Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
The Destruction of the Second Temple ZECIIARIAII XI. and the Jewish PolLly for MesslalC X RejtclUm,
7.) I, the Father, will strengthen them In tne name, i. e., the manifested power, of the LoM, Messiah, the Son of God. walk ... in Iiis uame—t. e., live every wliere and ooutiuually under His protection, and according to His selves guilty" (Jeremiah 50. 7). It Is meant that they might use this plea, not that they actually used it. Judah's adversaries felt no compunction in destroy ing them ; and God in righteous wrath against Judah allowed it. tliey tliat sell tliem—(Cf. v. 12.) The, rulers of Jiidali, who by their avaricious rapacity and selfishness (John U. 48,50) virtually sold their country to Rome. Their covttousness brought on Judea God's visitation by Rome. The climax of this was the sale of the innocent Messiali for thirty pieces of silver. They thought that Jesus was thus sold and their selfish interest secured by the delivery of Him to the Romans for crucifixion; but itvvas themselves and their country that they thus sold to the Romafl " possessors." I am ricU—by selling the sheep (Deuteronomy will iGetiesis 5. 22 ; Psalm 20. 1, 7 ; Micah 4. 5).
CHAPTER XI.
Ver. 1-17. Destkuction of the Second Temple and Jewish Polity fok the Rejection of Messiah. 1. Open tliyrtoors, O Lebanon—i. e., the temple SO called, as being constructed of cedars of Lebanon, or as being lofty and conspicuous like that mountain (cf. Ezekiel 17.
3; Habakkuk 2. 17). Forty years before the destruction of tiie temple, the tract called " Massecheth Joma" states,
20. 19 ; Hosea 12. 8). In short-sighted selfishness they thought they had gained their objet, covetous self-aggrandizement (Luke 16. 14), and hypocritically " tlianked" God for their wicked gain (cf. Luke 18. 11). say . . . pity —In Hebrew it is sinffidar : i. e., each of those that sell them saith: Not one of their own shepherds pitieth them. An emphatical mode of expression by wliich each individual is represented as doing, or not doing, the action of the verb. [Henderson.] Hengstenbeho refers the sin- (jular verbs to Jehovah, the true actor; the wicked shepherds being His unconscious instruments. Cf. u. 6, "For 1 will no more pity," with the Hebrew " pitielh not " here. 0. Jehovah, in vengeance for their rejection of Messiali, gave them over to intestine fends and Roman rule. The Zealots and other factious Jews e.xpelled and slew one another by turns at the last invasion by Rome, liis king—Vespasian or Titus: they themselves (John its doors of Iheir own accord opened, and Rabbi Jolumau in alarm said, I know that thy desolation is inipendiug according to Zechariah's prophecy. Calvin supposes Lebanon to refer to Judea, described by its north boundary : " Lebanon," the route by which the Romans, according to JoSEPUUS, gradually advanced towards Jerusalem. Moore, from Hengstenbep.q, refers the passage to tlie civil war which caused the calling in of the Romans, who, like a. storm sweeping through the laud from Lebanon, deprived Judea of its dependence. Thus the passage forms a fit introduction to the prediction as to Messiah born when Judea became a Roman province. But the weight of authority is for the former view. a. fir tree. . . cedar—if even tlie cerfar*(the highest in the state) are nol spared, how much less the fir <recs (the lowest) ! forest of , . . vintage—As the vines are stripped of their grapes ill the vintage (cf. Joel 3. 13), so the forest of Lebanon "is come down," stripped of all its beauty. Rather, "tlie for-
10. lo) had said, unconsciously realizing Zechariah's words, identifying Rome's king with Jndah's ("his") king, "We have no king but Ctesar." God took them at their word, and gave them the Roman king, who "smote (ii/., dashed in pieces) their land," breaking up their polity, wiien they rejected their true King who would have saved them. 7. And—ratlier. Accordingly : implying the motive cause which led Messiah to assume the ottice, viz., the will of the Father (y. 4, 5), who pitied the sheep without any true shepherd. I will feed—"I fed'' [Calvin], which comes to the same thing, as the past tense must in Zechariah's time have referred to the event of Messiah's advent then future: the prophets often speaking of the future in vision as already present. It was not my fault, Jehovah implies, that tliese slieep were not fed; the fault rests solely with you, because ye rejected the grace of God. [Calvin.] even you, O poor of tl»e flock —rather, " in order that (I miglit feed, i. e., save) the poor (humble; cf. D. 11 ; Zephaniah 3.12; Mattlicw 5. 3) of the flock;" lit. (not " you,'" but), 'therefore (I will feed)," <fcc. [MooRR.] See Margin, " Verily the poor." It is for the sake of the believing remnant that Messiah took charge tified" or " inaccessible iove&V' [Mauber]; i.e., Jerusalem dense with houses as a thick forest is with trees, and "fortified" witli a wall around. Cf. Micah 3. 12, where its desolate state is described as a forest. 3. slieplierds- -the Jewisli rulers, their glory their wealth and magnificence; or that of the temple, "their glory" (Mark 13. 1; Luke 21. 5). young lions—the princes, so described on account of their cruel rapacity, pride of Jordan—its tliickly -wooded banks, the lair of "lions" (Jeremiah 12. 5;
49. I'J). Image for Judea "spoiled" of the magnificence of its rulers ("the young lions"). The valley of tiie Jordan forms a deeper gash than any on the earth. The land at Lake Merom is on a level with the Mediterranean Sea at llie Sea of Tiberias it falls 650 feet below that level, and to double that depression at the Dead Sea, i. e., in all, 1950 feet below the Mediterranean; in twenty miles' interval there is a fall of from 3000 to 4000 feet. 4. The prophet here proceeds to show the cause of the destruction just foretold, viz., the rejection of Messiah, flock of . . . glaugtiier—iPsalm 44.22.) God's people doomed to slaughter l)y tlie Romans. Zechariah here represents typically Mes.siah, and performs in vision the actions enjoined: hence the language is in part appropriate to him, but mainly to the Antitype, Messiah. A million and a half perished in the Jewish war, and one million one hundred thousand at the fall of Jerusalem. "Feed" implies that the Jews could not plead ignorance of God's will to execute their sin. Zechariah and the other prophets had by God's appointment "fed" them (Acts 20. 28) with the word of God, teaching and warning them to escape from couiing wrath by repentance: the type of Messiah, tlie ol the flock, though he would have saved all, if t hey would have come to Him. They would not come; therefore, ai a nation, they are " the flock of (j. e., doomed to) slaughter." I took . . . two staves—i.e., shepherds' staves or rods (Psalm 23. 4). Symbolizing His assumption of the pastor's ofiice. Beauty—The Jews' peculiar excellency above other nations (Deuteronomy 4.7), God's special manifestation to t hem (Psalm 147. 19, 20), the glory of the temple t" the beauty of holiness," Psalm 29. 2; cf. Psalm 27. 4, and 90. 17; 2(;hronicles 20.21), the "pleasantness'' of their land (Genesis 49.15; Daniel 8.9; 11.16), "the glorious land." Bands—implying the bond of " brotherhood " between Judah and Israel. " Bands," in Psalm 119.61 (Margin), are used for confederate companies. The Easterns in making a confederacy often tie a cord or ban<i as a symbol of it, and untie it when they dissolve the confederacy. [LUDOVICUS dk Diku.] Messiah would have Joined Judah and Israel in the bonds of a common faith and coniiiioii laws (v. 14), but they would not; therefore in just retribution He broke "His covenant which He had made with all the people." Alexander, Antioclius lOpiplianes, and I'ompey were all kept from marring utterly the distinctive "beauty " and " brotherhood " of Judah and Israel, which subsisted more or less so long as the temjile stood. But when Jehovah brake the staves, uot even Tit-w oc Mltl cliief Sliei)herd, who receives the commission of the Father, with whom He is one (v. 4); and Himself says (v.
7), " / will feed the flock of slaughter." Zechariah did not live to "feed" literally the "flock of slaughter;" Messiah alone "fed" those who, because of their rejection of Him, were condemned to slaughter. Jehovah-Messiah is the speaker. It is Ho who threatens to inflict tlie punishments {V. 6, 8). The typical breaking of the slaU", performed in vision by Zechariah (d. 10), is fulfilled In His breaking the covenant with Judah. It is He who was sold for thirty pieces of silver (w. 12, 13). 5. postiegsorg
Tlie buyers [Maureii], their Roman oppressors, contrasted with "they that sell men." The instruments of God's righteous judgment, and therefore "uot holding Ihem730