it shall come to pass . In that yet future day. the LORD . H eb. Jehovah . App-4 . shall thrust him through. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 13:6-11 ; Deuteronomy 18:20 ). App-92 . read more
"And it shall come to pass that, when they shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of Jehovah; and his father and mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.""They shall yet prophesy ..." No stretch of imagination can apply this to God's true prophets; for it is categorically stated here the prophets under consideration were those who spoke "lies."The utmost detestation... read more
Zechariah 13:3. Thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord— We may collect from these words, that those prophets only were to be exterminated who would be esteemed prophets of the true religion, as the most dangerous and abominable of any when they prophesied lies in the name of Jehovah, and under the pretext of being the servants of the true God. Zechariah here continues manifestly to refer to the times of the future restoration of the Jews. read more
3. The form of phraseology here is drawn from Deuteronomy 13:6-10; Deuteronomy 18:20. The substantial truth expressed is that false prophecy shall be utterly abolished. If it were possible for it again to start up, the very parents of the false prophet would not let parental affection interfere, but would be the first to thrust him through. Love to Christ must be paramount to the tenderest of natural ties (Deuteronomy 18:20- :). Much as the godly love their children, they love God and His honor... read more
Israel’s cleansing 13:1-6 read more
If anyone would try to play the part of a false prophet, his own parents, those closest to him, would put him to death. This was what God had commanded the Israelites to do to false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:6-9). They would pierce the false prophets fatally as they had formerly pierced the Messiah fatally (Zechariah 12:10). 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
(3) The reaction from superstition would be scepticism. The people would no longer believe in prophecy at all, and the very parents of a prophet would slay him as an impostor, even though not legally convicted of falsehood (Deuteronomy 18:19-22).But God would have pity of their “zeal not according to knowledge,” and “pour out . . . the Spirit . . . so that they should look on Him whom they pierced,” &c. The word “pierced” is the same as is better rendered in Zechariah 13:3 by “thrust... 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