saith the LORD of hosts = (is] the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. See note on Zechariah 1:3 cut off the names . Reference to Pentateuch (Exodus 26:13 ). App-92 . spirit . Heh. ruach . App-9 . read more
"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land."In the days of Christianity, idol worship shall be destroyed, and the system of false prophets associated, of old, with idol temples will disappear. The exact and universal fulfillment of this occurred much earlier, but it was confirmed and formalized in... read more
Zechariah 13:2. Idols— It has been urged, in proof that this prophesy was uttered before the Babylonish captivity, that idolatry and groundless pretensions to prophesy were common among the Jews at that time; which has not been the case since. But this argument proves nothing; for, supposing the Jews themselves to remain untainted with those corruptions, it surely will not be denied, that they do and may still prevail among other nations, who may be included in the term הארצ haarets, taken in... read more
2. Consequences of pardon; not indolence, but the extirpation of sin. names of . . . idols—Their very names were not to be mentioned; thus the Jews, instead of Mephibaal, said Mephibosheth (Bosheth meaning a contemptible thing) (Exodus 23:13; Deuteronomy 12:3; Psalms 16:4). out of the land—Judea's two great sins, idolatry and false prophecy, have long since ceased. But these are types of all sin (for example, covetousness, Psalms 16:4- :, a besetting sin of the Jews now). Idolatry, combined... read more
Israel’s cleansing 13:1-6 read more
At that time the Lord also promised to remove idolatry, false prophets, and unclean spirits from the land. There would be external cleansing as well as internal. The Jews would "no longer ascribe supernatural powers to mere things, nor worship them as divine" (cf. Zechariah 10:2-3; Jeremiah 23:30-32; Jeremiah 27:9-10; Ezekiel 13:1 to Ezekiel 14:11). [Note: Baldwin, pp. 195-96.] False prophets, as is clear from the context, would not mislead the people (cf. Matthew 24:4-5; Matthew 24:11; Matthew... read more
Purification of JerusalemImportant results follow this great act of national sorrow. 1. The land is purged of sin; 2a, of idols; 2b-6, of prophets, who as a class have fallen into disrepute, and who henceforth will be ashamed of their office.1. The idea of water as a symbol of spiritual cleansing was familiar in Jewish thought: cp. Ezekiel 36:25; Ezekiel 47:1. The Messianic reference is obvious. 2. Idols] Idolatry was never rampant in Israel after the exile. Those who maintain a post-exilic... read more
XIII.(1-3) Some critics consider that Zechariah 12:0, Zechariah 13:1-6, and Zechariah 14:0 were composed in the time of Jehoiakim (cir. 600), or that Zechariah 14:0 was written a little later, when the confidence of victory expressed in the earlier chapters was considerably lessened on account of the more threatening position of political affairs. To this we can only reply that, if so, the prophet was a false prophet, and proclaimed “Peace, peace, when there was no peace;” and we, at least, are... read more
(2) Unclean spirit.—This is the only passage in the Old Testament in which we find the expression “unclean spirit,” which is of such frequent occurrence in the New. (See on Zechariah 10:2.) read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Zechariah 13:2-9
False prophets and true shepherd (13:2-9)Having introduced the subject of forgiveness and cleansing, Zechariah goes on to deal with those evils that had to be removed from the land. One of Israel’s chief sins was idolatry, and this had been encouraged by the false prophets. Therefore, all false prophets must be killed (2-3).If a false prophet escapes, he might try to preserve his life by throwing away his prophet’s cloak and disguising himself as a farmer. But he will not be able to remove the... read more