{"commentary":{"id":"adam-clarke","name":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Clarke","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Adam Clarke Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"92e28c9363c876d215e296f2fe04abb3ab7e34a2aacebdf06bd62ae79c6e3dba","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":57,"totalNumberOfChapters":854,"totalNumberOfVerses":13318,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"ZEC","commentaryId":"adam-clarke","name":"Zechariah","commonName":"Zechariah","introduction":"Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Zechariah Zechariah, the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets, was son of Berechiah, and grandson of Iddo. He returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel: and began to prophesy in the second year of the reign of Darius, son of Hystaspes, in the year of the world 3484; before Christ, 516; before the vulgar era, 520; in the eighth month of the holy year; and two months after Haggai had begun to prophesy. These two prophets, with united zeal, encouraged at the same time the people to go on with the work of the temple, which had been discontinued for some years. The time and place of the birth of Zechariah are unknown. Some will have him to have been born at Babylon, during the captivity; others think he was born at Jerusalem, before the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were carried away. Some maintain that he was a priest; but others affirm that he was no priest. Many say he was the immediate son of Iddo; others believe, with much more reason, that he was son of Berechiah, and grandson of Iddo. He has been confounded with one Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, who lived in the time of Isaiah; and with Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist; which opinion is plainly incongruous. Lastly, he has been thought to be Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom our Savior mentions, and says he was killed between the temple and the altar; though no such thing is anywhere said of our prophet. A tomb is shown to this day at the foot of the Mount of Olives, which, it is pretended, belongs to the prophet Zechariah. Dorotheus maintains that he was buried in a place called Bethariah, one hundred and fifty furlongs from Jerusalem. Zechariah is the longest and the most obscure of all the twelve minor prophets. His style is interrupted, and without connection. His prophecies concerning the Messiah are more particular and express than those of the other prophets. Some modern critics, as Mede and Hammond, have been of opinion that the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of this prophet were written by Jeremiah; because in Matthew, Mat 27:9, Mat 27:10, under the name of Jeremiah, we find quoted Zechariah; (Zac 11:12); and as the aforesaid chapters make but one continued discourse, they concluded from thence that all three belonged to Jeremiah. But it is much more natural to suppose that, by some unlucky mistake, the name of Jeremiah has slipped into the text of St. Matthew instead of that of Zechariah. The prophet Zechariah exactly foretold the siege of Babylon by Darius, son of Hystaspes. This prince laid siege to that rebellious city at the beginning of the fifth year of his reign, and reduced it at the end of twenty months. The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had foretold this calamity, and had admonished the Jews, that inhabited there to make their escape when they perceived the time draw nigh. Isaiah says to them, \"Go ye forth to Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.\" And Jeremiah says, \"Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he-goats before the flocks.\" And elsewhere, \"Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul; be not cut off in her iniquity: for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance, He will render unto her a recompense.\" Lastly, Zechariah, a little before the time of her fall, writes thus to the Jews that were still in this city: \"Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, after the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you, for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants; and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.\" It is probable that the Jews took advantage of these admonitions, and returned from Babylon into their country; or, at least, withdrew into a place of more security till the city was taken. We do not hear, either from the history or the prophecies, that they suffered any thing by this siege, or that Darius, son of Hystaspes, bore them any grudge for the revolt of Babylon; which seems to indicate that they had no part in it. The Mohammedans do not distinguish between the prophet Zechariah, and Zachariah the father of John the Baptist. Some of them make him to be descended from David; and others, from Levi. By an anachronism that is still more insupportable, these confound Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, with Mary or Miriam, the sister of Moses, which they derive even from the Koran itself. The author of Tarik Montekhib relates that, when Jesus Christ was born of the virgin the prophet Zechariah could not believe that a child could be born without a father; and that, declaring his sentiments upon this point, the Jews entertained a suspicion of him, and obliged him to betake himself to flight. He withdrew; and hid himself in a hollow oak, which the Jews sawed in two. Such is the ignorance of the Mussulmans as regards the history both of the Old and New Testaments.","order":38,"numberOfChapters":14,"sha256":"1c4c0bf9eb07d1a36c727d028a8bfa4dc44e5d656143dd4e94f0334c6555b372","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":14,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/14.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":14},"totalNumberOfVerses":179},"chapter":{"number":2,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["A man with a measuring-line in his hand - Probably a representation of Nehemiah, who got a commission from Artaxerxes Longimanus to build up the walls of Jerusalem; for hitherto it had remained without being enclosed. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["Run, speak to this young man - Nehemiah must have been a young man when he was sakee, or cup-bearer, to Artaxerxes.\nAs towns without walls - It shall be so numerously inhabited as not to be contained within its ancient limits. Josephus, speaking of this time, says, Wars 5:4:2, \"The city, overflowing with inhabitants, by degrees extended itself beyond its walls.\" \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["I - will be unto her a wall of fire - Her safety shall consist in my defense. I shall be as fire round about her. No adversary shall be permitted to touch her. Much of this must refer to the New Jerusalem. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["Flee from the land of the north - From Chaldee, Persia, and Babylon, where several of the Jews still remained. See Zac 2:7. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["After the glory - After your glorious deliverance from the different places of your dispersion; He hath sent me unto the nations which spoiled you, that they may fall under grievous calamities, and be punished in their turn. On Babylon a great calamity fell, when besieged and taken by the Persians.\nThe following note I received from a sensible and pious correspondent: - \nZac 2:5. \"For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.\nZac 2:8. \"For thus saith the Lord of hosts, who hath sent me, the future glory (or the glory which is to come) unto the nations which spoiled you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. Behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants; and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.\n\"If in the eighth verse אחר כבוד may be rendered the future, or the glory that is to come, it will harmonize with the context as a prophecy of the Messiah, whereas in our English translation the words after the glory are unintelligible. And so the Seventy.\n\"It is evident the person speaking is distinguished from the Lord of hosts, as being sent by him; yet this person sent is also called Jehovah; and the nations who shall be joined to Jehovah in that day are called his people; and he (the person sent) will dwell in the midst of thee, (i.e., Zion), and shall inherit Judah his portion, etc.\n\"In confirmation of my view of the eighth verse, I think Exodus 33 may be compared with it. Moses besought God that he would show him his glory; upon which it was said to him, \"Whilst my glory passeth by,' I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand whilst I pass by; and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my אחר achar. Now as this was a fulfillment of Moses's request, who entreated to behold the glory, it follows that this אחר was the Divine glory, which alone he was capable of seeing.\n\"'No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, (the Lord Jesus Christ), which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.'\" - M. A. B.\nToucheth the apple of his eye - בבבת עינו bebabath eyno, the babet of his eye. This is a remarkable expression. Any person, by looking into the eye of another, will see his own image perfectly expressed, though in extreme miniature, in the pupil. Does our English word babbet or baby come from this? And does not the expression mean that the eye of God is ever on his follower, and that his person is ever impressed on the eye, the notice, attention, providence, and mercy of God? \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":9,"content":["I will shake mine hand upon them - I will threaten first, and then stretch out my hand of judgment against them.\nA spoil to their servants - To those whom they had formerly subjected to their sway. As the Babylonians to the Medes and Persians; and so of the rest in the subversion of empires. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord - This must chiefly refer to the Christian church, in which God ever dwells by the power of his Spirit, as he had done by the symbol of his presence in the first Jewish temple. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["Many nations shall be joined to the Lord - This most certainly belongs to the Christian church. No nation or people ever became converts to the Jewish religion, but whole nations have embraced the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["The Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land - This is a promise of the final restoration of the Jews, and that they should be God's portion in their own land. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["Be silent, O all flesh - Let all the nations of the world be astonished at this. God will arise, and deliver this ancient people, and bring them into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.\n\n"]}],"introduction":"The vision with which this chapter opens, portended great increase and prosperity to Jerusalem. Accordingly Josephus tells us, (Wars 5:4: 2), that \"the city, overflowing with inhabitants, extended beyond its walls,\" as predicted in the fourth verse, and acquired much glory during the time of the Maccabees; although these promises, and particularly the sublime image in the fifth verse, has certainly a still more pointed reference to the glory and prosperity of the Christian Church in the latter days, Zac 2:1-5. See Revelation 21, 22. In consequence of these promises, the Jews, still inhabiting Babylon and the regions round about, are called upon to hasten home, that they might not be involved in the fate of their enemies, who were destined to fall a prey to the nations which they had formerly subdued; God's great love and zeal for his people moving him to glorify them by humbling all their adversaries, Zac 2:6-9. The most gracious promises of God's presence with his Church, and her consequent increase and prosperity, set forth in the remaining verses, Zac 2:10-13, were to a certain extent fulfilled in the great number of proselytes made to Judaism after the return from the captivity; but shall be more fully accomplished after the restoration of the Jews to the favor of God under the Gospel. \"For if the casting away of the natural Israel be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?\" \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/2.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":2},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/3.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":3},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/1.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":1},"numberOfVerses":10}