Promises of A. M. 3484. CHAPTER II. t fruitful seasons. B. C. 520. consider || month, even from the day that the A. M. 3484. 15 And now, I pray you, from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: 16 Since those days were, when one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the press-fat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. 17 I smote you with blasting, and with mildew, and with hail, in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD. 21 Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I will shake the heavens and the earth; sider that they were inflicted for your sin, in neglecting to rebuild my temple, and restore my worship in it. son doth touch become unclean? Though a touch its violence; but in those hot countries does it much of what is holy will not make holy, yet, will not a oftener. In all the labours of your hands—In all touch of what is polluted defile? and the priests an- that you sowed or planted; yet ye turned not to me swered, It shall be unclean―The law was plain in-Ye did not lay my judgments to heart, nor conthis case see Num. xix. 11. The least defect is sufficient to make a thing evil, whereas, to make it good and perfect, a concurrence of all good qualities is requisite. So is this people before me-In like manner, saith God, your neglect of my temple, and your disregard of my worship, have made you unclean, as if you had contracted legal pollution by touching a dead body; and rendered every thing you undertake, even the sacrifices you offer on my altar, unclean and unacceptable. Verses 15-17. And now, consider from this day, &c.-Reflect on what has happened to you, from the time that a stop was put to the building of the temple, after the first foundation of it was laid, till you began again to rebuild it. And upward-Or, forward. He had bid them look back, chap. i. 5, 7; now he bids them look forward. Since those days -All the time the temple lay neglected. When one came to a heap-Namely, of corn, which seemed likely to produce twenty measures; there were but ten-Only half the quantity expected was found to be produced, through the poverty of the ear. The verse, it must be observed, according to the present rendering, is very elliptical; but if the first clause be explained by the second, which it ought to be, the sense will clearly appear to be this: When one came to a heap for twenty measures; that is, when a person came to a heap of corn on his floor, either of sheaves unthrashed, or of corn unwinnowed, and expected that it would have produced twenty measures after it was thrashed and winnowed, to his great disappointment he had but ten out of it. Such also was the case of those who came to draw out fifty measures of wine from the wine-press. I smote you with blasting-Burning and scorching winds; and with hail-Which even in cold countries many times destroys corn, fruits, and trees, by Verses 18, 19. Consider now, from this day and upward-That is, forward. In the 15th verse the prophet exhorted them to reflect upon the calamities they had suffered, from the time the rebuilding of the temple was intermitted. Now he bids them look forward, from the day the building was recommenced, (see chap. i. 15,) and they would find a visible change in their affairs for the better. Even from the day that the foundation was laid, &c.—The prophet expresses the carrying on of the building as if it were laying the foundation anew, because the work had been so long interrupted; (compare Zech. viii. 9;) but yet there is no doubt to be made that they built upon the same foundation which had been laid some years before, of which we have an account Ezra iii. 8, and did not lay a new foundation. Is the seed yet in the barn-Is the harvest already laid up in the barn? or any fruits of the earth gathered in? No, eertainly for this is but the ninth month, (answering to our November,) when no judgment can be formed what will be the increase of the year following; yet, from this time, I promise you the blessing of a fruitful year, as an encouragement to you to carry on the building. Yea, as yet the vine and the fig-tree hath not brought forth-No sign yet appears what vintage you shall have, what store of wine, oil, figs, and pomegranates; yet by the word of God I tell you, you shall be blessed in them all, and have a large produce. : Verses 20-22. Again the word of the Lord came unto Haggai-Probably on the same day that he uttered what precedes, from verse 10; speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah-The same title which is given to him chap. i. 1 ; in which character he was Predictions of B. C. 520. HAGGAI. a mighty revolutions. B. C. 520. A. M. 3484. kingdoms of the heathen; and I|| 23 In that day, saith the LORD of A. M. 3484. will overthrow the chariots, and those hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, that ride in them; and the horses and their my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, riders shall come down, every one by the sword and will make thee as a signet; for I have of his brother. chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts. a Micah v. 10; Zech. iv. 6; ix. 10. b Cant. viii. 6; Jer. xxii. 24.- Isa. xlii. 1; xliii. 10. the type of the Messiah, to whom the following babel as a signet, signified keeping him safe, or prewords chiefly belong. I will shake the heavens and serving him as a person of great estimation. For I the earth-I will cause great commotions, and bring have chosen thee-To be the ruler of my people. great things to pass. I will overthrow the throne of This whole prophecy, from verse 21, addressed to kingdoms-This is supposed to be spoken of the Zerubbabel, is considered by Bishop Chandler, Mr. overthrow of the Persian empire, in Egypt, which,|| Lowth, and many others, as parallel to that containlying near to the Jewish territories, was regarded ed in verses 6-9; that the same commotions and by them with great awe; and therefore its subver-shaking of nations are intended in both passages; sion was foretold to them, to encourage them to go and therefore that by Zerubbabel here, the Messiah, on in the rebuilding of the temple. I will destroy typified by him, is chiefly intended. That the prethe strength of the kingdoms of the heathen-Or, of || diction could not be properly and fully accomplished the nations. The strength of the Persians, whose in Zerubbabel, personally considered, is evident, as empire consisted of many kingdoms, or nations, was in all likelihood he did not live many years after the broken in a most remarkable manner by the little finishing of the temple, and certainly did not see any country of Greece. Such vast overthrows, both by of those great changes here foretold; and therefore sea and land, as they received from the Greeks, are the Messiah must be here described under the name scarcely to be paralleled. The horses and their || of Zerubbabel, as he elsewhere is under that of Dariders shall come down-Shall fall to the earth; vid. He is, indeed, the signet on God's right hand; every one by the sword of his brother--That is, of for all power is given to him, and derived from him, his fellow-creature. Perhaps the different nations he being constituted Head of the church, and Judge which should be concerned in these commotions, of the world. In him the great charter of the gospel namely, the Persians, Egyptians, and Greeks, are is signed and sanctified, and it is in him that all the here called brothers, because they were all idolaters, promises of God are yea and ameu. And what is or worshippers of fictitious gods. foretold, verse 22, respecting the overthrow of the throne of kingdoms, may probably ultimately refer to his second coming, or to that illustrious dis play of divine power, whereby a period shall be put to all anti-christian empires, and the kingdoms of this world shall be made the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ, Daniel ii. 44; Revelation Verse 23. In that day will I take thee, O Zerub babel, &c.—Amidst the commotions which I will cause in the world, I will so order it, that Judea shall remain safe under thy government, O Zerubbabel, and thy successors, and be molested by none. A signet, or seal, particularly a royal one, is kept with great care; therefore the promise of making Zerub- || xi. 15. 1018 3 THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH. ARGUMENT ZECHARIAH, one of the last of that succession of prophets whom God sent at sundry times to signify his will to the Jewish nation, was the son of Barachiah, and the grandson of Iddo, mentioned Ezra v. 1; vi. 14. He is, indeed, in these passages, called simply the son of Iddo; but that is merely because a person's descendants, though remote, are frequently termed his sons, or daughters, in the Scriptures. The time and place of his birth are not certainly known. Dr. Blayney, however, thinks it unquestionable, that he was of the number of the captives who returned from Babylon to Jerusalem in consequence of the decree of Cyrus; but that he was very young when he came thither, being styled y, a youth, chap. ii. 4, sixteen or seventeen years afterward, even when he had begun to exercise his prophetical function; a title which would scarcely have been given him had he much exceeded the age of twenty. "It was in the eighth month of the second year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, king of Persia, that is, about the year 520 before the Christian era, that he first opened his divine commission with a serious and solemn call to repentance. In the same year he is found, together with the Prophet Haggai, employed in assisting the endeavours of Zerubbabel and Joshua, to excite and animate the people at Jerusalem to a vigorous prosecution of the work of rebuilding their temple. For this purpose he communicated the visions which are contained in the first six chapters, and which he was favoured with on the 24th day of the 11th month, in the year aforesaid; all evidently calculated to inspire the strongest hopes and assurance of future prosperity, through the returning favour of the Almighty. The same design is further carried on in a subsequent revelation, made to him about two years afterward;" as is recorded chap. vii., viii. But though the time and occasion of this former part of his prophecies be thus ascertained, by the dates annexed to them, we have not the same certainty with respect to those that follow. "It is, however, highly probable, from the apparent difference both of style and subject, that they came forth at a different and more advanced period of our prophet's life. This difference, indeed, has been urged as a proof that the last six chapters are not Zechariah's, but by a different hand. But the argument is inconclusive; for it is very possible for the same man to alter his style, and write differently at different periods of time. Nor would it be at all surprising if this writer, as he advanced in years and dignity, should have learned to express himself in a tone of more elevation and energy." At such distant periods also, as we suppose, the subject of his predictions and discourses would be materially changed. For he would no longer have occasion to stimulate his countrymen to the building of the temple, which was already completely finished; but he was actually engaged in predicting some remarkable occurrences that would distinguish his own and the neighbouring nations in remote periods, some of them perhaps not yet arrived; and in urging an immediate reformation of national manners. In so doing, what more natural to expect, than that he would encounter hatred and opposition from those whose corruptions he was called upon to censure and repress. "The sequel," says Dr. Blayney, "may easily be guessed at; for from similar causes, similar effects may naturally be looked for. His enraged adversaries, after thwarting and defeating all his endeavours for the public good, at length so far succeeded as to turn the tide of popular prejudice and resentment against him; and he was barbarously murdered, as his namesake Zechariah the son of Jehoiada had been, for the same cause, and in the self-same place, between three and four hundred years before. For this we have no less authority than that of our blessed Lord himself, who expressly calls the person of whom he speaks, Matt. xxiii. 35, Zecharias, son of Barachias, distinguishing him from the before-mentioned Zechariah son of Jehoiada by his patronymic as effectually as two men bearing the same Christian name in our days would be distinguished by their family names. That the Scriptures of the Old Testament are silent in regard to this latter instance can be no objection, if it be considered that a very small portion of them was written after the supposed date of this transaction; and that nothing occurs in this part which would naturally lead to the mention of it. But no sooner is the line of sacred history An awakening ZECHARIAH. call to repentance. resumed in the New Testament, than we find the subject brought forward with such precision, that it requires no small degree of prejudice to controvert it. Add to this, how very improbable it is that our Saviour, who has taken his first term from the earliest date of history, should have chosen for his last one which would not include the whole series of prophets and divine messengers, who suffered for their testimony to the cause of religious truth." In this particular, however, it must be observed, Dr. Blayney's opinion differs from that of many commentators, who suppose that Zechariah the son of Jehoiada is intended in the passage of St. Matthew's gospel above referred to, and that the expression, the son of Barachias, was the officious addition of some early transcriber of that gospel, and not inserted by St. Matthew himself. See the note on Matt. xxiii. 35. It has been urged by some, that many parts of this book are very hard, if not impossible, to be understood. "That Zechariah is in some degree obscure," says Dr. Blayney, "is not to be questioned. And which of the ancient prophets is not so? It is of the nature of prophecy to affect a degree of enigmaticalness previous to the accomplishment, in order not to clash with the freedom of human agency. And there is no doubt, that some of Zechariah's predictions relate to matters that are still involved in the womb of futurity. No wonder, then, that these fall not within the reach of our perfect comprehension. Others there are, which we have good reason to believe have already been fulfilled, but do not appear with such a degree of evidence, as they probably would have done if we had been better informed concerning the times and facts to which they relate. With respect to the emblems and types that are exhibited, they are most of them of easy and determinate application. And, in favour of the importance of his subject matter, it must be acknowledged that, next to Isaiah, Zechariah is the most evangelical of all the prophets; having more frequent, and more clear and direct allusions to the character and coming of the Messiah, and his kingdom, than any of the rest. Nor in his language and composition do we find any particular bias to obscurity; except that the quickness and suddenness of the transitions are sometimes apt to confound the boundaries of discourse, so as to leave the less attentive reader at a loss to whom the several parts of it are to be ascribed. But, upon the whole, the diction is remarkably pure, the construction natural and perspicuous, and the style judiciously varied, according to the nature of the subject; simple and plain in the narrative and historical parts; but in those that are wholly prophetical, the latter chapters in particular, rising to a degree of elevation and grandeur scarcely inferior to the sublimest of the inspired writings." CHAPTER I. In this chapter, after the introduction, 1, we have, 1st, An awakening call to a sinful people to repent, and to return to God, 1-6. 2d, Great encouragement to hope for mercy, (1,) By a vision of horses and their riders among the myrtle-trees, 7-11. (2) By the prayer of an angel for Jerusalem, and the answer to that prayer, 12-17. (3,) By a vision of four carpenters, that were employed to cut off the four horns with which Judah and Jerusalem were scattered, 18-21. A. a B. C. 520. 4. M. 3484. IN the eighth month, in the second || the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, A. M. 38 year of Darius, came the word of 2 The LORD hath been the LORD bunto Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, pleased with your fathers. a Ezra iv. 24; Hag. i. 1. NOTES ON CHAPTER I. Verses 1, 2. In the eighth month-This month, according to that reckoning which begins the year with the month Abib, or Nisan, Exod. xii. 2, falls in with the latter part of our October, and the beginning of November. Haggai had begun to exhort the Jews to resume the work of building the temple two months before this, and they had actually resumed it on the 24th day of the sixth month, that is, in the beginning of September. In the second year of Darius-That is, Darius the son of Hystaspes, as Dr. Blayney and many other learned men have proved to a demonstration. Came the word of the Lord to Zechariah-Here we see the prophet did not run before he was sent, or undertake a work to sore dis Heb. with displeasure. b Ezra v. 1; Matt. xxiii. 35.which he was not called: as also, that what he communicated to the people, was first communicated to him by the Lord. Saying, The Lord, &c.—Blayney here supplies, Speak unto all the people of the land, saying, &c. He supposes that some words, expressive of that or a similar sense, have been omitted by the carelessness of some transcriber. The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers-He was so long and so much provoked, that his displeasure at last broke out into that flame which consumed your city and temple, and even desolated your country, nay, and punished the inhabitants thereof, and their children, with the captivity of seventy years; yet now he declares himself willing to be reconciled to you upon your repentance. Vision of a man B. C. 520. CHAPTER I. B. C. 520. riding upon a red horse. A. M. 3484. 3 Therefore say thou unto them, || returned and said, "Like as the LORD A. M. 3484. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn of hosts thought to do unto us, accordye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I ing to our ways, and according to our doings, so will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. hath he dealt with us. C е 4 Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. 5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever? 6. But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they 2 Jeremiah xxv. 5; xxxv. 15; Micah vii. 19; Malachi iii. 7; Luke xv. 20; James iv. 8.- d 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 15, 16. e Isaiah xxxi. 6; Jeremiah iii. 12; xviii. 11; Ezekiel xviii. 30; Verses 3-6. Therefore say-Rather, but say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Turn ye unto me -The word turn, as it related to the people, signified, that they should change their corrupt manners and turn to God in newness of life; and by God's turning to them, was meant, that he would take them again into his favour, and perform for them acts of manifest kindness, instead of displeasure. Be ye not as your fathers-Do not persist in impenitence as your fathers did. Instead of being hardened in your evil courses by the example of your fathers' sin, rather be deterred from those courses by the example of your fathers' punishment. Your fathers, where are they-Where are your disobedient fathers? Were they not consumed with famine and the sword, as God threatened them? And the prophets, do they live for ever-Though the prophets, and those to whom they delivered their message, are dead, yet the commandments delivered by their ministry still continue in full force; which appears by the judgments that came upon your fathers, for not hearkening to them; as they themselves could not but acknowledge. And the same punishments will overtake you, if you continue disobedient. But my wordsThe dreadful menaces which I delivered; and my statutes-The decreed judgments which I resolved to execute on them: did they not take hold on your fathers?-Overtake them as a pursuing enemy overtakes and seizes on the object of his hostility? In other words, Did not the evils which I had denounced by the prophets come upon your fathers? And they returned, &c.-They were forced to acknowledge with sorrow, that all those calamities which I had threatened against them, and forewarned them of, if they did not obey my voice, were actually come upon them. About B. C. 519 7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 8 I saw by night, and behold ha man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white. Hosea xiv. 1.- f Isaiah lv. 1.- -2 Or, overtake. 3 - Lament. Chap. vi. This month corresponded with the latter end of || January and the beginning of February. Came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah-This second revelation contains eight distinct visions, following each other in the same night. "The first vision is of an angel in a human form, sitting on horseback, in a low valley among myrtle-trees, attended by others upon horses, of different colours. The prophet asks the meaning, and is informed that they were the ministers of Providence, sent to examine into the state of the whole earth, which they report to be quiet and tranquil. The angel hereupon intercedes for Judah and Jerusalem, which he represents to have suffered under the divine indignation seventy years. He receives a consolatory answer. The prophet is directed to proclaim, that God's wrath against Judah was at an end; that he would cause the temple and Jerusalem to be rebuilt; and would fill the country with good, as a token and consequence of his renewed favour, verses 7-17."-Blayney. Saying, I saw, &c.—That is, the word came to the prophet, who said, I saw, &c., or, thus recited the divine vision which had been sent him. What now follows (which extends to the end of the sixth chapter) was uttered when the people had made a great progress in the work of the temple, and were now to be excited to the new labour of fortifying Jerusalem. And behold a man-The prophet terms him so, according to his appearance; till, perceiving by his answer, verse 10, that he had a divine commission, he afterward gives him the respectable title of the angel, or messenger of Jehovah; riding upon a red horse-A horse of a red or bloody colour was an emblem of the slaughters of war, as appears from Rev. vi. 4. But the myrtle being a tree of pleasure, and an emblem of peace, therefore the red horse Verses 7, 8. Upon the four and twentieth day of appearing among the myrtle-trees, signified that the the eleventh month-That is, about three months slaughters of war were, or soon would be, repressed after he had received the former vision; which is or restrained by a profound peace, namely, in the the month Sebat-This was the Chaldee or Syriac Persian empire, for that is here referred to: and acname of the eleventh month, not the Hebrew name. || cordingly there was a profound peace in it in the | |