KIMCHI'S

COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH.

CHAPTER I.

1 "In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, was the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying."

"The prophet," is to be referred to Zechariah, though perhaps Iddo may also have been a prophet, for it is said that he is the same as Iddo, the seer. (2 Chron. ix. 29.) We have also found in the Midrash* the words, " Iddo, the prophet."

Saying," to Israel, as is immediately added, “ And thou shalt say unto them." Say unto them, that they should remember the displeasure wherewith the Lord was displeased with the fathers, that is, with the generation in whose time the temple was desolated; they should also remember that it was on account of their deeds that the Lord was displeased with them, they should therefore return to the Lord, and not be like their fathers. They were at this time slothful in building the temple, for they did not begin to build until the ninth month, and evil deeds were still in their hands, as is written in the book of Ezra.

* Medrash, or Midrash, is the title of several compilations of traditional expositions of the Scripture. The most famous are the Midrash Rabba on the Pentateuch, Esther, Lamentations, &c., and the Midrash Tillim on the Psalms.

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3. Therefore say."-This is plain.

4. "Be not."-This is plain.

5. "Your fathers, where are they?"-Do ye not see that they have been consumed by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, as the prophets said to them?

"And the prophets, do they live for ever?" The prophets, who reproved them, could they live for ever, and reprove them? He reproved them already, and they did not hearken. But see how every thing has happened to them, as the prophets announced, and as is said (in the following verse), "But my words and statutes," &c. Our Rabbies, of blessed memory, have interpreted * the words, "The prophets, where are they," as the answer of the people. They say that the congregation of Israel gave a controversial reply to the prophet. He said to them, Return in true repentance, for your fathers sinned, and where are they? The people answered him, And the prophets who did not sin, where are they? But they afterwards repented and made confession to him.

6. "But my words and statutes."-My statutes, i. e. my evil decrees which I decreed concerning them, that they should die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, and that the survivors should be led away captive, do ye not see that they have overtaken your fathers, and have all come upon them, as I commanded my servants the prophets to announce to them? and they themselves repented and confessed this in the time of the desolation, as is said in the following verse, "And they returned and said."

7. "Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month," that is, the month Shevat.-As to the names of the months, as they are written in the roll of Esther, and in this book we do not know whether they are Chaldee or not, for we do not find them in the other holy books. "The word of the Lord was to Zechariah."-An angel

* In the Talm. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 105. 1.

came to him, and spake with him, and showed him this. vision, which he is now narrating.

8. "I saw by night."-The visions of Zechariah are very obscure, like those of Daniel, but the visions of the other prophets are not so; the reason is, that the power of prophecy had been gradually exhausting from the days of the captivity; therefore, they did not make their words clear, and did not understand the visions as they were. He says, "I saw by night," i. e., in the visions of the night I saw this vision, in which I beheld “a man riding upon a red horse." We have found in the words * of our rabbies of blessed memory, the following exposition of this verse: "I saw in the night, that the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to turn the whole world into night, and behold a man riding. This man is no other than the Holy One, blessed be He, for it is said, 'The Lord is a man of war.'+Upon a red horse.' The Holy One, blessed be He, sought to turn the whole world into blood, but when he looked upon Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah, his anger was cooled, for it is said, And he stood among the myrtle-trees, . (hadassim.') The myrtle-trees can mean nothing else but the righteous, for it is said, He brought up Hadassah.' ‡ (Esther ii. 7.) In like manner, In the bottom,', means nothing else but Babylon, for it is said, 'That saith to the deep, hy, be dry.' (Isaiah xliv. 27.) Immediately the black horses became speckled, and the red horses white, for it is said, ' And behind him red horses, speckled and white.' (Verse 8.)" But we shall endeavour to interpret the vision as well as we can.

* Talm. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93, col. 1.

† This is a remarkable testimony to the belief of the ancient Jews, that He, who appeared in the form of a man, as the angel of the Lord, was the God of Israel.

Esther's name was Hadassah, a myrtle-tree, and as she was righteous, the rabbies conclude that "myrtle-trees" in Zechariah, also stands for righteous persons.

“A man.”—That is, the angel of the Lord, as in Dan. ix. 21, "The man Gabriel;" and so we read further on, "The angel of the Lord that stood between the myrtletrees." He saw him riding upon a horse, to denote his speed in embassy. As to the meaning of the word "red," and the other colours, it may be that some definite meaning was intended by them; and my lord my father, of blessed memory, has written, that the red horse is typical of Nebuchadnezzar, who is called the head of gold, and gold is red; for this prophecy refers to the four kingdoms, like the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the visions of Daniel. And although the horses figuratively represent the angels the messengers of God, there is, nevertheless, a reference to the four kingdoms. The vision of "a man riding," signifies that the angels rule over the lower world, and that all the work of God on earth is done by them and through their mediation. The object of the man's mission was to root up the kingdom of Babylon; and although at the time of this vision the Babylonian monarchy had been already rooted out, the vision was exhibited to him complete, as it had been, on account of the three kingdoms that were still future. The vision happened in the time of the Persian monarchy, as is said, "In the second year of Darius."

"And he stood amongst the myrtle-trees that were in the bottom."-These signify Israel, and he compares them to myrtle-trees; for as these have a good odour, so the Israelites in Babylon had the good odour of the commandments. He is represented as standing among them to help them, and deliver them from captivity.

"In the bottom."-This is Babylon.

"And behind him red horses, speckled and white."Speckled," a species of colour, but what colour is not clear to us. There are some who say, that it means, coloured with colouring stuff, but this is nonsense. The speckled horses in this vision, are instead of the black