Commentary on Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah and Malachi John Calvin (continued)
JOHN CALVIN
free from all blame, whatever might happen. A shepherd is set over a flock for this purpose, --- that he may defend it, even every sheep, both against the depredations of robbers, and the rapacity of wolves: but when he gives up his office, he is exempt from all blame, though afterwards the flock may be stolen or devoured by wolves and wild beasts. God then here openly declares, that it was not to be imputed to him, if the Jews perished a hundred times, for they refused to be ruled by him, and thus he was freed from the pastoral charge. What then is to perish, let it perish; that is, ``Since they are not healable, and allow no remedy to be applied to their evils, I leave them; they shall find out what it is to be without a good shepherd.''
We now see more clearly what I before stated, --- that the wickedness and ingratitude of the people are here reproved, because they had rejected God, who was ready to be their shepherd, --- and that the cause of the ruin which was nigh at hand, was in the Jews themselves, though they anxiously tried, but in vain, to transfer it to another.
He concludes with these words, And those which remain, even those who shall escape external attacks, let them eat one another, since they are not now sheep, but savage wild beasts. And this we know has been fulfilled; for the Jews at length perished through mutual discords, and no one spared his own brother; nay, the nearer the relationship, the more cruelly each raged against the other. Hence God's judgment, denounced by the Prophet, then appeared most openly, when the Jews perished through intestine broils and even slaughters. It then follows ---
Zechariah 11:10, 11
10. And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
10. Et accepi virgam meam, nempe Pulchritudinem, et confregi eam, ut irritum facerem foedus quod pepigeram cum omnibus gentibus (vel, populis.)
11. And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
11. Et irritum fuit die illo; et cognoverunt sic paupers gregis qui me observabant, quod sermo Iehovae hic esset.
He confirms the same truth, but a metaphor is introduced: for he says, that when he freed himself from the office of a shepherd, he broke the two rods, even Beauty and Gathering. He speaks of the first staff, because things were in a confusion in Judea, before the people were wholly cut off; for the dispersion did not immediately take place, so that there was no sort of social state among the Jews; but social order was so deranged, that it was sufficiently evident that they were not ruled by God. By degrees the purity of doctrine was corrupted, and a flood of errors crept in; superstition gained great strength. When things were in this state of confusion, the pastoral staff was broken, which is called, Beauty. This verse then contains no more than an explanation of the last: and hence also he says, That broken might be Septuagint and Jerome, in the imperative mood, as here. The verse may be thus rendered, — 9. And I said,—I will not feed you; She that is to die, shall die; And she that is to be cut off, shall be cut off; And the remainder shall devour, Each one the flesh of its (or her) fellow. "The dying," or "the dead," and "the cut off," the literal rendering, clearly mean what was destined to die and to be cut off. Hence to render "cut off" here "missing," as done by Blayney, is not at all necessary. — Ed.
MINOR PROPHETS
the covenant which I had made, that is, that it might be now quite evident that this people are not ruled by my hand and authority.
Some interpreters extend to the whole world what is here said of nations, and think that the same thing is meant by Zechariah as that which is said in Hosea 2:1, -that the Lord made a covenant with the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven, that no harm should happen to his people; but the comparison is not suitable. It is then probable, that God here speaks only of the posterity of Abraham; nor is it to be wondered at that they are called nations, for even so Moses says, ``Nations from thee shall be born,'' (Genesis 17:6.) and this was done for the purpose of setting forth the greatness of God's favor; for the ten tribes were as so many nations among whom God reigned. It seemed incredible, that from one man, not only a numerous family, but many nations should proceed. The real meaning then seems to be, that God testified that he would no longer be the leader of that people; for when order was trodden under foot, the covenant of God was made void. Why indeed was that covenant continued, and what was its design, except to keep things aright, in a fit and suitable condition? Thus in the church, God regards order, so that nothing should be done rashly, according to every man's humor. This then was the beginning of that dispersion, which at length followed when the people had fallen off from the order which God had appointed. 294
He concludes by saying, that in that day the covenant was broken. By which words he intimates that it was not by chance that the law was destroyed, and that the Jews departed from the just government of God, but that it was through the dreadful vengeance of God. In that day then: this is emphatical, as though the Prophet had said, ``It ought not to be ascribed to chance that things have changed for the worse, for God has thus executed his judgment, after having with extreme patience borne with the wickedness of the people.'' And hence he adds, that the poor of the flock saw that this was the word of Jehovah. Here the Prophet briefly points out two things --- that this was not commonly known as God's judgment, but that almost all with closed eyes overlooked what had happened; for the world contracts as it were hardness, and becomes wilfully obdurate under the scourges of God. All cry out that they are miserable, but no one regards the hand of the striker, as it is said elsewhere. (Isaiah 9:13.) So also Zechariah charges here the Jews with stupidity; for though the greater part saw all things in confusion, yet they did not consider, but regarded almost as nothing the dreadful judgment of God. It must then be that men are extremely refractory, when they perceive not that they are chastised by God; yet the Prophet charges the Jews with this sottishness; for they regarded not this as the word of Jehovah, they did not believe that this was God's hand. But he says further, that the poor of the flock perceived this: and thus he shows, that while the body of the people followed the way to ruin, a few derived benefit from God's
294"All the nations" are considered to be the heathen nations by Michaelis, Newcome, and Henderson; but the meaning in this case is very obscure. Though the word here used, "peoples," or nations, commonly designates the Gentile world, yet there are instances in which it is applied to the tribes of Israel. See 1 Kings 22:28; Joel 2:6 Blayney proposes to connect "all nations" with "cut asunder," and renders [{,[{`` אםbefore,'' ``and cut it asunder, to break the covenant which I had made, before all the nations:'' but interviewing clauses of this kind are quite foreign to the character of the Hebrew language. --- Ed.