And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying. The word of prophecy, as the Targum paraphrases it: here begins a new prophecy, respecting the abrogation of Jewish fasts, and the calling of the Gentiles. read more
Thus saith the Lord of hosts ,.... What follows is a full answer to the question in Zechariah 7:3 , The fast of the fourth month ; the month Tammuz, which answers to June: this fast was kept on the ninth day of the month, on account of the city of Jerusalem being broken up on that day F15 T. Bab. Roshhashanah, fol. 18. 2. , as it is said, 2 Kings 25:3 though Kimchi says this was on the seventeenth day of that month, as also says the Misna F16 Taanith, c. 4. sect. 7. ;... read more
By the mouth of the prophets - The day or time of the foundation was about two years before, as this discourse of the prophet was in the fourth year of Darius. After this God raised up prophets among them. read more
For before these days there was no hire for man - Previously to this, ye had no prosperity; ye had nothing but civil divisions and domestic broils. I abandoned you to your own spirits, and to your own ways. read more
For the seed shall be prosperous - Ye shall be a holy and peaceable people; and God will pour down his blessing on yourselves, your fields, and your vineyards. read more
As ye were a curse - Instead of being execrated among the people, ye shall be blessed; instead of being reproached, ye shall be commended. Ye shall be a blessing to all the nations round about. All these promises we may expect to be completely fulfilled when the Jews acknowledge their Messiah. O house of Judah, and house of Israel - The restoration shall be complete, when both Israel and Judah are brought back. read more
Speak ye every man the truth - See Zechariah 7:9 , Zechariah 7:10 . read more
The fast of the fourth month - To commemorate the taking of Jerusalem; 2 Kings 25:3 ; Jeremiah 39:2 ; Jeremiah 52:6 , Jeremiah 52:7 . The fast of the fifth - In memory of the ruin of the temple, 2 Kings 25:8 ; Jeremiah 52:12 , Jeremiah 52:13 . The fast of the seventh - For the murder of Gedaliah, Jeremiah 41:1-17. The fast of the tenth - In commemoration of the siege of Jerusalem, which began on the tenth day of the tenth month; 2 Kings 25:1 ; Jeremiah 52:4 ; ... read more
Verse 9 The Prophet having taught us that God was reconciled to his people, does now seasonably exhort the Jews to prepare themselves for work and strenuously to exert themselves in erecting the temple, and also in building the city: for as we have stated, many were then become slothful, as they thought that they were soon to be destroyed by their enemies, and that what they built with great labor, toil, and expense, would be presently demolished. Hence it was that sloth had crept in, so that... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 8:17
And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour ,.... See Gill on Zechariah 7:10 hatred without a cause was a governing vice under the second temple, and Jarchi says was the cause of the destruction of it; see John 15:25 , and love no false oath ; whereby the character and property of a fellow creature are hurt; nor any vain one, which the Jews were addicted to, Matthew 5:34 , for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord ; as being contrary to... read more