C. The command to repent 7:8-14Having referred to the words of the former prophets (Zechariah 7:7), Zechariah now summarized them as an exhortation to his own generation of Israelites. read more
When the former generations of Israelites had heard these commands, they refused to pay attention to the Lord. They turned away from Him stubbornly like a rebellious ox, and they put their fingers in their ears so they would not hear Him. They hardened their hearts (minds and wills) like flint (Heb. shamir, diamond) so they could not hear the Law or the Holy Spirit’s messages through the former prophets whom God had sent to them."This remarkable doctrine of the Holy Spirit as mediator of God’s... read more
Since the forefathers refused to listen to the Lord’s Spirit when He called to them (cf. Nehemiah 9:20; Nehemiah 9:30; 2 Peter 1:21), the Lord refused to listen to them when they called to Him in prayer (cf. Jeremiah 11:11-14). Instead He scattered them among many nations, as though a windstorm had blown them off the Promised Land (cf. Deuteronomy 28:36-37; Deuteronomy 28:64-68; Hosea 13:3). As a result, the land had become desolate with none of the Israelites returning to it during the... read more
Warnings From the PastChs.7 and 8 go together, and were spoken on a date (fourth day of the ninth month in the fourth year of Darius) two years later than the series of visions described above, viz. in 518 b.c. (On contemporary events see on Zechariah 6:8.) They are Zechariah’s answer to a question put to him by certain visitors to Jerusalem, who asked whether the fast observed by the Jews in the fifth month, in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, should still be kept.... read more
(8-14) The prophet implies that true fasting is to loose the bands of wickedness and leave off oppression. But Israel had adopted quite the opposite course, and therefore God, in accordance with Deuteronomy 4:27, had scattered them among the nations. read more
(11) Pulled away the shoulder.—Better, offered a stubborn shoulder (Nehemiah 9:29), as an ox that refuses to receive the yoke. read more
(12) Adamant stone means a very hard stone; “diamond” is the modern form of the word. “Adamant,” adhámas, meaning in Greek unconquerable, was originally applied to “steel” (Hesiod). LXX. explain the metaphor, “made the heart disobedient.” read more
(13) Therefore it is come to pass.—LXX., wrongly, καὶ ἔσται, the consequence of which mistake is that the following verbs are also put incorrectly in the future. (For the phraseology comp. Micah 3:4; Jeremiah 11:11; Jeremiah 14:12.) read more
Zechariah 7:9 ; Micah 6:8 Besides various maxims of renunciation and wisdom written from top to bottom of the stele, Confucius has left to this sanctuary certain thoughts on literature which have been engraved in letters of gold in such a way as to form pictures hung on the walls. Here is one which I transcribe for young western scholars who are preoccupied with classification and inquiry. They will find in it a reply twice two thousand years old to one of their favourite questions: The... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 7:13
13. he cried—by His prophets. they cried—in their calamities. I . . . not hear—retribution in kind (Proverbs 1:24-26; Isaiah 1:15; Micah 3:4). read more