Commentary on Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah and Malachi John Calvin
MINOR PROPHETS
them to dwell, that is, give them a fixed habitation in their country. 274
He then adds, Because I have pitied them. Some read this in the future tense, but I retain the past, for the Lord assigns here a reason for their future gathering, even because he would deal mercifully with his people. He recalls then the attention of the Jews to the fountains of his mercy, as if he had said, ``Though they have deserved perpetual ruin, He will yet hear their greenings, because he will be propitious to them.'' As their calamity was an hindrance, which prevented the Jews from expecting any such thing, he adds, They shall be as though I had not cast them away.
By which words he reminds them that the punishment which had been inflicted on the people, would be only for a time. He then bids them to take courage, though they were like the lost or the dead, for he would put an end to their miseries. And when God says that he had cast away his people, it ought to be taken according to the perceptions of men, as we have observed elsewhere; for adoption was unchangeable, but external appearance could have led to no other conclusion, but that the people had been rejected by God. The meaning of the Prophet is, however, clearly this --- that though God had dealt severely with that people, and inflicted on them the heaviest punishment on account of their perfidy, yet his vengeance would not be for ever, for he would give place to mercy.
He adds another reason, For I Jehovah am their God. He means by this sentence that adoption would not be void, though he had for a time rejected the Jews: for by calling himself their God, he reminds them of his covenant, as though he had said, that he had not in vain made a covenant with Abraham, and promised that his seed would be blessed. Since then God had pledged his faith to Abraham, he says here that he would be the God of his people; not that they deserved anything, but because he had gratuitously chosen both Abraham and his seed.
He in the last place says, And I will hear them 275 He seems here to exhort them to prayer, that, relying on this promise, they might ask of God what had been promised.
Though this verb is often taken in a sense not strictly correct, for God is said to hear those who do not flee to him; but what I have stated is more suitable to this place --- that the people are stimulated to prayer, as God freely invites us to himself for this end, that is, that our prayers may harmonise with his promises. This is the meaning.
It now follows ---
Zechariah 10:7
7. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.
7. Et erunt quasi gigas Ephraim, et laetabitur cor eorum sicuti a vino, et filli eorum videbunt et gaudebunt; exultabit core eorum in Iehova.
He declares the same in other words: he had said in the last verse, that he would strengthen both the house of Judah and the house of Joseph, that is, the ten tribes; 274Kimchi says that [{,[{ישבto dwell, and ,[{]}שובto return, are included in this verb; but of such amalgamation there are no examples. The true reading no doubt is either ,[{`` ]}והשבתיםand I will restore them,'' supported by six MSS. the Targum, the Syriac, and the Vulgate; or ,[{`` ]}והושבתיםand I will settle them,'' supported by the Septuagint. --- Ed.
275Literally it is, "and I will answer them," [{{και}]---;[{{ ואענםἐπακούσομαι} {αυτοις}]---''and I will hear them,'' is the Septuagint; but the proper meaning of the verb is to answer; and so Henderson renders it. --- Ed.
JOHN CALVIN
he now speaks of Ephraim alone, but includes the kingdom of Judah; and he names
Ephraim, not because he deserved to be honored, or to be preferred to the Jews, for Ephraim had become apostate; but because the return of the ten tribes was an event more incredible: this is clearly the reason why the Prophet expressly mentions
Ephraim. 276 For even to the very destruction of the city and of the temple, God had continued to promise restoration to the Jews: the hope then of the Jews was certain and peculiar to themselves; but as to the Israelites, they were like a putrid carcass, for they had heard only something here and there, and received only some portion of the prophecies, as a grain of seed that falls outside of the field; for they were then as it were alienated from the people of God. We now then understand what the Prophet means by saying, that the Israelites would be like giants; for though they had been cast down by their enemies, and then driven in great dishonor and disgrace into exile, and had been exposed to all kinds of reproaches, and oppressed by extreme bondage; yet God promises them the strength of giants.
Now we have said that the words contain a part for the whole; for this promise no doubt belongs especially to the Jews: there is yet no mention of them, though they were first in rank, and had a better ground of hope as to their return, and the Lord had already given them some proof.
He says, Rejoice shall their hearts through wine; and see shall their sons and be glad; exult shall their heart in Jehovah. It is certain that they had already a cause for joy, as it is said in the book of Psalms, ``We became like those who dream, when the Lord restored his captives.'' (Psalm 126:1.)
But the Prophet speaks here of a greater joy, that is, when they should see gathered all the tribes from their miserable and grievous dispersion: hence it is said in the same Psalm, ``Gather, Lord, our captivity, like the stream in the south;'' and then he adds, ``They who sow in tears, in joy shall reap.'' In part then did the faithful lament, and in part did they rejoice: the beginning of redemptions had raised their minds to joy; but on seeing their brethren still living under the tyranny of their enemies and having hardly a hope of restoration, they could not but mourn. Now the Prophet here declares, that their joy would be full, when their complete restoration came.
And he extends this joy to their sons; for it was needful to restrain their armor in expecting a full favor, as they ever closed up their way to God by their complaints, according to what we do when we give loose reigns to our wishes, for we then in a manner turn away from God. In order then to teach the people patience, the Prophet says, ``Though ye see not this today with your eyes, yet your sons shall at length see it.'' We now perceive that he here exhorts them to patience, that they might not anticipate with too much haste the promises of God.
Of the metaphor it is not needful to say much: he compares to the drunken, or to such as become cheerful through drinking, those who rejoice in the Lord, not that he expresses an approval of drunkenness, but because he wished to show that it would 276The words literally are, — And they shall be like a valiant man of Ephraim. So the Septuagint, only the "valiant man" is taken in a collective sense, "And they shall be like the warriors ([{μαχηται}]) of Ephraim.'' With this corresponds the Targum and the Syriac. The fact is, that the words cannot be grammatically rendered otherwise. --- Ed.