13. tumult—consternation (Zechariah 12:4; 1 Samuel 14:15; 1 Samuel 14:20). lay hold . . . on . . . hand of . . . neighbour—instinctively grasping it, as if thereby to be safer, but in vain [MENOCHIUS]. Rather, in order to assail "his neighbor" [CALVIN], (Ezekiel 38:21). Sin is the cause of all quarrels on earth. It will cause endless quarrels in hell (James 3:15; James 3:16). read more
14. Judah . . . fight at Jerusalem—namely, against the foe: not against Jerusalem, as MAURER translates in variance with the context. As to the spoil gained from the foe, compare Ezekiel 39:10; Ezekiel 39:17. read more
15. The plague shall affect the very beasts belonging to the foe. A typical foretaste of all this befell Antiochus Epiphanes and his host at Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 13:49; 2 Maccabees 9:5). read more
16. every one . . . left— (Isaiah 66:19; Isaiah 66:23). God will conquer all the foes of the Church. Some He will destroy; others He will bring into willing subjection. from year to year—literally, "from the sufficiency of a year in a year." feast of tabernacles—The other two great yearly feasts, passover and pentecost, are not specified, because, their antitypes having come, the types are done away with. But the feast of tabernacles will be commemorative of the Jews' sojourn, not merely forty... read more
17. no rain—including every calamity which usually follows in the East from want of rain, namely, scarcity of provisions, famine, pestilence, c. Rain is the symbol also of God's favor (Hosea 6:3). That there shall be unconverted men under the millennium appears from the outbreak of Gog and Magog at the end of it (Hosea 6:3- :) but they, like Satan their master, shall be restrained during the thousand years. Note, too, from this verse that the Gentiles shall come up to Jerusalem, rather than the... read more
18. if . . . Egypt go not up—specified as Israel's ancient foe. If Egypt go not up, and so there be no rain on them (a judgment which Egypt would condemn, as depending on the Nile's overflow, not on rain), there shall be the plague . . . . Because the guilty are not affected by one judgment, let them not think to escape, for God has other judgments which shall plague them. MAURER translates, "If Egypt go not up, upon them also there shall be none" (no rain). Psalms 105:32 mentions "rain" in... read more
19. punishment—literally, "sin"; that is, "punishment for sin." read more
20. shall there be upon the bells—namely, this inscription, "Holiness to the Lord," the same as was on the miter of the high priest ( :-). This implies that all things, even the most common, shall be sacred to Jehovah, and not merely the things which under the law had peculiar sanctity attached to them. The "bells" were metal plates hanging from the necks of horses and camels as ornaments, which tinkled (as the Hebrew root means) by striking against each other. Bells attached to horses are... read more
21. every pot—even in private houses, as in the temple, shall be deemed holy, so universal shall be the consecration of all things and persons to Jehovah. take of them—as readily as they would take of the pots of the temple itself, whatever number they wanted for sacrifice. no . . . Canaanite—no unclean or ungodly person (Isaiah 35:8; Isaiah 52:1; Joel 3:17). Compare as to the final state subsequent to the millennium, Revelation 21:27; Revelation 22:15. MAURER not so well translates "merchant"... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 14:12
12. Punishment on the foe, the last Antichristian confederacy (Isaiah 59:18; Isaiah 66:24; Ezekiel 38:1-39; Revelation 19:17-21). A living death: the corruption (Isaiah 66:24- :) of death combined in ghastly union with the conscious sensibility of life. Sin will be felt by the sinner in all its loathsomeness, inseparably clinging to him as a festering, putrid body. read more