Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Promises of Victory and Defence. ZECHAKIAH X, God only to be Sought imto, not TdoU.
Ararat,' for one of the mountains). The dam accompanied the colt (Matthew 21. 2). The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem at His first coming is a pledge of the full accomplishment of this prophecy at His second coming. It shall be "the day of the Lord" (Psalm 118. 21), as that first Palm Sunday was. The Jews sliall then universally (Psalm
Jews and against their foes), as formerly He appeared In a cloud over the Israelites against tlie Egyptians (Exodus
14. 19, 24). Ills arrow . . . as . . . Iig5i«5jing—flashing forth instantaneous destruction to the foe i Psalm 18.14). blow . . . trumpet—to summon and incite His people to battle for tlie destruction of their foe. go witli wliirlwinds of tlie sontli— i. <;., go forth in the most furious storm, such as is one from llie south (Isiiiali 21. 1). Alluding, perliaps, to Jeliovah's ancient miracles at Sinai coming "from Teman" (''the south," in Margin). l.'J. devour—the flesh of their foes, drink—the blood of their foes; i. e., utterly destroy them. Image .(as Jeremiah 46.
118. 2G) say, what some of them said then, " Blessed is He that cometli in the name of the Lord" (cf. Matthew
21. 9, with 213. 39); also "Hosanna," or "Save now, I beseech thee." "Palms," the emblem of triumpli, shall then also be in the hands of His people
(cf. John 12. 13, with Revelation 7. 9, 10). Then also,
10) from a sacrifice, wherein part of the flesh. was eaten, and the blood poured in libation (cf. Isaiah 03. 1, &c.). subdue with sling-stoncs—or, "tread under foot the sling-stones" hurled by the foe at them; i.e., will contemptuously trample on the hostile missiles which shall fall harmless under their feet (cf. Job 41. 28). Probably, too, it is implied tliat their Joes are as impotent as the common stones used in slinging when they have fallen underfoot: in contrast to the people of God (r. 16), "the (precious) stones of a crown" (ci. 1 Samuel 25. 29). [MauKEK.] English Version is good sense: Tlie Jews shall subdue the foe at the first onset, with the mere slingers who stood in front of the line of battle and began the eng.agement. Though armed with but sling-stones, like David against Goliath, they shall subdue the foe (Judges 20. 16; 1 Chronicles 12. 2). [Gkotius.] noise—the battle-shout, titrongh wine—(Ch. 10.7.) The Spirit of God fills them with triumph (Ephesians 5. 18). fllled—with blood, like bowls—the howls used to receive tlie blood of the sacritks on His former entry, shall be the feast of tabernacles
(at which tliey used to draw water from Siloam, quoting Isaiah 12. 3). Cf. Psalm 118. 15, with ch. 11. 16. 10. (IsaialV
2. 4; Hosea 2. 18; Micah 5. 10.) Kpliraim . . . Jerusalem— the ten tribes, and Judali and Benjamin; both alike to be restored hereafter, speak peace—command it authoritatively, dominion . , . from sea . . . river , , . ends of. . . eartu—fulfilling Genesis 15.18; Exodus 23. 31; and Psalm 72. 8. " Sea . . . sea," are the Red Sea and Mediterranean. The " river" Is the Euplirates. Jerusalem and tlie Holy Land, extended to the limits promised to Abraham, are to be tlie centre of His future dominion ; whence it will extend to the remotest parts of the earth. 11. As for tliee also i.e., "the daughter of Zion," or "Jerusalem" (v. 9): the theocracy. The "thee also," in contradistinction to Messiah spoken of in v. 10, implies that besides cutting off Vie battle-bow and extending Messiah's " dominion to tlie ends of the earth," God would also deliver /or her her exiled people from their foreign captivity, by tlie blootl of thy covenant—i. e., according to tlie covenant YouchsalVd to thee on Sinai, and ratified by the blood of sacrifices (Exodus 24. 8; Hebrews 9. 18-20). pit wlicrein . . . no water—Dungeons were often pits witliout water, miry at .tlie bottom, such as Jeremiah sank in when confined (Genesis 37. 21; Jeremiah 38. 6). An image of the misery of the Jewish exiles in Egypt, Greece, &c., under the successors of Alexander, especially under Antioclius Epiphaiies, who robbed and profaned the temple, slew thousands, and enslaved more. God delivered them by the Maccabees. A type of the future deliverance from their last great persecutor hereafter (Isaiah 61. 14; 00. 1). 12. strongliold—in contrast to the "pit" (v. 11); lit., "a place cut off from access." Maureb thinks, "a height" (Psalm 18. 33). An image for the security wiiich the returning Jews shall have in Messiah {v. 8) encamped about His people (Psalm 46. 1, 5; cf. Isaiah 49. 9; Proverbs 18. 10). prisoners of liope i. e., who in spite of afflictions (Job fices, as . . . corners—or "horns" of the altar, which used to be sprinkled with blood from the bowls (Exodus
29. 12; Leviticus 4. 18). 10. save them ... as tl»e flock of ills people—as the flock of His people ought to be saved (Psalm 77. 20). Here the image of war ami bloodshed
(c. 15) is exchanged for the shepherd and Jl(jcl;, as God will give not only victoiy, but afterwards .safe and lasting peace. In contrast to the worthless sling-sloncs trodden under foot stand the (gems) "stones of the crown (Isaiah
62. 3; Malaclii 3. 17), lifted up as an ensign," that all may flock to the Jewish Church (Isaiah 11. 10, 12; 62. 10). 1?. his goodness . . . his beauty—the goodness and beauty which Jehovali Messiah bestows on His people. Not as Maurer thinks, tlie goodness, &c., of His land or Hit people (Psalm 31. 19; Jeremiah 31. 12>. m.tke . . . cheerful lit., make it grow, new wine the iiinids—supply, "shall make ... to grow." Corn and tmnr abundant indicate peace and plenty. The new wine gladdening tlie maids is peculiar to tliis passage. It confutes those who interdict the use of wine as food. The Jews, heretofore straitened in provisions through pressure of the foe, shall now have abundance to cheer, not merely tlie old, hut even tlie youths and maidens. [OAiviN.]
13. 15; Psalm 42. 5, 11) maintain hope in the covenantkeeping God ; in contrast to unbelievers, wlio say, "There is no liope" (Jeremiah 2. 25; 18. 12). Especially those Jews who believe God's word to Israel (Jeremiah 31. 17), "there is hope in the end, tliat tliy cliildren .shall come again to their own border," and do not say, as in Ezekiel 37. 11, "Our hope is lost." Primarily, the Jews of Zechariah's time are encouraged not to be dispirited in building by their trials; secondarily, the Jews before the coming restoration are encouraged to look to Messiah for deliverance from their last oppressors, even to-day—when your circumstances seem so unpromising; in contrast with the "day of the Lord," when Zion's King shall come
CHAPTER X.
Ver. 1-12. Prayer and Promise. Call to prayer to Jehovah, as contrasted with the idol-worsliip which had brought judgments on the princes and jieopie. Blessings promised in answer to prayer: (1.) rulers of them.selves;
(2.) conquest of their enemies ; (li.) restoration and establishment of botli Israel and Judali in their own land in lasting peace and piety. 1. Ask . . . rain—on which the abundance of "corn" promised by the Iord (ch. 9.
to her deliverance (w. 9). I will render doulde—Great as has been thy adversity, tliy prosperity shall be doubly greater (Isaiah 01. 7). 13. bent Jutlah—made Judah as it were my bow, and "filled" it "with Ephraim," as my arrow, wherewith to overcome the successor of the Grecian Alexander, Antiochus Epiphanes (cf. Notes, Daniel 8. and U. 32; 1 Maccabees 1. 62; 2. 41^3), tlie oppressor of Judah. Having spoken {v. 1-8) of Alexander's victories,
17) depends. Jehovah alone can give it, and will give it on being asked (Jeremiah 10. 13; 14. 22). rniii in . . . time of . . . latter ruin—i.e., the latter rain in its dne time, viz., in spring, alxnit February or March (Job 29.
23; Joel 2. 2!). The latter rain ripenetl the grain, as the former rain in October tended to fructify the seed. Including tiH teinporalblessiiigs; these again being typtsof spiritual ones. Though God has begun to bless ns, we are not to relax our prayers. The I'oriiier rain of converaion may have beiin given, but we must also iisk for the latter rain of ripened sanctifiratlon. Though at Pentecost there was a former rain on the Jewish Church, a latter rain Is afL(;r the parentliesis (v. 9, 10) as to Messiah the infinitely greater King coming, he passes to the victories which God would enable Judali to gain over Alexander's suci-.es Kor, alter his temporary oppression of them. O Kton. . . O Greece—(Jod on one hand addresses Zion, on the other Greece, showing that He rules all people. 14. Another image: "Jehovah shall be seen (conspicuously manifesting His power) over them" [i. e., in behalf of the still to be looked for, when the lull harvest of the nutlon'8
Ah God has Visited His Flock/or Sin, ZECHAKIAH X. to He will Save and Restore Htmn.
conversion shall be gathered In to God. The spirit of prayer iu Uie Cliurch is au index at ouce of her piety, and few Israelites from the other tribes retia ned. The Macca« beau deliverance Is here connected with it, just as tha painter groups on the same canvas olijpcts in the loreground and hills far distant; or as the comparatively near planet and the remote fixed star are seen together in the same firmament. Prophecy ever hastens to the glorious final consummation under Messiah, bring tlteiin again to place them— viz., securely in their own land. The Hebrew verb is compounded of two, " I will bring again," and "I will place them." (Jeremiah 32. 37). SIauiier, from a difterent form, translates, " I will make tliein to dwell."
of the spiritual blessings she may expect from God. When the CliurcU is full of prayer, God pours out a full blessing, brljlit clomls—rather, lightnings, the precursors of rain.
fJjAirKER.] slkowers of rain lit., rain of heavy rain. In Job 37. 6 the .same words occur in Inverted order. [HenDEKSON.J gi-ass—a general term, including both corn for men and grast for cattle, a. Idols lit., "the teraphim," the household gods, consulted in divination {Note, Hosea 3.
4). Derived by Gesbnius from an Arabic root, " comfort," indicating them as the givers of comfort. Or an Etliiopian
7. lilie a i«igl»«y inou— in the l)attle with tlie foe {v. 3. 5). rejoice—at their victory over the foe. children shall see root, "relics." Herein Zecliariah shows tliat the Jews by their own idolatry had stayed the grace of God hereto-
It—who are not yet of age to serve. To teach patient waiting for God's promises. If ye do not at present see the fulfilment, your c/ii Wrt'u shall, and their joy shtill he comfore, which otherwise would have given them ail those blessings, temporal and spiritual, which they are now {v.
1) urged to "ask" for. diviners—who gave responses to consulters of the teraphim: opposed to Jeliovali and His true prophets, seen a lie—pretending to see wliat tliey saw not in giving responses, comfort in vain—lit., "give plete, rejoice in the ILord-the Giver of such a glorious victory. 8. hiss for them—Keepers of liees by a wliistle call them together. So Jehovah by the mere word of His call shall gather back to Palestine His scattered people (u.
10; Isaiah 5. 20; Ezekiel 36. H). The multitudes mentioned by JosEPHiJS (B. 3. ch. 3. 2), as peopling Galilee 200 years after this time, were a pledge of the future more perfect fulfilment of the propliecy. for 1 Iia»'e redeemed tliem viz., in my covenant purpose "redeemed" both temporally and spiritually, as Shey have iticrcascd—iu former times. 9. sow them among . . . people — Their dispersion was with a special design. Like seed sown far and wide*, they shall, when quickened tliemselvcs, be the tfopoitjfor comfort;" t. e.,give comforting promises to consulters which are sure to come to naught (Job 13. 4; 16. 2;
21. 34). therefore tl»ey vrent tlieir way i. e., Israel and Judah were led away captive, as a flock . . . no sliepherd — as sheep wander and are a prey to every injury when without a shepherd. So the Jews had been wiiilst they were without Jehovah, the true shepherd ; for the false prophets whom they trusted were no slieplierds (Ezekiel 34. 5). So now tliey are scattered, wliilst tliey know not Messiah their sliepherd; typified in tlie state of the disciples, wlien they had forsaken Jesus and fled (Mattliew 26. 56; cf. ch. 13.7). 3. against tl»e sliepliertls— the civil rulers of Israel and Judah who abetted idolatry. pnnislicfC lit., " visited upon." The same word " visited," without the " upon," is presently after used in a good sense to heighten tlie contrast, goats he-goats. As"sliepherds" described what tliey ought to have been, so " liegoats'" describes what they were, the emblem of headstrong wantonness and offensive lust {Margin, Isaia.li 14. 9 ; Ezekiel 34. 17 ; Daniel 8. 5 ; Matthew 25. 33). The he-goats head the flock. Tliey who are first in crime will be first in punishment, visited—in mercy (Luke 1. 68). as Iiis goodly liorse—In ch. 9. 13 they were represented under tlie image of bows and ari-ows, here under that of their commanderin-chief, Jehovah's battle-lwrse (Song of Solomon 1. 9). God can make His people, timid though they be as sheep, courageous as the charger. The general rode on the most beautiful and richly caparisoned, and had his horse tended with the greatest care. Jehovah might cast off" the Jews for their vileness, but He regards His election or adoption of them: whence He calls them here "His flock," and therefore saves them. 4. Out of Mm—Judah is to be no more subject to foreigners, but from itself shall coine its rulers, tiie corner—stone, Messiah (Isaiah 28. 16). " Corners" simply express governors {Margin, 1 Samuel 14. 38; Margin, Isaiah 19. 13). The Maccabees, Judah's governors and deliverers from Antiochus the oppressor, are primarily meant; but Messiah is the Antitype. Messiah supports and binds together the Church, Jews and Gentiles, the nail—(Judges 4. 21; Isaiah 22. 23.) The large peg inside an Oriental tent, on which is hung most of its valual)le furniture. On Messiah hang all the glory and hope of His people, bow— (Ch. 9. 13). Judah shall not need foreign soldiery. Messiah shall be her battle-bow (Psalm 45. 4, 5 fittest instruments lor quickening others (cf. Mi call 5.7). The slight hold they have on every soil where they now live, as also the commercial and tliereforo cosmopolitan character of their pursuits, mailing a cliange of residence easy to them, fit tliem peculiarly for missionary work [MooRE.] The wide dispersion of the Jews just before Christ's coming prepared the way simi Uirljfor the apostles' preaching in the various Jewish syngagogues throughout tlie world ; everywhere some of tlie Old Testament seed previously sown was ready to germinate when the New Testament light and heat were brouglit to bear on it by Gospel preachers. Thus t!ie way was opened for entrance among the Gentiles. " Will soiu" is the Hebrew future, said of that which has been done, is being done, and may be done afterwards [Mauker] (cf. Hosea 2. 23),' shall remember me in far coiisitries—(Deuteronomy 30,
1 ; 2 Chronicles 6. 37.) Implying the Jews' return to a right mind in "all the nations" where tliey are scattered simultaneously. Cf. Luke 15. 17, 18, with Psalm 22. 27, "All the ends of the world remembering and turning unto the Lord," preceded by the "seed of Jacob . . . Israel . . . fearing and glorifying Hinri ;" also Psalm 102. 13-15. live in political and spiritual life. 10. Egypt . . . Assyria the former the first, the latter among tlie last of Israel's oppressors (or representing the four great uorld-kingdoms, of which it was the first) : types of tlie present universal dispersion, Egypt being south, Assyria north, opposite ends of the compass. Maurbr conjectures that many Israelites fied to " Egypt" on the invasion of Tiglatli-pileser. But Isaiah 11. 11 and this passage rather accord with the view of the future restoration. Gilead . . . Lebanon — The whole of the Holy Land is described by two of its boundaries, the eastern (" Gilead" beyond Jordan) and the northern ("Lebanon"), place shall not be found for them — i.e., there shall not be room enough for them through their numbers (Isaiah 49. 20; 54. 3). 11. pass . . . sea with aflliction — Personifying tlie "sea;'' He shall
Revelation 8. 2). every oppressor — rather, in a. good sense, ruler, iis the kindred Ethiopic term means. So "exactor," in Isaiah 60. 17, viz., one who exacts the tribute from the nations made tributary to Judah. [IjUDovicus DB DiEL'.) 5. riders on horses—i-i'z., the enemy's horsemen. Though the Jews were forbidden by the law to multiply horses in battle (Deuteronomy 17. 16), tliey are made Jehovah's war-horse (v. 3; Psalm 20. 7), and so tread down on foot the foe with all his cavalry (E/.ckiol 3S. 4; Daniel 11.40). Cavalry wa-s the chief strength of the KyroCireciaii arniyd Maccabees .3. .39). 6. Judah . . . .Tosrpli —i. e., the ten tribes. The distinct mention of both ludiih and Israel shows that there is yet a more complete restoration than that from Babylon, when Judah alone and a afflict the sea, i. e., cause it to cease to be an obstacle to Israel's return to Palestine (Isaiali 11. 15, 10). Vulgate translates, "The strait of the se.a." Maurer, "He shall cleave and f,m\te," &Q.. English Version is best (Psalm 114.
3). As Jehovah smote the Red Sea to make a passage for His people (Expdus 14. 16, 21), so hereafter shall He make a way through every obstacle which opposes Israel's restoration, tlie river — the Nile (Amos 8. 8; 9. 5), or the Euphrates. Thus the Red Sea. and the Euphrates In the former part of the verse answer 1o "Assyria" and "Egypt" in tiie latter, sceptre of Egj pt . . . depart—(Ezekiel 30.
13.) 14. I . . . strengthen tl&em in . . . Lord—(Hosea 1.