Zechariah 14:17 NIV

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zechariah 14:17-18

Zechariah 14:17-18. Whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth If there be any remiss herein, and neglect to worship the Lord; even upon them shall be no rain They shall be punished with want of rain, and of the blessings which plentiful and seasonable rains produce; their land shall be barren, and they shall suffer a famine. “There is a restriction, Zechariah 14:16,” says Newcome, “to such nations as warred against Jerusalem.” “But if, according to the opinion of many... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Zechariah 14:1-21

The Messiah’s kingdom (14:1-21)In the final section of his book, Zechariah outlines briefly the worldwide triumph of the Messiah. Since those for whom he writes are familiar only with the region around Palestine, he limits the geographical details to that area. Other pictures are likewise taken from the way of life familiar to the Jews.The scene opens with the enemies of God mistakenly thinking that at last they have conquered his people (Jerusalem). Confident that they have achieved victory,... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Zechariah 14:17

rain = the [periodic] rain. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Zechariah 14:17

"And it shall be, that whoso of all the families of the earth goeth not up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah of hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, neither shall it be upon them; there will be the plague wherewith Jehovah will smite the nations that go not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.""There shall be no rain ..." Literal rain cannot be the subject here; the word is used metaphorically. Christ himself took special... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Zechariah 14:17

Zechariah 14:17. Of all the families of the earth— If, according to the opinion of many learned commentators, by going up to Jerusalem to worship, and to keep the feast of tabernacles, be only meant a conformity to the worship of the one true God, or, which is the same thing, to the Christian religion, there can be no objection to understanding a strict universality of the nations: for it is repeatedly foretold, that a time will come, when "all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 14:17

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

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Zechariah 14:16-21

The worship of the sovereign King 14:16-21 read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Zechariah 14:17-19

As punishment for not making the pilgrimage to attend this feast, the Lord would withhold (cf. Psalms 2:8-12; Revelation 2:27; Revelation 12:5; Revelation 19:15). This was also a curse for covenant disobedience under the Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 28:22-24). For example, if people from Egypt did not go up to Jerusalem, the Lord would withhold rain from Egypt. This would be His punishment on any nation that did not participate (cf. Zechariah 9:11 to Zechariah 10:1). Rain is a figure for spiritual... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 14:1-21

The Judgment of the Heathen. Exaltation of JerusalemThis chapter has the appearance of a late work. It has all the general characteristics of the style of literature known to students in the book of Enoch, and popular in the Jewish church about the beginning of the Christian era. The terrible punishment of the heathen (Zechariah 14:12), and the ceremonial purity of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:20-21), are typical of the narrower phases of late Judaism.1, 2. Jerusalem again assaulted and taken.3-7.... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Zechariah 14:17

(17) No rain.—Though the worship of the Lord is to become universal, apostacy is not regarded as impossible. The punishment for such deflexion is spoken of in such figurative language as suits the symbolic description of the nations’ conversion. read more