70 CHAPTER VII. 1, 2. "And it came to pass when they had sent" (literally, "and it came to pass — and he sent"). The meaning is, after they had sent.* [The conjunction has frequently this signification] as in Isaiah Ixiv. 4 (5):- AY MAY 1, "Behold thou wast angry when we sinned"+ [according to Kimchi]. And again, Lev. ix. 22, sy nib, "When he descended from offering the sin-offering," and other like. The sense is, After he had sent, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. It is not said who sent. Some interpreters say that (Bethel), "the house of the Lord," is the name of a man, and that he sent Sherezer and Regemmelech and his men from the captivity to Jerusalem. But the correct interpretation is, that is to be taken literally of the house of the Lord. Jonathan has, "And he sent to Bethel." The senders were the children of the captivity, and though the singular number "He sent" is used, it is to be taken collectively; as in the third verse, "Shall I weep as I have done.” The messengers were Sherezer and Regemmelech and his men. 99 "Regemmelech."-A man who had this name, and he brought his men with him; and that is what is meant by the words," and his men.' These came to Jerusalem to pray before the Lord, for the children of the captivity had sent by their hand to make inquiry, and to say to the priests and the prophets, " Shall I weep?" 3. "To speak to the priests * As our translators have it. in the house of the + See this passage quoted above, chap. iii. 5, p. 36. Lord." is the same as 2. Jonathan has, serve in the temple of the Lord.”* "Who "And to the prophets."-Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. But Jonathan has "to the scribes." "Should I weep?"--For as yet they did not believe in the building of the temple, on account of the enemies who had caused the work to cease for many years; and now, although they had heard that they were building, they were weak in faith, and did not wish to go up from Babylon, for they did not believe that the building of the temple would be finished and would stand because of these enemies; they therefore asked whether they should fast on the 9th of Av, as they had done during the seventy years. Separating myself" is the infinitive. The meaning is, "Shall I separate myself from eating, and drinking, and delights." Jonathan has interpreted it, "Shall I withhold myself from delights." 3. "Then came the word of the Lord."- Here it is said, "In the fifth month, and in the seventh month," So our translators have rendered it. † The fast of the 5th month happens on the 9th day of the month. The reason why the Jews fast on this day are thus given by Maimonides: "On the ninth of Av, five things happened. 1st. The decree went forth in the wilderness that the people should not enter the land. 2d. The first and second temple were both destroyed on this day. 3d. The great city Bither was taken, in which were thousands and myriads of Israel; and they had a great king, whom all Israel and the greatest of the wise men thought was the King Messiah: but, 4th, he fell into the hands of the Gentiles, and they were all put to death, and the affliction was great, even like the desolation of the house of the sanctuary. 5th. On that day, devoted to punishment, the wicked Turnus Rufus ploughed up the sanctuary and the parts about, to fulfil that which was said, 'Zion shall be ploughed as a field.'" (Mich. iii. 12.) (Jad Hachasakah. Hilchoth Taanith., c. 5.) The fast of the seventh is that of the 3d day of Tisri. The Jews fast on this day, "Because on it Gedaliah the son of Ahikam was slain, and thus was quenched the coal of Israel that had been left." (Ibid. See also Jer. xli. 2.) although there were four fasts. * He names the fifth month, because in it the desolation took place and he names the seventh month, because in it Gedaliah was killed, and that was a second desolation, for the poor of the land had already been left, and it was not desolate so long as the poor of the people remained whom Nebuzar Adan left as vine-dressers and husbandmen. (Jer. lii. 16). Gedaliah was slain on the first of the seventh month, and as this was a holiday, they appointed the fast for the following day. "Did ye at all fast unto me?" is for y is, that is to say, did ye fast on my account? On account of your sins the temple is destroyed, and ye are in captivity, and therefore ye fast: if ye will do judgment and justice, ye need not fast, for the temple shall be built, and go up from the captivity, and ye shall dwell in the land for ever: if ye will do that which is good in my eyes, ye shall not be led away captive from it for ever. The meaning of after is, "Did I command you to fast?" Jonathan has rendered it thus: "Is it the fast of affliction wherewith ye afflict yourselves before me?", 6. "And when ye did eat."-He means to say, what have I from your feasting or your eating? When ye fast it is because of your sins, and when ye eat and drink it is for your own profit: the whole matter is for yourselves; but what have I in all this, for neither in the fasting nor the eating is there any thing for my glory? 7. "Should ye not hear the words."-What but your * Besides the two fasts here mentioned, there are two other great fasts mentioned in the 8th chapter; that of the fourth month, or 17th day of Tammuz, on which, according to Maimonides, five evils happened. "1st. The stone tables were broken. 2d. The daily offering ceased in the first temple. 3d. A breach was effected in the walls of Jerusalem at the second destruction. 4th. The wicked Apostomos burned the law; and, 5th, set up an image in the sanctuary." (Ibid.) The other fast is that of the tenth month, or 10th day of Teveth, on which day "The wicked Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, laid siege to Jerusalem." (Ibid.) own sins has caused you to fast? for when Jerusalem was in prosperity, I cried by the hand of my servants the prophets that ye should turn from your sins, that the land might not be wasted; but ye did not choose to hear. "When men inhabited the south and the plain," i. e., all the land was dwelling securely, and he mentions the south and the plain to show that if this was the case, much more was there a secure dwelling in the mountains and hills. the active participle here means that there was in them a secure dwelling. 8. "And the word of the Lord came."-After the parenthesis about "inhabiting the plain and the south," he returns to conclude the former things, that he should tell all the people of the land, what the former prophets who spoke to them had cried. execute 9. " Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts true judgment."—When ye judge between man and man, let your judgment be the judgment of truth; and with him that has need of it, do mercy and compassion, for they are more than judgment.” 10. "And the widow."-Take good heed to yourselves that ye oppress not the weak, either in their property or by words. "Evil of a man against his brother," i. e., do not think evil one against another in your heart; even the thought is forbidden, how much more the deed, and further, the thought which leads to the deed. And even though he does not commit it, it is forbidden, for it is said, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart." 11. "But they refused shoulder." and gave a backsliding signifies "to turn away from;" as in Hos. iv. 16, "As a backsliding (perverse) heifer," for he that does not wish to attend to him that calls him, turns away his shoulder, and will not turn towards him. 12. "They made their hearts as an adamant."-y, an adamant is a hard stone which no iron can cut. "And the words which the Lord.”—The words of reproof which the prophets spake to them. "In his Spirit."-In the spirit of prophecy which was speaking along with the prophets. "Therefore came a great wrath."-Upon your fathers. 13. "It is come to pass as he cried."-As he cried to them in my name, and they did not hear, so they will cry and he will not hear. 14. "But I scattered them with a whirlwind amongst all the nations whom they knew not." The word presents a grammatical difficulty. It has been said that it is a form compounded of Kal* and Niphal. + My lord my father has written that it is altogether from Kal, and although it is solitary, the meaning is, "And I will be scattered with them"; as in Isa. xxxv. 1, 1779 Daivių? "The wilderness and solitary place shall be glad with them," Dy. The punctuation is D, and not , in order to make wide § they and to make it light, and they have pointed the with Tzere and the Samech with Kametz, to make the word still longer and * Michlal Jophi reads Kal and Pihel. + Gesenius and Rosenmüller both explain this peculiar punctuation as a Syriasm. The former says, "In the Syriac, where the vowel-letters are much more liquid, than in the Hebrew, the letters & and at the beginning of words are often allowed to quiesce. For so one may call the Syriac custom of pronouncing & and ⚫ with Sheva at the beginning of words as a simple vowel-sound, E and I, when at the same time the full vowel is written; as he said, for God .he bareܐ ܝܺܠ In Hebrew this has been imitated in the case of x, which, instead of (-:) and (), gets Zere, and instead of (T:), gets Cholem. E. g., DN in אֲפוּ ;10 .Isa. xxxiii , אֲרוֹמֵם instead of אֲרוֹמֵם ;14 .Zech. vii , אֲסַעֲרֶם stead of instead of, Exod. xvi. 23; instead of , Isaiah xxi. 12; &c. (Gesen. Lehrgebäude. p. 151, 152.) See Rosenmüller Schol. in loc. Intransitive. See Buxtorf in 772. § This is to facilitate the pronunciation. |