, benevolence in feeling, and abhorrence of falsehood. 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 Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour
Zec_8:16-17
Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour
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Truth
Concisely stated, the doctrine of the text is, think truth, love truth, speak truth, and do truth--live in its atmosphere, make it your ruling principle.
Let the clear light which it sheds out throw a radiance on your course, so that your life be transparent as a summer day. The charm of truth is the charm of simplicity. He who knows the value of truth, and strives to exhibit it, bears the mark of God: he cannot be far from the kingdom of God. The text contains two affirmative and two negative precepts--speak the truth, execute judgment, and do not imagine evil in your hearts, do not love a false oath.
I. Presumedly innocent inroads upon the domains of truth.
1. There is innuendo and insinuation. The wise look which says so much, and commits itself to little.
2. Common prattle and gossip, meddling, as it generally does, with the more intimate concerns of third persons, seldom respects the limits of truth. Nowhere is caution more needful than in ordinary conversation.
3. Promises are lightly and readily given, and often as lightly and readily broken.
4. Lack of firmness necessitates sacrifice of truth. One does not like to be singular, one does not like to be disagreeable.
5. In speaking of ones self or friends, the temptation, not always resisted, is to throw them out in the best light and make great persons of them, that it may be seen how grand, how clever we are, and how choice is the circle of our acquaintance.
6. The species of falsehood commonly called fibs, white lies, or in the slang diction of the college, crams.
7. The unconscientious workmans dallying with his work is a sin against truthfulness.
II. Flagrant breaches of the law of truth. Open and deliberate lies, intentional and heartless deception. In opposition to all falsehood, whether of the lighter or heavier sort, whether respectable or vulgar, whether in deed, word, or gesture, whether by omission or addition, the Word of God says, Speak every man truth to his neighbour.
III. How does Scripture enforce this? By what revelations; by what further precepts?
1. The wrongfulness and fate of untruth are clearly explained.
2. What more would you have to recommend truth than that it is assimilation to the Divine character? He is a God of truth, and without iniquity. Just and right. If our thoughts, words, and deeds were regulated by the standard of truth this would be heaven upon earth. Be satisfied of a mans integrity, sure that he ever means to do the right, and would scorn to act meanly, and you may make that man your friend. To work the world out into a society of friends, to transform it into a brotherhood, is, in brief, the aim of Christ. That ideal is the reality of heaven. (A. Hawkins Jones.)
An universal revival of religion
I. The essential prerequisites. Four prerequisites or preparatories for an universal revival of genuine religion.
1. There must be truthfulness in speech. These are the things which ye shall do, Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour. Truthful speech is somewhat rare in all social Circles, and in all departments of life. Fallacious statements abound in markets, senates, courts, and even families. Truthful speaking involves two things--
(1) Sincerity. To speak a true thing insincerely is not to speak truthfully. A man must conscientiously believe that what he speaks is true, before he can be credited with veracity. Truthful speaking involves--
(2) Accuracy. A man may speak with sincerity, and yet from ignorance or mistake may not speak according to fact; and unless he speaks according to fact he can scarcely be said to speak truthfully. His speech unintentionally conveys falsehood. Hence truthful speaking requires a strong sense of right, and an adequate acquaintance with the subjects of the speech.
2. There must be rectitude in conduct. Execute the Judgment of truth and peace in your gates. In the East the courts of justice were held at the gates of the city; and perhaps the primary reference here is to the pronouncing of judgment on cases that were righteous and tended to peace. But rectitude of life is even more important and urgent than rectitude in judg ment.
3. There must be benevolence in feeling. Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour. We must not only keep our hands from evil, but we must watch over our hearts, that they imagine not any evil against our neighbor.
4. There must be abhorrence of falsehood. Love no false oath.
II. The signal manifestations. It is suggested that where these prerequisites are found, i.e. where a revival takes place, three things are manifest.
1. An increased pleasure in religious ordinances. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth , and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts. The fast of the fourth month was on account of the taking of Jerusalem (Jer_39:2; Jer_52:5-7); that of the tenth was in commemoration of the commencement of the siege (Jer_52:4). The Jews are distinctly informed that these fasts should be turned into festivals of joy.--Henderson. The first sign of a true revival of religion in an individual or a community is a new and happy interest in the ordinances of religion. Another sign is--
2. A deep practical concern for the spiritual interests of the race. Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also. There will be a mutual excitation amongst the people to seek the one true and living God. Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord. Speedily, there is no time to be lost; religion is for all, and for all an urgent duty. Another sign is--
3. An universal desire to be identified with the people of God. In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men--a definite number for an indefinite multitude, indicating many rather than a few--shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. Conclusion--When will this universal revival of religion take place? The signs are scarcely visible anywhere. We can only hasten it by attending to the prerequisites. (Homilist.)
Lying and false oath
s:--Honesty and policy cannot live in the same heart. Who can make anything of the liar? He is the worst of all men. He has lost the higher qualities of manhood, yet the base deceiver can shudder when he sees a poor drunken man who may be a saint compared with himself. The liar cannot be converted, unless it be by the whole force of the Deity. He is hollow, he has killed his conscience, he has sold his honour. Never allow a liar to come into your house. The liar is a composite sinner; he sins all round, or would sin in any direction and every direction if it would serve his purpose so to do. Have faith in every man that loves truth. Though he fall seven times a day he shall stand at eventide. Any sins that lie along the line of passion are nothing as compared with sins of deliberation, plan, scheme, thoroughly wrought out, purposed. I have known many a soul overborne by gusts from the bottomless pit, not wanting moral beauty and fine quality, but I have never known a liar that was worth being touched by the point of the longest instrument ever fashioned by human hands. Lying is so subtle, too. It is not vulgar deception in all cases. There is a falsehood that is calculation, a very fine process of putting things together and totalling them up into certain results and considering whether those results are worth realising. Lying may be speechless. It is a mistake to say that lies are always told: lies are acted, lies are suggested, lies are inferential. Christ came to give us the spirit of truth. Truth is a spirit. It is not a mere way of stating facts. A man may contradict himself in his statement of facts and be true at the soul. Verbal discrepancies are nothing: the meaning of the heart is everything. When an honest soul corrects itself theres nobility in the very act of self-correction; you see the candour, you appreciate the withdrawal or the addition or the modification of former statements, as the case may be. A truthful man never thinks of his own consistency; a truthful man cannot be inconsistent. So called inconsistency in his case is accidental, superficial, transient, explicable. The mans consistency is in his soul: what he means to be, that he is. Of all liars perhaps the young liar is the worst. It ought not so to be. The boy, the young man, should not lie. He should be so heroic and fearless as even to blurt out the truth when he does not tell it in sequential order. It should not occur to his young soul to falsify. Yet if one were to write the history of young hearts in any family and in any city, society could not live; we would fly away from one another as men fly from suddenly disclosed serpents. Love no false oath, saith the text. False oath--what ironies there are in expression I False balance--what an affront to geometry! False oath--what an offence to righteousness! False prophet--what a shock to the spirit of the sanctuary! False brethren--who can live? The Bible grows upon our conscience and our whole moral nature by the sublimity of its criticisms and the loftiness of its spiritual appeals. The Bible will have truth everywhere, because it will first have truth in the soul. Do not treat the symptoms of your case: get at the radical disease. It is poor curing that is done by mere plasters. Only the cure that starts from the centre and works out towards the circumference brings with it summer redness to the cheek, summer brightness to the eyes. God condemns sin and all evil things in detail because they are ruinous to the man. They are spoiling the work of Gods hands, they are overturning the purpose of Gods heart. The sinner is a suicide. He that sinneth against Me, saith the Scripture, wrongeth his own soul. Think of a man committing plunder upon his own nature, stealing from himself every element that makes him a man! I have known liars that succeeded for a few months; I have before my mind at this moment three liars, all under five-and-twenty years of age, who lied and robbed and did evil with both hands, and tonight they are refuse; they are avoided by all who know the rottenness and pestilence of their character. Thus sin takes a man down line by line, faculty by faculty. Sin sucks the Divine juice out of a man. You cannot allow one evil thought to pass through your sensitive brain without leaving that brain weaker and poorer. The temptation came and left ruin behind. The temptation itself is not sin unless it is yielded to, but if the temptation have hospitality one moment in the brain it takes off some fine film, some subtle veil through which the brain saw somewhat of God. The poet can drink himself into idiocy; the genius, the master magician of words, can so treat his body that his soul will not think for him. It will give up and abandon the altar where once it burned. God sees therefore that sin ruins the man. The sinner himself goes down. The things are not only hateful to God, they are ruinous to the people who practise them. You cannot over eat yourself, and pray; you cannot soak your body in evil liquids, and then sing, you can sound the notes, but the subtle, spiritual, Divine music is gone. When fire has left the altar what is the altar? (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
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 Zec_8:16.] Just as in ch. Zec_7:9-10, first positive (Zec_8:16),…
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Zec_8:16.] Just as in ch. Zec_7:9-10, first positive (Zec_8:16), then negative (Zec_8:17). Judge] truly and promote peace. Gates] Places of administering justice.
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Zec_8:17. Hate] Lit. emphatic. “They are all these things which I hate;” i.e. the sum of what I hate; for they comprise the breaches of the two tables [cf. Pusey].
HOMILETICS
MORAL CONDITIONS OF PROSPERITY.—Zec_8:16-17
These verses contain a virtual and instructive reply to the question relative to the celebration of the fast (chap. Zec_7:3). It was not in such merely external, ritual, or ceremonial observances, that Jehovah delighted; but in the love and practice of moral rectitude [Hend.]. In Zec_8:14-15 we have the grounds upon which God’s promise rests; here, the conditions upon which it will be fulfilled. There are two aspects of duty as essential to prosperity.
I. Sympathy with our fellow-creatures. We are forbidden—
1. To act evil “Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates.” Nothing must be done in partiality, violence, and passion. In public administration and private inter course we must allay feuds and seek peace.
2. To speak evil. “Speak ye every man the truth.” (a) In social intercourse. “To his neighbour.” (b) In public courts. “Love no false oath.” “Truth is the band of union, and the basis of human happiness. Without this virtue there is no reliance upon language, no confidence in friendship, no security in promises and oaths” [Jeremy Collier].
3. To think evil. “Let none of you imagine evil in your hearts.” All evil springs from the thoughts. The most secret sins and the most grievous acts begin there. “To think well,” says Paley, “is the way to act well.” “The thoughts of the righteous are right” (Pro_12:5).
II. Moral conformity to God. “All these things” forbidden, are evils which God hates, and will punish. Therefore we should hate and avoid them also; shun them, not for the sake of policy, nor propriety, but as offensive to God. Men are seeking to substitute philanthropy for piety; “the claims of humanity” fur the worship of God. But Scripture and experience prove that there can be no true and permanent love to man, which is not the offspring of love to God. The test of our character and the degree of our prosperity will be according to our conformity to God. If we love what he loves, and hate what he hates, we shall bear his image and become his children. “For love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.”
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8
Zec_8:16-17. I hate. Men resemble the gods in nothing so much as in doing good to their fellow-creatures [Cicero]. Every day should be distinguished by at least one particular act of love [Lavater].
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.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 that you must do
that you must do
"You" refers to the people of Judah.
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Speak truth, every person with his neighbor
The abstract noun "truth" can be translated using the adjective "true." AT: "Everyone must say only true things to his neighbor" (See: Abstract Nouns)
his neighbor
Here "neighbor" means any person, not just someone who lives nearby.
Judge with truth, justice, and peace in your gates
This can be restated to remove the abstract nouns "truth," "justice," and "peace." AT: "When you are making decisions in your gates, judge in a way that is true and just and causes people to live peacefully with each other" (See: Abstract Nouns)
in your gates
The assumed knowledge is that this refers to the places where judgment took place. AT: "in your places of judgment" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
do not love false oaths
The implied information is that this refers to oaths taken in a court of law. AT: "do not approve when people tell lies in court cases" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
this is Yahweh's declaration
Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Zechariah 1:4. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
true
neighbor
judge
just
gate
evil
heart
oath
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 8:16 God expects his people to act with integrity…
8:16 God expects his people to act with integrity and justice (see Eph 4:25). • The courts (literally the gates): Legal proceedings were conducted at the gates of the city or Temple (see Deut 21:19; 25:7).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.