Zechariah 7

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Zechariah 7
  chapter 6
chapter 8  
CodexGigas 118 MinorProphets.jpg
Book of Zechariah (6:15-13:9) in Latin in Codex Gigas, made around 13th century.
Book Book of Zechariah
Category Nevi'im
Christian Bible part Old Testament
Order in the Christian part38

Zechariah 7 is the seventh of the 14 chapters in the Book of Zechariah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. [1] [2] [3] This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Zechariah. In the Hebrew Bible it is part of the Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets. [4] This chapter is a part of a section (so-called "First Zechariah") consisting of Zechariah 18. [5] The Jews having sent to inquire concerning the set fasts, Zechariah 7:1-3, Zechariah reproves the hypocrisy of their fasts, Zechariah 7:4-7, and they are exhorted by repentance to remove the cause of their calamity, Zechariah 7:8-14. [6]

Contents

Text

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

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Cairensis (from year 895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). [7] [8] [a]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; Q; 6th century). [10]

Obedience better than fasting (verses 1–7)

With the completion of the new temple in Jerusalem a question arises whether the fast of the fifth month, commemorating the destruction of the first temple, is still necessary. The answer (verses 4—7, amplified in verses 8—14) is negative and sweeps in the fast of the seventh month also (verse 5), but more likely it means that, in the ideal world envisaged by the prophet, fasting is seen as punishment, so it should no longer be necessary. [11]

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; [12]

Verse 2

When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the Lord, [14]

Verse 2 in Hebrew

Masoretic Text:

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

Transliteration:

wa-yi sh-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": could be better rendered as "and Bethel sent" or "and the inhabitants of Bethel sent", because in the Hebrew order of the words, naturally the subject is 'Bethel'. [15] In the Hebrew Bible "the house of God" is never called "Bethel", as Bethel is always a place name, whereas "the house of God" is designated by historians, Psalmists, and prophets by the name "Beth-elohim," or more commonly "Beth-ha-elohim", which are also used by Zechariah and Haggai. [15] 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. [15] There is also no reason to send people to Bethel to seek an answer from God, and even more unlikely to say that they sent to Bethel, in order that those at Bethel should send to Jerusalem. [15] 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 from exile with Zerubbabel. The answer is given to "the people" of the land, so the enquirers are not those still in Babylon. Although put as matter of religion, the answer shows that the question was not religious. 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". [15]
  • "To pray before the Lord": or "to entreat the face of the Lord"; [15] in order to be directed to a proper answer for the question they came with and the temple at Jerusalem was the place where men used to go up to pray (cf. Luke 18:10). [16]

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? [17]

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? [18]

Disobedience resulted in captivity (verses 8–14)

This section contains an oracle "warning against repeating the sins of preexilic generations who ignored the teaching of the prophets" (cf. Zechariah 1:1–6; 8:14–17). [19]

Verse 12

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. [20]

See also

Notes

  1. The Aleppo Codex (930) now only contains Zechariah 9:17b–14:21. [9]

References

  1. Collins 2014, p. 421.
  2. Hayes 2015, Chapter 23.
  3. Zechariah, Book of. Jewish Encyclopedia
  4. Mason 1993, pp. 826–828.
  5. Coogan 2007, p. 1357 Hebrew Bible.
  6. Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, Andrew Robert; Brown, David. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary On the Whole Bible . 1871. "Zechariah 7".
  7. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
  8. Boda 2016, pp. 2–3.
  9. Boda 2016, p. 3.
  10. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  11. 1 2 Larkin 2007, p. 612.
  12. Zechariah 7:1: KJV
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). On "Zechariah 7". In: The Pulpit Commentary . 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Accessed 24 April 2019.
  14. Zechariah 7:2: KJV
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Bible - Zechariah 7. James Murphy (ed). London: Blackie & Son, 1884. Reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Gill, John. Exposition of the Entire Bible. "Zechariah 7". Published in 1746-1763.
  17. Zechariah 7:3 KJV
  18. Zechariah 7:5 KJV
  19. Mason 1993, p. 827.
  20. Zechariah 7:12: KJV
  21. Hebrew Text Analysis: Zechariah 7:12. Biblehub.

Sources

Jewish

Christian