23 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Zechariah 1 In this chapter, after the account of the prophet, and the time of the prophecy by him, are an exhortation of the people of the Jews to repentance; the vision of a rider upon a red horse, and the intercession of the angel of the Lord for Jerusalem; and another vision of the enemies of the Jews, and of their deliverers....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
In the eighth month,.... The month Marchesvan, called the month Bul, in 1 Kings 6:38 which answers to part of our October, and part of November: this was but two months from the first prophecy of Haggai, Haggai 1:1 and but a few days after his second, Haggai 2:1 so near were the prophecies of these two prophets together: in the second year of...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
Repentance Urged. (b. c. 520.) 1 In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying, 2 The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. 3 Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The Lord hath been sore displeased with your fathers. Who lived before and at the time of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and which was manifest by their captivity; all which were occasioned by their sins, with which they provoked the Lord to sore displeasure against them; and this is mentioned as a caution to their children, that they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore say thou unto them,.... This is an order from the Lord to Zechariah, to say unto them, in the name of the Lord: thus saith the Lord of hosts; of the hosts above and below, of angels and of men, of heaven and earth, and all that is therein: this is said, that the greater regard might be had to his words: turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Be ye not as your fathers,.... Who lived before the captivity, and misused the prophets and messengers of the Lord, and despised his word, and fell into gross idolatry; the evil examples of parents and ancestors are not to be followed: unto whom the former prophets have cried: such as Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others: saying, thus saith the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Your fathers, where [are] they?.... They are not in the land of the living; they perished by the sword of the Chaldeans, or died in captivity: and the prophets, do they live for ever? meaning either the false prophets, as Hananiah and Shemaiah, Jeremiah 28:17 or the true prophets of the Lord; and the words may be considered as a prevention of an...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets,.... That is, the predictions which he ordered his prophets to declare in his name, that their fathers should die by the sword, or famine, or pestilence, or be carried captive, which he purposed in himself, and threatened them with: did they not take hold of your fathers?...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat,.... Called Sabat in the Septuagint version, and in the Apocrypha: "Now Simon was visiting the cities that were in the country, and taking care for the good ordering of them; at which time he came down himself to Jericho with his sons, Mattathias and Judas, in the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
I saw by night,.... Or, "that night" (m); the night of the twenty fourth of Sebat; a proper and usual time for visions; and it may denote the obscurity of the vision, as it was in some respects to the prophet; and the state of the church at this time, it being a night season with it, and in a low estate; and the care that the Lord, who is Israel's...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said I, O my Lord,.... These are the words of the Prophet Zechariah to the angel that showed him this vision: what are these? what is the meaning of this vision? particularly who are meant by the horses, red, speckled, and white, and those upon them? And the angel that talked with me; who seems to be different from the Angel of the Lord, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said,.... And so prevented the angel from giving the account he was about to give; and who was more capable of it, and which to do was great condescension in him, and was doing the prophet a singular honour: these [are they] whom the Lord hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they answered the Angel of the Lord, that stood among the myrtle trees, and said,.... That is, the ministering angels, signified by the red horses, speckled, and white, replied to what the Angel of the Lord had said concerning them; or rather agreed to and confirmed his account of them; or else gave up the account of their tour through the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then the Angel of the Lord answered and said,.... The same that was among the myrtle trees in the bottom, Zechariah 1:8: O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah; which were fallen to ruin, and had lain waste for many years. These words are expressive of the intercession of Christ on the behalf of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me,.... See Zechariah 1:9 what was the effect of Christ's intercession for the people of the Jews, was communicated to a ministering angel, and by him to the Prophet Zechariah: [with] good words, and comfortable words; such as would be for the good and comfort of God's people, as follows; see Isaiah...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So the angel that communed with me,.... Having an order from the other Angel, or the Lord of hosts: said unto me, Cry thou; proclaim, publish, declare in the hearing of the people, for their comfort and encouragement. The Targum renders it, "prophesy": saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem, and for Zion, with a great...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And I am very sore displeased with the heathen [that are] at ease,.... The Chaldeans and Persians, and other nations, enemies of the Jews, who were now free from war, and enjoyed great prosperity, when the state and condition of the Jews was very low and discouraging: for I was but a little displeased: that is, with his people the Jews, for their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Therefore thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies,.... Having returned the people of the Jews from their captivity to Jerusalem, in which he had shown abundant mercy to them: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts; meaning the temple where he dwelt and was worshipped; the foundation of which had been laid two...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Cry yet, saying,.... That is, "prophesy again", as the Targum paraphrases it; publish and declare openly before all: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; or, according to the Targum, "the cities of my people shall be yet filled with good"; and so the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, "my...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then I lifted up mine eyes,.... To behold another vision which follows: and saw, and behold four horns; either iron ones, such as Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made to push the Syrians with, 1 Kings 22:11 or horns of beasts, as the horns of unicorns, to which the horns of Joseph are compared, Deuteronomy 33:17 and signify kingdoms or kings, and...