Zechariah 10:1-11:17 NIV

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 10:1

Ask ye of the Lord rain - “Ask and ye shall receive” our Lord says. Zechariah had promised in God’s name blessings temporal and spiritual: all was ready on God’s part; only, he adds, ask them of the Lord, the Unchangeable, the Self-same not of Teraphim or of diviner, as Israel had done aforetime Isaiah 2:5-22; Jeremiah 44:15-28. He had promised, “If ye shall hearken diligently unto My coramandments, to love the Lord your God, I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Zechariah 10:1

Zechariah 10:1. Ask ye of the Lord rain, &c. Make supplication to Jehovah, and not to idols. The promise of future plenty made in the preceding verse, with which this appears to be closely connected, suggested the mentioning the means by which it might be procured. As if he had said, The fulfilling of the promise of fruitful seasons depends on the people’s asking them of God, who will hear their petitions if offered to him with sincerity and fervour, and will give them both the former... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Zechariah 10:1-12

Problems of leadership (10:1-11:3)At the time this prophecy was given, the temple had long been finished and life in Jerusalem was not as it had been previously. Zerubbabel and Joshua had apparently died, and without strong leadership the Jews drifted into the ungodly ways of neighbouring nations. Some were using idolatrous objects as magic charms, in the belief that these would bring good rains and good crops. Zechariah tells them to stop such practices and trust in God alone (10:1-2).God is... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Zechariah 10:1

the Lord. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 . rain, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 11:14 ) = rain of rain = copious rains. App-92 . so, &c. Render: "of Jehovah Who maketh. and giveth". shall make = Who maketh. and give = and giveth. them. Some codices, with Syriac, read "you". read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Zechariah 10:1

Keil gave this chapter the title of, "Complete Redemption of the People of God;"[1] and Gill entitled it, "Zion Triumphant through the Messiah."[2] The principal focus of this chapter is not the inter-testamental period at all, but the establishment of the kingdom, or church, of Jesus Christ our Lord. Assyria, Egypt, Judah, Ephraim, etc. are mentioned, but they are symbols of qualities reaching beyond the original meaning of those terms. At the time of Zechariah's prophecy, an entirely new set... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Zechariah 10:1

Zechariah 10:1. Ask ye of the Lord, &c.— They asked of the Lord, &c. so the Lord gave them thunders and large showers, and every one had a green and flourishing field. This verse certainly ought not to have been separated from the foregoing, as it accounts for the joyous and plentiful harvests there spoken of, by attributing them to the seasonable showers vouchsafed by God in regard of the people having addressed their supplications to him; as, on the contrary, in the two next verses,... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Zechariah 10:1

1. Ask . . . rain—on which the abundance of "corn" promised by the Lord ( :-) depends. Jehovah alone can give it, and will give it on being asked (Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 14:22). rain in . . . time of . . . latter rain—that is, the latter rain in its due time, namely, in spring, about February or March (Job 29:23; Joel 2:23). The latter rain ripened the grain, as the former rain in October tended to fructify the seed. Including all temporal blessings; these again being types of spiritual ones.... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Zechariah 10:1

The Lord urged His people, in the day of blessing just described, to ask Him to send rain when they needed it in the spring, when they sowed their seed. He promised to send it, and it would cause their crops and other vegetation to grow (cf. Zechariah 9:11; Deuteronomy 11:13-14). Asking Him is only reasonable since He is the One who creates storm clouds. The Canaanites gave credit to Baal for sending rain and producing fertility, but Yahweh was the true rainmaker (cf. Jeremiah 14:22; Amos 5:8).... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 10:1-12

Restoration of God’s People1, 2. A warning to trust in God and not in sorcerers. 3-7. The Lord will cast out the evil guides of the people, and under new leaders Ephraim and Judah will be victorious. 8-12. Ephraim will be gathered, but Egypt and Assyria will be humbled.1. The connexion with Zechariah 9:17 is very slight, fertility demanding the necessary rain. Some believe that the passage is entirely independent. The time of the latter rain] The early rain was in October, when the ground would... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Zechariah 10:1

(1) Bright clouds.—Better, lightnings, which precede the longed-for rain. (Comp. Jeremiah 10:13; Psalms 135:7.)Grass. . . .—Comp. Deuteronomy 11:15. read more