1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| Zechariah 1:1 | In *the eighth month, in the second year of king Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying: | Year of the World 3485, Year before Christ 519. Barachias adopted him, (1 Esdras 5:1.) or rather Addo was his grandfather. |
| Zechariah 1:2 | The Lord hath been exceeding angry with your fathers. | Angry, as he has severely chastised them. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 1:3 | And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: *Turn ye to me, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will turn to you, saith the Lord of hosts. Isaias 21:12.; Isaias 31:6.; Isaias 45:22.; Jeremias 3:12.; Ezechiel 18:30.; Ezechiel 20:7.; Ezechiel 33:11.; Osee 14:2.; Joel 2:12.; Malachias 3:7. | Turn ye. Such expressions admonish us of our free-will, and when we answer, convert us, etc., (Lamentations 5:11.; Calmet) we confess that God's grace preventeth us. (Council of Trent, Session 6:5.) (Worthington) --- We may resist the Holy Spirit, (Haydock) and reject his graces. The prophet exhorts the people to lay aside all former negligence, (Calmet) and proceed with the temple. (Haydock) --- It had been commenced about two months before, Aggeus 2:1, 16. |
| Zechariah 1:4 | Be not as your fathers, to whom the former prophets have cried, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye from your evil ways, and from your wicked thoughts; but they did not give ear, neither did they hearken to me, saith the Lord. | |
| Zechariah 1:5 | Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, shall they live always? | Always. He seems to hint, that after Malachias prophets would be sent no more till Christ should appear; or, that God's word should be fulfilled (ver. 6.) though the prophets were dead. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 1:6 | But yet my words, and my ordinances, which I gave in charge to my servants, the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned, and said: As the Lord of hosts thought to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our devices, so he hath done to us. | Fathers. They felt their effects. (Haydock) --- Returned; being converted by the sight of God's judgments, Osee 4:1., and 2 Esdras 1:6. |
| Zechariah 1:7 | In the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is called Sabath, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, the son of Barachias, the son of Addo, the prophet, saying: | Sabath. These names were brought from Chaldea. The month was lunar, and corresponded sometimes with parts of our December and January, at other times with January, or with that and the following month. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 1:8 | I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees, that were in the bottom: and behind him were horses, red, speckled, and white. | A man. An angel in the shape of a man. It was probably St. Michael, the guardian angel of the Church of God. (Challoner) --- It is plain that he was an angel, ver. 11. (Worthington) --- He appears in obscurity, to shew the distress of the nation. (Calmet) --- Among. Septuagint, "between two shady mountains." (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 1:9 | And I said: What are these, my lord? And the angel that spoke in me, said to me: I will shew thee what these are: | |
| Zechariah 1:10 | And the man that stood among the myrtle-trees answered, and said: These are they, whom the Lord hath sent to walk through the earth. | These are they, etc. The guardian angels of provinces and nations. (Challoner) --- The Jews believed that each nation had such an angel, who had to give an account to one in higher authority. God proportions his revelation to their ideas. |
| Zechariah 1:11 | And they answered the angel of the Lord, that stood among the myrtle-trees, and said: We have walked through the earth, and behold all the earth is inhabited, and is at rest. | Rest. All the country under Michael's care enjoyed peace, (Calmet) in the second year of Darius. (Haydock) -- The red horse implies slaughter, Apocalypse 6:4. It was now repressed. (Tournemine) |
| Zechariah 1:12 | And the angel of the Lord answered, and said: O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem, and on the cities of Juda, with which thou hast been angry? this is now the seventieth year. | The seventieth year; viz., from the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, in the ninth year of king Sedecias, to the second year of king Darius. These seventy years of the desolation of Jerusalem and the cities of Juda, are different from the seventy years of captivity foretold by Jeremias; which began in the fourth year of Joakim, and ended in the first year of king Cyrus. (Challoner) --- Of these Daniel (ix.) speaks. The temple had also been destroyed now seventy years, (Worthington) and the angel prays, (Haydock) while the prophet begs that the people may be inspired to rebuild it. (Worthington) --- Michael takes occasion from the angels' report, to beseech the Lord to perfect what had been so well begun. He speaks not expressly of the temple, as Aggeus had prevailed on the people to commence that edifice. They had excused themselves that the time was not come, as they probably dated from the burning of the temple; though its desolation began with the siege, thirty months before. See Jeremias 25:11., and 29:10. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 1:13 | And the Lord answered the angel, that spoke in me, good words, comfortable words. | Answered. We have here a proof of the intercession of angel, and of its good effects. (Haydock) --- In me; revealing God's will. (St. Jerome) --- Yet it seems to be St. Michael, Zacharias 4:1. (Chaldean; Theod.[Theodotion or Theodoret]) (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 1:14 | And the angel, that spoke in me, said to me: Cry thou, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: *I am zealous for Jerusalem, and Sion, with a great zeal. Zacharias 8:2. | Zeal. I will again treat her as my spouse. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 1:15 | And I am angry with a great anger with the wealthy nations: For I was angry a little, but they helped forward the evil. | Nations, represented as four horns, ver. 18, 19. --- Evil, through malice, and thus deserve themselves to be punished, Osee 1:4. |
| Zechariah 1:16 | Therefore, thus saith the Lord: I will return to Jerusalem in mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of hosts, and the building line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. | Line. Soon after Nehemias came to rebuild the city. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 1:17 | Cry yet, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: My cities shall yet flow with good things: and the Lord will yet comfort Sion, and he will yet choose Jerusalem. | |
| Zechariah 1:18 | And I lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four horns. | \f + \fr 1:18-20\ft Four horns,...four smiths. The four horns represent the empires, or kingdoms, that persecute and oppress the people of God: the four smiths or carpenters (for faber may signify either) represent those whom God makes his instruments in bringing to nothing the power of persecutors. (Challoner) --- The Ammonites, etc., on the east, the Philistines on the west, the Idumeans and Egyptians on the south, and the Assyrians and Chaldeans on the north, had much molested God's people, and were therefore punished. (Worthington) --- The princes of Assyria and of Babylon, the kings of Persia and of Egypt, had all treated them ill; and these four empires have or will be destroyed by four chariots, (chap. 6:1.) Nabopolassar, Cyrus, Alexander, and Antiochus, Daniel 7:1., etc. St. Jerome, and many who usually follow him, understand the empires of the Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, to be designated by the horns, as the workmen mean the angels who have chastised those nations. |
| Zechariah 1:19 | And I said to the angel that spoke to me: What are these? and he said to me: These are the horns that have scattered Juda, and Israel, and Jerusalem. | |
| Zechariah 1:20 | And the Lord shewed me four smiths. | |
| Zechariah 1:21 | And I said, What come these to do? and he spoke, saying: These are the horns which have scattered Juda every man apart, and none of them lifted up his head: and these are come to fray them, to cast down the horns of the nations that have lifted up the horn upon the land of Juda, to scatter it. | Every. Hebrew, "at pleasure; none shall lift," etc. These kingdoms shall no longer prove formidable. (Calmet) --- Fray, or "terrify." Septuagint, "to sharpen them in their hands. The horns are nations," etc. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 2:0 | Under the name of Jerusalem, he prophesieth the progress of the Church of Christ, by the conversion of some Jews, and many Gentiles. | |
| Zechariah 2:1 | And I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold a man, with a measuring line in his hand. | |
| Zechariah 2:2 | And I said: Whither goest thou? and he said to me: To measure Jerusalem, and to see how great is the breadth thereof, and how great the length thereof. | |
| Zechariah 2:3 | And behold the angel that spoke in me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him. | Another. The angel who measured spoke to Michael. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 2:4 | And he said to him: Run, speak to this young man, saying: Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude of men, and of the beasts, in the midst thereof. | Walls. This must be understood of the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of Christ. (Challoner) --- According to St. Augustine (in Psalm lxxi.) when the literal sense cannot be verified, we must have recourse to the thing prefigured; and thus what is here written, must be explained of the Church rather than of Jerusalem. (Worthington) --- A little before the fall of the latter, it was become so populous that the houses which had been built without the walls were enclosed. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:6.) --- This multitude was a sort of pledge or figure of the crowds which should embrace the gospel. |
| Zechariah 2:5 | And I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about: and I will be in glory in the midst thereof. | Fire, to enlighten and protect it. Arms will be unnecessary, Micheas 5:10., and Isaias 2:4. The Church shall enjoy peace. |
| Zechariah 2:6 | O, O flee ye out of the land of the north, saith the Lord, for I have scattered you into the four winds of heaven, saith the Lord. | North. Many Jews had not yet returned, Esther, etc. --- Winds, Ezechiel 5:2, 12. (Calmet) --- Gentiles, and ye children of Sion, flee from Babylon and from sin into the true Church. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 2:7 | O Sion, flee thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon: | |
| Zechariah 2:8 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye: | Glory. After restoring you to your own country, and rebuilding your cities, I will punish your enemies. (Calmet) --- After they have enjoyed prosperity, they shall feel the reverse. Hebrew Cabod, (Haydock) means also "a burden." |
| Zechariah 2:9 | For behold, I lift up my hand upon them, and they shall be a prey to those that served them: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me. | Prey. Two years after this (Calmet) the Assyrians revolted, and seized Babylon. (Justin i.) --- They slew the useless women: but Zopyrus betrayed the place to Darius, who hung 3,000 of the principal inhabitants, and demolished the walls. (Herodotus 3:150.; Usher, year of the world 3489.) |
| Zechariah 2:10 | Sing praise, and rejoice, O daughter of Sion: for behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee: saith the Lord. | |
| Zechariah 2:11 | And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they 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 to thee. | Nations. We know of none who embraced the Jewish law. But both the old and the new world submits to Christ. --- Dwell. St. Michael represents the Messias. The latter preached and wrought miracles among the Jews, which rendered them inexcusable, John 15:24. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 2:12 | And the Lord shall possess Juda, his portion in the sanctified land: and he shall yet choose Jerusalem. | |
| Zechariah 2:13 | Let all flesh be silent at the presence of the Lord: for he is risen up out of his holy habitation. | Silent: obey with reverence. (Haydock) See Habacuc 2:20., and 1 Machabees 1:3. (Calmet) --- Habitation, becoming man. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 3:0 | In a vision satan appeareth, accusing the high priest. He is cleansed from his sins. Christ is promised, and great fruit from his passion. | |
| Zechariah 3:1 | And the Lord shewed me Jesus, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord: and satan stood on his right hand, to be his adversary. | Jesus, or Josue, the son of Josedec, the high priest of that time. (Challoner) --- To him this literally refers. (Worthington) --- As high priest, he represented the nation, whom several calumniated to Darius, 1 Esdras iv., etc. God represses the adversary and adorns his people. It seems something has been done amiss, ver. 4. (Calmet) --- The high priest, (St. Jerome) or rather his sons, have married strangers. (Chaldean) (1 Esdras 10:18.) Many Fathers take Jesus for a figure of the Messias, covered with the sins of mankind. (Calmet) --- But the Orient (ver. 8) would not thus be promised unto him, (St. Jerome) unless we consider him also as high priest. --- Satan. Septuagint, "the devil;" the accuser and calumniator, Apocalypse 12:10. |
| Zechariah 3:2 | And the Lord said to satan: The Lord rebuke thee, O satan: and the Lord, that chose Jerusalem, rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? | The Lord said. This may refer to the angel, or to the Father and the Son, Psalm cix. Both are styled Jehovah. --- Bread, alluding to the nation, or to Jesus. Have not the suffered enough? (Amos 4:11.) (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 3:3 | And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments: and he stood before the face of the angel. | Garments. Negligences and sins. (Challoner) --- Jesus had neglected to urge the building of the temple, or to repress unlawful marriages, 1 Esdras viii. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 3:4 | Who answered, and said to them that stood before him, saying: Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him: Behold, I have taken away thy iniquity, and have clothed thee with a change of garments. | Change, such as were worn on festivals. This shewed that the people should exchange adversity for joy. |
| Zechariah 3:5 | And he said: Put a clean mitre upon his head: and they put a clean mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments: and the angel of the Lord stood. | Mitre, (cydarim) the pontiff's tiara, of byssus, Exodus 28:4. |
| Zechariah 3:6 | And the angel of the Lord protested to Jesus, saying: | |
| Zechariah 3:7 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my charge, thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my courts, and I will give thee some of them that are now present here to walk with thee. | Judge. The high priests were at the head till the Machabees. (Josephus, Antiquities 11:4., and 20:8.) --- Yet the nation was, (Calmet) till Simon, (Haydock) always dependent; and the judges were under foreign kings or governors. (Calmet) --- Give thee, etc. Angels to attend and assist thee. (Challoner) --- They are promised to help the pastors of the Church. (Worthington) --- They shall give information, ver. 9., and Exodus 23:20. (Calmet) --- Of them. Septuagint, "who shall converse in the midst of these who stand:" (Haydock) thy children shall succeed in the pontificate. (Theod.[Theodotion or Theodoret]) |
| Zechariah 3:8 | Hear, O Jesus, thou high priest, thou and thy friends that dwell before thee, for they are portending men: for behold, *I will bring my servant, the Orient. Luke 1:78. | Portending men. That is, men who by words and actions are to foreshew wonders that are to come; (Challoner) or rather they require prodigies before they will take courage to build the temple; or they understand how to explain such things. (Calmet) --- Orient; Christ, who according to his humanity is the servant of God, is called the Orient, from his rising like the sun in the east to enlighten the world. (Challoner) --- St. Luke explains this of Christ, (Worthington) recording the words of Zacharias. [Luke 1:78.] (Haydock) --- Christ's birth was most pure. He gave light to the world. Some would explain this of Zorobabel; but as he was already present, it would seem more applicable to Nehemias. Yet both were only figures of Christ, and could not efface the iniquity of Juda, etc. The Messias is styled the Bud, Zacharias 6:12., and Isaias 4:2., etc. (Calmet) --- Tsemach signifies either "the bud or the orient." (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 3:9 | For behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: upon one stone there are seven eyes: behold, I will grave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will take away the iniquity of that land in one day. | The stone. Another emblem of Christ, the rock, foundation, and corner-stone of his Church. --- Eyes. The manifold providence of Christ over his Church, or the seven gifts of the Spirit of God. (Challoner) --- The Jews were lately returned from a country where seven chief officers were styled "the king's eyes," having to inform him of the conduct of governors, etc. Zorobabel shall build the temple, as a figure of Christ establishing his Church, Zacharias 4:10. --- Grave. Septuagint, "dig a pit." The rest agree with us. Christ adorns and instructs his Church. (Calmet) --- Day. The day of the passion of Christ, the source of all our good: when this precious stone shall be graved, that is cut and pierced with whips, thorns, nails, and spear. (Challoner) |
| Zechariah 3:10 | In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, every man shall call his friend under the vine, and under the fig-tree. | Tree. All shall be peace and concord. (Haydock) --- They shall communicate to each other spiritual goods, abounding in the Church. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 4:0 | The vision of the golden candlestick and seven lamps, and of the two olive-trees. Zorobabel shall finish the building of the temple. | |
| Zechariah 4:1 | And the angel that spoke in me came again: and he waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep. | Again. He had been with Jesus, Zacharias 3:(Calmet) |
| Zechariah 4:2 | And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, and its lamp upon the top of it: and the seven lights thereof upon it: and seven funnels for the lights that were upon the top thereof. | A candlestick, etc. The temple of God that was then in building; and in a more sublime sense, the Church of Christ. (Challoner) --- Some, with the Jews, apply this to the synagogue: but most explain it of the Church, the lamp denoting Christ, and the seven lights all his pastors; the two olives, Enoch and Elias, Apocalypse xi. (Worthington) --- The angel explains the latter of Jesus and Zorobabel, ver. 14. The lights are the same with the angels, (ver. 10) and eyes, (chap. 3:9.) subservient to these great men. Perhaps no candlestick of this description ever existed, though it alludes to that of Moses in some respects, Exodus xxxvii. (Calmet) --- Lamp. Hebrew gullah, (Haydock) a round vessel for oil. (Menochius) --- It was filled from the two olive-trees, and supplied the seven lights by tubes. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 4:3 | And two olive-trees over it: one upon the right side of the lamp, and the other upon the left side thereof. | |
| Zechariah 4:4 | And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me, saying: What are these things, my lord? | |
| Zechariah 4:5 | And the angel that spoke in me answered, and said to me: Knowest thou not what these things are? And I said: No, my lord. | Are? Thou art a prophet, and art thou ignorant? (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 4:6 | And he answered, and spoke to me, saying: This is the word of the Lord to Zorobabel, saying: Not with an army, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. | To Zorobabel. This vision was in favour of Zorobabel, to assure him of success in the building of the temple, which he had begun, signified by the candlestick; the lamp of which, without any other industry, was supplied with oil dropping from the two olive-trees, and distributed by the seven funnels or pipes, to maintain the seven lights. (Challoner) --- Zorobabel might thus be comforted with the assurance that God would protect his Church. (Worthington) --- Spirit, represented by the eyes. The Messias would receive the fulness of this spirit, Isaias 11:2. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 4:7 | Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zorobabel? thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring out the chief stone, and shall give equal grace to the grace thereof. | Great mountain. So he calls the opposition made by the enemies of God's people; which, nevertheless, without any army or might on their side, was quashed by divine Providence. (Challoner) --- It may also mean Sion covered with ruins. --- Chief; either the first or the last stone. (Calmet) --- Equal grace. Shall add grace to grace, or beauty to beauty. (Challoner) --- He shall greatly adorn it. Hebrew, "when they shall lift it (the stone) up, they will exclaim: Let it be agreeable and loved." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "He shall bring forth the head-stone thereof with shoutings, crying: Grace, grace unto it." The people filled the air with their cries, when the temple was founded fourteen years before. (Haydock) --- This second attempt shall be more successful. The temple was finished in four years, 1 Esdras 5:16., and 6:16. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 4:8 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Zechariah 4:9 | The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands shall finish it: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to you. | |
| Zechariah 4:10 | For who hath despised little days? and they shall rejoice, and shall see the tin plummet in the hand of Zorobabel. These are the seven eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through the whole earth. | Little days. That is, these small and feeble beginnings of the temple of God. (Challoner) --- Ye of little faith shall rejoice when you shall behold Zorobabel surmounting all difficulties. (Calmet) --- Plummet. Literally, "the stone of tin." He means the builder's plummet, which Zorobabel shall hold in his hand for the finishing the building. (Challoner) --- The Hebrew style all weights stones, Deuteronomy 25:13. (Calmet) --- Eyes. The providence of God, that oversees and orders all things; (Challoner) or the assistance of the seven chief angels, Tobias 12:15., and Apocalypse 1:4. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 4:11 | And I answered, and said to him: What are these two olive-trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof? | |
| Zechariah 4:12 | And I answered again, and said to him: What are the two olive-branches, that are by the two golden beaks, in which are the funnels of gold? | Branches: the divine and human nature in Christ. (Worthington) --- They are the same with the two trees, ver. 11. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 4:13 | And he spoke to me, saying: Knowest thou not what these are? And I said: No, my lord. | |
| Zechariah 4:14 | And he said: These are two sons of oil, who stand before the Lord of the whole earth. | Two sons of oil. That is, the two anointed ones of the Lord; viz., Jesus, the high priest, and Zorobabel, the prince. (Challoner) --- The Hebrews have hot many adjectives. Thus they say, the son of perdition, for a lost son. Septuagint, "sons of fatness." Aquila and Theodotion, "of splendour;" two illustrious personages. (Haydock) --- One was head in religious, the other in civil matters. (Calmet) --- Both were appointed by God, and co-operated for the welfare of the people, as the church and state ought to act for the common good, and assist each other. (Haydock) --- Jesus and Zorobabel were to repair the damages done by the Chaldeans. They were assisted by the seven administering spirits, Hebrews 1:14. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 5:0 | The vision of the flying volume, and of the woman in the vessel. | |
| Zechariah 5:1 | And I turned, and lifted up my eyes: and I saw, and behold a volume flying. | Eyes of the soul. (Menochius) --- Volume. That is, a parchment, according to the form of the ancient books, which, from begin rolled up, were called volumes. (Challoner) --- Such are still used in the synagogues. They were usually written only on one side. (Calmet) --- Septuagint have read e at the end of megilla, and render "a scythe," (Haydock) indicating chastisement. Aquila and Theodoret have Diphthera, and Symmachus Kephalis. (St. Jerome) --- The latter denotes the roller (Haydock) to which the parchment was sewed. (Menochius) --- The former signifies a book written on vellum, particularly that in which the poets say Jupiter marks the sins and punishments of mankind. The prophet saw a volume of this nature. (Calmet) --- The sins of the people, and the punishment designed for them, were described. It appeared flying, to shew that the decree came from heaven. (St. Chrysostom, Il. xxvii. ad pop.) (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 5:2 | And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I see a volume flying: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. | Cubits, alluding to Judea, which was twice as long as it was broad. (Menochius) --- Many explain this vision and that of the woman, (ver. 7) of the Jews, (Calmet) after St. Jerome. (Haydock) --- But is seems rather to denote the Chaldeans, whose sentence had been long pronounced, and who were punished by the Persians, and by the Greeks, as by two women. If we understand the Jews, their iniquity was chastised by the Assyrians and Chaldeans. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 5:3 | And he said to me: This is the curse, that goeth forth over the face of the earth: for every thief shall be judged, as is there written: and every one that sweareth, in like manner shall be judged by it. | In like. Protestants, "shall cut off as on that side standing to it." (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 5:4 | I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts: and it shall come to the house of the thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof. | Thief. Nabuchodonosor is often so styled. (St. Jerome 4:7.) This title comprises all the injuries done to man, as he that sweareth falsely refers to those where God's honour is concerned (Calmet) more immediately. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 5:5 | And the angel went forth that spoke in me: and he said to me: Lift up thy eyes, and see what this is, that goeth forth. | |
| Zechariah 5:6 | And I said: What is it? And he said: This is a vessel going forth. And he said: This is their eye in all the earth. | Vessel. Hebrew epha. (Calmet) --- Eye. This is what they fix their eye upon, or this is a resemblance and figure of them, viz., of sinners. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "resemblance." (Haydock) --- This is their picture. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "wickedness;" áunom. (Haydock) --- U is often mistaken for 1:(St. Jerome) Yet here the Septuagint seems equally intelligible, ver. 8. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 5:7 | And behold, a talent of lead was carried, and behold, a woman sitting in the midst of the vessel. | Talent, or weight, (Haydock) called a stone, ver. 8. --- Vessel, like the idol Canopus. |
| Zechariah 5:8 | And he said: This is wickedness. And he cast her into the midst of the vessel, and cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. | He cast. Hebrew (Calmet) according to Theodotion, (St. Jerome) "She cast herself into the epha," etc. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 5:9 | And I lifted up my eyes, and looked: and behold, there came out two women, and wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a kite: and they lifted up the vessel between the earth and the heaven. | Women. They often represent nations; and here the Jews understand the Medes and Greeks, who punished the Chaldeans. St. Jerome rather thinks that the Assyrians and Chaldeans are meant, carrying away Israel and Juda. Yet the former supposition seems preferable, as the woman in the vessel signified the wickedness of Babylon. --- Kite. Moderns have, "stork:" the true sense is uncertain. (Calmet) --- The Jews became blind and hardened on account of their avarice and perjuries. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 5:10 | And I said to the angel that spoke in me: Whither do these carry the vessel? | |
| Zechariah 5:11 | And he said to me: That a house may be built for it in the land of Sennaar, and that it may be established, and set there upon its own basis. | The land of Sennaar, where Babel or Babylon was built; (Genesis ix.) where note that Babylon, in holy writ, is often taken for the city of the devil, (that is, for the whole congregation of the wicked) as Jerusalem is taken for the city and people of God. (Challoner) --- Antichrist will begin his reign at Babylon. (Worthington) --- Yet this is not clear. (Haydock) --- The Chaldeans are driven from the countries which they had seized, and confined to their own territory, by the Persians and Greeks; or, if we explain it of the Jews, many of them remained at Babylon, and did not return to defile their own country. Only those whose hearts were touched by God returned, 1 Esdras 1:5. (Calmet) --- Sennaar means "excussion." The Jews have been driven by the Chaldeans and Romans into all parts. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 6:0 | The vision of four chariots. Crowns are ordered for Jesus, the high priest, as a type of Christ. | |
| Zechariah 6:1 | And I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four chariots came out from the midst of two mountains: and the mountains were mountains of brass. | Four chariots. The four great empires of the Chaldeans, Persians, Grecians, and Romans; or, perhaps, by the fourth chariot are represented the kings of Egypt and of Asia, the descendants of Ptolemeus and Seleucus. (Challoner) (See Daniel ii.) (Worthington) --- The chariots seem to represent the same thing as the four horns, (chap. 1:18.) namely, the punishment of the four empires. The angel says nothing of the first chariot, as the Chaldeans, who overthrew the Assyrians, were now devoid of power. --- Brass, or hard; signifying that the chariots were designed to bruise nations. (Calmet) --- Empires depend on the decrees of God. (Menochius) --- The two mountains may denote the passes of Cilicia, through which the conquerors must pass from Egypt and Syria to Babylon. (Tournemine) |
| Zechariah 6:2 | In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, | Red. The Chaldeans were bloody towards the Jews, and clothed in red, Nahum 2:3. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 6:3 | And in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot grisled horses, and strong ones. | Strong; (Protestant marginal note) the text has "bay." (Haydock) --- Some Greek copies read erroneously, red. (St. Jerome) --- Others have, variegated, as ver. 7. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 6:4 | And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me: What are these, my lord? | |
| Zechariah 6:5 | And the angel answered, and said to me: These are the four winds of the heaven, which go forth to stand before the Lord of all the earth. | Winds. These angels go throughout the world to punish, Daniel 10:13. We commonly suppose the tutelar angels to be for the defence of their kingdoms. (Calmet) --- But they may often promote our real welfare by chastisements. (Haydock) --- The four monarchies fight like the winds, and soon disappear. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 6:6 | That, in which were the black horses, went forth into the land of the north, and the white went forth after them: and the grisled went forth to the land of the south. | North. So Babylon is called, because it lay to the north in respect of Jerusalem. The black horses, that is, the Medes and Persians, and after them Alexander and his Greeks, signified by the white horses, went thither because they conquered Babylon, executed upon it the judgments of God, which is signified [in] ver. 8 by the expression of quieting his spirit. (Challoner) --- The Persians are black, afflicting the Jews under Assuerus, and hindering the temple. (Menochius) --- Cambyses meditated their utter ruin, Zacharias 2:20. (Haydock) --- White. Alexander was of a beneficent temper when he was not intoxicated. He fought for glory, and was kind to the Jews. (Calmet) --- South: Egypt, which lay to the south of Jerusalem, and was occupied first by Ptolemeus, and then by the Romans. (Challoner) --- The Lagides were some good and some very bad princes, represented by the grisly colour. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 6:7 | And they that were most strong, went out, and sought to go, and to run to and fro through all the earth. And he said: Go, walk throughout the earth: and they walked throughout the earth. | Strong. Septuagint, "variegated;" psaroi, (Haydock) sturnini. (St. Jerome) --- Earth. This well describes the ambition and power of the Seleucides, particularly of Antiochus the great, (Calmet) or of the Roman generals down to Caesar. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 6:8 | And he called me, and spoke to me, saying: Behold, they that go forth into the land of the north, have quieted my spirit in the land of the north. | Spirit. Septuagint, "wrath or fury." (Haydock) --- Nabopolassar overcame the Assyrians, Cyrus the Chaldeans, as Alexander would shortly treat the Persians. |
| Zechariah 6:9 | And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: | |
| Zechariah 6:10 | Take of them of the captivity, of Holdai, and of Tobias, and of Idaias; thou shalt come in that day, and shalt go into the house of Josias, the son of Sophonias, who came out of Babylon. | Holdai, etc. They had brought presents for the temple, which are to be used to make crowns for Jesus and Zorobabel, ver. 13. (Calmet) --- The names are interpreted by the Septuagint, "of the princes and of its useful things, and of those who have known it, (captivity) and thou," etc. (Haydock) --- Helem and Hem are afterwards mentioned instead of Holdai, ver. 14. (St. Jerome) |
| Zechariah 6:11 | And thou shalt take gold and silver: and shalt make crowns, and thou shalt set them on the head of Jesus, the son of Josedec, the high priest. | Crowns. Chaldean, "a great crown." Septuagint, ver. 14., "a crown;" perhaps like the pope's (Menochius) --- Jesus. When the prophet set the crown on the high priest's head, in order to shew that it did not belong to him, except as a figure of the Messias, he added, behold a man, who is also God, called Orient, or "raising up," and establishing the kingdom, which was promised to David. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 6:12 | And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: *Behold a man, the Orient is his name: and under him shall he spring up, and shall build a temple to the Lord. Luke 1:78. | Orient. Protestants, "the branch, and he shall grow up out of his place." (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "under or from himself." This alludes to the miraculous birth of Christ, (Isaias 11:1.) whom the prophet had principally in view; though his hearers might naturally understand (Calmet) Zorobabel, who was to preserve the royal family and build the temple. (Theodoret; St. Jerome) --- Yet he was only a shadow of the Messias, Zacharias 3:8. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 6:13 | Yea, he shall build a temple to the Lord: and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit, and rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. | Glory. Septuagint, "virtue," or "receive strength" and courage, areten; (Haydock) or one of the crowns, as prince of Juda, ver. 10. (Calmet) --- Both. That is, he shall unite in himself the two offices or dignities of king and priest. (Challoner) --- Zorobabel and Jesus shall act in concert. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 6:14 | And the crowns shall be to Helem, and Tobias, and Idaias, and to Hem, the son of Sophonias, a memorial in the temple of the Lord. | Helem. Septuagint, "the crown shall be for those who expect him." (Haydock) --- Hem. Septuagint, "for grace." Hebrew chen. (St. Jerome) --- Thus proper names are frequently interpreted. (Haydock) --- The crowns were not to be worn, but to be deposited in the temple, 1 Machabees 1:23. (Calmet) --- The names of those four who had contributed towards their making, were to be inscribed upon them. Helem and Hem are the same with Holdai and Josias. (Menochius) --- The Jews say Hem or Daniel, and his three companions, brought gifts. (St. Jerome) |
| Zechariah 6:15 | And they that are far off, shall come, and shall build in the temple of the Lord: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me to you. But this shall come to pass, if hearing, you will hear the voice of the Lord, your God. | Off. Many Jews now assisted in the building, coming from all parts. The temple was thus finished in four years time; whereas Solomon, with all his riches and workmen, spent seven in building one. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 7:0 | The people inquire concerning fasting: they are admonished to fast from sin. | |
| Zechariah 7:1 | And *it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu. | Year of the World 3487. Casleu, in our November or December. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 7:2 | When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord: | And. Septuagint from; (St. Jerome) or, "to Bethel sent Sarasar and Arbesesar, the king, and his men, to render the face of the Lord propitious." (Haydock) --- These were Persian governors under Darius, (St. Jerome) or Cutheans, (Theodoret) or Jews, at a distance from the temple, though in the country. (Menochius) ---But they seem rather to be some who had not returned. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 7:3 | To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself, as I have now done for many years? | The fifth month. They fasted on the tenth day of the fifth month; because on that day the temple was burnt. Therefore they inquire whether they are to continue that fast after the temple is rebuilt. See this query answered [in] ver. 19 of the following chapter. (Challoner) --- The third of the seventh month (ver. 5) was also a fast, on account of the death of Godolias, (Calmet) during the captivity, 4 Kings 25:8, 25. (Worthington) --- Septuagint, "Has the sanctification entered hither in the fifth month, as they (or I) have done?" etc. (Haydock) --- Fasting and lamentation are styled sanctification, because they promote it; curatos quoque sanctificat; (St. Jerome) if the proper conditions be observed. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 7:4 | And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: | |
| Zechariah 7:5 | Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: *When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years, did you keep a fast unto me? Isaias 58:5. | Years, from the ruin of the temple till the fourth of Darius. --- Unto me? Did you grieve for the injury done to me; or was your sorrow caused by your own losses? The prophet gives not a direct answer; but sufficiently shews that exterior works of themselves are of little value. Whether the Jews entered into his sentiments or not, they still observe these fasts, though he said they should be changed into days of rejoicing, Zacharias 8:19. (Calmet) --- The fast was good, but imperfect, wanting works of charity. (St. Gregory) (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 7:6 | And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? | Yourselves, to gratify the senses more than from necessity, and without doing it for God's glory. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 7:7 | Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain: | Prophets. He alludes to Isaias 58:3. See also Jeremias 14:12., and Joel 2:12. The Jews were always too much attached to the letter, without minding the spirit of the law, being zealous for corporal rather than for spiritual works. --- South. Several of these cities were occupied by the Idumeans. --- Plain, or Sephala, which afterwards became flourishing and populous. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 7:8 | And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying: | |
| Zechariah 7:9 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: *Judge ye true judgment, and shew ye mercy, and compassion, every man to his brother. Micheas 6:8.; Matthew 23:23. | Judgment. Avoid sinning, when you fast. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 7:10 | *And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger, and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his brother. Exodus 22:22.; Isaias 1:23.; Jeremias 5:28. | Devise. Septuagint, "wickedly remember in your hearts each one the evil of his brother." (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 7:11 | But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear. | Depart, so to leave the burden on their partner. (Hebrew) (Calmet) --- Literally, "giving way;" recedentem. Pope Sixtus V, recedentes. Septuagint, "they gave a contemptuous back," (Haydock) like a slave, whom the whip cannot correct. |
| Zechariah 7:12 | And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from the Lord of hosts. | As, etc. Hebrew, "of Samir;" a stone used to polish jewels. Septuagint, "disobedient." |
| Zechariah 7:13 | And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts. | So shall. It seems the past time would be preferable; as Theodoret, St. Cyril, etc., understand it. (Calmet) --- Yet the Jews, whom the prophet addressed, were also reprehensible; and they or their posterity felt the effects of God's indignation, when he scattered them throughout the world, as we see at present. Septuagint have the future; but Protestants the past tense, "they cried," etc. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 7:14 | And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they knew not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness. | |
| Zechariah 8:0 | Joyful promises to Jerusalem: fully verified in the Church of Christ. | |
| Zechariah 8:1 | And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: | |
| Zechariah 8:2 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have been jealous for Sion with a great jealousy, and with a great indignation have I been jealous for her. | Jealous for her, treating her as a spouse, (Calmet) and not neglecting her as one incorrigible. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 8:3 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am returned to Sion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, and the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the sanctified mountain. | Truth. Idols and infidelity shall reign there no more. The Jews were more faithful after the captivity. But the Church of Christ is alone perfectly chaste. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 8:4 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem: and every man, with his staff in his hand, through multitude of days. | |
| Zechariah 8:5 | And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls, playing in the streets thereof. | |
| Zechariah 8:6 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If it seem hard in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, shall it be hard in my eyes? saith the Lord of hosts. | Days. If no prospect of such happiness now appear, is any thing difficult to Omnipotence? (Haydock) (Luke 1:37.) |
| Zechariah 8:7 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun. | Sun, from Chaldea and the islands. This chiefly regards the Christian Church. (Calmet) --- Assyria and Chaldea lay to the north. The promises are too great for the synagogue. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 8:8 | And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God in truth and in justice. | Justice. I will fulfil my promises, if they adhere to virtue. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 8:9 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strengthened, you that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, in the day that the house of the Lord of hosts was founded, that the temple might be built. | |
| Zechariah 8:10 | For before those days there was no hire for men, neither was there hire for beasts, neither was there peace to him that came in, nor to him that went out, because of the tribulation: and I let all men go every one against his neighbour. | Hire, or "reward;" merces. (Haydock) --- All their toils proved useless: (Calmet) the land would not yield her fruit. (Haydock) See Aggeus 2:16. --- The temple had now been building two years, and then God sent his prophets and many blessings. --- Neighbour. Civil broils and the enemy rendered all wretched, 1 Esdras iv. |
| Zechariah 8:11 | But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people according to the former days, saith the Lord of hosts. | |
| Zechariah 8:12 | But there shall be the seed of peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew: and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. | |
| Zechariah 8:13 | And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the Gentiles, O house of Juda and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing; fear not, let your hands be strengthened. | Blessing. As the nations could wish no greater curse than what you have experienced, so you shall now be regarded as a most happy people. |
| Zechariah 8:14 | For thus saith the Lord of hosts: As I purposed to afflict you, when your fathers had provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord, | |
| Zechariah 8:15 | And I had no mercy: so, turning again, I have thought in these days to do good to the house of Juda, and Jerusalem: fear not. | |
| Zechariah 8:16 | These then are the things which you shall do: *Speak ye truth every one to his neighbour; judge ye truth and judgment of peace in your gates. Ephesians 4:25. | Of peace, or perfect. Shew no partiality. |
| Zechariah 8:17 | And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his friend; and love not a false oath; for all these are the things that I hate, saith the Lord. | Friend means every neighbour, or all mankind, Luke 10:27, 36. Even thoughts must be guarded. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 8:18 | And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: | |
| Zechariah 8:19 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Juda joy and gladness, and great solemnities; only love ye truth and peace. | Fast. They fasted on the ninth day of the fourth month, because on that day Nabuchodonosor took Jerusalem, Jeremias 52:6. On the tenth day of the fifth month, because on that day the temple was burnt, Jeremias 52:12. On the third day of the seventh month, for the murder of Godolias, Jeremias 41:2. And on the tenth day of the tenth month, because on that day the Chaldeans began to besiege Jerusalem, 4 Kings 25:1. All these fasts, if they will be obedient for the future, shall be changed (as is here promised) into joyful solemnities. (Challoner) --- They had only inquired about the fasts of the fifth and seventh months but the two others were also to be omitted in times of joy. (Worthington) --- The Jews still observe all four. (Basnage 5:16.) --- They fast on the seventeenth of the fourth month, because the breach was then made in the walls, (Calmet) and Moses broke the tables of the law, according to the Jews, in St. Jerome. The ninth of the fifth month is also kept instead of the tenth, on which day the city was taken by the Chaldeans; (Calmet) and the Romans burnt the temple in the same month, as the Israelites had then formerly been sentenced to wander in the desert. (St. Jerome) --- It would be difficult for the Jews to prove all these assertions. |
| Zechariah 8:20 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Until people come and dwell in many cities, | |
| Zechariah 8:21 | And the inhabitants go one to another, saying: Let us go, and entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Lord of hosts: I also will go. | |
| Zechariah 8:22 | And many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts, in Jerusalem, and to entreat the face of the Lord. | Lord. Many were converted in the days of Esther and the Pharisees were eager to make proselytes in all parts, (Esther 8:17.) when Christ preached, (Matthew 23:15., and Acts 2:11.) Yet we must go to the Church to see this fully accomplished. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 8:23 | Thus saith the Lord of hosts: In those days, wherein ten men of all languages of the Gentiles shall take hold, and shall hold fast the skirt of one that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you. | Ten men, etc. Many of the Gentiles became proselytes to the Jewish religion before Christ; but many more were converted to Christ by the apostles and other preachers of the Jewish nation. (Challoner) --- Skirt, or hem, by which the Jews were distinguished, (Numbers 15:38., and Matthew 9:20.) (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 9:0 | God will defend his Church, and bring over even her enemies to the faith. The meek coming of Christ, to bring peace, to deliver the captives by his blood, and to give us all good things. | |
| Zechariah 9:1 | The burden of the word of the Lord, in the land of Hadrach, and of Damascus the rest thereof; for the eye of man, and of all the tribes of Israel, is the Lord's. | Burden. Preaching of the truth is disagreeable to infidels, and light to the faithful. (Worthington) --- Hadrach; Syria, (Challoner) or a city near Damascus, on which it rested. The victories of Alexander and of the Machabees are here described. The former defeated the Arabs near Damascus, (which was betrayed to Parmenio) and having gained the victory at Issus, became master of Celosyria, of which he made Parmenio governor. (Calmet) --- Rest. Septuagint, "his sacrifice, for the Lord looks on men and on all the tribes of Israel." (Haydock) --- He wished for the conversion of all, and those who turn to him are not rejected. (St. Jerome) |
| Zechariah 9:2 | Emath also, in the borders thereof, and Tyre, and Sidon; for they have taken to themselves to be exceeding wise. | Emath, or Emesa, not far from Damascus. (Calmet) --- It shall also fall a prey to Alexander. (Haydock) --- Tyre was become again very rich and strong, (Calmet) and gloried in its wisdom; yet was taken after a long and obstinate resistance (Haydock) of seven months, when the inhabitants were slain or sold, the city demolished, and the ships sunk. (Curt. iv.; Usher, year of the world 3672.) --- Sidon made no resistance, as it hated the Persians. Yet Strato was forced to resign the throne to Abdolonymus, (Arian ii.; Just. xi.) which indicates some opposition. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 9:3 | And Tyre hath built herself a strong hold, and heaped together silver as earth, and gold as the mire of the streets. | |
| Zechariah 9:4 | Behold the Lord shall possess her, and shall strike her strength in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire. | |
| Zechariah 9:5 | Ascalon shall see, and shall fear, and Gaza, and shall be very sorrowful: and Accaron, because her hope is confounded: and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ascalon shall not be inhabited. | Ascalon was ruined. The other cities opened their gates, as Jerusalem did. (Josephus, Antiquities xi. ult.) --- Batis alone resolved to defend Gaza. He was dragged round the city when it was taken, after a siege of two months; the inhabitants were slaughtered or sold, and others brought in their stead. (Curt. iv.; Diod. Oly. cxii.) |
| Zechariah 9:6 | And the divider shall sit in Azotus, and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines. | Divider. Hebrew mamzer; "bastard," or rather "stranger." It is reported that Alexander was the illegitimate son of Nestabanes, whom Olympius took for Jupiter. (Plut.[Plutarch]; Just. xi.) --- But these might be popular reports. The sequel seems to shew that the Jews, etc., occupied the towns of the Philistines under the Machabees. (Chaldean) (Grotius) (Calmet) --- The divider may denote any conqueror. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 9:7 | And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and even he shall be left to our God, and he shall be as a governor in Juda, and Accaron as a Jebusite. | His blood. It is spoken of the Philistines, and particularly of Azotus, (where the temple of Dagon was) and contains a prophecy of the conversion of that people from their bloody sacrifices and abominations to the worship of the true God. (Challoner) --- Many pagans devoured the victims raw, and drank the blood of their enemies. These marks of cruelty and superstition shall cease when they adopt the law of Moses, Genesis 9:4., and Leviticus 7:26,. and 17:11. --- Governor, or city of a thousand: (Calmet) Hebrew alup, Micheas 5:2. (Haydock) --- Jebusite. They probably embraced the faith with Areuna, 2 Kings 24:16. The city was formerly styled Jebus. The towns of the Philistines shall not be distinguished from the rest, under the dominion of Juda. See 1 Machabees 5:66., and 10:78. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 9:8 | And I will encompass my house with them that serve me in war, going and returning, and the oppressor shall no more pass through them; for now I have seen with my eyes. | War; the Machabees. (Challoner) --- They stood up like a wall for the people and the temple. (Calmet) --- Hebrew, "my house, on account of those going," etc. I will protect it better than an army. (Haydock) --- After the Machabees, God preserved the temple from profanation till he abandoned it after the death of Christ. (Calmet) --- Yet Pompey penetrated into the most holy place, and Crassus plundered the treasury. Both felt the effects of their impiety, and had no farther success. --- Oppressor; tax-gatherer, (Haydock) sent by foreign tyrants. (Menochius) --- Till the Machabees, particularly Hircan, (Calmet) or Simon, his father, (Haydock) threw off the yoke, the Jews were always subject (Calmet) either to the Persians, to Syria, or to Egypt. (Haydock) --- Hircan's son, Aristobulus, took the title king, and governed in peace. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 9:9 | *Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold thy king will come to thee, the just and saviour: he is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Isaias 62:11.; Matthew 21:5. | King. Christ often came to Jerusalem; but his last entrance, to die for man's redemption, was most excellent. (Worthington) --- If the Jews had not wilfully blinded themselves, they could not mistake Him, as he is here so minutely described, possessing the most humble and the noblest qualities. Not knowing how to reconcile them, they feign one Messias glorious and another poor and despised; while others admit only of one, and reject either the abject or the exalted things which the prophets have spoken of him. The Church alone can reconcile these apparent contradictions in our Saviour's character. After predicting what would befall the Jews till about one hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet turns to Him who was the desire and comfort of the nation. (Calmet) --- Saviour. Hebrew Noshah, (Haydock) or Jesus. (St. Jerome) --- Poor; or meek, as St. Matthew quotes it, after the Septuagint and Chaldean. (Menochius) --- They have read v for i, as hani (Haydock) means poor. (Calmet) --- Protestants, "lowly," which may signify devoid of riches, or of pride. --- Ass. Septuagint, "yoked animal, and upon a young foal." (Haydock) --- The former denotes the Jews. |
| Zechariah 9:10 | And I will destroy the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the bow for war shall be broken: and he shall speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth. | Chariot. Arms shall be useless, Micheas 5:10. --- Earth. This can be understood only of Christ's kingdom, (Calmet) though it allude to the greatest limits of the promised land. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 9:11 | Thou also, by the blood of thy testament, hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water. | Water; from limbo, (St. Jerome; etc.; Worthington; St. Thomas Aquinas, 3:p. q. 52. a. 1; Calmet) and purgatory. See St. Augustine, de Genesis 12:23., et ep. 99. (Menochius) --- Christ delivered the ancient patriarchs by virtue of his covenant, just sealed with his blood. Hebrew at present reads, "and as for thee, Sion, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners," etc., delivering the Hebrews out of Egypt by the paschal lamb. (Chaldean) But this text is suspected, as St. Jerome remarks no variation. |
| Zechariah 9:12 | Return to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope, I will render thee double, as I declare to-day. | Hold. Return ye, who stay behind, to Jerusalem. God will make good all that you abandon; or come, Judas has procured liberty for the people, 1 Machabees 4:36. (Calmet) --- Embrace the gospel, and enter the Church. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 9:13 | Because I have bent Juda for me as a bow, I have filled Ephraim; and I will raise up thy sons, O Sion, above thy sons, O Greece, and I will make thee as the sword of the mighty. | Juda: the Machabees. (St. Jerome) --- Filled, or stretched the bow of Ephraim. (Calmet) --- The people shall act with vigour and union. (Haydock) --- Sons; viz., the apostles, who, in the spiritual way, conquered the Greeks, and subdued them to Christ. (Challoner) --- The Machabees repressed the insolence of the Seleucides, who were of Greek extraction. |
| Zechariah 9:14 | And the Lord God shall be seen over them, and his dart shall go forth as lightning; and the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and go in the whirlwind of the south. | Seen. God miraculously interposed in favour of the Machabees, and his angels appeared at their head, 1 Machabees 2:22., and 5:2., and 10:29., and 11:8., and 15:15. A handful of men thus routed vast armies, and asserted their independence, avenging religion and the state, which they restored to greater splendour. --- South, whence storms usually arise in that country, Job 37:9. The angels confounded the enemy, 1 Machabees 10:30. |
| Zechariah 9:15 | The Lord of hosts will protect them: and they shall devour, and subdue with the stones of the sling: and drinking, they shall be inebriated as it were with wine, and they shall be filled as bowls, and as the horns of the altar. | Sling. At first the Machabees had no other weapon, 1 Machabees 4:6. The sling was much used, Judges 20:16. --- Wine. They will shed blood of the enemy so abundantly, and be all besmeared with it. They would never drink it, like the pagans, Leviticus 17:10. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 9:16 | And the Lord, their God, will save them in that day, as the flock of his people: for holy stones shall be lifted up over his land. | Holy stones; the apostles, who shall be as pillars and monuments in the Church. (Challoner) --- The Machabees are like a wall. They restore the altar of holocausts, built of fresh stones, 1 Machabees 4:(Calmet) |
| Zechariah 9:17 | For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins? | The corn, etc. His most excellent gift is the blessed Eucharist, called here the corn, that is, the bread of the elect, and the wine springing forth virgins, that is, maketh virgins to bud, or spring forth as it were like flowers among thorns, because it has a wonderful efficacy to give and preserve purity. (Challoner) --- It enables the weak to despise all things for the sake of virtue, and makes them fruitful and eloquent, as the original implies. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "a fragrant wine for virgins." (Haydock) --- Christ is the grain of wheat, which dying, brings forth much fruit, (John xii.) and "of this wheat that bread is made which came from heaven," John vi. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) --- "How shall not they have joy, who being inebriated with the cup of our Saviour, are made virgins?" This was partly verified in the days of the Machabees, to whom plenty was granted. (St. Jerome) (Haydock) --- Those who partake worthily of the blessed Eucharist, become strong and pure. (Menochius) --- Protestants, "corn shall make the young men cheerful, (marginal note: grow, or speak) and new wine the maids." (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 10:0 | God is to be sought to, and not idols. The victories of his Church, which shall arise originally from the Jewish nation. | |
| Zechariah 10:1 | Ask ye of the Lord rain in the latter season, and the Lord will make snows, and will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. | Snows. Protestants, "Bright clouds," or "lightnings." (Haydock) --- God will presently grant your requests, after the persecution of Epiphanes. (Calmet) --- The latter season is when fruit ripens, the acceptable time to sue for grace. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 10:2 | For the idols have spoken what was unprofitable, and the diviners have seen a lie, and the dreamers have spoken vanity; they comforted in vain; therefore they were led away as a flock: they shall be afflicted, because they have no shepherd. | Vanity. Jason prevailed on many to imitate the Gentiles, 1 Machabees 1:12. |
| Zechariah 10:3 | My wrath is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit upon the buck-goats: for the Lord of hosts hath visited his flock, the house of Juda, and hath made them as the horse of his glory in the battle. | Goats; the leaders of the people, Jeremias 50:8. (Calmet) --- Vir gregis ipse caper. (Virgil, Ec. vii.) --- Jason died in exile, Lysimachus was slain in the temple, Alcimus perished miserably, and Menelaus was hurled among ashes, 2 Machabees 5:5., and 4:39., and 13:4., and 1 Machabees 9:54. --- Battle. The apostates have suffered: God will not abandon his flock, but raises up Mathathias, etc. |
| Zechariah 10:4 | Out of him shall come forth the corner, out of him the pin, out of him the bow of battle, out of him every exactor together. | Corner, to connect the building. The Machabees were not of the tribe of Juda; but it was the chief, and gave name to the rest. Judas was also a figure of Christ, the chief corner-stone, and he should be born of that tribe. --- Pin, to fasten down the tent, or to hang things upon. These comparisons were not deemed mean, 1 Esdras 9:8., and Isaias 22:23. --- Exactor. The term may have a good as well as a bad sense. Taxes must be paid for the support of lawful governments. Judas forced other nations to pay tribute. (Calmet) --- The same term in Ethiopia, means "a king." (De Dieu) |
| Zechariah 10:5 | And they shall be as mighty men, treading under foot the mire of the ways in battle; and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them; and the riders of horses shall be confounded. | Riders. The Syrians, with (Haydock) all their cavalry, were routed by a few ill-armed infantry. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 10:6 | And I will strengthen the house of Juda, and save the house of Joseph: and I will bring them back again, because I will have mercy on them: and they shall be as they were when I had not cast them off, for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them. | Joseph. All the tribes shall embrace the gospel at last. (Worthington) --- Back, from the caverns to which they had fled. |
| Zechariah 10:7 | And they shall be as the valiant men of Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine; and their children shall see, and shall rejoice, and their heart shall be joyful in the Lord. | Valiant. Ephraim was a powerful and valiant tribe, Deuteronomy 33:17. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 10:8 | I will whistle for them, and I will gather them together, because I have redeemed them: and I will multiply them as they were multiplied before. | Whistle. Christians are sweetly drawn by inspirations, without clamorous words. (St. Cyril) (Worthington) --- This expression shews the sovereign dominion of God. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "I will give them a sign." (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 10:9 | And I will sow them among peoples: and from afar they shall remember me: and they shall live with their children, and shall return. | Me. The Jews were spread throughout the world, and adhered to their own customs. (Philo) See Acts 2:8. --- While they enjoyed the greatest prosperity, they kept together in a small territory. It is wonderful how they have since increased. |
| Zechariah 10:10 | And I will bring them back out of the land of Egypt, and will gather them from among the Assyrians; and will bring them to the land of Galaad, and Libanus, and place shall not be found for them. | For them. They returned from the places to which they had been dispersed during former wars, when Judas had liberated his country. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 10:11 | And he shall pass over the strait of the sea, and shall strike the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the river shall be confounded, *and the pride of Assyria shall be humbled, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart. Apocalypse 16:12.; Isaias 11:15. | Sea. The Jews pretend that the Bosphorus' straits were dried up, to afford them a passage. (St. Jerome) --- But they must produce some stronger text to prove such a miracle. No obstacles shall be able to retard God's people, Isaias 11:16. --- Assyria. After Epiphanes, the kingdom subsisted only about seventy years. --- Egypt. The Ptolemies excluded the natural princes, who have never regained the throne. They who had so often disturbed the Jews, were deprived of their power over them by the Syrians, and never could prevail there again after the Machabees. (Calmet) --- When the faithful are confirmed in their religion, the enemy cannot hurt them. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 10:12 | I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk in his name, saith the Lord. | |
| Zechariah 11:0 | The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. God's dealings with the Jews, and their reprobation. | |
| Zechariah 11:1 | Open thy gates, O Libanus, and let fire devour thy cedars. | Gates. Josephus (Jewish Wars 7:12.) relates, that the heavy eastern gates flew open at midnight: and the priests officiating at Pentecost, heard a multitude crying, "Let us go hence." See Tacitus, History V. Johanan then declared, "O temple, I know thou wilt so be destroyed," as Zacharias foretold, Open, etc. (Kimchi; Lyranus; etc.) (Calmet) --- Libanus. So Jerusalem, and more particularly the temple, is called by the prophets, from its height, and from its being built of the cedars of Libanus. (Challoner) (Isaias 10:34., and Ezechiel xvii.) (St. Jerome) --- The destruction of both by Titus is predicted. (Worthington) --- Cedars. Thy princes and chief men. (Challoner; Worthington) |
| Zechariah 11:2 | Howl, thou fir-tree, for the cedar is fallen, for the mighty are laid waste: howl, ye oaks of Basan, because the fenced forest is cut down. | Fir and oak may signify the cities and towns of the Jews. --- Fenced. Septuagint, "well planted;" (Calmet) or "forest, planted all at once." (Haydock) --- "The temple was like a fortress." (Tacitus) |
| Zechariah 11:3 | The voice of the howling of the shepherds, because their glory is laid waste: the voice of the roaring of the lions, because the pride of the Jordan is spoiled. | Pride, or farther banks, covered with shrubs, among which lions dwelt, Jeremias 50:44. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 11:4 | Thus saith the Lord, my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter. | Feed, thou Zacharias; (Menochius) or the prophet announces what God will do. --- Slaughter, whom Herod and his successors, the Zealots, Eleazar, Simon, and John, so cruelly oppressed and brought to ruin. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 11:5 | Which they that possessed, slew, and repented not, and they sold them, saying: Blessed be the Lord, we are become rich: and their shepherds spared them not. | |
| Zechariah 11:6 | And I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord: behold, I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall destroy the land, and I will not deliver it out of their hand. | Hand. This alludes to the last siege of Jerusalem, in which the different factions of the Jews destroyed one another, and they that remained fell into the hands of their king, (that is, of the Roman emperor) of whom they had said, (John 14:15.) We have no king but Caesar. (Challoner) --- The besieged slew each other daily, so that Vespasian did not hurry. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 5:2., and 6:1.) |
| Zechariah 11:7 | And I will feed the flock of slaughter for this, O ye poor of the flock. And I took unto me two rods, one I called Beauty, and the other I called a Cord: and I fed the flock. | For this. Christ came to feed his flock. (Calmet) --- But the Jews would not receive him. (Haydock) --- Septuagint read (Calmet) locnani, as [in] ver. 11, "of slaughter into Chanaan, and I," etc. (Haydock) --- Two rods, or shepherds' staves, meaning the different ways of God's dealing with his people; the one by sweet means, called the rod of Beauty, the other by bands and punishments, called the Cord. And where both these rods are made of no use or effect by the obstinacy of sinners, the rods are broken, and such sinners are given up to a reprobate sense, as the Jews were. (Challoner) --- The first denotes God's general providence, as it is most seemly that all should be under him; the second means his particular care of the Jews. (Worthington) --- God uses both the crook and the whip, employing both severity and tenderness. Now all proves in vain. |
| Zechariah 11:8 | And I cut off three shepherds in one month, and my soul was straitened in their regard: for their soul also varied in my regard. | Month. That is, in a very short time. By these three shepherds probably are meant the latter princes and high priests of the Jews, whose reign was short. (Challoner) --- Ismael, Joseph, and Ananus, all obtained the dignity in one year; and as they and their predecessors were actuated by avarice, they could not fail being displeasing to God. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius were likewise cut off in little more than a year, when Vespasian succeeded, and his son took Jerusalem. (Calmet) --- The Jews pretend that Moses, Aaron, and Mary[Miriam] are here meant. (St. Jerome) --- But what reference can the prophet have to them? |
| Zechariah 11:9 | And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die: and that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour every one the flesh of his neighbour. | Not feed. This is the final sentence. God allowed them thirty-seven years to repent, after the death of Christ. |
| Zechariah 11:10 | And I took my rod that was called Beauty, and I cut it asunder to make void my covenant, which I had made with all people. | All people. Hereupon all fell upon the Jews. |
| Zechariah 11:11 | And it was made void in that day: and so the poor of the flock that keep for me, understood that it is the word of the Lord. | Poor converted to Christ, (Calmet) who retired to Pella, (Eusebius, Church History 4:5.) as they had been warned of the impending storm, Matthew 24:1., and Luke 21:20. |
| Zechariah 11:12 | And I said to them: If it be good in your eyes, bring hither my wages: and if not, be quiet. *And they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 27:9. | Pieces. Sicles are usually understood. About fifty-one livres. The Jews bought the life of Christ for this sum; (Calmet) thirty pieces. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 11:13 | And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the statuary, a handsome price, that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver; and I cast them into the house of the Lord, to the statuary. | The statuary. The Hebrew word signifies also a potter, (Challoner) and this seems to be the true meaning, Matthew 27:3. The prophet is ordered to bring, thus to indicate what should be done by the traitor. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "cast them into the crucible to see if it (the metal) be good, as I have been tried by them." (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 11:14 | And I cut off my second rod that was called a Cord, that I might break the brotherhood between Juda and Israel. | Israel. The latter remained obstinate, (Calmet) while Juda, the real "confessor," (Haydock) embraced the gospel. After the destruction of the temple, the Jewish ceremonies were no longer (Calmet) observed or tolerated in the Church, as they had been, in order that the synagogue might be buried with honour. (St. Augustine) (Haydock) --- The Jews are rejected. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 11:15 | And the Lord said to me: Take to thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. | A foolish shepherd. This was to represent the foolish, that is, the wicked princes and priests that should rule the people, before their utter desolation. (Challoner) --- Caligula, Claudius, or Nero, monsters of stupidity, may also be meant. To such the Jews preferred to submit: but they soon found out their mistake, when it was too late. Caligula and Nero would be adored in the temple! |
| Zechariah 11:16 | For behold I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish that which standeth, and he shall eat the flesh of the fat ones, and break their hoofs. | Hoofs, with excessive travelling. (Calmet) --- They shew no pity, but are wholly intent on their own pleasures. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 11:17 | O shepherd, and idol, that forsaketh the flock: the sword upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quite wither away, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. | Shepherd. Septuagint, "ye who feed foolish things, forsaking," etc. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "shepherd of nothing." --- Darkened. Caligula was slain, and had not sense to know what was for this real interest. His wife and only daughter were murdered. See Josephus, Antiquities 19:1. (Suetonius) --- His maxim was, "Let them hate, provided they fear;" and he wished the Romans had "all but one neck," that he might cut it off. (Calmet) --- Antichrist, the destroyer, shall perish. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 12:0 | God shall protect his Church against her persecutors. The mourning of Jerusalem. | |
| Zechariah 12:1 | The burden of the word of the Lord upon Israel. Thus saith the Lord, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundations of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in him: | |
| Zechariah 12:2 | Behold I will make Jerusalem a lintel of surfeiting to all the people round about: and Juda also shall be in the siege against Jerusalem. | A lintel of surfeiting. That is, a door into which they shall seek to enter, to glut themselves with blood: but they shall stumble, and fall like men stupified with wine. It seems to allude to the times of Antiochus, and to the victories of the Machabees. (Challoner) --- Yet it indirectly relates to the last siege of Jerusalem, and to Jesus Christ establishing his Church. Hebrew, "a cup of drowsiness," or trembling. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "as courts (or thresholds; prothura) shaken." (Haydock) --- Jerusalem first drank the cup herself; and then under the Machabees, made others suffer. --- Juda. Never before Epiphanes had the Jews fought against their brethren. Then the apostates became most terrible, 1 Machabees 1:55., and 2:7, 19. (Calmet) --- Thus none persecute the Catholic faith more than those who have perfidiously abandoned it. (Haydock) --- When the gospel began to be preached, the obstinate Jews opposed it, Acts iv., etc. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 12:3 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all people; all that shall lift it up shall be rent and torn; and all the kingdoms of the earth shall be gathered together against her. | Stone. It was customary to have such huge stones for people to try their strength. (St. Jerome) --- Ruptures and wounds were frequently the consequence, Ecclesiasticus 6:22. The nations which attacked God's people, paid dear for their victory. (Calmet) --- All fight against the Church; (Menochius) yet she prevails. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 12:4 | In that day, saith the Lord, I will strike every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open my eyes upon the house of Juda, and will strike every horse of the nations with blindness. | Blindness. The cavalry of the Syrians proved useless against a few (Calmet) champions under God's protection. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 12:5 | And the governors of Juda shall say in their heart: Let the inhabitants of Jerusalem be strengthened for me in the Lord of hosts, their God. | Let. Septuagint, "We shall find for us the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the Lord Almighty, their God." (Haydock) --- Judas always exhorted his men to trust in the Lord, 1 Machabees 3:18. (Calmet) --- Mocbai, the initials of "who is like thee among the strong, (Alim) O Lord," (Exodus 15:11.; Haydock) is supposed to have been his motto, (Calmet) written on his banners; and some assert, that it occasioned the appellation of Machabees. (Haydock) --- "Strengthen for me." (Aquila) |
| Zechariah 12:6 | In that day I will make the governors of Juda like a furnace of fire amongst wood, and as a firebrand amongst hay: and they shall devour all the people round about, to the right hand and to the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place in Jerusalem. | Furnace. Septuagint, "firebrand among wood, and as a burning lamp amid straw." (Haydock) --- Left. The Samaritans shall fall as well as the Idumeans. --- Place. The temple and city had been deserted, while the troops of Epiphanes occupied the citadel, 1 Machabees 3:45., and 4:38. |
| Zechariah 12:7 | And the Lord shall save the tabernacles of Juda, as in the beginning: that the house of David, and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not boast and magnify themselves against Juda. | David. The Machabees were not of this family, but Levites, born at Modin, in Ephraim. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 12:8 | In that day shall the Lord protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that hath offended among them in that day shall be as David: and the house of David as that of God, as an angel of the Lord in their sight. | Hath. Septuagint, "is weak." --- Offended. Such shall repent and be pardoned, like David. (Haydock) --- They shall imitate his valour. The posterity of David shall no more cause the people to go stray. --- Of God. He seems to allude to Christ's birth. David's offspring shall not ascend the throne; but their virtue shall be conspicuous; they shall give birth to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 12:9 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. | |
| Zechariah 12:10 | And I will pour out upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of prayers; *and they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son, and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the first-born. John 19:37. | Prayers. Septuagint and Chaldean, "pity." (Haydock) --- After the Machabees more synagogues were erected, and the people were more faithful; yet this chiefly regards the new law, in which the spirit prays with us ineffably, Romans 8:26. (Calmet) --- Me. So far the prophet speaks in Christ's name. He afterwards relates how the people will grieve for him, beating their breasts, Luke 23:48. This was clearly verified in Christ, John 19:31. (Menochius) --- But in the gospel we read, him whom they have pierced, as the context seems here to require. (Haydock) --- Some Hebrew copies read in like manner, (Calmet) the Erfurth Manuscript 2 having aliu, "on him," though Michaelis remarks not this important variation. The Jewish transcriber would not alter his text to make it conformable to the New Testament. (Kennicott) --- Septuagint, "they shall look upon me for having insulted," or skipped. (Calmet) --- Yet "St. John did not much regard what the Greek contained, but interpreted word for word as he had read in Hebrew," as the other sacred writers did when there was any material difference. St. Jerome, quoted by Kennicott. (Dis. ii. p. 347, etc.) (Haydock) --- Adopting this reading, we may explain this of Judas, whom the people greatly bewailed, 1 Machabees 9:20. He was a figure of Christ, whom the prophet had chiefly in view. All the Jews who embraced the faith verify this prediction, (Calmet) as those particularly did who had been instrumental to the death of our Saviour, and afterwards entered into themselves, Acts 2:37. Both Jews and Gentiles have all contributed by their sins to crucifying their Lord; and, at the last day, all shall look on him as their judge or as their deliverer. --- Pierced. Hebrew dakaru. (Haydock) --- Septuagint have transposed d and r, which are very similar, and read rokdu, "have danced," or derided. (St. Jerome) --- The original implies, have outraged or blasphemed, as well as pierced. They shall henceforward cease to despise God and his law. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 12:11 | In that day there shall be a great lamentation in Jerusalem, *like the lamentation of Adadremmon, in the plain of Mageddon. 2 Paralipomenon 35:22. | Adadremmon. A place near Mageddon, where the good king Josias was slain, and much lamented by his people. (Challoner) --- It was not far from Jezrahel, 2 Paralipomenon xxxv. The lamentation for Josias, represents that of impenitent sinners at the day of judgment. (St. Jerome) (Worthington) --- Septuagint translate the proper names, "of the pomegranate which is cut down in the field." (Haydock) --- All from ver. 8 may be explained of Judas. |
| Zechariah 12:12 | And the land shall mourn: families and families apart: the families of the house of David apart, and their women apart: | Apart. Bands of men and of women mourning, went with musical instruments separately through the streets, and into the country; as they still do in the East. (Calmet) --- On such occasions, as well as in times of prayer, continence is observed. (St. Jerome) |
| Zechariah 12:13 | The families of the house of Nathan apart, and their women apart: the families of the house of Levi apart, and their women apart: the families of Semei apart, and their women apart. | Nathan. Zorobabel was his descendant. --- Semei, the son of Gershom, 1 Paralipomenon 6:16. (Calmet) --- "From this tribe the doctors are chosen." (St. Jerome) --- The pious of all ranks bewail the death of Christ, and the share which they had in it. (Haydock) --- He had done good to many; and therefore we may presume that many would grieve in every tribe. (Menochius) |
| Zechariah 12:14 | All the rest of the families, families and families apart, and their women apart. | |
| Zechariah 13:0 | The fountain of Christ. Idols and false prophets shall be extripated. Christ shall suffer: his people shall be tried by fire. | |
| Zechariah 13:1 | In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: for the washing of the sinner, and of the unclean woman. | Fountain. In the New Testament Christ is made an open fountain by his incarnation, John 4:13. (St. Gregory, xx. in Ezechiel 1:6. ep. 186.) (Worthington) --- His baptism and other sacraments have the most surprising effects, to which the prophet refers more than to those waters which were brought by pipes into the temple to cleanse the victims, Ezechiel 47:1. (Calmet) --- The washing. Septuagint, "change and sprinkling." Grabe substitutes chorismon, "separation," and marks the verse with an asterisk. The legal impurities shall be effaced. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 13:2 | *And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will destroy the names of idols out of the earth, and they shall be remembered no more: and I will take away the false prophets, and the unclean spirit out of the earth. Ezechiel 30:13. | No more. After the Machabees, the people were free from idolatry, and magical arts were repressed, Osee 2:16., and Ezechiel 37:22. (Calmet) --- "Idolatry and heresy are punishable by death, in the law of Christ." (Worthington) --- To judge in these matters belongs only to the Church. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 13:3 | And it shall come to pass, that when any man shall prophesy any more, his father and his mother that brought him into the world, shall say to him: Thou shalt not live: because thou hast spoken a lie in the name of the Lord. And his father, and his mother, his parents, shall thrust him through, when he shall prophesy. | Not live. The law condemned those prophets to death, who attempted to lead the people into idolatry, Deuteronomy 13:1. People shall be so zealous for God's honour, that the parents of the seducer shall themselves (Calmet) bring him to judgment. (Haydock) --- Through, or make some mark upon him, as fugitive slaves, etc., were stigmatized. (Calmet) --- Septuagint, "shall shackle." (Haydock) --- They before interpreted dakar, danced, or insulted. The others have in both places, "pierced." (St. Jerome) --- The person was not slain, ver. 6. |
| Zechariah 13:4 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be confounded, every one by his own vision, when he shall prophesy, neither shall they be clad with a garment of sackcloth, to deceive: | Vision. They shall have no appearance of truth. --- Sackcloth. Hebrew, "hairy skin;" adereth. Such were used by kings, Jonas 3:6. The people shall not be deceived by such appearances, so that these garments will not be used. The Jews have always been ready to receive impostors, Matthew 7:15. Yet they shall not be so frequent, or dangerous. The prophets used coarse hairy garments, 4 Kings 1:8. |
| Zechariah 13:5 | But he shall say: I am no prophet, I am a husbandman: for Adam is my example from my youth. | Husbandman. Worldly occupations were incompatible with the office of prophets, 3 Kings xix 20., and Amos 7:15., and Matthew 4:20. The (Calmet) false (Haydock) prophets will become so odious, that people will excuse themselves from taking up the calling. --- Example. I am condemned like him to labour, Genesis 3:17. Septuagint, "a man begot me." Hebrew, "taught, or bought me, (Calmet) or caused me to work." (De Dieu) |
| Zechariah 13:6 | And they shall say to him: What are these wounds in the midst of thy hands? And he shall say: With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me. | Loved me. My parents marked me thus, ver. 3. (Calmet) --- Some have understood this of Jesus Christ. (Rupert) (St. Thomas Aquinas) --- But the context excludes this interpretation, which would be injurious to him. (Calmet) --- The false prophet is reformed by his parents' correction, so that he applies to agriculture, and owns that he had been justly punished. (St. Jerome) (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 13:7 | Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that cleaveth to me, saith the Lord of hosts: strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn my hand to the little ones. | Sword. This address rouses attention. (Calmet) --- The sword implies all the torments which Christ endured. (Worthington) --- He explains this of himself; only instead of strike, he says I will strike, (Matthew 26:31.) as the sword was directed by God. (Haydock) --- Patris voluntate percussus est. (St. Jerome) --- Cleaveth. Hebrew hamithi, "my amiable one;" (Haydock) "of the same tribe with me;" (Aquila) "of my people." (Symmachus) St. Jerome observes, that Septuagint and Theodotion have read v for the last i, and render "his neighbour," or citizen. Yet some editions of the Septuagint retain "my fellow-citizen." (Haydock) --- Little ones. Septuagint, Arabic, etc., "shepherds," (Calmet) which "many ill apply to the Jewish princes." (St. Jerome) --- Tsoharim means also "the little," Micheas 5:2. Christ takes care of his little flock, (Luke 12:32.; Haydock) and is always one with the Father, John 8:29., and 10:30. (Calmet) --- He recalled the flying apostles, and gave them courage. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 13:8 | And there shall be in all the earth, saith the Lord, two parts in it shall be scattered, and shall perish: but the third part shall be left therein. | Third. The greatest part of mankind will be lost. (Haydock) --- The few Jews who embrace the faith will be absorbed in the Gentile converts, and suffered to live, though proved by persecutions, while the rest shall be exterminated. Both shall lose their name, and be styled Christians. (Calmet) --- Those who adhere to Judaism, or to paganism, cannot be saved. This is the privilege only of Christian Catholics, who live piously, and are selected by God's grace. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 13:9 | And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined: and I will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say: Thou art my people: and they shall say: The Lord is my God. | Fire. The Church was persecuted during the first centuries; but always became more pure, and the blood of martyrs increased her numbers. (Calmet) --- She faithfully adhered to God. (Haydock) --- The Jews say this will not take place at last: "but we assert that it is already accomplished." (St. Jerome) |
| Zechariah 14:0 | After the persecutions of the Church, shall follow great prosperity. Persecutors shall be punished: so shall all that will not serve God in his Church. | |
| Zechariah 14:1 | Behold the days of the Lord shall come, and thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee. | Midst. The obstinate Jews shall be destroyed. They became their own enemies. (Calmet) --- The Zealots committed the greatest excesses during the siege. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 5:1.) --- Tacitus also refers to these transactions, having written thirty volumes on the Caesars, from Augustus to Domitian's death." (St. Jerome) |
| Zechariah 14:2 | And I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be rifled, and the women shall be defiled: and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the rest of the people shall not be taken away out of the city. | I will gather, etc. This seems to be a prophecy of what was done by Antiochus, (Challoner) or of the last siege, (Worthington) by the Romans. (St. Jerome; Theodoret; Eusebius, Dem. 6:18.) (Calmet) --- Vespasian collected numerous forces. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 3:1.) --- Titus had six legions and many auxiliaries, Arabs, etc. (Tacitus, Hist. v.) --- Various nations composed their army. (Worthington) --- Rifled, or demolished. None was left standing. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:6.; Heges. 5:49.) --- St. Jerome and others think that the city on Sion was spared, (Calmet) and 40,000 were permitted to dwell where they had a mind. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:15.) --- But it is not said that they continued at Jerusalem. Half the Jews therefore perished, and those who maintained the siege found a grave in the city. (Theodoret) --- Half only denotes a considerable part, as [in] ver. 8. Those who followed our Saviour's admonition, retired before, and were safe (Calmet) at Pella, Zacharias 10:11. Septuagint, "the rest of my people shall not be destroyed out of the city." |
| Zechariah 14:3 | Then the Lord shall go forth, and shall fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. | Shall. Septuagint, "will stand in battle array among," etc. (parataxetai en) though he will one day punish the victorious Romans. (Haydock) --- Now he fought with them as [the] Hebrew may signify. (Calmet) --- Various prodigies made this clear: (Josephus, Jewish Wars 7:12, 16.) so that Titus would not receive the crown which was presented to him, as he looked upon himself only as the instrument employed by divine justice. (Philost. 6:14.) --- This sense is given by St. Cyril, etc. (Calmet) --- In the days of Epiphanes, God defeated his projects. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 14:4 | And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is over-against Jerusalem toward the east: and the mount of Olives shall be divided in the midst thereof to the east, and to the west with a very great opening, and half of the mountain shall be separated to the north, and half thereof to the south. | Olives. Here the tenth legion was stationed, (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:3.) on the spot where Christ had denounced this judgment, and ascended into heaven, Luke 19:41., and Acts 1:12. --- South. We cannot shew the literal accomplishment. If it regard the latter times, this must be hidden. But it suffices that some great earthquake should take place, according to most interpreters; or rather, (Calmet) the Romans removed vast quantities of earth and stone. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:12.) (Grotius) --- Olivet has three tops; the southern one is the lowest. But whether this was caused by an earthquake we know not. The rocks are said to split, etc., when God displays his power and affords some miraculous assistance, Psalm 17:8., and Isaias 24:8., and Habacuc 3:10. |
| Zechariah 14:5 | And you shall flee to the valley of those mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall be joined even to the next, and you shall flee *as you fled from the face of the earthquake in the days of Ozias, king of Juda: and the Lord, my God, shall come, and all the saints with him. Amos 1:1. | Flee. While the siege was forming many escaped, according to Josephus. Hebrew, Septuagint, etc., "The vale of my mountains shall be filled up, for," etc. (Calmet) --- Yet Protestants agree with us. (Haydock) --- Those should be "my." (Ribera) (Menochius) --- The next. Protestants and Septuagint, "reach unto Azal." (Haydock) --- You shall. Septuagint, etc., "and it shall be filled, as it was filled at the earthquake," etc. (Calmet) --- The Romans had to raise many works in the vale of Cedron, so that the trees all round were cut down, and the garden walls removed thither. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:4, 14.) --- Ozias, when he attempted to offer incense. (Josephus, Antiquities 9:11.) (Amos 1:1., and 4 Kings 15:15.) --- Yet the earthquake is not specified in the sacred historical books. (Worthington) --- On that occasion, the people retired into the vale formed by the separation of Olivet; or, if we follow the Septuagint, part of that mountain fell into the valley of Cedron, which we find nowhere else specified. (Calmet) --- With him. Protestants, "thee." (Haydock) --- God is attended by his angels; though the Romans may be called his saints, or people destined to execute his decrees in this war, Isaias 13:3., and Sophonias 1:7., and Deuteronomy 33:3., and Joel 3:1. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 14:6 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that there shall be no light, but cold and frost. | No light; viz., in that dismal time of the persecution of Antiochus, when it was neither day nor night, (ver. 7.) because they neither had the comfortable light of the day, nor the repose of the night. (Challoner) --- Darkness denotes distress. The citizens shall be in despair, Matthew 24:29., and Ezechiel 22:8., and Joel 2:2., and Apocalypse 9:2. Hebrew seems to be corrupt: "no precious light, but thick," or a cloud. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 14:7 | And there shall be one day, which is known to the Lord, not day nor night: and in the time of the evening there shall be light: | In the time of the evening there shall be light. An unexpected light shall arise by the means of the Machabees, when things shall seem to be at the worst. (Challoner) --- At one period of the last siege, it was dubious what would be the event, particularly (Calmet) when Titus was separated from almost all his attendants, and when the besieged burned the works of the enemy. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:2., and 12.) |
| Zechariah 14:8 | And it shall come to pass in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem: half of them to the east sea, and half of them to the last sea: they shall be in summer and in winter. | Living waters; viz., the gospel of Christ. (Challoner) --- Last: Mediterranean. (Haydock) --- The prophet now turns to the figurative Jerusalem. The earthly city was not well supplied with water. (Calmet) --- It was in the most dry and barren part of the country. (St. Jerome in Isaias xlix.) --- As much as the Mediterranean excels the Dead Sea, so much do the Gentiles surpass the Jewish converts in numbers. See Zacharias 13:1. (Calmet) --- The true faith is Catholic in all places, and at all times. (Worthington) |
| Zechariah 14:9 | And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one. | One Lord. The apostles justly gave this title to Christ, John 13:14. He is possessed of all power, Matthew 28:18., and Philippians 2:10. Pastors are all subject to him. (Calmet) --- The Pope styles himself, "servant of the servants of God," since St. Gregory's time. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 14:10 | And all the land shall return even to the desert, from the hill to Remmon, to the south of Jerusalem: and she shall be exalted, and shall dwell in her own place, from the gate of Benjamin even to the place of the former gate, and even to the gate of the corners; and from the tower of Hananeel even to the king's wine-presses. | Return. This in some measure was verified by means of the Machabees; but is rather to be taken in a spiritual sense, as relating to the propagation of the Church and kingdom of Christ, the true Jerusalem, which alone shall never fall under the anathema of destruction, or God's curse. (Challoner) --- The limits of Jerusalem were never so extensive. --- Hill, or Gabaa to Remmon," or the pomegranate. The situation is not ascertained. |
| Zechariah 14:11 | And people shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more an anathema: but Jerusalem shall sit secure. | Anathema. It shall not be sentenced to utter ruin. The Church may suffer losses, but cannot perish. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 14:12 | And this shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord shall strike all nations that fought against Jerusalem: the flesh of every one shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. | Consume. Such judgments as these have often fallen upon the persecutors of God's Church, as appears by many instances in history. (Challoner) --- This has partly been verified in persecuting emperors, (St. Jerome) and in others, and will befall the wicked when the day of judgment shall draw near. (Worthington) --- Herod, who made war on Christ, and Agrippa, who attacked his Church, (Calmet) were both devoured by worms. (Josephus, Antiquities 17:9., and 19:7.) (Acts 12:13.) --- Nero slew himself; Maximian was eaten to death by an inward ulcer; and his colleague's (Maximinus) eyes fell from his head. (Eusebius in Constantine 1:57., and 59.) --- It would seem as if Zacharias beheld them. He may also speak of the attempts of God, and of Epiphanes, Zacharias 2:8., and 12:9. |
| Zechariah 14:13 | In that day there shall be a great tumult from the Lord among them: and a man shall take the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall be clasped upon his neighbour's hand. | Them. The Church shall be alarmed at these wars, seeing enemies on all sides. But those days shall be shortened, Matthew 24:21. --- Hand. Christians shall assist each other; or rather the nearest relations will persecute them, Matthew 10:21, 36. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 14:14 | And even Juda shall fight against Jerusalem: and the riches of all nations round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and garments in great abundance. | Even Juda, etc. The carnal Jews, and other false brothers, shall join in persecuting the Church. (Challoner) --- The Jews shewed themselves the most virulent, 2 Corinthians 11:24., and Acts viii., etc. They insisted on the death of St. Polycarp. --- Riches. Converts shewed their generosity so much, (Calmet) that Julian and Felix, apostates, complained of this profusion in sacred vessels. (Theod.[Theodoret,?] Hist. 2:11, 12.) |
| Zechariah 14:15 | And the destruction of the horse, and of the mule, and of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts, that shall be in those tents, shall be like this destruction. | Shall be like this destruction. That is, the beasts shall be destroyed as well as the men; the common soldiers as well as their leaders. (Challoner) --- History does not specify the death of cattle, (Calmet) though in plagues this would inevitably follow; and the pagans complained that they were become more common since the propagation of the gospel. (Haydock) --- The reverses which the troops of Dioclesian, etc., sustained, were to punish their enmity to religion. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 14:16 | And all they that shall be left of all nations that came against Jerusalem, shall go up from year to year, to adore the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. | Left. That is, many of them that persecuted the Church shall be converted to its faith and communion, (Challoner) particularly after Constantine. (Calmet) --- Tabernacles. This feast was kept by the Jews, in memory of their sojourning forty years in the desert, in their way to the land of promise. And in the spiritual sense, is duly kept by all such Christians as in their earthly pilgrimage are continually advancing towards their true home, the heavenly Jerusalem, by the help of the sacraments and sacrifice of the Church. And they that neglect this, must not look for the kind showers of divine grace to give fruitfulness to their souls. (Challoner) --- Out of the Church there is no salvation. (Calmet) --- Other things may be obtained. (St. Cyprian) (Haydock) --- The converts shall celebrate the Christian festivals, and merit great rewards, while infidels shall remain barren and devoid of eternal happiness. (Worthington) --- We have no solemnity of tabernacles; but Gentiles keep the Epiphany in thanksgiving for their vocation to God's admirable light, 1 Peter 2:9. (Calmet) |
| Zechariah 14:17 | And it shall come to pass, that he that shall not go up of the families of the land to Jerusalem, to adore the King, the Lord of hosts, there shall be no rain upon them. | There. Septuagint, "these shall also be added to them" who perish. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 14:18 | And if the family of Egypt go not up, nor come: neither shall it be upon them, but there shall be destruction, wherewith the Lord will strike all nations that will not go up to keep the feast of tabernacles. | |
| Zechariah 14:19 | This shall be the sin of Egypt, and this the sin of all nations, that will not go up to keep the feast of tabernacles. | Sin, or punishment. Formerly various nations were excluded from the religion or assemblies of Israel, Leviticus 22:25., and Deuteronomy 23:1. Now all are invited and compelled to enter the Church, so that they can have no excuse, Luke 14:24. (Calmet) --- Those rejected by the Jews might still have true faith. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 14:20 | In that day that which is upon the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord: and the cauldrons in the house of the Lord shall be as the phials before the altar. | Bridle. The golden ornaments of the bridles, etc., shall be turned into offerings in the house of God. And there shall be an abundance of cauldrons and phials for the sacrifices of the temple; by which is meant, under a figure, the great resort there shall be to the temple, that is, to the Church of Christ, and her sacrifice. (Challoner) --- It is of a different nature, being the body and blood of Christ. But it shall not be confined to one place, nor the priesthood to one family, ver. 21. Hebrew, "they shall inscribe on the stables, Holy," etc. The most filthy places shall be purified and changed into temples; or, "what is upon the little bells for horses shall be sanctified;" or, on these "bells shall be inscribed, sacred to the Lord." (Calmet) --- Metsilloth may signify a bell or bridle, etc. (Haydock) --- The bits were often of gold. (Virgil, Aeneid vii., and viii.) (Calmet) --- St. Jerome's master said the word should be motsiluth, "trappings" and armour. (Haydock) |
| Zechariah 14:21 | And every cauldron in Jerusalem and Juda shall be sanctified to the Lord of hosts: and all that sacrifice, shall come, and take of them, and shall seeth in them: and the merchant shall be no more in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day. | Merchant; or, as some render it, the Chanaanite shall be no more, etc., that is, the profane and unbelievers shall have no title to be in the house of the Lord; or, there shall be no occasion for buyers or sellers of oxen, or sheep, or doves, in the house of God, such as Jesus Christ cast out of the temple. (Challoner) (John 2:16.) --- All former distinction of Jew and Gentile shall cease in the Church. Past faults shall be forgotten. (Calmet) |