Zechariah 7

Zechariah 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.^[1][2] This book contains the prophecies spoken by the prophet Zechariah, and is a part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets.^[3][4]

Text

• The original text is written in Hebrew language.
• This chapter is divided into 14 verses.

Textual versions

Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter in Hebrew language:

• Masoretic Text (10th century)

Ancient translations in Koine Greek:

• Septuagint (3rd century BC)
• Theodotion version (~AD 180)

Structure

NKJV groups this chapter into:

• Zechariah 7:1-7 = Obedience Better than Fasting
• Zechariah 7:8-14 = Disobedience Resulted in Captivity

Verse 1

And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius,

that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah

in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;^[5]

• " In the fourth year of King Darius": This happened in 518 BC, nearly two years after the visions had occurred (Zechariah 1:7) and after the foundation of the temple was laid (Haggai 2:10). In two years more the temple was finished (Ezra 6:15), and the work of rebuilding was now proceeding vigorously; it seemed a fit opportunity for inquiring whether, in this period of comparative prosperity and success, it behoved the people to continue the fast appointed in sadder times.^[6]
• "Chisleu" or "Chislev" (Nehemiah 1:1). This month corresponded to parts of November and December.^[6] The word "Chisleu" means "torpidity," the state in which nature is in November, answering to this month.The Jews having sent to inquire concerning the set fasts, Zechariah 7:1-3, Zechariah reproveth the hypocrisy of their fasts, Zechariah 7:4-7. They are exhorted by repentance to remove the cause of their calamity, Zechariah 7:8-14.^[7]

Verse 2

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord,^[8]

Verse 2 in Hebrew

Masoretic text:

וישלח בית־אל שר־אצר ורגם מלך ואנשיו לחלות את־פני יהוה׃

Transliteration:

wa-yish-lakh bêṯ-’êl shar-’e-tser wə-re-ḡem-me-leḵ wa-’ă-nā-šāw; lə-khal-lō-wṯ ’eṯ-pə-nê Yah-weh.

Literal translation:

and sent Bethel Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to entreat the face of the Lord.

Verse 2 notes

• "When they held sent unto the house of God": Rather, "And Bethel sent;" that is, "the inhabitants of Bethel sent". "The house of God" is nowhere in Holy Scripture called "Bethel". Bethel is always the name of the place. The "house of God" is designated by historians, Psalmists, prophets, by the name, "Beth-elohim," more commonly "Beth-Ha-elohim, the God;" or "of the Lord," YHVH. Zechariah and Haggai use these names. It is not likely that the name, Beth-el, should have first been given to the house of God, when it had been desecrated by the idolatries of Jeroboam. Bethel also is, in the Hebrew order of the words, naturally the subject . Nor is there any reason why they should have sent to Bethel, since they sought an answer from God. For it would be forced to say that they sent to Bethel, in order that those at Bethel should send to Jerusalem; which is not said.^[9] It were unnatural also that the name of the sender should not have been mentioned, when the names of persons inferior, because sent, are recorded . Bethel, in Nehemiah's time Nehemiah 11:31, was one of the chief places of Benjamin. "Two hundred twenty and three of the men of Bethel and Ai" Ezra 2:28 had returned with Zerubbabel. The answer being to "the people" of the land, such were doubtless the enquirers, not those still in Babylon. The answer shows that the question was not religious, though put as matter of religion. It is remarkable that, whereas in the case of those who brought presents from Babylon, the names express some relation to God, these names are singularly, the one of a parricide son of Sennacherib, "Sharezer" Isaiah 37:38; 2 Kings 19:37, and of one, chief among the King of Babylon's princes ; the other probably a secular name, "Regem-melech", "the king's friend"^[9]
• "to pray before the Lord": "To entreat the face of the Lord";^[9] that they might be directed aright, and have a proper answer returned to the question they came with. The temple at Jerusalem was the place where men used to go up to pray; see Luke 18:10.^[10]

Verse 3

And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?^[11]

• "And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts": Those ministered in the sanctuary, as the Targum explains it, "who offered sacrifices, etc. and who were to be consulted in matters of religion", Malachi 2:7.^[10]
• "And to the prophets": who were then in being, as Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.^[10]
• "Should I weep in the fifth month?" The use of the first person singular to express a community or a people is not uncommon; here it means the Bethelites (compare Numbers 20:18, 19; Joshua 9:7; 1 Samuel 5:10, 11). Weeping is the accompaniment of fasting (Judges 20:26; Nehemiah 1:4; Joel 2:12). This fast in the fifth month, the month of Ab, had been established in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The temple was burnt on the ninth or tenth of the month (see 2 Kings 25:8, 9; Jeremiah 52:12, 13). The only fast-day enjoined by the Law of Moses was the great Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh month, Ethanim (Leviticus 23:26, etc.). But the Jews added others in memory of certain national events (see Judges 20:26; 1 Samuel 7:6; Isaiah 58:3, etc.). In Zechariah 8:19 mention is made of four extraordinary fasts instituted and observed during the Captivity, viz. on the ninth day of the fourth month, in memory of the capture of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; in the fifth month, in remembrance of the burning of the temple and city; in the seventh month, in consequence of the murder of Gedaliah (Jeremiah 41:1, 2); and in the tenth month, in memory of the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.^[6]

Verse 5

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?^[12]

• "Fifth month" The original question in Zechariah 7:3 referred only to this fast; the answer embraces also another fast in seventh month appointed by human authority.^[6]
• "The seventh month": This fast was instituted in consequence of the murder of Gedaliah, B.C. 587, just seventy years ago, when the greater part of the remnant of the Jews, contrary to the prophet's warning, fled into Egypt to escape the punishment of the crime (2 Kings 25:25, 26; Jeremiah 41:2, 16, etc.).^[6]
• "Did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?" The fast they kept was not according to the command of God, but an appointment of theirs; nor was it directed to his glory; nor was it any profit or advantage to him; and therefore it was nothing to him whether they fasted or not; see Isaiah 58:3.^[10]
• "Seventy years" (also Zechariah 1:12) refers to the fulfilled Jeremiah's prophecy of exile (Jeremiah 25:12, Jeremiah 29:10) which is also cited by Daniel (Daniel 9:2).

See also

• Related Bible parts: Nehemiah 1, Isaiah 58, Jeremiah 1, Jeremiah 25, Jeremiah 29, Daniel 9, Zechariah 1

Notes and references

Bibliography

External links

Jewish

• Zechariah 7 Hebrew with Parallel English
• Zechariah 7 Hebrew with Rashi's Commentary

Christian

• Zechariah 7 English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate