And thy spoil shall be divided Zechariah 14:1-3 A sketch on bad men Homilist. Three facts concerning such. I. THEY ARE CAPABLE OF PERPETRATING THE GREATEST ENORMITIES ON THEIR FELLOW MEN. In the account given by Josephus of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans we have a record of enormities at which we might stand aghast. The particulars, says Dr. Wardlaw, here noted are such as usually, it might be said, invariably attend the besieging, the capture, and the sacking of cities; especially when, as in this case, the assailing army has been exasperated by a long, harassing, and wasting defence. The entrance of the unpitying soldiery, the rifling of houses, the violation of women, the indiscriminate massacre, and the division of the spoil, are just what all expect, and what require no comment. And never were such scenes more frightfully realised than at the destruction of Jerusalem when God in His providence in judicial retribution gathered all nations against the devoted, city to battle. "All nations," a correct description of the army of Titus, the empire of Rome embracing a large proportion of the then known world, and this army consisting of soldiers of all the different nations which composed it. And, while such was to be the destruction brought upon "the city," the desolation was to extend, and that in different ways, at short intervals, throughout "the land." The fact that men are capable of perpetrating on their fellow men such enormities show — 1. Man's apostasy from the laws of his spiritual nature. 2. The great work which the Gospel has to do in our world. II. THAT WHATEVER ENORMITIES THEY PERPETRATE, THEY ARE EVERMORE INSTRUMENTS IN THE HANDS OF THE WORLD'S GREAT RULER. The period in which these abominations were enacted is in the text called the "day of the Lord," and He is represented as calling the Roman armies to the work. "I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished." God in His retributive procedure punishes the bad by the bad. In this case — 1. No injustice is done. The men of Jerusalem deserved their fate. They "filled up the measure of their iniquity." 2. There is no infringement of free agency. Good men might revolt from inflicting such enormities upon their fellow creatures, but it is according to the wish of bad men. This is God's retributive method, to punish the bad by the bad. III. THOUGH INSTRUMENTS IN HIS HANDS, GOD WILL PUNISH THEM FOR ALL THEIR DEEDS OF ENORMITY. But where is the justice of punishing men whom He employs to execute His own will? Two facts will answer this question. 1. What they did was essentially bad. 2. What they did was in accord with their own wills.He never inspired them or constrained them. He did but use them. ( Homilist. )

Benson Commentary Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. Zechariah 14:1-2 . Behold, the day of the Lord cometh — A day of the Lord’s great wrath and indignation will soon overtake you, O sinful, unthankful, bloody Jews! A day remarkable for the execution of divine vengeance upon you, and your city, Jerusalem. This chapter ought to have been joined to the preceding; for here the prophet continues to foretel the execution of the threatenings contained in the latter part of the former chapter; namely, how the unbelieving Jews should be destroyed by the Romans. Thy spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee — All that thou hast, O Jerusalem, shall become a prey to thine enemies, who shall be such absolute masters of thee, that, in the greatest security, they shall divide among themselves whatever spoil they take from thee, in the very place where they take it. For I will gather all nations — “The Romans, being lords of the known world, had the strength of all nations united in their forces. Thus, ( Jeremiah 24:1 ,) Nebuchadnezzar is said to fight against Jerusalem with all the kingdoms of the earth.” — Lowth. And the city shall be taken — For God is its enemy, and who can stand before him, or before nations gathered by him? Where he gives commission, he will give success. And the houses rifled, and the women ravished — The Roman soldiers shall exercise those acts of lust and violence which are too frequent among conquerors. That all the outrages were committed, and the miseries endured, which are here predicted, when the Romans took Jerusalem, we have abundant proof from Josephus and other historians: see notes on Deuteronomy 28. And half of the city shall go into captivity — The Hebrew word rendered half, may be translated a portion. It must be observed, that the city only is here spoken of; but chap. Zechariah 13:8 , where mention is made of two parts being cut off and dying, refers to the whole land. And the residue of the people shall not be cut off — “The Romans spared the young and useful part of the Jews: Josephus, Bel. Jud., 6. 9:2. However, these were either condemned to the mines in Egypt, or exposed to the sword and to wild beasts in the provincial theatres, or sold for slaves. Ibid. It must be observed, that the forty thousand who were permitted to go where they pleased, were Idumeans: Bel. Jud., 6. 8:2.” — Newcome. “But it is probable that the remnant of the Jews, who survived this almost exterminating destruction, and their descendants, who have for so many centuries been preserved a distinct people, in order to their future restoration, are intended.” — Scott. Zechariah 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Zechariah 14:3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. Zechariah 14:3 . Then shall the Lord — After he hath sufficiently punished Jerusalem and the rest of the Jewish nations; go forth — Out of his holy place, as a warrior prepared for battle. This is spoken after the manner of men; and fight against those nations — Which had taken and destroyed Jerusalem, and oppressed his people. As when he fought in the day of battle — As in those days when he evidently fought for his people. The meaning is, that in after times God would discomfit and destroy the posterity of these nations, namely, the Roman idolaters and those under their empire; that when he had made use of them as a scourge to his people, he would execute his judgments upon them, as when he fought against the enemies of his church formerly, the Egyptians, Canaanites, and others. Observe here, reader, the instruments of God’s wrath will themselves be made the objects of it; for it will come to their turn to drink of the cup of trembling; and whom God fights against, he will be sure to overcome. It is observable that the Roman empire never flourished after the destruction of Jerusalem as it had done before; but God evidently fought against it, and against all the nations under its dominion, or in alliance with it, till at last it was subverted and destroyed, its richest cities taken and plundered, and its various provinces ravaged by the Goths and Vandals, and other barbarous invaders. Zechariah 14:4-5 , And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, &c. — It is very difficult to say to what time this prediction refers, or what is its precise meaning. Commentators are not at all agreed on the subject. Some think the passage refers to the time immediately subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem, foretold in Zechariah 14:1-2 , and that it is to be understood figuratively, namely, 1st, That by the Lord’s standing before Jerusalem on the east, is meant, his drawing peculiarly near to his church and people, here, as frequently elsewhere, signified by Jerusalem; and that he would be at hand to succour and save them; and would give success to, and be manifested in, the gospel preached by his apostles, who received their commission on that mount before Christ’s ascension. 2d, That by the cleaving of the mount of Olives in the midst, toward the east and toward the west, so as to make a very great valley, is meant the removing of the ceremonial law, which was like an aspiring mountain, or partition wall, between the Jews and Gentiles, and a great obstruction to the conversion of the latter, and their entrance into the church of God: but that, by the destruction of Jerusalem, this mountain should be made to cleave, as it were, in the midst, this partition wall be broken down, and God’s church, the spiritual Jerusalem, made of easy access to the Gentiles. Thus the way of the Lord would be prepared, every mountain and hill brought low, and a plain and pleasant valley, or open way of communication, be found in the place of them: see Isaiah 40:4 . 3d, That by the valley of the mountains, is meant the gospel church, to which, as a place of refuge, many of the Jews should flee, as people fled formerly from before the earthquake here mentioned, and should hasten into it together with the Gentiles. 4th, That by this valley reaching to Azal, or, to the separate place, as the word signifies, is signified that the privileges of the church should not be limited, as formerly, to any particular nation, or people, but should be extended to all those who, in obedience to the call of God, should come out from the world, separate themselves from sinners, devote themselves to God, and become his peculiar people. And, 5th, That by the Lord’s coming, and all his saints with him, is signified the spiritual coming and extension of his kingdom, whereby a multitude of converts, both of Jewish and Gentile extraction, should be made, who, through faith working by love, should become saints, or holy persons. This, in substance, seems to be Henry’s view of the passage, as it is that of many others. Lowth, on the other hand, interprets it literally, as follows: His feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives — “The glory of the Lord, that is, the Shechinah, or symbol of God’s presence, when it departed from the city and temple, settled itself upon the mount of Olives, Ezekiel 11:23 ; so when God shall return to Jerusalem, [that is, to Jerusalem rebuilt and inhabited by the converted Jews restored to their own land, at the beginning of the millennium,] and make it the seat of his presence again, it [the Shechinah] shall return by the same way it departed, Ezekiel 43:2 . We may add, that when our Lord ascended from the mourn of Olives, the angels told his disciples, he should come again in like manner, that is, in a visible and glorious appearance, at the same place, Acts 1:11-12 . And the mount of Olives shall cleave, &c. — By an earthquake, such as was in the time of King Uzziah: see Amos 1:1 . The middle of mount Olivet shall cleave asunder, and sink into a deep valley, so as to leave the two points, or tops of the hill, north and south, still standing. For mount Olivet, as we learn from Maundrell, had three tops, or eminences; one on the north side, another on the south, and a third in the middle, from whence Christ ascended, and where the Christians in after times erected a cross, in memory of his ascension there. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains — When ye see the mount of Olives cleave asunder, ye shall flee toward the valley for fear. The margin reads, The valley of my mountains, which may be understood of Zion and Moriah; but the Chaldee and LXX. read, The valley of my mountains shall be filled up; for the valley of the mountains shall join even to Azal, it shall even be filled up, as it was by the earthquake in the days of Uzziah. Josephus writes, ( Ant. Jud., lib. 9. cap. 10,) ‘That before the city, at a place called ?????? , [or the cleft,] one half of the mountain, on the western side, was broken off, and having rolled four furlongs toward the eastern mountain, stopped, so that the roads were choked up, and the king’s gardens.’ And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints [or holy ones ] with thee — Or with him, as the Chaldee and LXX. read.” “The words,” Lowth adds, “are a description of Christ’s coming to judgment, attended with all the holy angels, as the writers of the New Testament express it, the word ?????? , translated saints, often signifying angels: see Deuteronomy 33:2 ; so the word saints seems to be used 1 Thessalonians 3:13 ; and St. Jdg 1:14 , quoting the prophecy of Enoch, says, The Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, or holy ones: a place exactly parallel with this of the text.” One observation seems needful to be made here: if the visible and personal coming of Christ be intended in these verses, it certainly cannot be his coming to raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness, because that view of the passage would not, by any means, be consistent with what is said in the two next verses concerning the continually increasing light of knowledge, holiness, and happiness in the gospel church, till, at length, at evening time it shall be quite light: but it must rather be understood of his coming to introduce, establish, and perfect his millennial reign, believed in and expected generally in the first Christian church. The reader will consider these different interpretations, and will of course adopt that which he thinks the most probable. Zechariah 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. Zechariah 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. Zechariah 14:6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: Zechariah 14:6-7 . And it shall come to pass in that day — Namely, when the Lord shall come forth to fight against the enemies of his church, the nations that fought against Jerusalem, as foretold Zechariah 14:3 ; or, in that day when he shall come to convert and restore the Jews, and spread his gospel through all the world; the light — Namely, of knowledge, holiness, and happiness in his church; shall not — Namely, at first; be clear — Like that of the perfect day; nor dark — As perfect night, but shall be a kind of twilight, a mixture of light and darkness, of knowledge and ignorance, as to divine things, of holiness and sin, of happiness and misery, or of prosperity and adversity. But it shall be one day — One continued day; there shall be no setting of the sun to make it quite night; but God will invariably pursue the end he has in view, and always act in order to it, namely, the full salvation of his spiritual Jerusalem. Which shall be known to the Lord — The Lord will always have his eye upon this progressive day, and upon all the events of it. He will continually take notice of them, and order and dispose of all for the best, according to the counsel of his own will. But at evening time — When natural days end, and when, perhaps, the shades of the evening may appear to be coming on, and there may be an apprehension of returning darkness; it shall be light — This spiritual day shall be full of light and glory, Isaiah 48:8 ; and Isaiah 60:19-21 . Mr. Scott considers these verses as containing a compendious prophecy of the state of the church, from its establishment in the apostles’ days, to those glorious times which are expected; a prophecy foretelling that, “for a long season, the light would neither be clear nor dark: it would be greatly obscured by ignorance, heresy, superstition, and idolatry, yet not wholly extinguished: and the state of the church would be much deformed by sin and calamities; yet some holiness and consolation would be found. This period could neither be called a clear, bright day, cheered and illumined by the shining of a summer’s sun, nor would it be dark, as if the sun were set or totally eclipsed; but it would contain a great mixture of truth and error, of holiness and sin, of happiness and misery. Yet it would form one day, and never be interrupted by a night of total darkness. It would also be known unto the Lord, as to the degree of its light, and the term of its continuance; and he would watch over, and take care of, his cause and people all the time of it. But his people would hardly know whether to call it day or night, or a compound of both: yet, at length, toward the evening of the world, the Sun of righteousness would break forth and shine with unclouded splendour, dispelling the gloom of ignorance, heresy, idolatry, and superstition, and illuminating the church and the earth with knowledge, righteousness, peace, and consolation.” Zechariah 14:7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. Zechariah 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. Zechariah 14:8-9 . And it shall be in that day — Spoken of Zechariah 14:6 , when the light shall not be clear, nor dark, that is, during the whole of the forementioned period; living waters shall go out from Jerusalem — The enlightening, quickening, and saving truths of Christianity, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, shall proceed from the church of Christ, the true spiritual Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea — The eastern sea; and half of them toward the hinder sea — The western sea. They shall spread themselves eastward and westward, and on all sides; and even the sea, whether on the east or west, shall not be able to obstruct their progress; but, having watered and refreshed, enlightened, renewed, and cheered the continent, they shall make their way into the islands, and diffuse their renovating and gladdening influence even over them. In summer and in winter shall it be — Perpetually, without intermission; these waters shall never dry up, be obstructed in their course, or lose their healing, fructifying, and refreshing virtue. In other words, “the gospel, attended by the influences of the Holy Spirit, having begun its progress from Jerusalem, shall continue its course on every side, amidst all those changes of which summer and winter are an emblem: so that nothing shall totally impede its progress, till the Lord shall become King over all the earth, not only in right but in fact; till neither idols, false religion, nor antichristian power, shall remain as his rivals; till all princes shall submit to and serve him; and all the earth shall agree in one object and way of worship, and unite in submission and obedience to one Lord.” — Scott. Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Zechariah 14:10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses. Zechariah 14:10-11 . All the land — The whole land of Judea, a type of the whole earth, the seat of the universal church, filled with the knowledge of God, and abounding with multitudes of converts: shall be turned as a plain — All high, uneven places, all rocky and barren grounds, shall be changed into fruitful vineyards. So the church of Christ shall be fruitful, humble, and lovely. From Geba — The north boundary of the land; to Rimmon — The south boundary. And it — That is, Jerusalem; shall be lifted up — Raised out of the dust, to which its enemies had brought it, through God’s permission. Jerusalem, taken mystically, is the church of Christ in gospel days; and by the repair of all parts of this Jerusalem, as here described, is shadowed out the complete building of the church on all sides, north, south, east, west. From Benjamin’s gate — That is, this gate was probably to the north of Jerusalem; unto the place of the first gate — Or, as Newcome reads it, the former gate, supposed to be that called the old gate, Nehemiah 3:6 ; Nehemiah 12:39 , placed by Lightfoot toward the south- west. Unto the corner-gate — See 2 Kings 14:13 . And from the tower of Hananeel — Placed by Cocceius eastward; who observes, that the tower and corner-gate seem mentioned as two extremities of the city. Unto the king’s wine-presses — Near the king’s garden southward. So Cocceius. “These points are given, no doubt, to signify that Jerusalem shall again occupy as much space as ever it did in its most flourishing times. The same intention appears Jeremiah 31:38-40 . Both these places may derive some illustration from comparing them together, and at the same time inspecting the plan of Jerusalem in the Ancient Universal History, vol. 1. b. 1., which seems to have been laid down pretty accurately, according to the circuit of the walls made by the two companies, Nehemiah 12:40 , and the information collected from other parts of Scripture.” — Blayney. And men shall dwell in it — Many, for number; eminent, for worth. And there shall be no more utter destruction — They that dwell in it shall dwell securely, and there shall be none to make them afraid. There may be afflictions, but there shall be no more of that utter destruction that formerly laid both town and country waste. There shall be no more curse, as the latter part of the sentence may be translated. In the new state of things, here foretold, the curse which sin brought into the world shall be, at least in a great measure, if not entirely, removed. Similar words, recorded Revelation 22:3 , seem to be taken from this place. But Jerusalem shall safely be inhabited — A promise often repeated by the prophets. See Jeremiah 23:6 , and the note there. Zechariah 14:11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh 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. Zechariah 14:12-13 . And this shall be the plague, &c. — Those that do not die in battle, nor fall by the hand of their brethren, shall be destroyed by famine, or consumption. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet — They shall be miserably emaciated, even while they stand in arms ready to fight; or so suddenly, that they shall hardly have time to lie or sit down. And their eyes shall consume away in their holes — A dreadful and exemplary blindness shall seize them. A great tumult — That is, confusion; from the Lord — Hebrew, of the Lord, that is, one caused or permitted by him; shall be among them — Shall take place and prevail, as a punishment of their hostility to God’s church. Those that are confederated and combined against God and his people, will be justly separated, and set against one another; and their tumults raised against God will be avenged in tumult among themselves. And they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour — That is, they shall seek help from one another, but instead of helping they shall turn their arms against one another. And his hand shall rise up, &c. — The sum of the verse is, that intestine divisions and hostilities shall be added to the foregoing divine judgments. Zechariah 14:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. Zechariah 14:14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. Zechariah 14:14-15 . And Judah also shall fight at [or rather, for ] Jerusalem — The meaning seems to be, that while the enemies of Jerusalem are engaged in fighting with each other, Judah also (Hebrew, ??? ????? ,) will come up and join their forces with those of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will fall upon the weakened nations, and take from them great spoil. And the wealth of all the heathen, &c., shall be gathered together — And shall fall into the hands of God’s people. Thus the wealth of the sinner is often laid up for the just; and the Israel of God are enriched with the spoil of the Egyptians. And so shall be the plague of the horse, &c. — The very cattle shall share in the plagues with which the enemies of God’s church shall be cut off, as they did in divers of the plagues of Egypt. Zechariah 14:15 And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. Zechariah 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zechariah 14:16 . And every one that is left of all the nations — Such as escape the fore-mentioned strokes of divine judgment, and are by mercy preserved; of all the nations which came against Jerusalem — That is, many among all these nations shall consider God’s hand, repent, and submit to his law. Such a change shall the grace of God, sanctifying his judgments, make upon them. Of Christ’s foes, as some shall be made his footstool, so others shall be made his friends; and when the principle of enmity is slain in them, their former acts of hostility are pardoned to them, and their services are accepted as though they had never fought against Jerusalem. Shall even go up to worship, and keep the feast of tabernacles — That is, they shall join in the solemn acts of Christian worship. The prophets, as we have repeatedly had occasion to observe in the course of these notes, often describe, the state of the gospel by the usages of their own times. The feast of tabernacles, being kept in remembrance of God’s conducting and preserving the Israelites forty years in the wilderness, and afterward bringing them into the promised land, was observed with extraordinary expressions of rejoicing. Here this one solemn festival is, by a figure, put for all the days consecrated to God for holy worship; and that very properly, because of those two great graces which were, in a special manner, signified and required in that feast, namely, contempt of the world and joy in God, Nehemiah 8:17 . The life of a true Christian is a constant feast of tabernacles, and in all our acts of devotion we must retire from the world and rejoice in the Lord, or worship as the truly pious did in that feast. Zechariah 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. Zechariah 14:17-18 . Whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth — If there be any remiss herein, and neglect to worship the Lord; even upon them shall be no rain — They shall be punished with want of rain, and of the blessings which plentiful and seasonable rains produce; their land shall be barren, and they shall suffer a famine. “There is a restriction, Zechariah 14:16 ,” says Newcome, “to such nations as warred against Jerusalem.” “But if, according to the opinion of many commentators, by going up to Jerusalem to worship, and to keep the feast of tabernacles, be only meant a conformity to the established worship of the one true God, or, which is the same thing, to the Christian religion, there can be no objection to understanding a strict universality of the nations. For it is repeatedly foretold, that a time would come, when all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before him, Psalm 22:27 .” — Blayney. And if the family of Egypt go not up, that have no rain — Where, by the situation of the country, there is no rain; there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen — That is, although they be not visited in the same manner as the other nations, namely, with a want of rain, which of itself would be no punishment to that country; yet, as it follows in the next verse, they shall not be exempt from the same punishment with the other nations that sinned in like manner, namely, famine, “which would be the sure consequence if the rains did not fall in Ethiopia, so as to cause an overflowing of the Nile.” — Newcome. The reader will observe, respecting these predictions, that the prophet, “foretelling the blessings arising from the restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian faith, draws his images from the old dispensation; and, as is usual throughout the prophetic writings, expresses the rewards and punishments of the new dispensation, under figures borrowed from the old.” Zechariah 14:18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain ; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zechariah 14:19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. Zechariah 14:20 In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Zechariah 14:20-21 . In that day — When the nations are converted to God, as is foretold Zechariah 14:16 ; shall there be upon the bells of the horses — Written, as it were, on every common thing; HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD — This was the inscription on the mitre of the Jewish high-priest, denoting the great holiness of his office, and how he ought to conduct himself in a holy manner in all things, especially in those relating to divine worship. Now in these days of the gospel, when the Jews shall be converted to Christ, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in, and made a holy nation, a royal priesthood, the grace of God shall be so abundant and efficacious, that common ordinary things in the hands of Christians, much more their persons, shall bear the dedicating inscription of HOLINESS TO THE LORD, and by their study and practice of holiness they shall make good their motto; they shall honour and glorify God in all circumstances and situations, times and places, and use every thing in a holy manner. And the pots in the Lord’s house — The meanest utensil employed in his service; shall be like the bowls before the altar — Shall be as the vessels of silver and gold used in the solemn sacrifices. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem shall be holiness unto the Lord — The utensils of private houses shall all be dedicated to God’s service, and employed in his fear and to his glory; with such sobriety and temperance, such devotedness to God, and such a mixture of pious thoughts and expressions, that even their meals shall look like sacrifices; they shall not eat and drink to themselves, but to Him that spreads their tables and fills their cups. And all they that sacrifice — In allusion to sacrifices, the prophet expresses all religious affections, practice, and worship, which shall be as pleasing to God as were the sacrifices of his people, offered up with divine warrant and approbation. Shall come and take of them — Of those pots and vessels, freely and without scruple; and seethe therein — The ceremonial distinction between holy and unholy places and things shall cease with the ritual law on which it was founded. One place shall be as acceptable to God as another, and one vessel or instrument of divine service as holy as another. For the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and men shall pray and give thanks everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. Little regard shall be had to the circumstance, provided there be nothing indecent or disorderly, while the life, and soul, and substance of divine worship and service are religiously preserved and adhered to. And there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord — There shall be no more a profane or impious person in the societies of the faithful. For though persons that were Canaanites, strangers, and foreigners, should be brought into the house of the Lord, yet they should cease to be Canaanites; they should have nothing of the spirit or disposition of Canaanites, or heathen, in them. And though in gospel times people should be indifferent as to holy vessels and holy places, yet they should be very strict with respect to church discipline, and careful not to admit the profane to sacred ordinances, or to Christian fellowship with them, but should separate between the precious and the vile, between Israelites and Canaanites. Yet this will not have its perfect accomplishment short of the heavenly Jerusalem, that house of the Lord of hosts into which no unclean thing shall enter. For at the end of time, and not before, Christ shall gather out of his kingdom every thing that offends; and the tares and wheat shall be perfectly and eternally separated. Zechariah 14:21 Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 00000000 "ZECHARIAH" (9-14) "Lo, thy King cometh to thee, vindicated and victorious, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass." "Up, Sword, against My Shepherd! Smite the Shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered!" "And I will pour upon the house of David and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look to Him whom they have pierced, and they shall lament for Him, as with lamentation for an only son, and bitterly grieve for Him, as with grief for a first-born." CHAPTERS 9-14 OF "ZECHARIAH" WE saw that the first eight chapters of the Book of Zechariah were, with the exception of a few verses, from the prophet himself. No one has ever doubted this. No one could doubt it: they are obviously from the years of the building of the Temple, 520-516 B.C. They hang together with a consistency exhibited by few other groups of chapters in the Old Testament. But when we pass into chapter 9, we find ourselves in circumstances and an atmosphere altogether different. Israel is upon a new situation of history, and the words addressed to her breathe another spirit. There is not the faintest allusion to the building of the Temple-the subject from which all the first eight chapters depend. There is not a single certain reflection of the Persian period, under the shadow of which the first eight chapter were all evidently written. We have names of heathen powers mentioned which not only do not occur in the first eight chapters, but of which it is not possible to think that they had any interest whatever for Israel between 520 and 516: Damascus, Hadrach, Hamath, Assyria, Egypt, and Greece. The peace, and the love of peace, in which Zechariah wrote, has disappeared. Nearly everything breathes of war actual or imminent. The heathen are spoken of with a ferocity which finds few parallels in the Old Testament. There is a reveling in their blood of which the student of the authentic prophecies of Zechariah will at once perceive that gentle lover of peace could not have been capable. And one passage figures the imminence of a thorough judgment upon Jerusalem, very different from Zechariah’s outlook upon his people’s future from the eve of the completion of the Temple. It is not surprising, therefore, that one of the earliest efforts of Old Testament criticism should have been to prove another author than Zechariah for chaps, 9-14, of the book called by his name. The very first attempt of this kind was made so far back as 1632 by the Cambridge theologian Joseph Mede, who was moved thereto by the desire to vindicate the correctness of St. Matthew’s ascription { Matthew 27:9 } of "Zechariah" { Zechariah 11:13 } to the prophet Jeremiah. Mede’s effort was developed by other English exegetes. Hammond assigned chapters 10-12, Bishop Kidder and William Whiston, the translator of Josephus, chapters 9-14 to Jeremiah. Archbishop Newcome divided them, and sought to prove that while chapters 9-11 must have been written before 721, or a century earlier than Jeremiah, because of the heathen powers they name, and the divisions between Judah and Israel, chapters 12-14, reflect the imminence of the Fall of Jerusalem. In 1784 Flugge offered independent proof that chapters 9-14 were by Jeremiah; and in 1814 Bertholdt suggested, that chapters 9-11 might be by Zechariah the contemporary of Isaiah, and on that account attached to the prophecies of his younger namesake. These opinions gave the trend to the main volume of criticism, which, till fifteen years ago, deemed "Zechariah" 9-14 to be pre-exilic. So Hitzig, who at first took the whole to be from one hand, but afterwards placed 12-14 by a different author under Manasseh. So Ewald, Bleek, Kuenen (at first), Samuel Davidson, Schrader, Duhm (in 1875), and more recently Konig and Orelli, who assign chapters 9-11 to the reign of Ahaz, but 12-14 to the eve of the Fall of Jerusalem, or even a little later. Some critics, however, remained unmoved by the evidence offered for a pre-exilic date. They pointed out in particular that the geographical references were equally suitable to the centuries after the Exile. Damascus, Hadrach, and Hamath, { Zechariah 9:1 } though politically obsolete by 720, entered history again with the campaigns of Alexander the Great in 332-331, and the establishment of the Seleucid kingdom in Northern Syria. Egypt and Assyria { Zechariah 10:10 } were names used after the Exile for the kingdom of the Ptolemies, and for those powers which still threatened Israel from the north or Assyrian quarter Judah and Joseph or Ephraim, { Zechariah 9:10 ; Zechariah 9:13 etc.} were names still used after the Exile to express the whole of God’s Israel; and in chapters 9-14, they are presented, not divided as before 721, but united. None of the chapters give a hint of any king in Jerusalem; and all of them, while representing the great Exile of Judah as already begun, show a certain dependence in style and even in language upon Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 ; Isaiah 47:1-15 ; Isaiah 48:1-22 ; Isaiah 49:1-26 ; Isaiah 50:1-11 ; Isaiah 51:1-23 ; Isaiah 52:1-15 ; Isaiah 53:1-12 ; Isaiah 54:1-17 ; Isaiah 55:1-13 ; Isaiah 56:1-12 ; Isaiah 57:1-21 ; Isaiah 58:1-14 ; Isaiah 59:1-21 ; Isaiah 60:1-22 ; Isaiah 61:1-11 ; Isaiah 62:1-12 ; Isaiah 63:1-19 ; Isaiah 64:1-12 ; Isaiah 65:1-25 ; Isaiah 66:1-24 . Moreover, the language is post-exilic, sprinkled with Aramaisms and with other words and phrases used only, or mainly, by Hebrew writers from Jeremiah onwards. But though many critics judged these grounds to be sufficient to prove the post-exilic origin of "Zechariah" 9-14, they differed as to the author and exact date of these chapters. Conservatives like Hengstenberg, Delitzsch, Keil, Kohler, and Pusey used the evidence to prove the authorship of Zechariah himself after 516, and interpreted the references to the Greek period as pure prediction. Pusey says that chapters 9-11 extend from the completion of the Temple and its deliverance during the invasion of Alexander, and from the victories of the Maccabees, to the rejection of the true shepherd and the curse upon the false; and chapters 11-12 "from a future repentance for the death of Christ to the final conversion of the Jews and Gentiles." But on the same grounds Eichhorn saw in the chapters, not a prediction, but a reflection of the Greek period. He assigned chapters 9 and 10 to an author in the time of Alexander the Great; Zechariah 11:1-17 - Zechariah 13:6 he placed a little later, and brought down Zechariah 13:7 . to the Maccabean period. Bottcher placed the whole in the wars of Ptolemy and Seleucus after Alexander’s death; and Vatke, who had at first selected a date in the reign of Artaxerxes Longhand, 464-425, finally decided for the Maccabean period, 170 ff. In recent times the most thorough examination of the chapters has been that by Stade, and the conclusion he comes to is that chapters 9-14, are all from one author, who must have written during the early wars between the Ptolemies and Seleucids about 280 B.C., but employed, especially in chapters 9, 10, an earlier prophecy. A criticism and modification of Stade’s theory is given by Kuenen. He allows that the present form of chapters 9-14 must be of post-exilic origin: this is obvious from the mention of the Greeks as a world power; the description of a siege of Jerusalem by all the heathen; the way in which ( Zechariah 9:11 f., but especially Zechariah 10:6-9 ) the captivity is presupposed, if not of all Israel, yet of Ephraim; the fact that the House of David are not represented as governing; and the thoroughly priestly character of all the chapters. But Kuenen holds that an ancient prophecy of the eighth century underlies chapters 9-11, Zechariah 13:7-9 , in which the several actual phrases of it survive; and that in their present form 12-14 are older than 9-11 and probably by a contemporary of Joel, about 400 B.C. In the main Cheyne, Cornill, Wildeboer, and Staerk adhere to Stade’s conclusions. Cheyne proves the unity of the six chapters and their date before the Maccabean period. Staerk brings down Zechariah 11:4-17 and Zechariah 13:7-9 to 171 B.C. Wellhausen argues for the unity, and assigns it to the Maccabean times. Driver Jdg 9:1-57 ; Jdg 10:1-18 ; Jdg 11:1-40 , with its natural continuation, Zechariah 13:7-9 , as not earlier than 333; and the rest of 12-14 as certainly post-exilic, and probably from 432-300. Rubinkam places Zechariah 9:1-10 in Alexander’s time, the rest in that of the Maccabees, but Zeydner all of it to the latter. Kirkpatrick, after showing the post-exilic character of all the chapters, favors assigning 9-11 to a different author from 12-14. Asserting that to the question of the exact date it is impossible to give a definite answer, he thinks that the whole may be with considerable probability assigned to the first sixty or seventy years of the Exile, and is therefore in its proper place between Zechariah and "Malachi." The reference to the sons of Javan he takes to be a gloss, probably added in Maccabean times. It will be seen from this catalogue of conclusions that the prevailing trend of recent criticism has been to assign "Zechariah" 9-14 to post-exilic times, and to a different author from chapters 1-8; and that while a few critics maintain a date soon after the Return, the bulk are divided between the years following Alexander’s campaigns and the time of the Maccabean struggles. There are, in fact, in recent years only two attempts to support the conservative position of Pusey and Hengstenberg that the whole book is a genuine work of Zechariah the son of Iddo. One of these is by C.H.H. Wright in his Bampton Lectures. The other is by George L. Robinson, now Professor at Toronto, in a reprint (1896) from the American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, which offers a valuable history of the discussion of the whole question from the days of Mede, with a careful argument of all the evidence on both sides. The very original conclusion is reached that the chapters reflect the history of the years 518-516 B.C. In discussing the question, for which our treatment of other prophets has left us too little space, we need not open that part of it which lies between a pre-exilic and a post-exilic date. Recent criticism of all schools and at both extremes has tended to establish the latter upon reasons which we have already stated, and for further details of which the student may be referred to Stade’s and Eckhardt’s investigations in the Zeitschrift fur A.T. Wissenschaft and to Kirkpatrick’s impartial summary. There remain the questions of the unity of chapters 9-14; their exact date or dates after the Exile, and as a consequence of this their relation to the authentic prophecies of Zechariah in chapters 1-8. On the question of unity we take first chapters 9-11, to which must be added (as by most critics since Ewald) Zechariah 13:7-9 , which has got out of its place as the natural continuation and conclusion of chapter 11. Zechariah 9:1-8 predicts the overthrow of heathen neighbors of Israel, their possession by Jehovah and His safeguard of Jerusalem. Zechariah 9:9-12 follow with a prediction of the Messianic King as the Prince of Peace; but then come Zechariah 9:13-17 , with no mention of the King, but Jehovah appears alone as the hero of His people against the Greeks, and there is indeed sufficiency of war and blood. Chapter 10 makes a new start: the people are warned to seek their blessings from Jehovah, and not from Teraphim and diviners, whom their false shepherds follow. Jehovah, visiting His flock, shall punish these, give proper rulers, make the people strong and gather in their exiles to fill Gilead and Lebanon. Chapter 11 opens with a burst of war on Lebanon and Bashan and the overthrow of the heathen ( Zechariah 11:1-3 ), and follows with an allegory, in which the prophet first takes charge from Jehovah of the people as their shepherd, but is contemptuously treated by them ( Zechariah 11:4-14 ), and then taking the guise of an evil shepherd represents what they must suffer from their next ruler ( Zechariah 11:15-17 ). This tyrant, however, shall receive punishment, two-thirds of the nation shall be scattered, but the rest, further purified, shall be God’s own people ( Zechariah 8:7-9 ). In the course of this prophesying there is no conclusive proof of a double authorship. The only passage which offers strong evidence for this is chapter 9. The verses predicting the peaceful coming of Messiah ( Zechariah 9:9-12 ) do not accord in spirit with those which follow predicting the appearance of Jehovah with war and great shedding of blood. Nor is the difference altogether explained, as Stade thinks, by the similar order of events in chapter 10, where Judah and Joseph are first represented as saved and brought back in Zechariah 10:6 , and then we have the process of their redemption and return described in Zechariah 10:7 ff. Why did the same writer give statements of such very different temper as Zechariah 9:9-17 ? Or, if these be from different hands, why were they ever put together? Otherwise there is no reason for breaking up chapters 9-11, Zechariah 13:7-9 . Rubinkam, who separates Zechariah 9:1-10 by a hundred and fifty years from the rest; Bleek, who divides 9 from 10; and Staerk, who separates 9-11:3 from the rest, have been answered by Robinson and others. On the ground of language, grammar, and syntax, Eckardt has fully proved that 9-11 are from the same author of a late date, who, however, may have occasionally followed earlier models and even introduced their very phrases. More supporters have been found for a division of authorship between chapters 9-11, Zechariah 13:7-9 , and chapters 12-14. {less Zechariah 13:7-9 } Chapter 12 opens with a title of its own. A strange element is introduced into the historical relation. Jerusalem is assaulted, not by the heathen only, but by Judah, who, however, turns on finding that Jehovah fights for Jerusalem, and is saved by Jehovah before Jerusalem in order that the latter may not boast over it. { Zechariah 12:1-9 } A spirit of grace and supplication is poured upon the guilty city, a fountain opened for uncleanness, idols abolished, and the prophets, who are put on a level with them, abolished too, where they do not disown their profession. { Zechariah 12:10 - Zechariah 13:6 } Another assault of the heathen on Jerusalem is described, half of the people being taken captive. Jehovah appears, and by a great earthquake saves the rest. The land is transformed. And then the prophet goes back to the defeat of the heathen assault on the city, in which Judah is again described as taking part; and the surviving heathen are converted, or, if they refuse to be, punished by the withholding of rain. Jerusalem is holy to the Lord (chapter 14). In all this there is more that differs from chapters 9-11, Zechariah 13:7-9 , than the strange opposition of Judah and Jerusalem. Ephraim, or Joseph, is not mentioned nor any return of exiles, nor punishment of the shepherds, nor coming of the Messiah, the latter’s place being taken by Jehovah. But in answer to this we may remember that the Messiah, after being described in Zechariah 9:9-12 , is immediately lost behind the warlike coming of Jehovah. Both sections speak of idolatry, and of the heathen, their punishment and conversion, and do so in the same apocalyptic style. Nor does the language of the two differ in any decisive fashion. On the contrary, as Eckardt and Kuiper have shown, the language is on the whole an argument for unity of authorship. There is, then, nothing conclusive against the position, which Stade so clearly laid down and strongly fortified, that chapters 9-14 are from the same hand, although, as he admits, this cannot be proved with absolute certainty. So also Cheyne: "With perhaps one or two exceptions, chapters 9-11 and 12-14 are so closely welded together that even analysis is impossible." The next questions we have to decide are whether chapters 9-14 offer any evidence of being by Zechariah, the author of chapters 1-8, and if not to what other post-exilic date they may be assigned. It must be admitted that in language and in style the two parts of the Book of Zechariah have features in common. But that these have been exaggerated by defenders of the unity there can be no doubt. We cannot infer anything from the fact that both parts contain specimens of clumsy diction, of the repetition of the same word, of phrases (not the same phrases) unused by other writers; or that each is lavish in vocatives; or that each is variable in his spelling. Resemblances of that kind they share with other books: some of them are due to the fact that both sections are post-exilic. On the other hand, as Eckardt has dearly shown, there exists a still greater number of differences between the two sections, both in language and in style. Not only do characteristic words occur in each which are not found in the other, not only do chapters 9-14 contain many more Aramaisms than chapters 1-8, and therefore symptoms of a later date; but both parts use the same words with more or less different meanings, and apply different terms to the same objects. There are also differences of grammar, of favorite formulas, and of other features of the phraseology, which, if there be any need, complete the proof of a distinction of dialect so great as to require to account for it distinction of authorship. The same impression is sustained by the contrast of the historical circumstances reflected in each of the two sections. Zechariah 1:1-21 ; Zechariah 2:1-13 ; Zechariah 3:1-10 ; Zechariah 4:1-14 ; Zechariah 5:1-11 ; Zechariah 6:1-15 ; Zechariah 7:1-14 ; Zechariah 8:1-23 , were written during the building of the Temple. There is no echo of the latter in "Zechariah" 9-14. Zechariah 1:1-21 ; Zechariah 2:1-13 ; Zechariah 3:1-10 ; Zechariah 4:1-14 ; Zechariah 5:1-11 ; Zechariah 6:1-15 ; Zechariah 7:1-14 ; Zechariah 8:1-23 picture the whole earth as at peace, which was true at least of all Syria; they portend no danger to Jerusalem from the heathen, but describe her peace and fruitful expansion in terms most suitable to the circumstances imposed upon her by the solid and clement policy of the earlier Persian kings. This is all changed in, "Zechariah" 9-14. The nations are restless; a siege of Jerusalem is imminent, and her salvation is to be assured only by much war and a terrible shedding of blood. We know exactly how Israel fared and felt in the early sections of the Persian period: her interests in the politics of the world, her feelings towards her governors and her whole attitude to the heathen were not at that time those which are reflected in "Zechariah" 9-14. Nor is there any such resemblance between the religious principles of the two sections of the Book of Zechariah as could prove identity of origin. That both are spiritual, or that they have a similar expectation of the ultimate position of Israel in the history of the world, proves only that both were late offshoots from the same religious development, and worked upon the same ancient models. Within these outlines there are not a few divergences. Zechariah 1:1-21 ; Zechariah 2:1-13 ; Zechariah 3:1-10 ; Zechariah 4:1-14 ; Zechariah 5:1-11 ; Zechariah 6:1-15 ; Zechariah 7:1-14 ; Zechariah 8:1-23 , were written before Ezra and Nehemiah had imposed the Levitical legislation upon Israel; but Eckardt has shown the dependence on the latter of "Zechariah" 9-14. We may, therefore, adhere to Canon Driver’s assertion, that Zechariah in chapters 1-8 "uses a different phraseology, evinces different interests, and moves in a different circle of ideas from those which prevail in chapters 9-14. Criticism has indeed been justified in separating, by the vast and growing majority of its opinions, the two sections from each other. This was one of the earliest results which modern criticism achieved, and the latest researches have but established it on a firmer basis." If, then, chapters 9-14 be not Zechariah’s, to what date may we assign them? We have already seen that they bear evidence of being upon the whole later than Zechariah, though they appear to contain fragments from an earlier period. Perhaps this is all we can with certainty affirm. Yet something more definite is at least probable. The mention of the Greeks, not as Joel mentions them about 400, the most distant nation to which Jewish slaves could be carried, but as the chief of the heathen powers, and a foe with whom the Jews are in touch and must soon cross swords, { Zechariah 9:13 } appears to imply that the Syrian campaign of Alexander is happening or has happened, or even that the Greek kingdoms of Syria and Egypt are already contending for the possession of Palestine. With this agrees the mention of Damascus, Hadrach, and Hamath, the localities where the Seleucids had their chief seats. { Zechariah 9:1 f} In that case Asshur would signify the Seleucids and Egypt the Ptolemies: it is these, and not Greece itself, from whom the Jewish exiles have still to be redeemed. All this makes probable the date which Stade has proposed for the chapters, between 300 and 280 B.C. To bring them further down, to the time of the Maccabees, as some have tried to do, would not be impossible so far as the historical allusions are concerned; but had they been of so late a date as that, viz. , 170 or 160, we may assert that they could not have found a place in the prophetic canon, which was closed by 200, but must have fallen along with Daniel into the Hagiographa. The appearance of these prophecies at the close of the Book of Zechariah has been explained, not quite satisfactorily, as follows. With the Book of "Malachi" they formed originally three anonymous pieces, which because of their anonymity were set at the end of the Book of the Twelve. The first of them begins with the very peculiar construction " Massa’ Debar Jehovah ," "oracle of the word of Jehovah," which, though partly belonging to the text, the editor read as a title, and attached as a title to each of the others. It occurs nowhere else. The Book of "Malachi" was too distinct in character to be attached to another book, and soon came to have the supposed name of its author added to its title. But the other two pieces fell, like all anonymous works, to the nearest Writing with an author’s name. Perhaps the attachment was hastened by the desire to make the round number of Twelve Prophets. ADDENDA Whiston’s work is " An Essay towards restoring the True Text of the O.T. and for vindicating the Citations made thence in the N.T. ," 1722, pp. 93 ff (not seen). Besides those mentioned (seen.) as supporting the unity of Zechariah there ought to be named De Wette, Umbreit, von Hoffmann, Ebrard, etc. Kuiper’s work is "Zachariah 9-14," Utrecht, 1894 (not seen). Nowack’s conclusions are: 9-11:3 date from the Greek period (we cannot date them more exactly, unless 9:8 refers to Ptolemy’s capture of Jerusalem in 320); 11, 13:7-9, are post-exilic; 12-13:6 long after Exile; 14 long after Exile, later than "Malachi." Zechariah 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 10. JUDGMENT OF THE HEATHEN ANDSANCTIFICATION OF JERUSALEM ( Zechariah 14:1-21 ) In another apocalyptic vision the prophet beholds Jerusalem again beset by the heathen. But Jehovah Himself intervenes, appearing in person, and an earthquake breaks out at His feet. The heathen are smitten, as they stand, into moldering corpses. The remnant of them shall be converted to Jehovah and take part in the annual Feast of Booths. If any refuse they shall be punished with drought. But Jerusalem shall abide in security and holiness: every detail of her equipment shall be consecrate. The passage has many resemblances to the preceding oracles. The language is undoubtedly late, and the figures are borrowed from other prophets, chiefly Ezekiel. It is a characteristic specimen of the Jewish Apocalypse. The destruction of the heathen is described in verses of terrible grimness: there is no tenderness nor hope exhibited for them. And even in the picture of Jerusalem’s holiness we have no really ethical elements, but the details are purely ceremonial. "Lo! a day is coming for Jehovah, when thy spoil will be divided in thy midst. And I will gather all the nations to besiege Jerusalem, and the city will be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished, and the half of the city shall go into captivity, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. And Jehovah shall go forth and do battle with those nations, as in the day when He fought in the day of contest. And His feet shall stand in that day on the Mount of Olives which is over against Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split into halves from east to west by a very great ravine, and half of the Mount will slide northwards and half southwards for the ravine of mountains shall extend to ‘Asal, and ye shall flee as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, { Amos 1:1 } and Jehovah my God will come and all the holy ones with Him. And in that day there shall not be light congeal. And it shall be one day-it is known to Jehovah-neither day nor night; and it shall come to pass that at evening time there shall be light. And it shall be in that day that living waters shall flow forth from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea: both in summer and in winter shall it be. And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth: in that day Jehovah will be One and His Name One. All the land shall be changed to plain, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem; but she shall be high and abide in her place from the Gate of Benjamin up to the place of the First Gate, up to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hanan’el as far as the King’s Winepresses. And they shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more and Jerusalem shall abide in security. And this shall be the stroke with which Jehovah will smite all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: He will make their flesh molder while they still stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall molder in their sockets, and their tongue shall molder in their mouth." "And it shall come to pass in that day, there shall be a great confusion from Jehovah among them, and they shall grasp every man the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall be lifted against the hand of his neighbor. { Ezekiel 38:21 } And even Judah shall fight against Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the nations round about shall be swept up, gold and silver and garments, in a very great mass." These two verses, Zechariah 14:13 and Zechariah 14:14 , obviously disturb the connection, which Zechariah 14:15 as obviously resumes with Zechariah 14:12 . They are, therefore, generally regarded as an intrusion. But why they have been inserted is not clear. Zechariah 14:14 is a curious echo of the strife between Judah and Jerusalem described in chapter 12. They may be not a mere intrusion, but simply out of their proper place; yet, if so, where this proper place lies in these oracles is impossible to determine. "And even so shall be the plague upon the horses, mules, camels, and asses, and all the beasts which are in those camps-just like this plague. And it shall come to pass that all that survive of all the nations who have come up against Jerusalem, shall come up from year to year to do obeisance to King Jehovah of Hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. And it shall come to pass that whosoever of all the races of the earth will not come up to Jerusalem to do obeisance to King Jehovah of Hosts, upon them there shall be no rain. And if the race of Egypt go not up nor come in, upon them also shall come the plague, with which Jehovah shall strike the nations that go not up to keep the Feast of Booths. Such shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Booths." The Feast of Booths was specially one of thanksgiving for the harvest; that is why the neglect of it is punished by the withholding of the rain which brings the harvest. But such a punishment for such a neglect shows how completely prophecy has become subject to the Law. One is tempted to think what Amos or Jeremiah or even "Malachi" would have thought of this. Verily all the writers of the prophetical books do not stand upon the same level of religion. The writer remembers that the curse of no rain cannot affect the Egyptians, the fertility of whose rainless land is secured by the annual floods of her river. So he has to insert a special verse for Egypt. She also will be plagued by Jehovah, yet he does not tell us in what fashion her plague will come. The book closes with a little oracle of the most ceremonial description, connected not only in temper but even by subject with what has gone before. The very horses, which hitherto have been regarded as too foreign, { Hosea 14:3 } or-as even in this group of oracles ( Zechariah 9:10 )-as too warlike, to exist in Jerusalem, shall be consecrated to Jehovah. And so vast shall be the multitudes who throng from all the earth to the annual feasts and sacrifices at the Temple, that the pots of the latter shall be as large as the great altar-bowls, and every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be consecrated for use in the ritual. This hallowing of the horses raises the question, whether the passage can be from the same hand as wrote the prediction of the disappearance of all horses from Jerusalem ( Zechariah 9:10 ). "In that day there shall be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto Jehovah. And the very pots in the House of Jehovah shall be as the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy to Jehovah of Hosts, and all who sacrifice shall come and take of them and cook in them. And there shall be no more any pedlar in the House of Jehovah of Hosts in that day." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.