11 But they refused H3985 to hearken, H7181 and pulled away H5414 H5637 the shoulder, H3802 and stopped H3513 their ears, H241 that they should not hear. H8085
To hearken H8085 to the words H1697 of my servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 whom I sent H7971 unto you, both rising up early, H7925 and sending H7971 them, but ye have not hearkened; H8085 Then will I make H5414 this house H1004 like Shiloh, H7887 and will make H5414 this city H5892 a curse H7045 to all the nations H1471 of the earth. H776
Now G1161 the just G1342 shall live G2198 by G1537 faith: G4102 but G2532 if G1437 any man draw back, G5288 my G3450 soul G5590 shall have G2106 no G3756 pleasure G2106 in G1722 him. G846 But G1161 we G2249 are G2070 not G3756 of them who draw back G5289 unto G1519 perdition; G684 but G235 of them that believe G4102 to G1519 the saving G4047 of the soul. G5590
Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 Stand H5975 ye in the ways, H1870 and see, H7200 and ask H7592 for the old H5769 paths, H5410 where is the good H2896 way, H1870 and walk H3212 therein, and ye shall find H4672 rest H4771 for your souls. H5315 But they said, H559 We will not walk H3212 therein. Also I set H6965 watchmen H6822 over you, saying, Hearken H7181 to the sound H6963 of the trumpet. H7782 But they said, H559 We will not hearken. H7181
If ye be willing H14 and obedient, H8085 ye shall eat H398 the good H2898 of the land: H776 But if ye refuse H3985 and rebel, H4784 ye shall be devoured H398 with the sword: H2719 for the mouth H6310 of the LORD H3068 hath spoken H1696 it.
Because I have called, H7121 and ye refused; H3985 I have stretched out H5186 my hand, H3027 and no man regarded; H7181 But ye have set at nought H6544 all my counsel, H6098 and would H14 none of my reproof: H8433 I also will laugh H7832 at your calamity; H343 I will mock H3932 when your fear H6343 cometh; H935 When your fear H6343 cometh H935 as desolation, H7722 H7584 and your destruction H343 cometh H857 as a whirlwind; H5492 when distress H6869 and anguish H6695 cometh H935 upon you. Then shall they call H7121 upon me, but I will not answer; H6030 they shall seek me early, H7836 but they shall not find H4672 me: For that they hated H8130 knowledge, H1847 and did not choose H977 the fear H3374 of the LORD: H3068 They would H14 none of my counsel: H6098 they despised H5006 all my reproof. H8433 Therefore shall they eat H398 of the fruit H6529 of their own way, H1870 and be filled H7646 with their own devices. H4156 For the turning away H4878 of the simple H6612 shall slay H2026 them, and the prosperity H7962 of fools H3684 shall destroy H6 them.
Yet the LORD H3068 testified H5749 against Israel, H3478 and against Judah, H3063 by H3027 all the prophets, H5030 and by all the seers, H2374 saying, H559 Turn H7725 ye from your evil H7451 ways, H1870 and keep H8104 my commandments H4687 and my statutes, H2708 according to all the law H8451 which I commanded H6680 your fathers, H1 and which I sent H7971 to you by H3027 my servants H5650 the prophets. H5030 Notwithstanding they would not hear, H8085 but hardened H7185 their necks, H6203 like to the neck H6203 of their fathers, H1 that did not believe H539 in the LORD H3068 their God. H430 And they rejected H3988 his statutes, H2706 and his covenant H1285 that he made H3772 with their fathers, H1 and his testimonies H5715 which he testified H5749 against them; and they followed H3212 H310 vanity, H1892 and became vain, H1891 and went after H310 the heathen H1471 that were round about H5439 them, concerning whom the LORD H3068 had charged H6680 them, that they should not do H6213 like them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Zechariah 7
Commentary on Zechariah 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Zec 7:1-14. II. Didactic Part, Seventh and Eighth chapters. Obedience, Rather than Fasting, Enjoined: Its Reward.
1. fourth year of … Darius—two years after the previous prophecies (Zec 1:1, &c.).
Chisleu—meaning "torpidity," the state in which nature is in November, answering to this month.
2. they … sent unto … house of God—The Jews of the country sent to the house of God or congregation at Jerusalem. The altar was long since reared (Ezr 3:3), though the temple was not completed till two years afterwards (Ezr 6:15). The priests' duty was to give decision on points of the law (De 17:9; Mt 2:4). Beth-el is here used instead of Beth-Jehovah, because the religious authorities, rather than the house itself (designated "Beth-Jehovah" in Zec 7:3), are intended. The old Beth-el had long ceased to be the seat of idol-worship, so that the name had lost its opprobrious meaning. "The house of the Lord" is used for the congregation of worshippers headed by their priests (Zec 3:7; Ho 8:1). Maurer makes the "house of God" nominative to "sent." Henderson makes "Beth-el" so.
Sherezer—an Assyrian name meaning, "Prefect of the treasury."
Regemmelech—meaning, "The king's official." These names perhaps intimate the semi-heathen character of the inquirers, which may also be implied in the name "Beth-el" (Hebrew for "house of God"), so notorious once for its calf-worship. They sent to Jehovah's house as their forefathers sent to old Beth-el, not in the spirit of true obedience.
pray before the Lord—literally, "to entreat the face of," that is, to offer sacrifices, the accompaniment of prayers, to conciliate His favor (1Sa 13:12).
3. Should I weep in the fifth month—"I" represents here the people of God (compare Zec 8:21). This rather favors Maurer's view, taking "the house of God," the congregation, as nominative to "sent." Their hypocrisy appeared because they showed more concern about a ceremony of human institution (not improper in itself) than about moral obedience. If, too, they had trusted God's promise as to the restoration of Church and State, the fast would have now given place to joy, for which there was more cause than for grief [Pembellus].
to the prophets—Haggai and Zechariah especially. The tenth day of the fifth month was kept a fast, being the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem (Jer 52:12-14). They ask, Should the fast be continued, now that the temple and city are being restored?
separating myself—sanctifying myself by separation, not only from food, but from all defilements (compare Joe 2:16) as was usual in a solemn fast.
5. Speak unto all—The question had been asked in the name of the people in general by Sherezer and Regemmelech. The self-imposed fast they were tired of, not having observed it in the spirit of true religion.
seventh month—This fast was in memory of the murder of Gedaliah and those with him at Mizpah, issuing in the dispersion of the Jews (2Ki 25:25, 26; Jer 41:1-3).
did ye … fast unto me?—No; it was to gratify yourselves in hypocritical will-worship. If it had been "unto Me," ye would have "separated yourselves" not only from food, but from your sins (Isa 58:3-7). They falsely made the fast an end intrinsically meritorious in itself, not a means towards God's glory in their sanctification. The true principle of piety, reference to God, was wanting: hence the emphatic repetition of "unto Me." Before settling questions as to the outward forms of piety (however proper, as in this case), the great question was as to piety itself; that being once settled, all their outward observances become sanctified, being "unto the Lord" (Ro 14:6).
6. did not ye eat for yourselves?—literally, "Is it not ye who eat?" that is, it is not unto Me and My glory. It tends no more to My glory, your feasting than your fasting.
7. Should ye not hear the words—rather, "Should ye not do the words," as their question naturally was as to what they should do (Zec 7:3); "hearing" is not mentioned till Zec 7:12. The sense is, It is not fasts that Jehovah requires of you, but that ye should keep His precepts given to you at the time when Jerusalem was in its integrity. Had ye done so then, ye would have had no occasion to institute fasts to commemorate its destruction, for it would never have been destroyed (Zec 7:9-14) [Maurer]. Or, as the Margin, "Are not these the words" of the older prophets (Isa 58:3; Jer 14:12) which threatened a curse for disobedience, which the event has so awfully confirmed. If ye follow them in sin, ye must follow them in suffering. English Version is good sense: Ye inquire anxiously about the fasts, whereas ye ought to be anxious about hearing the lesson taught by the former prophets and verified in the nation's punishment; penitence and obedience are required rather than fasts.
the plain—southwest of Jerusalem. They then inhabited securely the region most unguarded.
9. speaketh—implying that these precepts addressed to their ancestors were the requirements of Jehovah not merely then, but now. We must not only not hurt, but we must help our fellow men. God is pleased with such loving obedience, rather than with empty ceremonies.
10. imagine evil—that is, devise evil. The Septuagint takes it, Harbor not the desire of revenge (Le 19:18). "Devise evil against one another" is simpler (Ps 36:4; Mic 2:1).
11. pulled away the shoulder—literally, "presented a refractory shoulder"; an image from beasts refusing to bear the yoke (Ne 9:29, Margin).
stopped … ears—(Isa 6:10; Jer 7:26; Ac 7:57).
12. hearts … adamant—(Eze 3:9; 11:19).
Lord … sent in Spirit by … prophets—that is, sent by the former prophets inspired with His Spirit.
therefore … great wrath—(2Ch 36:16). As they pushed from them the yoke of obedience, God laid on them the yoke of oppression. As they made their heart hard as adamant, God brake their hard hearts with judgments. Hard hearts must expect hard treatment. The harder the stone, the harder the blow of the hammer to break it.
13. he cried—by His prophets.
they cried—in their calamities.
I … not hear—retribution in kind (Pr 1:24-26; Isa 1:15; Mic 3:4).
14. whirlwind—of wrath (Na 1:3).
nations whom they knew not—foreign and barbarous.
desolate after them—after their expulsion and exile. It was ordered remarkably by God's providence, that no occupants took possession of it, but that during the Jews' absence it was reserved for them against their return after seventy years.
they laid … desolate—The Jews did so by their sins. The blame of their destruction lay with themselves, rather than with the Babylonians (2Ch 36:21).
pleasant land—Canaan. Literally, "the land of desire" (Jer 3:19).