Commentary on Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah and Malachi John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
of chiefs; it ought then to have been {,}לנוlanu, to us. But he now introduces each of them as speaking, as though he had said, ``No one of the chiefs shall look to his own land, but, on the contrary, direct his eyes to the holy city, and be content with the defense of a few men.'' Hence he says, In Jehovah of hosts, their God; for he means that God would be then the protector of that people whom he had for a time forsaken. And he calls him again the Jehovah of hosts, in order to set forth his invincible power, lest the minds of the godly should fail through fear, on seeing themselves far unequal to their enemies. 309 It follows ---
Zechariah 12:6
6. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
6. In die illa ponam duces Iehudah quasi fornacem (vel, catinum fusorium) ignis inter ligna, et quasi facem (vel, lampadem) ignis in manipulo (hoc est, inter manipulos;) et comedent ad dextram et ad sinistram cunctos populos in circuitu; et habitabitur (vel, manebit) Ierusalem adhuc sub se (hoc est, in loco suo) in Ierusalem.
He adds another metaphor for the sake of a further confirmation; for he says, that the chiefs of Judah would be like a melting pot: some render it a hearth, but improperly and without meaning. He afterwards compares them to a flaming torch, and heathen nations to wood and stubble or chaff. The Spirit speaks thus also in other places; and the reason is to be noticed; for when the ungodly assail the Church of God, all things seem to threaten its ruin; but God declares that they shall be like chaff or wood. ``The house of Israel,'' says Isaiah, ``shall be a flaming fire, and shall consume all the wood of the forest:'' so also in this place, ``There shall be indeed a great host of enemies, assembled against Israel; but the Lord will consume them, for he will be like fire in the midst of his people, and his people also shall be through the secret power of the Spirit like a burning pot or a torch, which shall consume the chaff, in which there is nothing substantial.''
But the Prophet shows again that the deliverance of the Church is ever wonderful: and hence foolishly do they act who rely on human and earthly instrumentality, and wilfully bind God to their own ways; for whenever God promises to be their deliverer, their inquiry is, ``But how can this be? whence will come this aid to us? how will the hand of the Lord be stretched forth to us? whence will he gather his army?''
Inasmuch then as we are wont thus anxiously to inquire, and thus drive away from us the aid of God, let this truth, taught by the Prophet, be borne in mind, --- that though enemies in great numbers may come upon us, they shall yet be like a heap of wood, and we like fire; for though we have no strength, yet the Lord by his hidden favor will cause that our enemies shall even, by coming nigh us, be consumed.
309There is something unsatisfactory in the usual rendering of this verse. The words "shall say in their heart," seem rather singular in this connection. There is one MS. which connects the preposition [{[{לwith ``the inhabitants,'' and this reading is countenanced by the Targum. Then the version would be, --- And say will the chiefs of Judah in their heart, --- ``Strength be to the inhabitants of Jerusalem Through Jehovah of hosts, their God.'' To stay in the heart is to pray, to utter a secret prayer; and the prayer is stated in the following lines. This was to show that there would be discord or emulation between Judah, the people of the country, and the city Jerusalem. And in the following verses we find both mentioned, as liable to envy, especially in verse 7. --- Ed.