Chapter 170

Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls.... This must be understood of the spiritual Jerusalem, the church of Christ.

2:5. And I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about: and I will be in glory in the midst thereof.

2:6. O, O flee ye out of the land of the north, saith the Lord, for I have scattered you into the four winds of heaven, saith the Lord.

2:7. O Sion, flee, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon:

2:8. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye:

2:9. For behold, I lift up my hand upon them, and they shall be a prey to those that served them: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me.

2:10. Sing praise, and rejoice, O daughter of Sion: for behold I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee: saith the Lord.

2:11. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee: and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to thee.

2:12. And the Lord shall possess Juda his portion in the sanctified land: and he shall yet choose Jerusalem.

2:13. Let all flesh be silent at the presence of the Lord: for he is risen up out of his holy habitation.

Zacharias Chapter 3

In a vision Satan appeareth accusing the high priest. He is cleansed from his sins. Christ is promised, and great fruit from his passion.

3:1. And the Lord shewed me Jesus the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord: and Satan stood on his right hand to be his adversary.

Jesus.... Alias, Josue, the son of Josedec, the high priest of that time.

3:2. And the Lord said to Satan: The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan: and the Lord that chose Jerusalem rebuke thee: Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

3:3. And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments: and he stood before the face of the angel.

With filthy garments.... Negligences and sins.

3:4. Who answered, and said to them that stood before him, saying: Take away the filthy garments from him. And he said to him: Behold I have taken away thy iniquity, and have clothed thee with change of garments.

3:5. And he said: Put a clean mitre upon his head: and they put a clean mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord stood.

3:6. And the angel of the Lord protested to Jesus, saying:

3:7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my charge, thou also shalt judge my house, and shalt keep my courts, and I will give thee some of them that are now present here to walk with thee.

I will give thee, etc.... Angels to attend and assist thee.

3:8. Hear, O Jesus thou high priest, thou and thy friends that dwell before thee, for they are portending men: for behold, I WILL BRING MY SERVANT THE ORIENT.

Portending men.... That is, men, who by words and actions are to foreshew wonders that are to come.—Ibid. My servant the Orient.... Christ, who according to his humanity is the servant of God, is called the Orient from his rising like the sun in the east to enlighten the world.

3:9. For behold the stone that I have laid before Jesus: upon one stone there are seven eyes: behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will take away the iniquity of that land in one day.

The stone.... Another emblem of Christ, the rock, foundation, and corner stone of his church.—Ibid. Seven eyes.... The manifold providence of Christ over his church, or the seven gifts of the spirit of God.—Ibid. One day.... Viz., the day of the passion of Christ, the source of all our good: when this precious stone shall be graved, that is, cut and pierced, with whips, thorns, nails, and spear.

3:10. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, every man shall call his friend under the vine and under the fig tree.

Zacharias Chapter 4

The vision of the golden candlestick and seven lamps, and of the two olive trees.

4:1. And the angel that spoke in me came again: and he waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.

4:2. And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, and its lamp upon the top of it: and the seven lights thereof upon it: and seven funnels for the lights that were upon the top thereof.

A candlestick, etc.... The temple of God that was then in building; and in a more sublime sense, the church of Christ.

4:3. And two olive trees over it: one upon the right side of the lamp, and the other upon the left side thereof.

4:4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me, saying: What are these things, my lord?

4:5. And the angel that spoke in me answered, and said to me: Knowest thou not what these things are? And I said: No, my lord.

4:6. And he answered, and spoke to me, saying: This is the word of the Lord to Zorobabel, saying: Not with an army, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

To Zorobabel.... This vision was in favour of Zorobabel: to assure him of success in the building of the temple, which he had begun, signified by the candlestick; the lamp of which, without any other industry, was supplied with oil, dropping from the two olive trees, and distributed by the seven funnels or pipes, to maintain the seven lights.

4:7. Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zorobabel? thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring out the chief stone, and shall give equal grace to the grace thereof.

Great mountain.... So he calls the opposition made by the enemies of God’s people; which nevertheless, without an army or might on their side, was quashed by divine providence.—Ibid. Shall give equal grace, etc.... Shall add grace to grace, or beauty to beauty.

4:8. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

4:9. The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundations of this house, and his hands shall finish it: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me to you.

4:10. For who hath despised little days? and they shall rejoice, and shall see the tin plummet in the hand of Zorobabel. These are the seven eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through the whole earth.

Little days.... That is, these small and feeble beginnings of the temple of God.—Ibid. The tin plummet.... Literally, the stone of tin. He means the builder’s plummet, which Zorobabel shall hold in his hand for the finishing the building.—Ibid. The seven eyes.... The providence of God, that oversees and orders all things.

4:11. And I answered, and said to him: What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof?

4:12. And I answered again, and said to him: What are the two olive branches, that are by the two golden beaks, in which are the funnels of gold?

4:13. And he spoke to me, saying: Knowest thou not what these are? And I said: No, my lord.

4:14. And he said: These are two sons of oil who stand before the Lord of the whole earth.

Two sons of oil.... That is, the two anointed ones of the Lord; viz., Jesus the high priest, and Zorobabel the prince.

Zacharias Chapter 5

The vision of the flying volume, and of the woman in the vessel.

5:1. And I turned and lifted up my eyes: and I saw, and behold a volume flying.

A volume.... That is, a parchment, according to the form of the ancient books, which, from being rolled up, were called volumes.

5:2. And he said to me: What seest thou? And I said: I see a volume flying: the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

5:3. And he said to me: This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the earth: for every thief shall be judged as is there written: and every one that sweareth in like manner shall be judged by it.

5:4. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts: and it shall come to the house of the thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof.

5:5. And the angel went forth that spoke in me, and he said to me: Lift up thy eyes, and see what this is, that goeth forth.

5:6. And I said: What is it? And he said: This is a vessel going forth. And he said: This is their eye in all the earth.

This is their eye.... This is what they fix their eye upon: or this is a resemblance and figure of them, viz., of sinners.

5:7. And behold a talent of lead was carried, and behold a woman sitting in the midst of the vessel.

5:8. And he said: This is wickedness. And he cast her into the midst of the vessel, and cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

5:9. And I lifted up my eyes and looked: and behold there came out two women, and wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a kite: and they lifted up the vessel between the earth and the heaven.

5:10. And I said to the angel that spoke in me: Whither do these carry the vessel?

5:11. And he said to me: That a house may be built for it in the land of Sennaar, and that it may be established, and set there upon its own basis.

The land of Sennaar.... Where Babel or Babylon was built, Gen. 11., where note, that Babylon in holy writ is often taken for the city of the devil: that is, for the whole congregation of the wicked: as Jerusalem is taken for the city and people of God.

Zacharias Chapter 6

The vision of the four chariots. Crowns are ordered for Jesus the high priest, as a type of Christ.

6:1. And I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and saw: and behold four chariots came out from the midst of two mountains: and the mountains were mountains of brass.

Four chariots.... The four great empires of the Chaldeans, Persians, Grecians, and Romans. Or perhaps by the fourth chariot are represented the kings of Egypt and of Asia, the descendants of Ptolemeus and Seleucus.

6:2. In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses.

6:3. And in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot grisled horses, and strong ones.

6:4. And I answered, and said to the angel that spoke in me: What are these, my lord?

6:5. And the angel answered, and said to me: These are the four winds of the heaven, which go forth to stand before the Lord of all the earth.

6:6. That in which were the black horses went forth into the land of the north, and the white went forth after them: and the grisled went forth to the land of the south.

The land of the north.... So Babylon is called; because it lay to the north in respect of Jerusalem. The black horses, that is, the Medes and Persians: and after them Alexander and his Greeks, signified by the white horses, went thither because they conquered Babylon, executed upon it the judgments of God, which is signified, ver. 8, by the expression of quieting his spirit.—Ibid. The land of the south.... Egypt, which lay to the south of Jerusalem, and was occupied first by Ptolemeus, and then by the Romans.

6:7. And they that were most strong, went out, and sought to go, and to run to and fro through all the earth. And he said: Go, walk throughout the earth: and they walked throughout the earth.

6:8. And he called me, and spoke to me, saying: Behold they that go forth into the land of the north, have quieted my spirit in the land of the north.

6:9. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

6:10. Take of them of the captivity, of Holdai, and of Tobias, and of Idaias; thou shalt come in that day, and shalt go into the house of Josias, the son of Sophonias, who came out of Babylon.

6:11. And thou shalt take gold and silver: and shalt make crowns, and thou shalt set them on the head of Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest.

6:12. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: BEHOLD A MAN, THE ORIENT IS HIS NAME: and under him shall he spring up, and shall build a temple to the Lord.

6:13. Yea, he shall build a temple to the Lord: and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit, and rule upon his throne: and he shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.

Between them both.... That is, he shall unite in himself the two offices or dignities of king and priest.

6:14. And the crowns shall be to Helem, and Tobias, and Idaias, and to Hem, the son of Sophonias, a memorial in the temple of the Lord.

6:15. And they that are far off, shall come and shall build in the temple of the Lord: and you shall know that the Lord of hosts sent me to you. But this shall come to pass, if hearing you will hear the voice of the Lord your God.

Zacharias Chapter 7

The people inquire concerning fasting: they are admonished to fast from sin.

7:1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, in the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Casleu.

7:2. When Sarasar, and Rogommelech, and the men that were with him, sent to the house of God, to entreat the face of the Lord:

7:3. To speak to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying: Must I weep in the fifth month, or must I sanctify myself as I have now done for many years?

The fifth month.... They fasted on the tenth day of the fifth month; because on that day the temple was burnt. Therefore they inquire whether they are to continue the fast, after the temple is rebuilt. See this query answered in the 19th verse of the following chapter.

7:4. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

7:5. Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: When you fasted, and mourned in the fifth and the seventh month for these seventy years: did you keep a fast unto me?

7:6. And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

7:7. Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets, when Jerusalem as yet was inhabited, and was wealthy, both itself and the cities round about it, and there were inhabitants towards the south, and in the plain?

7:8. And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying:

7:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying: Judge ye true judgment, and shew ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother.

7:10. And oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and the stranger, and the poor: and let not a man devise evil in his heart against his brother.

7:11. But they would not hearken, and they turned away the shoulder to depart: and they stopped their ears, not to hear.

7:12. And they made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets: so a great indignation came from the Lord of hosts.

7:13. And it came to pass that as he spoke, and they heard not: so shall they cry, and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.

7:14. And I dispersed them throughout all kingdoms, which they know not: and the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed through or returned: and they changed the delightful land into a wilderness.

Zacharias Chapter 8

Joyful promises to Jerusalem: fully verified in the church of Christ.

8:1. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

8:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have been jealous for Sion with a great jealousy, and with a great indignation have I been jealous for her.

8:3. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am returned to Sion, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The sanctified mountain.

8:4. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem: and every man with his staff in his hand through multitude of days.

8:5. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls, playing in the streets thereof.

8:6. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: If it seem hard in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days: shall it be hard in my eyes, saith the Lord of hosts?

8:7. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun.

8:8. And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God in truth and in justice.

8:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Let your hands be strengthened, you that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, in the day that the house of the Lord of hosts was founded, that the temple might be built.

8:10. For before those days there was no hire for men, neither was there hire for beasts, neither was there peace to him that came in, nor to him that went out, because of the tribulation: and I let all men go every one against his neighbour.

8:11. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people according to the former days, saith the Lord of hosts.

8:12. But there shall be the seed of peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew: and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

8:13. And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the Gentiles, O house of Juda, and house of Israel: so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing: fear not, let your hands be strengthened.

8:14. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: As I purposed to afflict you, when your fathers had provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord,

8:15. And I had no mercy: so turning again I have thought in these days to do good to the house of Juda, and Jerusalem: fear not.

8:16. These then are the things, which you shall do: Speak ye truth every one to his neighbour; judge ye truth and judgment of peace in your gates.

8:17. And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his friend: and love not a false oath: for all these are the things that I hate, saith the Lord.

8:18. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying:

8:19. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Juda, joy, and gladness, and great solemnities: only love ye truth and peace.

The fast of the fourth month, etc.... They fasted, on the ninth day of the fourth month, because on that day Nabuchodonosor took Jerusalem, Jer. 52.6. On the tenth day of the fifth month, because on that day the temple was burnt, Jer. 52.12. On the third day of the seventh month, for the murder of Godolias, Jer. 41.2. And on the tenth day of the tenth month, because on that day the Chaldeans began to besiege Jerusalem, 4 Kings 25.1. All these fasts, if they will be obedient for the future, shall be changed, as is here promised, into joyful solemnities.

8:20. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, until people come and dwell in many cities,

8:21. And the inhabitants go one to another, saying: Let us go, and entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Lord of hosts: I also will go.

8:22. And many peoples, and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the face of the Lord.

8:23. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: In those days, wherein ten men of all languages of the Gentiles shall take hold, and shall hold fast the skirt of one that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

Ten men, etc.... Many of the Gentiles became proselytes to the Jewish religion before Christ: but many more were converted to Christ by the apostles and other preachers of the Jewish nation.

Zacharias Chapter 9

God will defend his church, and bring over even her enemies to the faith. The meek coming of Christ, to bring peace, to deliver the captives by his blood, and to give us all good things.

9:1. The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and of Damascus the rest thereof: for the eye of man, and of all the tribes of Israel is the Lord’s.

Hadrach.... Syria.

9:2. Emath also in the borders thereof, and Tyre, and Sidon: for they have taken to themselves to be exceeding wise.

9:3. And Tyre hath built herself a strong hold, and heaped together silver as earth, and gold as the mire of the streets.

9:4. Behold the Lord shall possess her, and shall strike her strength in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire.

9:5. Ascalon shall see, and shall fear, and Gaza, and shall be very sorrowful: and Accaron, because her hope is confounded: and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ascalon shall not be inhabited.

9:6. And the divider shall sit in Azotus, and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.

9:7. And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: and even he shall be left to our God, and he shall be as a governor in Juda, and Accaron as a Jebusite.

His blood.... It is spoken of the Philistines, and particularly of Azotus, (where the temple of Dagon was,) and contains a prophecy of the conversion of that people from their bloody sacrifices and abominations to the worship of the true God.

9:8. And I will encompass my house with them that serve me in war, going and returning, and the oppressor shall no more pass through them: for now I have seen with my eyes.

That serve me in war.... Viz., the Machabees.

9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: BEHOLD THY KING will come to thee, the just and saviour: he is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.

9:10. And I will destroy the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the bow for war shall be broken: and he shall speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth.

9:11. Thou also by the blood of thy testament hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.

9:12. Return to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope, I will render thee double as I declare today.

9:13. Because I have bent Juda for me as a bow, I have filled Ephraim: and I will raise up thy sons, O Sion, above thy sons, O Greece, and I will make thee as the sword of the mighty.

Thy sons, O Sion, etc.... Viz., the apostles, who, in the spiritual way, conquered the Greeks, and subdued them to Christ.

9:14. And the Lord God shall be seen over them, and his dart shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and go in the whirlwind of the south.

9:15. The Lord of hosts will protect them: and they shall devour, and subdue with the stones of the sling: and drinking they shall be inebriated as it were with wine, and they shall be filled as bowls, and as the horns of the altar.

9:16. And the Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock of his people: for holy stones shall be lifted up over his land.

Holy stones.... The apostles, who shall be as pillars and monuments in the church.

9:17. For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?

The corn, etc.... His most excellent gift is the blessed Eucharist, called here The corn, that is, the bread of the elect, and the wine springing forth virgins; that is, maketh virgins to bud, or spring forth, as it were, like flowers among thorns; because it has a wonderful efficacy to give and preserve purity.

Zacharias Chapter 10

God is to be sought to, and not idols. The victories of his church, which shall arise originally from the Jewish nation.

10:1. Ask ye of the Lord rain in the latter season, and the Lord will make snows, and will give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.

10:2. For the idols have spoken what was unprofitable, and the diviners have seen a lie, and the dreamers have spoken vanity: they comforted in vain: therefore they were led away as a flock: they shall be afflicted, because they have no shepherd.