Zechariah 8:10-15

10. Another ground for being of good courage may be found in the improvement in conditions which has taken place since the people began in earnest the rebuilding of the temple. How different is the present from the past.

Before these days Better, R.V., “those.” Before the resumption of building operations.

No hire for man,… for beast No returns were had from labors expended in the cultivation of the soil; there was not enough grown for fodder.

To him that went out or came in In following his daily occupation (Deuteronomy 28:6; Psalms 121:8).

Neither… any peace From within or without. The last clause indicates that the prophet is thinking of troubles and dissensions within the community as well as of attacks from without (compare Ezra 4:4; Nehemiah 6:1 ff.).

Affliction R.V., “adversary.” A.V. is to be preferred. The affliction is the calamity described in Haggai 1:6; Haggai 1:9-11; Haggai 2:16-17, and the troubles and dissensions mentioned in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

11ff. A marvelous transformation is at hand, for Jehovah is about to change his attitude into one of mercy and loving-kindness (compare Zechariah 8:2-3).

The residue of this people R.V., “the remnant.” As in Zechariah 8:6; or perhaps equivalent to this remnant of the people, that is, those who have escaped from exile.

The former days Not the days before the exile, but the days before the resumption of the building enterprise (compare Zechariah 8:10). 12.

The seed shall be prosperous An impossible rendering of the Hebrew. R.V., “there shall be the seed of peace.” Since peace implies prosperity, and since seed is sometimes equivalent to seedtime or sowing (Genesis 8:22) or even to produce or harvest (Job 39:12), Perowne suggests as a free rendering, “the processes of agriculture shall prosper.” That this is the thought the prophet desired to express is not improbable; it seems doubtful, however, that he would express it in this ambiguous and obscure manner. This difficulty has been felt by many, and it has been proposed to take the words in apposition to “the vine,” which immediately follows “the seed of peace, the vine, shall give its fruit,” equivalent to “the vine, which is the seed or plant of peace, shall give its fruit” (Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 17:5-6). The vine is thought to be called the seed of peace because it can “flourish only in peaceful times and not when the land is laid waste by enemies” (1 Kings 4:25; Micah 4:4). This translation also is not without its difficulties; it would certainly be unusual to have the appositional clause precede its noun; hence many commentators question the accuracy of the text. Klostermann emends it by transposing one letter from the beginning of the second word to the close of the first, by which he secures the following reading: “her seed shall be prosperous,” that is, the seed planted by the remnant (in Hebrew a feminine noun). The promise, then, means that the seed will no longer dry up in the ground, but will spring up and bear abundant fruit. Others, following LXX., read, “I will sow prosperity,” and they understand the rest of the verse as explaining how the prosperity is to be brought about. Whatever the exact meaning of the first clause, Zechariah 8:12 contains a promise of the restoration of the divine blessing. For the rest of the verse see on Hosea 2:21-22 (compare Haggai 1:10; Haggai 2:19). Future abundance will compensate for the scarcity of the past, and all will be for the remnant of this people.

Dew See on Haggai 1:10.

13. As ye were a curse On account of their afflictions they were regarded as cursed of God, and so they became objects of reproach and curses among the nations (compare Joel 2:17; Jeremiah 24:9; Jeremiah 25:9).

So will I save you From the calamity and distress which made them a byword among the nations.

Ye shall be a blessing The restoration of the prosperity will be an evidence of the divine favor, hence the people who in the hour of calamity cursed them will call them blessed. In both cases the noun is used in the place of the adjective for the sake of emphasis (G.-K., 141c). A somewhat different interpretation of the promise is suggested by Jeremiah 29:22; Genesis 48:20, namely, that while at one time their name served as a formula of cursing, in the future it will be used as a formula of benediction.

Judah… Israel The future prosperity is not to be confined to the southern kingdom; all the tribes are to share it. Convinced that these glorious prospects will soon be realized, the prophet repeats his exhortation to be of good courage (Zechariah 8:9).

Zechariah 8:14-15 emphasize once more the change in the divine purpose, Zechariah 8:16-17 call attention to the conditions which must be met, in order to realize the blessings which are the result of this change of attitude on the part of Jehovah.

Punish R.V., “do evil.” Not moral evil, but calamity (see on Amos 3:6). Jehovah determined to send calamities as punishment for their sins (Jeremiah 31:28).

You The houses of Israel and Judah (Zechariah 8:13). Primarily the reference cannot be to the contemporaries of the prophet, since the judgment is said to have been called forth by their fathers’ sins. The prophet has in mind the calamity of the exile, from which his contemporaries had not yet fully recovered.

I repented not I allowed the judgment to take its course (see on Joel 2:13; compare Jeremiah 4:28). As Jehovah purposed to execute judgment and firmly adhered to his purpose, so he purposes now to restore his favor, and he will just as firmly adhere to the new purpose.

Do well The very opposite of do evil (Zechariah 8:14); he will restore blessing and prosperity.

Jerusalem… Judah Though the blessings will reach all (Zechariah 8:13), the prophets always represent Jehovah as sustaining a peculiarly close relation to Jerusalem and Judah (compare Zechariah 1:17; Zechariah 2:12).

Fear ye not With the divine good will assured, no one can harm them.