{"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":6,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":1,"content":["There came four chariots - Four monarchies or empires. This is supposed to mean the same with the vision of the four horns, in chap. 1.\nMountains of brass - The strong barriers of God's purposes, which restrained those powers within the times and limits appointed by Jehovah. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":2,"content":["In the first chariot were red horses - The empire of the Chaldeans, which overthrew the empire of the Assyrians.\nThe second chariot black horses - The empire of the Persians founded by Cyrus, which destroyed the empire of the Chaldeans. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["The third chariot white horses - The empire of the Greeks, founded by Alexander the Great, which destroyed the empire of the Persians.\nThe fourth chariot grisled and bay horses - That is party-coloured horses, or with horses, some grisled and some bay. The empire of the Romans or of the Greeks. The Greeks divided after the death of Alexander; one part pointing out the Lagidae, who attacked and subdued Egypt; and the other, the seleucidae, who subdued Syria under Seleucus. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["The four spirits of the heavens - Ministers of God's wrath against the sinful nations of the world. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":6,"content":["The black horses - This refers to the second chariot; of the first the angel makes no mention, because the empire designed by it had ceased to exist. This had red horses, to show the cruelty of the Chaldeans towards the Jews, and the carnage they committed in the land of Judea.\nThe black - Cyrus, at the head of the Persians and Medes, bringing devastation and death among the Chaldeans, called the north in many parts of Scripture.\nThe white - Alexander, who was splendid in his victories, and mild towards all that he conquered.\nThe grisled - The Lagidae or Ptolemies, who founded an empire in Egypt; of these some were good, some bad, some despotic, some moderate, some cruel, and some mild, represented by the party-coloured horses. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":7,"content":["And the bay went forth - The Seleucidae, who conquered Syria and the upper provinces, and who wished to extend their conquests, and \"sought to go, that they might walk to and fro throughout the earth,\" were of unbounded ambition, and sought universal empire; such as Antiochus the Great. \"So they walked to and fro,\" did extend their conquests; and harassed many countries by their vexatious and almost continual wars. Some think the Romans are meant, who carried their conquests hither and thither, just as the Divine providence permitted them. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":8,"content":["Have quieted my spirit in the north country - They have fulfilled my judgments on Assyria and Chaldea. Nabopolassar and Cyrus first, against the Assyrians and Chaldeans; and Alexander next, against the Persians. On this vision Abp. Newcome remarks: - \nThe black horses seem to denote the Persian empire; which, by subduing the Chaldeans, and being about to inflict a second heavy chastisement on Babylon, quieted God's spirit with respect to Chaldea; a country always spoken of as lying to the north of the Jews.\nThe white horses seem to be the Macedonian empire; which, like the Persian, overcame Chaldea.\nThe spotted bay horses seem to be the Roman empire. This description suits it because it was governed by kings, consuls, dictators, and emperors. It penetrated southward to Egypt and Africa. The Roman empire is mentioned twice, Zac 6:6, Zac 6:7, under each epithet given it, Zac 6:3. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":10,"content":["Take of them of the captivity - The names that follow were probably those to whom the silver and golden vessels of the temple were intrusted; and who might have had bullion of silver and gold, for particular purposes, about the ornaments of the temple.\nThe house of Josiah - Probably an artificer in silver, gold, etc. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["Make crowns - עטרות ataroth; but seven MSS. of Kennicott's and De Rossi's, and one ancient of my own, with the Syriac and Chaldee, have עטרת atereth, a crown, or tiara. And as Joshua the high priest is alone concerned here, I think one crown only is intended. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["Behold the man whose name is The Branch! - I cannot think that Zerubbabel is here intended; indeed, he is not so much as mentioned in Zac 3:8. Joshua and his companions are called אנשי מופת anshey mopheth, figurative or typical men; the crowning therefore of Joshua in this place, and calling him the Branch, was most probably in reference to that glorious person, the Messiah, of whom he was the type or figure. The Chaldee has, \"whose name is my Messiah,\" or Christ.\nAnd he shall grow up out of his place - That is, out of David's root, tribe, and family.\nAnd he shall build the temple of the Lord - This cannot refer to the building of the temple then in hand, for Zerubbabel was its builder: but to that temple, the Christian Church, that was typified by it; for Zerubbabel is not named here, and only Joshua or Jesus (the name is the same) is the person who is to be crowned and to build this spiritual temple. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":13,"content":["Even he shall build the temple - Joshua, not Zerubbabel.\nHe shall bear the glory - Have all the honor of it; for none can do this but himself. The Messiah is still intended.\nAnd shall sit and rule upon his throne - For the government of the Church shall be upon his shoulder.\nAnd he shall be a priest upon his throne - He shall, as the great high priest, offer the only available offering and atonement; and so he shall be both king and priest, a royal king and a royal priest; for even the priest is here stated to sit upon his throne.\nAnd the counsel of peace shall be between them both - Whom? Zerubbabel and Joshua? Certainly not Zerubbabel, for he is not mentioned in all this prediction; but, as the Messiah is intended, the counsel of peace - the purpose to establish peace between heaven and earth, must be between the Father and the Son. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["And the crowns shall be - One of my MSS. has אטרות ataroth, crowns, corrected into עטרת atereth, crown; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic. The Chaldee has, \"And praise shall be,\" etc. The meaning appears to be this, that the crown made for Joshua should be delivered to the persons mentioned here and in Zac 6:10, to be laid up in the temple of the Lord, as a memorial of this typical transaction. \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":15,"content":["And they that are far off shall come - The Gentiles shall come to the Savior of the world; and build - become a part of this new temple; for they, as living stones, shall become a holy temple, a habitation of God through the Spirit.\nYe shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me - These predictions, relative to the regal and sacerdotal offices of the Messiah, shall be so circumstantially fulfilled, that ye, Jews, shall be obliged to acknowledge that the Lord of hosts hath sent me with this message.\nAnd this shall come to pass - Your own temple shall be rebuilt, and God shall dwell among you now, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God.\n\n"]}],"introduction":"The vision of the four chariots drawn by several sorts of horses, Zac 6:1-8. The other vision in thus chapter may refer in its primary sense to the establishment of the civil and religious polity of the Jews under Joshua and Zerubbabel; but relates in a fuller sense, to the Messiah, and to that spiritual kingdom of which he was to be both king and high priest. In him all these types and figures were verified; on him all the promises are yea and amen, Zac 6:9-15. \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/6.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":6},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/7.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":7},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/adam-clarke/ZEC/5.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"adam-clarke","book":"ZEC","chapter":5},"numberOfVerses":13}