Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

him what Bui thi ritfa the the prophet are always into i with '"'n" nwrjKi folio ii lamps, is unquestionably a figuratii ntation of the seven-branched golden candlestick in th made, which are peculiar to itself: (1) That it has its gulldh (™ for nrftt with the feminine termination resolved; cf. Hos. xiii. 2, and Ewald, § 257, f), an ox round vesi 1 for the oiL which was omitted altogether from th tick of the holy place, when the Lamps were filled with oil by the pri "at the top of it" (•-:,N----. j (2) That it had seven Iqoth

(pipes) each for the lamps, that is to say, tubes through which the oil poured from the gulldh into the lamps, or was conducted to them, whereas the candlestick of the tabernacle had no pipes, but only seven arms (yamm), for the purpose of holding the lamps, which of course could not be wanting in the case of the visionary candlestick, and are merely omitted from the description as being self-evident. The number of the pipes is also a uted point, viz. whether TO?W *VfiW means seven and seven, i.r. fourteen, or whether it is to be taken distributively, seven each for the lamps, i.e. seven for each lamp, and therefore grace untv The question | by the prophet to the does not refer to the two olive trees only (Umbreit, Kliefoth), warranted in assuming that the prophet, like every otic Israelite, knew what the candlestick with its seven lamps signified; and even if Zechariah had been perfectly acquainted with the meaning of the golden candlestick in the holy place, the candlestick seen by him had other things beside the two olive trees which were not to be found in the candlestick of the temple, viz. the gulldh and the pipes for the lamps, which

Num. iv. 16; and the anointing oil is called shemen h,,,',/, jn other passages; and shemen mishchath-qodesh in Ex. xxx. 25. Apart from

: 4 of the chapter before us, SfOsUr is nerer usad f or the Urop oil m •be enumerat** of the prodoctioo* of the U

■ at sA/sk« is the name pvcn to it when it* strength and uae are eoo- ■dved Haaptaabafg i •! mi a, t: il sanaAr > Mm rhetorical i r poetical name lor oil, ha- *iion in the circumstance thai yit thing new, or without there being any n< ity to account, as Koehl i, for the introdaction of the k, which ho has quite correctly explained (though I tkens the explanation by saying that it applies primarily to Zernbbabel), namely, by Bamming that u it was intended, on the one hand, to remind him what the calling of Israel was: and. on the other hand, to admonish him that Israel could never reach this calling by the increase of its might and the exaltation of its strength, but solely by suffering itself to be filled with the Spirit of Jehovah."

r the candlestick does not set forth the object after which Israel is to strive, but symbolizes the church of God, as it will shine in the splendour of the light received through the Spirit

fortn m Hii sarvai iiL 8). 1.' h will fill the house of Go I which Zernbbabel has built, with glory. In order that this may be. Zerubbabel must build the dwells in the midst of Ij.pie. On account of this importance of the temple in relation to Israel, the opponents of

Judafa sought to throw obstacles in the way of its being built and these obstacles were a sign and prelude of the oppositi which the imperial power of the world, standing before Zerubbabel as a great mountain, will offer to the kingdom of God. This mountain is to become a plain. What Zerubbabel the

| rfed truth, if we only take them in the sense in which they actually intended, — namely, that no one who hopes to accomplish, or does accomplish, anything great, ea the day of point in th.- vMmi that is net vet quite clear to him, and he th a^ks for an explanation in vers. 11-1-1. \Yr. n.

branches | - of the olive-trees which are at the hand of the two golden spouts, which pour the gold out of themselves? Ver. 13. And he,rake to me thus: Knowest thou not what these are? and iid. Xo. my lord. Ver. 14. Then said he, These are the two oil-chddren, which stand by the Lord of the whole earth." The meaning of the olive-trees on the right and left sides of the candlestick (al, over, because the olive-trees rose above the indicate anything that the prophet could not have inter- Pr' flfs and hence the aatoniahment expressed in the question of the angel in ver. 13. Moreover, the vision was intended to - an entirely new order of things, but simply,w the completion of that which was already contained and typified En the old covenant. The seven-armed adlestick was nothing new in itself. All that was new in the candlestick seen by Zechaiiah was the apparatus through

lemon's temple (1 Kings vi. 3), and also to the dimension* of the holy place in the tabernacle, which was twenty cubits tong and ten cubits broad He iberg, Hofmann, and l mbreit, following the example of Kimchi, assume that ti reference is to the porch of the temple, and suppose that the mil has the same dimensions as this porch, to indicate that the judgment is K a consequence of the theocracy," or was to issue

. with "'—: won t:... and en that, according to it" (the roll), i.e. according to the cone written upon this side and that side of the roll. We have therefore to picture the

I in the fact that the ephah is carriol away, and the sinners likewise (Maurer), nor in the fact that the sin I Its full measure i.. Ha r "the carrying away of the sum.-. >me into consideration there is nothing at all here about the sin ling full/1 II ue but there is nothing to indicate that the ephah is completely filled by it, so that there is no further room in it; and this thought would be generally out of keeping here. The point of comparison is rather to be found in the explanation given by Kliefoth: " Just as in a bushel the separate grains are all collected together, so will the individual sinners over the whole earth be brought into a heap, when the curse of the end goes forth over the whole earth." We have no hesitation in appropriating this explanation, although we have not rendered fjien '•the earth," inasmuch as at the final fulfilment of the vision the holy land will extend over all the earth. Immediately which carry the ju nt from the dwelling-place of I the lands of the north an i, which are mentioned as the leal of the imperial: and the mountains are of bl to denote the immoveable firmness of the place where the I dwells, and where He has founded His kingdom.

The colour of the horses, by which the four chariots are distinguished, is just as significant here as in ch. i. 8; and indeed, so far as the colour is the same, the meaning is also the same here as there. Three colours are alike, since b'ruddim, speckled, is not essentially different from 8eruqgim} star- wMch doei not look like the purple of a kind's talar or the del of a chlamye" (Dehtsach); or, speaking more correctly, it merely denotea the glaring colour which the dreai hi • uired through being sprinkled over with red spots, arising that remains therefore is to acknowledge, in accordance with the words of the text, that in the interpretation of the vision the departure of the team with the red horses is omitted, and the team with speckled powerful horses divided into two teams —one with speckled horses, and the other with black We cannot find any support in this for the interpretation of the four chariots as denoting the four imperial monarchies of Dame, since neither the fact that there are four chariots nor the colour of the teams furnishes any tenable ground for this And it is precluded by the angel's comparison of the four chariots to the four winds, which point to four quarters of the which the « • ur, bat limply expresses a distinction in the idea. In the clause with D*Ktf the mission of the chariot idea. The expression tf the black bones are going 001" is equivalent to, u they ai in the following clauses with IstSj the going out is expressed in the form of a fact, for which we should use the present.

A still greater difficulty lies in the way of the interpretation of the colours of the horses as denoting the great empires, from the statement concerning the places to which the teams go forth. Kliefoth finds the reason why not only the black horses (of the Mcdo-Persian monarchy), but also the white horses (of the Gnvco-Macedonian), go forth to the north country (Mesopotamia), but the latter after the former, in the fact that not only the Babylonian empire had its seat there, but the Medor rsian empire also. But how does the going forth of the speckled horses into the south country (Egypt) agree with this? If the fourth chariot answered to the fourth empire in Daniel, i.e. to the Roman empire, since this empire executed the judgment upon the Graeco-Macedonian monarchy, this anee not at en I the firrt member orRoman. atradiction to the book of Daniel and to the

. developed itself in Antiochns Epiphanet into ■ t\ Antichrist, and have let the -c!! also go to the north, us. to Syria. This could have been explained b\ fencing so Daniel; bat not their going forth to the south country from the fact tliat the south country is mentioned in Dan. XL 5, whole earth" in ver. 5, who causes the chariota to go forth- two < 1>. M:.. lis and llit/.L: suppose, lint what foil be made to harmonize with this. Th bet is to put the

\UdrOth upon Joshua's head. But you do not put two or more crowns upon the head of one man; and the indifference

1. \ \.. I..*h., Cal '... Hitzi \ M ■r this the language to mj nothing of its being qu the and i and ehange of subject in r~%? and 7f^ would be intolerably harsh. In additi this acooidu radii. 15, the llomlnh is call t righteous growth I up to David, ii the

>ne, and > makes others to sprout. r him * to in I lengstenbei ' I h as to and as to!;se of I Jodfth, both Solomon and Zerabbdbel w temple which is the church of God itaelf (IIos. viii. 1; 1 Pet. ii Heh. iii. t>; and Eph. ii. 21, 22). Z iiariah not only speaks of t mple here, hut ibo in ch. iv.. Baggai had done before him, in IIcilt- ii- &-% which puts the correctness of our explanation of these passages beyond the reach of doubt. The repetition of this statement in v.-r. 13a is not useless, but serves, as the emphatic Wftl before this and the following sentence shows, to brin^ the work of the Tsemach into connection with the place He will occupy, in other words, to show the glory of the temple to be built. The two clauses are to be linked together thus: " He who will build the temple, the same will in 1 1. 7, thai the Lord will fill II with the the speak- 1 has been aei em by th< vali inch an aaanmption as tliis in the simple announcement, which shows no trace of excitement; hut v*1i6 may be O I 1 with the preceding thought, u ye will know,"

etc., and affirms that they will only discern that the ang< Jehovah has been sent to them when they pay attention to the e of their God. Now, alt; the recognition of the sending of tl 1 of the Lord involves participation in the

What follows will then be appended thus: On the fourth day of the ninth month, in KjaleY, Bethel sent, etc. Thus the more precise definition of the time is only given in connection with the following occurrence, because it was self-evident that the word of God which was addressed to the prophet in consequence of that event, could not have been addressed to him before it anthr ression for a in I ire it d that they wr the to bo still kept op in l oth. T the clause

• I ~t:n population of B tl. by which the men had been I refen to a subject in which the who! munity was intere the leading incidents in the Chaldacan catastrophe by keeping in the fifth, seventh, fourth, and tenth months. In the fifth month (Ab), on the tenth day, because, according to Jer. lii. 12, 18, that was the day on which the temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by fire in the nineteenth year

Jthuvali hat preached through tin former j rophets, when Jerusalem teas in and the south country and the It land \c> I thought of v-. 7 is the follow It is a matter i i nical abstinence fr king and drinking hut in the that men rl of Qod and live thereby, as the nvophet re the captivity had already preached to the people. This overthrew the notion that men could acquire favOOI of Qod by f anting, and left it to the people to decide whether they would any longer observe the previous fastdays; it also ihowed what God would require of them if they wished to obtain the promised blessings. For the inf. absoh see at Hag. i= 6. The fasting in the seventh month was not at hat been already ob- cause what has been pr tually to occur* I an asMir.i: I only of the gl M of the ial all the countries of the earth is still in the future, all countries, the land of the l I the land of the setting (the west) are individualized (cf. Ps, 1. 1, cxiii. 3; \ lix. 19; Mai. i. 11). This deliverance is first effected through the Messiah. This is indisputably evident from the

.ild, $ 232, h); and |w, to send, used of a hostile nation, is here transferred to personal attacks on the t>art of individuals. — Vers. 11 sqq. But now the Lord will act differently to His

1 Luther aptly obs* r\ -: " Keep only what

BUnandmentB, not only shall I fai be

:. all the affliction, for whi chosen and k» ipt such

shall be so forgotten, tl. think

ng, and of the heart's grief on account of which ye fasted fur tc.

iitio: i second dootrisUJuil occurr. i at tho same I oa tho firat. not ao e» o roatora' ol the M. M.h (as some Rabbin, raj. r that it is the name of an unknown Syrian king (Qea, Bleek), or of an A -ynan fire-god, A Jar or Amr (Mover,), or of a deity of -torn Annwa (Babylonia), as Hitaig maintained, since there is no trace whatever of the existence of such a king or deity; and ey,„ Hltag himself has relinquished his own conjecture. And the v,ew defended by J. D. Mich, and Rosenmuller, that

thovah through the prophet, ioasmiich ai the fol ing clause if appended with I quite groundless. T \ clause in 1. S8j "In thejaar that kin \ i was this th«' assumption that the cities and lands mentioned in the of this prophecy hs • 1 l>v the "~s- assamption which has not been evidently implies that the burden resting upon the land of lit Irach will all these cities and lands* The exposition remark that the burdensome word upon Hadracli will rest upon ir, i.e. will settle permanently upon it. (The suffix in InTBO refers to '" 1?] N*f2.) It is only with the lands which Stood in a closer relation to Judah, viz. Tyre, Sidon, and the provinces of Philistia, that it assumes the form of a specially prophetic description. The contents of the heading are sustained by the thought in the second hemistich: " Jehovah has an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel." CJK TV. with the genit. obj. signifies an eye upon man, analogous to rnpnn *YDM in ver. 12. D"JX, as distinguished from " all the tribes of Israel," signifies the rest of mankind, i.e. the heathen world, as in Jer. xxxii. 20, where "Israel" and " men " are opposed to one another. The explanatory clause, according to which the burden of Jehovah falls upon,the land ot Hadrach, and rests upon Damascus, because the eye of Jehovah looks upon mankind and all the tribes of Israel, i.e. His providence stretches

Imperial ople of God;. in the of Jadah and Ephnrin over the sons of.lavan. Thai the

Ms ktng w,lt perieh out of Gaza, and A Melon will not dwell Vet. 6. The bastard mil dwell in Aehdod; and I shall destroy the pride of the Philistine,. Yer. 7. And I shall take away his hu mouth, and his abominations from between h teeth; and he trill also remain to our God, and will be as a

Phoenicians an I Syrians mentioned before, of whose being left nothii I L, but to the id [n implied in -:*-"s*\ our Go 1. Just as in the case of Israel a " remnant" of true con! of Jehovah is left when the judgment falls upon it, so also will a remnant of the Philistines be left for the God of Israel. The attitude of this remnant towards the people of God is shown in the clauses which follow. He will be like an 'ail,. "

LO i. * as in what j ill the* Dj described in the of Tyre al so here I of the of t:. it.mt: think a, making allowance for the difference between prophecy and bis! Bat Koehler has already replied to this, that the prophecy in ver. 7 was nut fulfilled by the deeds of Alexander, in Hi rnment this first virtue of a ruler (c£. Isa. xi. 1 I hal has not the active or transitive sense of the hiphil rpto), 1 Bee the history of the exposition in Hengstenberg'l Ckriik.

precepts concerning the sacrifices, viz. that in the he is < pts, of which those in Num. xix. 2, and 1 E tv purposes animals

of the tl the pi that the kingdom of the Messiah would unfold itself, through 101 •:: • i might and glory; that J promised Messiah, would n« [uer the world by the force of arms, and i His | pie to political supremacy, hut that He w.uild f<»nnd I lis kingdom by suffering and dying a kingdom which, though not of this world, would nevertl overcome the world. The figurative character of the prophetic picture, according to which " riding upon an ass" merely Serves to individualize *$ff and set forth the lowliness of the true King of Zion under appropriate imagery, has heen already pointed out by Calvin1 and Vitringa; and the latter has also

1 Cabin says: "I have no doubt that the prophet added this clause (viz. 'riding upon an ass,' etc.) M an appendix to the word *#, as much as to say: The King of whom I speak will not be illustrious for His magui-

iv Co at* Idrraeid to the daughter in as Ah. e not only learn this from the cor.* rice both of them are spot

the number of Km aoahara, or eves tea rojal lAaifuia, ahica attract the ht paopW." " Vttriefa aaja, « faa. UL 4: M la teat paaaaf* of Z«baneh t&*«i. emttiet to tta aptriteal aad mjetkeJ eaaav, km t» amine •eeid tar* beta « i kient viiboet tfc» acotkai oi ike aetry of Cenat ieto Jareaalaei; bet vaea God would pat ell tee efepeeee of vaice the woroe are eapabJa ttpoa the preoeotioae otirr flee propectm. He ova ptoridaeea took

eore that the acodrot taoeJd alao occur, ao teat do part of tee

>n of deli. ut of all trouble, so Long, that is to say, as it did not render the paWmin nugatory by wick itin^ the conditions imposed by God" (Hengstenb The new matter in: ~s"i: in:-. 11 ■ therefore the following: The pardon of Israel will not merely in the fact that Jehovah will send the promised King to the daughter Ziun; but He will also redeem such members of His

10 of wai (F* \\:. -. His aiTOW goea oat like the lightning J the to- a the fact d scribed, compare Ilab. iii. 11). Marching at the head of His people, He gives the signal of battle with a trumpet-blast, and attacks the enemy with terribly devastating violence. The description rests upon the poetical descriptions of the coming of the Lord to judgment, the colours of which are borrowed from the phenomena of a storm (cf. Ps. xviii. and Hab. iii. 8 sqq.). Storms of the south are the most violent storms, as they come from the Arabian desert, which bounds Canaan on the peopl alto a to weapoi c foe.

of the ombi) a% •ling-elooea it to be explained from the fi. in 1 url awav the tool of tbe encn. ■ 1 overflowing, ao that they become full, like toe sacrificial I in which the blood of the sacrificial animals was c the comers of the altar, which were sprinkled * sacrificial blood, rto am corners, not the horns of the altar.

n of tliis honourable epithet to Israel is justified in ver. 17,

] •s ami oracular i. which 1 as the the BO • who plunged the nation into misery thn

nat: to be ui the ba;;erds; vah will also make Judah into a victorious people. This is the nitanii.

lui!t the firm, stat.lv foundation which Jadefa To thi l the ph Ih.,lt «»t -s in whi.-h the inner walls | NNjth a row of large nails or | for luu the house Dtenaib l,p"n- Ti:" r:- For the rapport npholden of the whole: -,,;,•, \ eren in

Httxig end others, that it r Jehovah, is overthrown by the expression W wp m the last clause. For if we could say, Jadah will recoil firm foundation, its internal fortification, and its military h from Jehovah, the expression, "Every military commander will go out or come forth out of Jehovah,'' is unheard-of and un-criptural. It is not affirmed in the Old Testament even of the Messiah that lie goes forth out of God, although His "goings forth" are from eternity (Mic. v. 1), and He Himself is called El gibbor (Isa. ix. 5). Still less can this be affirmed of every ruler {kol-noges) of Judah. In this clause, therefore, mimmennu must refer to Judah, and consequently it must be taken in the same way in the first three clauses. On |0 K£, see Mic. v. 1. Noges, an oppressor or taskmaster, is not applied to a leader or ruler in a good sense even here, any more than in Isa. iii. 12 and lx. 17 (see the comm. on these passages). The fact that shall be if 1 not been cast off,1' without Deeding any further definition, since not only do v. t with -V* without

Mi\ v.:)k but here also the manner of dwelling is ind in th 1 clam DWDpic ~:sz. " as before they were ircuinstance thai in the time ath-ptleeer an raimitei had to K..ler an:. for history knows nothing of this, and the sup; BOCaping from these could not be explained as relating to a return or gathering together of the Ephraimitei or Israelites out of Egypt and Assyria, because the announcement presupposes that the Ephraimitei had been transported to Egypt in quite as lare-e numbers as to Assyria, — a fact which cannot be established either in relation to the times before or to those after the captivity. Egypt, as we have already shown at Hos. ix. 3 (cf. viii. 13), is rather introduced in all the passages mentioned simply as a type of the land of bondage, on account of its having been the land in which Israel lived in the olden time, under the oppression of the heathen world. And Asshur is introduced in the same way, as the land into which the ten but I more, as thi allusion t: I rail in Egypt pi nates, an 1 tin* redempti I the 1

I »vpt b<:n<« in tin* last clause answering to the n in ver. 10, and the tyrai Asshur being charai I would all 1 1 pie with i r the c the heathen. They wi th fulfilled, in weak i nce- menl p, in the times iin:i tely following an d to the Doming of Christ, hy the ivturn of many. >ut of protection and care which God bestowed upon the people in the contests between the powers of the world for supremacy in Palestine. The principal fulfilment is of a spiritual kind, and was effected through the gathering of the Jews into the kingdom can only be to the mien and peat nan of the nation of bad (Hitzig, Ifanrar, Ha Bwmid, etc.;. But this allegoricaJ interpretation of tlie, cypresses, and oaks, however old and widely spread it may be, is not so indi,putable as that we could say with Kliefoth: « The words themselves do not allow of our finding an announcement of the devastation of the holy land therein." For even if the words themselves affirm nothing more than -that the very exigence of the cedars, oaks, shepherds, lions, is in danger; and that if these should fall, Lebanon will give way to the fire, the forest of Bashan will fall, the thicket of Jordan be laid waste;" yet through the destruction of the cedars, oaks, etc., the soil on which these trees grow is also e yon: ami rveda which grew ao luxuriantly on the banks Jan, and afforded ao aafe U I a lair f usalem (eee at Hah. ii. 17,; hut i,:. j_-:.,:.,. %, nor individ..tl eartl ';• I ihn Bn pnrtieakr, in resented as cedars or oaks. The cedars and cypresses of

™ -1' which lithfoJ can of the Lord I the earth, it the saving of Jehovah; and behold I cause the men to jail into one another's hand,, and into the hW| /,.„...■ ' they ine person who receives the commission to feed the flock is the Prophet. This is apparent, both from the expression " my uou (ver. o, comp. with vers. 7 sqq.), and also from ver. 15, according to which he is to take the instruments of a foolish shepherd. This latter verse also shows clearly enough, that the prophet does not come forward here as performing these acts in

boss tba whole of the human race, as II fmana Mi|>j>osee; Of the nation of • as is assuni mast a Btrangling it, without bearing guilt, to aell it for the porpoae of enriching th inditaaheph* at it in an the flock is called the flock of strangling or I inghtering th supposes), but tin- reaaon why it ia given up by Jehovah to the prophet -^ aft doea not affirm that those who are Btrangling it do not think themselves to blame — this is expressed in a different manner (cf. Jen L 7): nor that they do not actually incur guilt in consequence, or do not repent of it; for.Jehovah tra: the flock to the prophet to feed, because lie does not wish its possessors t n Btrangling it, and Cw'S never has the meaning, to repent, vers' to refers rather to the fact that these men have hitherto gone unpunished, that they still continue to prosper. B i that 96$him means to bear or expiate the guilt, as in IIos. v. 15, xiv. 1 (Ges., Ilitzig, Ewald, etc.). What follows also agrees with this, — namely, that the sellers have only their own advantage in view, and thank God that they have thereby become rich. The singular TOst' is used distributively: every one of them says so. ■n^pw, a syncopated form for lEtylf] (Ewald, § 73, b), and 1 expressing the consequence, that I enrich myself (cf. Ewald, § 235, b). Bryyi are the former shepherds. The imperfects are not futures, but express the manner in which the flock was accustomed to be treated at the time when the prophet undertook to feed it. Jehovah will put an end to this capricious

I \«r. 4; f. r in that case M feed lie equivalent to slaughtering, or making re slaughtering. But although a t! eventually destined l»ad ahepbenli; and it it not till the flock haa become weary of tending that he breaka the ravtsa, and lax tboae in the midst of whom the Bock ing, or in * h<*e possession and power it it. They cannot be the inhahitanta land, howevr ral), ai show*, the inhahitanta of the earth, or the world- po* whi ' • ■ n • flock of daughter thane nations abused the power entrusted to them, and sought utterly to dc< i they ought on wor 1 not any longer let them deal a I people at pleasure, The termination of the

' will show itself in the fact that (xod causes the nations. themselves I wafB, and to be smitten by nan umanrace; and W?, the king of ea king to whom each is subjec e sub;- WO U V1JH and wPt ihepherda within one month, as Hitzig supposes, hut that the month, with this, if we only obei. in a symboli

-~S — I ra to the reign of these kings, and not to their destruction, furn:~ ifficient lo rer, Bleek, Ewald, and Bunsen

• Kliefoth) as referring to the flock, the suffixes Drg and dwm in ver. 8 must mho point hack to the Jbck (1*9, Ver. 7), L-: mg^ to become impatient, as in Num. axL 4. TO, which only occurs again in Pro v. *x 21 in the sense of the Arabic J£u, to be covetous, is used here in the sen;,- of the Syriac, to experience vexation or disgust In consequence of the experience which the shepherd of the Lord had had, according to ver. 86, he resolves to give up the feedin.: of the flock, and relinquish it to its fate, which is described m ver. % as that of perishing and destroying one another. The participles nnp, rniTO, and nhltW are present participles that which dies is destroyed (perishes) and remains; and the imperfects MCW, in?n; and njfarfn are not j^. as the {om

" W?l! (to them), n far as the grammatical construction m concerned, might be ad-. to the wretched among the sheep, inasmuch as they were mentioned last Bat when we bear in mind that the shepherd began to feed not only the wretched of the sheep, but the whole Mock, and that he did not give up any one portion of the flock by breaking the staff Favour, we are forced to the conclusion that the words

•a the wapca ironical I r aa u a iplethat haa been a- ^i the flock in the na I wages paid to persona! work on Ul. n, and commands the prophet a miserable sum to the potter. Both the i the same as to an unclean place, the assumption - potter who work* the had his workshop i:: • Ben Hinnom,

■ • these w. rds that the pottery itself stood within the city gate. But even if the potfl i had his wi i in ti.

before the potter was equivalent to throwing it upon the heap of potsherds; the latter, that it was equivalent to throwing it into the dirt. But the potter had not to do with potsherds only, and potter's clay is not street mire. The explanation given by Koehler is more satisfactory; namely, that the meaning is, " The amount is just large enough to pay a potter for the pitchers and pots that have been received from him, and which are thought of so little value, that men easily comfort themselves when one or the other is broken." But this does not do justice to kuhkkk, since men do not tliroic to a potter the monev for his wares, hut put it into his hand. The word } \ Jiisldihli involves the idea of contempt, and earthen pots were

.Jehovah to the potter," eannot he understood M signifying u into the house of Jehovah, that it might he taken thence to the potter" (HengStenberg). If this were the moaning, it should have been expressed more clearly. As the words read, they can only he undcrste Signifying that the potter was in the house of.Jehovah when the money WM thrown to him; that he had either some work to do there, or that he had come there to bring some earthenware for the temple kitchens (cf. UY. 20). This circumstance is no doubt a.significant one; but the meaning is not merely to show that it was as the servant of the Lord, or in the name and by the command of Jehovah, that the prophet did this, instead of keeping the money (Koehler); for Zechariah could have expressed this in two or three words in a much simpler and clearer manner. The house of Jehovah came into consideration here rather as the place where the people appeared in the presence of their God, cither to receive or to solicit the blessings of the covenant from Him. What took place in the temple, was done before the face of God, that God might call His people to account for it. Ver. 14. In consequence of this shameful payment for his service, the shepherd of the Lord breaks his second staff, as a sign that he will no longer feed the ungrateful nation, but leave it to its fate. The breaking of this staff is interpreted, in accordance with its name, as breaking or destroying the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. AVith these words, which are chosen with reference to the former division of the rial ion into two hostile kingdoms, the dissolution of the fraternal unity of the nation is depicted, and the breaking up of the nation into parties opposing and destroying one another is represented as the result of a divine decree. Hofmann, Ebrard (Offenbarung Johannis), and Kliefoth have erroneously supposed that this relates to the division of the covenant nation into two parties, one of which, answering to the earlier Judah, would receive Christ, and remain the people of God; whilst the other, answering to the Ephraim or Israel of the times after Solomon, would reject Christ, and therefore be exposed to hardening and judgment. According to the evident meaning of the symbolical representation, the whole flock paid the good shepherd wTages, which were tantamount to a rejection of his pastoral care, and was therefore given up by him; so that by falling into parties it destroyed itself, and, as the shepherd tells it in ver. 9, one devoured the flesh of the other. This is not at variance with the fact that by this self-destroying process they did not all perish, but that the miserable ones among the sheep who gave heed to the Lord, i.e. discerned their Saviour in the shepherd, and accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah, were saved. This is simply passed over in our description, which treats of the fate of the whole nation as such, as for example in Rom. ix. 31, xi. 11-15, because the number of these believers formed a vanishing minority in comparison with the whole nation. The breaking up of the nation into parties manifested itself, Jiowever, in a terrible manner soon after the rejection of Christ, and accelerated its ruin in the Roman war.

There is this difference, however, in the interpretation which has been given to this symbolical prophecy, so far as the historical allusion or fulfilment is concerned, by expositors who believe in revelation, and very properly understand it as referring to the times of the second temple: namely, that some regard it as setting forth the whole of the conduct of God towards the covenant nation under the second temple; whilst others take it to be merely a symbol of one single attempt to save the nation when on the verge of ruin, namely, that of the pastoral office of Christ. Hengstenberg, with many of the older commentators, has decided in favour of the latter view. But all that he adduces in proof of the exclusive correctness of this explanati tot toach the itself, bat simply which he draws fron n/mbolical action of tli«* prophet: orth 01 iatora) fidelity oo the L to I"* accomplished in a comparatively withoot the inter rention prophets, the priests, or the civil authorities of t: and what Jehovah ac( acht l»v Him in that form of revelation by which lie prepared the way f< r B ning to Hi le m tn • m arnattoa iribed in the chapter before as. In that action the shepherd, to whom thirty rilverlinga are weighed out as his wages, is bo far from being regarded as distinct from Jehovah, that Jehovah Himself speaks of these irages as the price at which Be was valued by the people; and it is only from the el history that we learn that it was not Jehovah the snperterreairial God, but the Son of God, who became incarnate in Ohri the Messiah, wl betrayed and sold for such a price as this.

What the Evangelist Matthew observes in relation to the fulfilment of vers. L2 and 1 o, presents various difficulties.

After describing in eh. zxvi. the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, the taking of Jesus, and His condemnation to death by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate at the instigation of the high priests and elders of the Jews; and having still further rela that Judas, feeling remorse at the condemnation of Jesus, brought hack to the high priests and elders the thirty silverlings paid to him for the betrayal, with the confession that lie had betrayed innocent blond, and that having thrown flown the money in the temple, he went and hanged himself, whereupon the high priests resolved to apply the money to the purchase of a potters field as a burial-ground for pilgrims; he adds in ch. xxvii. 9, 10: "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me." The smallest difficulty of all is occasioned by the fact that the thirty silverlings were weighed, according to the prophecy, as wages for the shepherd; whereas, according to the fulfilment, they were paid to Judas for the betrayal of Jesus. For, as soon as we trace back the form of the prophecy to its idea, the difference is resolved into harmony. The payment of the wages to the shepherd in the prophetical announcement is simply the symbolical form in which the nation manifests its ingratitude for the love and fidelity shown towards it by the shepherd, and the sign that it will no longer have him as its shepherd, and therefore a sign of the blackest ingratitude, and of hard-heartedness in return for the love displayed by the shepherd. The same ingratitude and the same hardness of heart are manifested in the resolution of the repre- sentatives of the Jewisli nation, the high priests and elders, to put Jesus their Saviour to death, and to take Him prisoner by bribing the betrayer. The payment of thirty silverlings to the betrayer was in fact the wages with which the Jewish nation repaid Jesus for what He had clone for the salvation of Israel; and the contemptible sum which they paid to the betrayer was an exi i of the deep contempt which they felt for Jesus.

There Lb also no great importance in this difference, that here the prophet throws the money into the house of Jehovah to the potter; win irding to Matthew's account, Judas thifl very fact not only WSJ the prophecy almost literally fulfilled; hut, so far as the • rne.l, it was so exactly arranged the matter that Judas threw the money into the temple, to bring it before the I Gtod as blood-money, and to call down the vengeance of Qo 1 upon the nation, and that the high priest, by purchasing the potter's field for this money, which received the name of "field of blood" in consequence M unto this day" (Matt, xxvii. 8), perpetuated the memorial of the sin committed against their Mossilh Matthew indicates this in the words "a- the I< i 1 commanded me," which correspond to 7U nfcp TOtta in ver. 13 of our prophecy; on which

II. Aug. W. Meyer has correctly observed, "that the words i as the Lord commanded me' s the fact, that the application of the wages of treachery to the purchase of the potter's field took place l Ml accordance with the pui%pose of God, whose command the prophet had received. As God had directed the prophet (fiot) how to proceed with the thirty silverlings, so was it with the antitypical fulfilment of the prophecy by the high priests, and thus was the purpose of the divine will accomplished." The other points in which the quotation in Matthew differs from the original text (for the LXX. have adopted a totally different rendering) may be explained from the fact that the passage is quoted memoriter, and that the allusion to ie mode of fulfilment has exerted some influence upon the hoice of words. This involuntary allusion shows itself in the production of 'W ni7?k"J> " I took the thirty silverlings, and new them to the potter," by a they took the thirty pieces of ilver,... and gave them for the potter's field;" whilst " the rice of him that was valued " is only a free rendering of i£H T!*?> and " of the children of Israel " an explanation of

The only real and important difficulty in the quotation is) be found in the fact that Matthew quotes the words of r,echariah as " that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet," hereas all that he quotes is taken simply and solely from the rophet Zechariah. The reading 'lepefiiov in Matthew is critially unassailable; and the assumption that Matthew refers to >me lost scripture, or to a saying of Jeremiah handed down y oral tradition, and others of a similar kind, are simply arbi- 'ary loopholes, which cannot come into any further consideraon at all. On the other hand, the attempts made to explain ie introduction of Jeremiah's name in the place of that of iechariah, on the ground that, so far as the principal features re concerned, our prophecy is simply a resumption of the rophecy in Jer. xix., and that Zechariah announces a second Lilfilment of this prophecy (Hengstenberg), or that it rests pon the prophecy of Jer. xviii., in which the potter is also ltroduced, and that its fulfilment goes beyond Zechariah's rophecy in those features which deviate from the words of iechariah, so that Jer. xviii. xix. was fulfilled at the same time Kliefoth), are deserving of serious consideration. Matthew, it » supposed, intended to point to this relation by mentioning eremiah instead of Zechariah. We would support this view 'ithout reserve, if the connection assumed to exist between ur prophecy and the prophecies of Jer. xviii. and xix. could nly be shown to be a probable one. But the proof adduced y Hengstenberg that our prophecy rests upon Jer. xviii. 2duces itself to these two remarks: (1) That the potter, of horn Jeremiah purchased a pot (ch. xix.) to break it in the alley of Ben-Hinnom, had his workshop in this valley, which ras regarded with abhorrence, as being unclean; and (2) that Iechariah was to throw the bad wages into the valley of Benlinnom precisely at the spot where this potter's workshop was.

This he supposes to have taken place with a distinct allusion to the prophecy in Jer. xiw, and with the assumption that the readers would have this prophecy before their minds. Bat in our exposition of ver. 18 we have already shown that Jeremiah did not purchase his pot in tin1 valley of Ren-I Iinnom, hut of the potter who dwelt within the city anil tleo that the words of Zechariah, M I threw it into the fa Jehovah to the potter," do not affirm that the prophet threw the n paid him into the vallev of Ben-l linnom. But with these false J the view founded upon them — namely, that onr in the valley of B. n-IIinnoin of the pot purchase. 1 of the potter in the ritv, does I ind in any perceptible relation to the word of the Lord to Zechariah, to throw the wages paid to him into the DOQ J M to the pott. to lead us to take this word as a resumption of that prophecy of Jeremiah.

the ws i the tern] le, Jehovah Himself, who dwells in the temple. lint apart from the impossibility of understanding the words of God in ver. 13, u Throw the splendid price at which I have been valued by them to the potter,'1 as meaning "Throw this splendid price to 7/2^," this view founders on the Minple fact that it necessitates the giving up of the agreement between the prophecy and its historical fulfilment, inasmuch as in the fulfilment the price of the betrayal of Jesus is paid, not to the potter, Jehovah, but to a common potter for his field in the valley of Ben-Hinuom. If, therefore, It is impossible to show anv connection between our prophecy and the prophecies of Jeremiah, there is no other course K-ft than to follow the example of Luther, — namely, either to attribute the introduction of Jeremiah's name in Matt, xxvii. i> in the place of that of Zechariah to a failure of memory, or to regard it as a very old copyist's error, of a more ancient date than any of the critical helps that have come down to lb.1

Jehovah said to me, Fake to thee yet the implement of a foolish shepherd, Ver. 16. Fur, b$hola\ 1 raise xj> to myself a shepherd in the land: that which is perishing will he not observe, that which is scattered will he not seek, and that which is broken ivill he not heal; that which is standing will he not care for; and the flesh of the fat one will he eat, and tear their claws in pieces. Ver. 17. Woe to the worthless shepherd, who forsakes the flock! sword his arm, and over his right eye: his arm shall wither y and his right eye be extinguished.''' After Israel has compelled the good shepherd to lay down his shepherd's office, in consequence of its own sin, it is not to be left to itself, but to be given into the hand of a foolish shepherd, who will destroy it. This is the thought in the fresh symbolical action. By Ity, " yet (again) take the instruments," etc., this action is connected with the previous one (vers. 4 sqq.); for liy implies that the prophet had already taken a shepherd's instruments once before in his hand. The shepherd's instruments are the shepherd's staff, and taking it in his hand is a figurative representation of the feeding of a flock. This time he is to take the im-

1 Luther says, in his Commentary on ZecJiariah, of the year 1528: " This

chapter gives rise to the question, Why did Matthew attribute the text concerning the thirty pieces of silver to the prophet Jeremiah, whereas it stands here in Zechariah? This and other similar questions do not in.- deed trouble me very much, because they have but little bearing upon the matter; and Matthew does quite enough by quoting a certain scripture, although he is not quite correct about the name, inasmuch as he quotes prophetic sayings in other places, and yet does not even give the words as they stand in the Scripture. The same thing may occur now; and if it does not affect the sense that the words are not quoted exactly, what is to hinder his not having given the name quite correctly, since the words are of more importance than the name? "

Seize upon it, and utterly co: it, not Mllj devouring the lb of the ' ut even t cos the claw roads (Tarn., Ewtid, Hitzig), for this does no great harm to sheep, but so that when he consumes the sheep, he even splits or tears in pieces the claws, to seize upon and swallow the last h or fat I>ut this t\ rant will also receive his punishment doing so. The judgment which b to fall npon him La rth in accordance with the figure of the phenl, as punishment through the lost of the arm and of the right ej. The memb e mentioned, because with the arm he ought to have prol md provided for the Bock, ami with the eye to have watched over them. The Yod in T1 and '-*v t the suffix of the first person, but the!V / is a substantia ho Job xiii. 4 \ it does not mean worthl ness, hi, but nothingnei A worthless shepherd is one who is the opposite of what the shepherd should bey and will bf: one who does not feed the flock, but leaves it to perish (|tfrn '2*V). The words from ckertbA to ifm&nO are ■ sentence in the form of B proclamation. The sword is called to come upon the arm and the right eye of the worthless shepherd, to hew off his arm, to smitt ight eye. The further threat that the arm is to wither, the eye to become extinct, does not appear to harmonize with this. But the sword i-> simply mentioned as the instrument of punishment, and the connecting together of different kinds of punishment simply servos to exhibit the greatness and terrible nature of the punishment. With this threat, the threatening word concerning the imperial power of the world (ch. ix.-xi.) is very appropriately brought to a close, inasmuch as the prophecy thereby returns to its starting-point.

This section forms the first half of the second prophecy of Zechariah concerning the future of Israel and of the nations of the world, viz. the prophecy contained in ch. xii.-xiv., which, as a side-piece to ch. ix.-xi., treats of the judgment by which Israel, the nation of God, will be refined, sifted, and led on to perfection through conflict with the nations of the world. This first section announces how the conflict against Jerusalem and Judah will issue in destruction to the nations of the world (ch. xii. 1-4). Jehovah will endow the princes of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem with marvellous strength to overcome all lit in injury and destruction to those who attack it. The I will make Jerusalem a reeling-basin to all i round

■peakl of a basin, because many persons can pat their mouths to this at the same time, and drink out of it (Schmieder). The ucup of reeling," Li, a goblet filled with intoxicating drink, is n figure very frequently employed to denote the divine judgment, which intoxicates the nation?, so that they are unable to stand any longer, and therefore fall to the ground and perish (see at I -a. li. 17). — Ver. 26 has been explained in very different ways. It is an old and widespread view, that the words " also upon Judah will it be," etc., express the participation of Judah in the siege of Jerusalem. The Chaldee and Jerome both adopt this explanation, that in the siege of Jerusalem Judah will be constrained by the nations to besiege the capital of its own land. The grammatical reason assigned for this view is, that we must either take fWl with?J? in the sense of obligation (it will also be the duty of Judah: Mich., Ros., Ewald), or supply 'VT*!? as the subject to fW: the reeling-basin will also come upon Judah. But there is great harshness in both explanations. With the former, Dnpn^ or some other infinitive, would hardly have been omitted; and with the latter, the preposition mak I le of any undertakini;, and in the description given of the object, viz. in v.r. 2 all ind tbotil Jerusalem, and in \ •! peopl all nations of tin* earth. It M only in the last claoSS of that the oppression of J< m ind in the two figun more minutely d<!, ami in?er. 4 th rthrow by the help of God ii depicted. The Lord will throw the mind and spirit of the military force <>f the enemy into inch confusion, that il of in jnriii r J h, it will rush forward to n de>triietinn. Hordes and riders individualize will the Lord smite their h \W have an example of this in 2 Kings vi. 18, where the Lord imote the enemy with blindness in answer to Klisha's prayer, Le, with mental blindness, so that, instead of selling the prophet, they fell into the hands of.1. The three plagUCS, timmdkdn, sliiuin ' <'<n, and 'imirnti, are those with which rehellious Israelites are threatened in Deut. xxviii. 28. The "house of Jndah M is the covenant nation, the population of Judah including the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as we may see from what follows.

Ver. 5. "And tktprmoes of Judah will §an in their hearts, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are strength to me, in Jehovah of hosts their God. Ver. 6. On thai day will I make the princes of JudaJi as a basin of fire under logs of ' icood, and like a torch of fire under sheaves; and they will devour all nations round about, on the right and on the left; and Jerusalem will dwell still further i?t its place, at Jerusalem. Ver. 7. And Jehovah will save the tents of Judah first, that the splendour of the house of David and the splendour of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not lift itself up over Judah" The princes of Judah are mentioned as the leaders of the people in war. What they say is the conviction of the whole nation ('alluph, as in ch. ix. 7).

of the inl rusalem is the j irhich this city received through it n to be the city of God, in which Jehovah won! 1 be entl in II - sanctuary, and through the future glorification predicted for it in [uence ofJndah on the otl express the thought that "the Strong ones will he saved by the weak, in that the true equilibrium may arise between the two" 'II forJudah cannot n t the weak ones if its princes consume the enemy like flamni of fire; but the thought is limply this: At the deliverance from th< k <>f the f«.1 rusalem

Judah, /.'■. the whole of tl. snant nation, in like manner. This thought is expressed in the following way: The less land will be delivi oner than the well-defended cap that the latter may not lift itself up above the former, but that both inay humbly acknowledge " that th< ry in both

Ver. 8. u On that daw Jehovah will shelter ths inhabitants of Jerusalem; ami he that stw/i^Lth among them will be as Da on that day; and the house of David as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. Ver. 9. And it will come to pass on that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem." In the conflict with the heathen nations, the Lord will endow the inhabitants of Jerusalem with marvellous strength with which to overcome all their foes. The population of Jerusalem is divided into two classes, the weak and the strong. The weak are designated as hannikhshdl, the stumbling one, who cannot stand firmly upon his feet (1 Sam.

1 Calvin observes: "In my opinion, the prophet applies the term 1 tents' to huts which cannot protect their guests or inhabitants. We have thus a tacit contrast between huts and fortified cities."

ii. 4). These are to become like David, the bravest hero of Israel (cf. 1 Sam. xviL 31 sqq., 2 Sam. xvii. 8). The strong mated as the house, i.e. the household or family o( David, are to be like Kloli'nn, i.e. not angels, but God, the i superhuman being (cf. Ps. viii. 6), yea, like the angel of Jehovah, who i before Israel -"'"-. or the revealer of the invisible God, who is essentially the equal of Jehovah (see at ch. i. 8. The point of comparison lies in the power an ngth, not in moral resemblance to God,

Kliefoth sup; i,.ho takes E hi i as equivalent to Jehovah^ and identifies it with the angel J hovah, is some of the earli tatora b Me, ami places the graduation of him into the angel <>f Jehovah in the appearance of God in human form, in which. however, D^JB? has no meaning. This shows rather that I 1 of Jehovah'1 is simply referred to here in connection with his appeal in the history of Israel, when he went at the head of Israel and smote the Egyptians and all the enemies of Israel (£x. xxiiL 20 - iq.;.Josh. v. 13 sqq.). This is evident from the antithesis in veTi '.'. Whilst Jehovah endows the inhabitants of Jerusalem with supernatural strength, He will seek to destroy all the nations which attack Jerusalem. B. followed by an infinitive with /. I o strive after anything, as in eh. vi. 7. /J irta applied to the advance of the enemy against a city (= ft "v. [ga, vii. 1 |.

Vers. 10-14. But the Lord will do still more than this for His people. He will renew it by pouring out His spirit of grace upon it, so that it will come to the knowledge of the guilt it has incurred by tl tion of the Saviour, and will bitterly repent of its sin. Ver. 10. " And I will pour out upon the hou i. and upon the inhabitant* of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and <; and they uriil look upon me, whom they have pierced, and icill mourn over him like the mourning over an only one, and will grieve bitterly over him, as one grieves bitterly over th -born." This new promise is simply attached to the previous verse by 1 consec. (WDBh). Through this mode of attachment such connections as that suggested by Kliefoth, " But such glory can only be enjoyed by rebellious Israel when it is converted, and acknowledges and bewails Him whom it has rejected," are precluded, as at variance with the text. There is not a word in the text about conversion as the condition on which the glory set before them in vers. 3-9 was to be obtained; on the contrary, conversion is represented as one fruit of the outpouring of the spirit of prayer upon the nation; and this outpouring of the Spirit is introduced by *W3B5H, which corresponds to G?i33K in ver. 9, as a new feature in the salvation, to be added to the promise of the destruction of the nations which fight against Jerusalem. The fact that only the inhabitants of Jerusalem are named, and not those of Judah also, is explained correctly by the commentators from the custom of regarding the capital as the representative of the whole nation. And it follows eo ipso from this, that in ver. 8 also the expression " inhabitants of Jerusalem" is simply an individualizing epithet for the whole of the covenant nation. But just as in ver. 8 the house of David is mentioned emphatically along with these as the princely family and representative of the ruling class, so is it also in ver. 10, for the purpose of expressing the thought that the same salvation is to be enjoyed by the whole nation, in all its ranks, from the first to the last. The outpouring of the Spirit points back to Joel iii. 1 sqq., except that there the Spirit of Jehovah generally is spoken of, whereas here it is simply the spirit of grace and of supplication. Chen does not mean "prayer," nor emotion, or goodness, or love (Hitzig, Ewald), but simply grace or favour; and here, as in ch. iv. 7, the grace of God; not indeed in its objectivity, but as a principle at work in the human mind. The spirit of grace is the spirit which produces in the mind of man the experience of the grace of God. But this experience begets in the soul of sinful man the knowledge of sin and guilt, and prayer for the forgiveness of sin, i.e. supplication; and this awakens sorrow and repentance. vK ^an, they look upon me. Hibhit, used of bodily sight as well as spiritual (cf. Num. xxi. 9). The suffix in yf? (to me) refers to the speaker. This is Jehovah, according to ver. 1, the creator of the heaven and the earth. Wl "iBteTlK not " Him whom they pierced," but simply " whom they pierced." HN, that is to say, is not governed by hibbitu as a second object, but simply refers to v£, to me, "whom they pierced." "it^rriK is chosen here, as in Jer. xxxviii. 9, in the place of the simple TK, to mark "HSfc more clearly as an accu- there can bt do doubt that John quotas tl age with distinct allusion tO this special ciicuii. must not the prophecy m ezhi The piercing with the spear if simply looked upon by him as the climai of all

: is simply an individualising n for patting to death, the instrument d I ath being of v subordinate importai Thii is nl from q of our rerae with ch« riiL 7, where the sword is mentioned as the instrument employed, wher points rather t eh. i\. 9 by tin- entry of I Ihrist into J i a Jem, also appli< this special fulfilment that tl. literal fulfilment in the outward circumsl 1 to make the internal

I le that came together t o that sight, beholding the thii which were done, smote their bi. ' (For the smiting of the bre imp. ba. xxxiL 12, Dni^ 7$ "-., "The crowds, one, ami over their own guilt" (Hengst.). The true and full commencement of the fulfilment, however, shows itself in the success which attended the preaching of Peter on the first day of Pentecost, — namely, in the fact that three thousand were pricked in their heart with penitential sorrow on account of the crucifixion of their Saviour, and were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts ii. 37-41), and in the further results which followed the preaching of the apostles for the conversion of Israel (Acts iii.-v.). The fulfilment has continued with less striking results through the whole period of the Christian church, in conversions from amon£ the Jews: and it will not terminate till the remnant of Israel shall turn as a people to Jesus the Messiah, whom its fathers crucified. On the other hand, those who continue obstinately in unbelief will see Him at last when He returns n mourn, and not the men only, but women* I" th - the prophet mention! four diatinct leading and secondary families, and then adds in conclusion, u all the ~, with tl. ( H tl namely, the family of i aeterityof terity of the patriarch L... Bni abont tin- other two families there is a difl I opinion. The rabbinical writers sup- poae that Nathan is the well known prophet of that name, and the family of SAtmai the tribe of Simeon, whie-h ia said, according to the rabbinical fiction, to have furnished teachen to the nation.1 But the lal inion il overthrown, apart from any other reason, by the fact that the patronyn is not writ: D lyOaf, but ^V-*', in JoalL xxi. 4, 1 Cliron. xxvii. 16, Still less can the B ojamite Shimei, who cursed David (2 Sam. xvi. 5 sqq.), be intended, lpo*$] nnncfe fa the name given in Num. iii. 21 to the family of the son of Gershon and grandson of Levi (Num. iii. 17 sqq.). This is the family intended here, and in harmony with this Nathan is not the prophet of that name, but the son of David, from whom Zembbabel was descended (Luke iii. 27. 31). Luther adopted this explanation: "Four families," he says, "are enumerated, two from the royal line, under the names of David and Nathan,

1 Jerome gives the Jewish view thus: M In David the regal tribe is iD-

led, i.e. Judah. In Nathan the prophetic order is described. Levi refers to the priests, from whom the priesthood sprang. In Simeon the teachers

are included, as the companies of masters sprang from that tribe. He says nothing about the other tribes, as they had no special privilege or dignity."

language Ezra i clearly that th ick into gross idolal future under the f f the past. The cut' V of the na; Lolfl denotes utter destruction (cf. IIos. ii.

>phets an prophets, who cither uttered the thoughts of their hearts as divine inspiration, or stood under

. which the perton as i- if tin- proph- Haul in 1 Kings xviii. 28 nee that he baa the wounds in the temples of the idols, which he had followed with adulterous. so that he admits hie former folly with the d tme.

But the context appears rather to indicate that this answer is also nothing more than an evasion, and that he simply pretends that the marks were scars left by the chastisements which he ived when a boy in the house of either loving parents or some other loving relations.

introduce! as a weapon used for killing, without ther intention of defining the mode of death more pr The smiting of t' pherd i ipl y f or the purpose <: the consequences that would follow this: Jehovah will scatter brae] OT EB« nation by smiting the shepherd; that is to say, lie will give it up to the misery and destruction to which a flock without a shepherd is exp< We cannot infer from this that the shepherd himself is to blame; nor does the circumstance that the smiting of the

II ■ will manifest His glory upon it (Vf. I>a. ii. 12). This y will at first bring calamity or destruction Upon Israel; but this calamity will furnish occasion to the Lord to display His divine might and glory, by destroying the enemies of Israel and - people* In the second hemistich of ver. 1,

}.,, ii ol lig I to mo Ur into ca|:.•. ity, s> will it be now, though I all the peoj •

by the splitting of the Mount of Oli m I.1 hovah calls the two mountains which have been formed through Ili^ power out of the M-.unt of Olh. « my mount |;s it connected with the valley of Jehoshaphat; for the opinion that the newly.formed valley is merely an extension of the valley of.1 h ihaphat has no foundation in the text, and is imt in harmony with the direction taken by the new valley— namely, from east to west The explanatory clause which follows, - for the (newly-formed) valley of the mountains will reach WVS b£« shows that the Bight of the people into the valley H not to be underwood as signifying that the valley will merely

■!'.v an appeal to Gen vi,i 22 ' "" '• at to day and an cold

» »PPl I m Ex. xv. 8 to the heaping up of the water, as ■t were in solid masaes. nh^ the costly lendid things are I..,-s, according to Job xxxi 26, where the moon is

.vine-pi were onq.ably in the ki it the south • city (Neh. iii. 15). In the i the inhabitants dwell (*—" in contrast to going ra put to deal Josh, vii. 24). M I is hardly an.v n' nark, that this description is only

:l ] ally individualizing amplification of the thought that the en >f the kingdom i I are to be utterly d id,

— namely, those who do not gire up their hostility and turn lur the verses which follow show very clearly that it will a me to pass, that i tant of all the nations which

>lem will go up year by year to icorship the Bmg J Itovak oj. and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Ver.

thought, in rers. 20 and 21, that unlu-ly will then be removed from that kingdom*

nu: that the final fulfilment of vers. 20 though the Christian ehnreh; but it was ju,t the siege of Jerusalem h transferred the centre of the Christian church from Jerusalem to the m empire. The fulfilment of ch. xii. 3 is to be found in the Crusade, the Oriental question, the Haute Finance, and the Emancipation of the Jews. Jerusalem has thus become a burden-stone for all nations etc tlK' new ( n* the Christian ehurh j and Jerusalem and Judah, as the inheritance of Israel, are tvpes of the md territories of Christendom. The development of the mm covenant nation, however, in conflict with the heathen world, and through the help of the Lord and His Spirit, until fa gkriom completion, is predicted in our oracle, not according to its successive historical course, but in such a manner that the first half announces how the church of the Lord victoriously defeats the attacks of the heathen world through the miraculous help of the Lord, and how in consequence of this victory it is increased by the fact that the hardened Israel comes more and more to the acknowledgment of its sin and to

Satan will go out to decern- the ir quarters of the earth, and to g M,j ittlo agai: saints and

■e of his birth, in our booh than in the writings of Obadiah and Babakkuk, which also contain only the name of the prophet in the without any further

Lions, It is a striking fact, no doubt, that the l.XX. and tfa Targnmist have taken the name as ac appellative; at the same time, it by no means follows fiom this " that nothing was known in tradition of any historical person of the name of Malachi," but simply that nothing certain had

The period of Malaehi ii puted point, although all are agreed that he lived and prophesied after the captivitv. W e may gather from his prophecy, not only that he commenced his prophetic labours after Haggai and Zechariah, since, according to ch. i. 6 sqq. and iii. lO^the temple had been rebuilt and the temple-worship had been restored for a cou-

2. Tin: BOOB Or Mai.aciii contains one single DRmhecT thecl. r of which is condemn duooghoot Startu the prophet proves that BOt only do the priests | • the name of the Lord by an unholy performance of the service at the altar (,. 6, „. 9), but the people also repudiate their divine calling both by heathen marriages and frivolous divorces (ii. 10-16), and by their murmuring at the delay of the judgment; whereas the Lord will soon reveal Himself as a just judge, and before His coming will send His messenger, the prophet Elijah the ■ i ibe this con venation a 1 mode of instruction as a sign of the d apirit of propll esponded exact Iv to ictical

1 ': cammencea his a I i>, by showing the love for which Israel has to thank its God, in order that on the

■ and I ritance for jackals of the desert. Ver. 4. If ncen. iom. The complete deaolatioo rritory is quoted as a pro*: does the assignment of a barren land, as Ra destroyed, and their land made an eternal desert, especially of the Maccabees onwards (see i. 377). The tin- wrath of < i ►! i* Mating I r i-vrr ujkh bolk ptopll an i Lit: 1 on sco il attcn

* no wiekaimass; at ■< mo wictadnm. Of' governor: will ks bs grueums to thee, or acespt Jskovak of hot: \ < r. 9. And note, supplicats the face thai lis may impassion ypon hand has

0 in the participle; but though the rlau.se commencing with mangUhlm does explain the previous rebuke, viz. that they

t sacrificial animals, which had blame, or diseased, and which wer ficea on accot so blemishes, arc©: fie law in tha sense of * icsta, and thus assume the form of the most striking manner, the prayers oi rift I not D the d hat ye might not light mine altar to no purpose! I hare no pleasure in you, sa ' / ah of I ng does not please me from your I md, Xw. 11. For from the t >i to the setting thereof my name is great

| ire sacrifice to my name; for t name is great the nations, saith Jehovah of hosts.

hip, though ignorantly yet in t: the • i'l livin I K hl< p). B if tl ii thought is Dot a the invisible being of God from His worl a Ad i. -; sqq. in his address at Athens, \\ i he 11 upon an altar, " to the unki.

bat the unknown God, whom the Athenians worship] i i made heaven and earth. Still less is this thought contained in our verse. Malachi does not speak of an ich then is not. it would tarnish no Bopport to ti ace of the mass, sir:";ict that the sacrifice of th.tally

D of the w(.r<l is precluded by the parallel " burning incense" or "frankiii If burning incense was a.as even

■icriticial offering" can only have denoted the spirif a man to God (Rom. xii. 1).

; and the thought is this: the contempt of the Lord, whi< by offering blind or lame animals, or in oth He will repay to them i, nor even equivalent to -""'-" —~- (2 E. hut accordii. 5, " equipped with the ieethood, as the kernel of ti dso is no longer bound by the o I draws from ests what He grant 1 to Leri who was faithful to

>ff, to the man that doeth this, wakers and answerers out of tki I, and hh)i thai 'h sacrifices to Jehovah of which it 1 inmnnitv which had returned from exile, had prof aned itself as tl "fGod, rehovah (Koehler). To this there is appended, though not till the. • tement of the oination: Judab, in its individual members, has married the daughter of a the ex;. 1M 7M ni the person married is described as an idolatress. laughter = dependent). This involved the ition of the holv calling of the nation. It is true that in the law it is only marriages with Canaan i tea that are exforbidden (Ex. xxxiv. 16; Deut. vii. 3), but the reason gned for this prohibition shows, that all marriages with heathen women, who did not give up their idolatry, were thereby denounced as irreconcilable with the calling of Israel (see at 1 Kings xi. 1, 2). This sin may God punish by cutting off every one who commits it. This threat of punishment (ver. 12) is indeed only expressed in the form of a wish, but the wish has been created by the impulse of the Holy Spirit. \ ery different and by no means satisfactory explanations have been given of the expression najfl "ly, the waking one PV the participle of Tiy) and the answering one, a proverbial description of the posterity of the wicked man formed by the combination of opposites (on the custom of expressing totality awaj to lav their troable. in the sanctuary; The inf. con^tr. introduces the mora minute definition of mft; and

~^?| is a supplementary apposition to.*%••:-., |ded to give greater force to the meaning. Tip 1*0, so 'that there is no more a turning (of Jehovah) to the sacrifice, i.e. so that God does not graciously accept your sacrifice any more (cf Num. xvi. 15). The following infinitive nnpbl is also dependent upon Ptjft hut on account of the words which intervene it is attached with >, Ihn, the good pleasure or satisfaction, used as abstractum pro concrete) for the well-pleasing sacrifice. Ver. 14. This sin also the persons addressed will not recognise. They inquire the reason why God will no more graciously accepf

I marriage bad been eatso also in the rir umstantial clan* iga to the light the faithleaa treatment of t - her a Vet abe was thy companion, who ihared iias been explained in very different, and to som< in \ rj marvellous ugh if we only bet

What it is that they are to beware of is stated in the last clause, which is attached by the simple copula (Far), and in which the address passes from the second person into the third, interchange of thou (in wife of thy youth) and he (in Ifaj) in the same clause appears very strange to our mode of thought and speech; but it is not without analogy in Hebrew (e.g^'m lost faith in all the promises of G. U-cause the manifestation of the glory of the L

temple.:ii angel of the covenant, whom ye de* I he com > \ Jehovah of To I or remains the God of ji. t? the Lord Himself

: His].....: ' king away of enmity to God and «»t nngodlineei by the preaching of repentance and the conver- D oj sinners. The announcement of this messenger therefore implied, that the nation in its existing moral condition was not yet prepared for the reception of the Lord, and therefore had

• of one esaei. Jehovah, it here ta the angel of the covenant, is not the new covenant pron.