Zechariah 7:5-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Zechariah 7:1-7

This occasional sermon, which the prophet preached, and which is recorded in this and the next chapter, was above two years after the former, in which he gave them an account of his visions, as appears by comparing the date of this (Zech. 7:1), in the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius, with the date of that (Zech. 1:1), in the eighth month of the second year of Darius; not that Zechariah was idle all that while (it is expressly said that he and Haggai continued prophesying till the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 7:5

Speak unto all the people of the land ,.... Of Judea, who had sent these men on this errand, and whom they represented, and in whose name they spake: and to the priests ; who were consulted on this occasion: saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth ; on the seventh or tenth day of the fifth month Ab, on account of the temple being burnt by Nebuchadnezzar: and seventh month ; the month Tisri, which answers to September; on the third day of this month a fast was kept on... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Zechariah 7:6

And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink ,.... Either at common meals, or at their festivals: did not ye eat for yourselves , and drink for yourselves ? merely and only for their own refreshment and pleasure, and not for the glory of God; though that ought to be the principal end in eating and drinking, 1 Corinthians 10:31 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 7:5

When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth - month - This they did in the remembrance of the burning of the temple, on the tenth day of that month; and on the seventh month, on the third of which month they observed a fast for the murder of Gedaliah, and the dispersion of the remnant of the people which were with him. See Jeremiah 41:1 , and 2 Kings 25:25 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 7:6

And when ye did eat - They had not observed those fasts as they should have done. They deplored the loss of their temple, and its riches, etc., but they did not humble themselves because of those iniquities which had brought the displeasure of God upon them, their temple, and their city. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 7:5

Verse 5 He therefore brings this charge against them, Have ye fasted to me? have ye eaten to me? as though he had said, “God regards not fastings, except they proceed from a sincere feeling and tend to a right and lawful end.” It was then the object of the Prophet to awaken the Jews, that they might not imagine that God was pacified by fasting or by any other frigid ceremonies, but that they might know that something more was required. And we see how prone mankind are to rely on external rites,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Zechariah 7:6

Verse 6 By saying, that to themselves they did eat and drink, he intimates that to eat and to drink, or to abstain from eating and drinking, are things wholly unconnected with the worship of God. Another sense may indeed be elicited, — that the Jews did eat as heathens did: and there will be in this case an indirect reproof, — that they sought to pacify God only twice in the year, and that during the rest of the time they were heedless and indulged themselves in excesses. We ought indeed to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 7:1-7

Hypocrisy unmasked. "And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah," etc. In the latter half of the last chapter we were told of an embassy to Jerusalem, which met with acceptance and honour. In the present passage we read of another, which meets with just the opposite treatment. The question asked by these messengers is not answered at all in this chapter. Not only so, those who ask it are indirectly rebuked for so doing. Why this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 7:1-7

Religious beliefs that are right; religious services that are wrong. "And it came to pass in the fourth year," etc. The preceding visions and symbolic actions recorded in this book occurred, we are informed, in the eighth month of the second year of King Darius. What is here recorded appears to have taken place in the ninth month of the fourth year of that king's reign—about two years later. The ninth month is here called Chisleu, and corresponds with the latter part of November and the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Zechariah 7:1-14

God and men. I. THE UNITY OF GOD 'S PURPOSE . God's thoughts do not vary, though he varies his methods. His end for nations and individuals is always the same—advancement, not merely in knowledge and culture, but in moral goodness. II. THE MERCIFULNESS OF GOD 'S WARNINGS . At no time hath God left himself without wirelesses. By word and providence and in countless ways his warnings come. We see this in the past. ( Zechariah 7:7 , "former prophets.") So in the... read more

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