2

3

4

Even to every man the herb in the field.
For the images have spoken vanity;

And the diviners have seen a lie,

And have told false dreams; they have comforted in vain.

Therefore have they gone away, as a flock;

They have been afflicted, because there was no shepherd.

Against the shepherds mine anger hath been kindled,

And I will punish the chief ones.

But Jehovah God of hosts will visit

His flock, the house of Judah;

*

And will make them as his goodly horse in war.
From him shall be the corner-stone, from him the

nail,

Hebr. dreams of falsehood. § visit upon. || he-goats. the horse of his glory. 2. the images] This does not agree to the times after the captivity, when the Jews were no longer idolatrous.

-as a flock] Which changes its pasture in the wide places of the desert.

-no shepherd] No King, or Ruler, over them.

The Babylonish captivity seems to be foretold. A determined future event is frequently spoken of by the prophets as past.

3. the shepherds] The word is beautifully taken up from the preceding clause.

-chief ones] See Isai. xiv. 9. and Chald. has a word equivalent to principes.

-will visit] With mercy. The original word should be pointed as a participle. So Syr. and 6. MS. A. have and MS. V. xa: either of which is a translation of

visitans est, vel, erit.

4. From him] Judah.

-the corner-stone] See Judges xx. 2. 1 Sam. xiv. 38. Isai. xix. 13 where Bishop Lowth renders chief pillars, and

Chald. has a word denoting principes.

-the nail] That these were not only of general and neces sary use in the eastern houses, but even ornamental and strengthening, and from the first building of the walls wrought into them, see Bishop Lowth on Isai. xxii. 23, and Harmer i

From him the battle bow:

From him shall go forth every ruler together.
And they shall be as men who tread down
The mire of the streets, in war.

And they shall fight, for Jehovah shall be with them:
And the riders on horses shall be confounded.
And I will strengthen the house of Judah,

And the house of Joseph will I save:

And I will bring them back, for I have loved them;
And they shall be as though I had removed them
afar off:

For I am Jehovah their God, and I will hear them.
And Ephraim shall be as a mighty man;

And their heart shall rejoice, as through wine:
And their sons shall see it, and shall rejoice;
Their heart shall exult in Jehovah.

191: where Ezek. xv. 3. Ezra ix. 3. and Ecclus. xiv. 24. are quoted. It is also probable that the "hooked wooden pins which kept tents firm and steady," and "the hooks on the pillars of tents, on which the Arabs hang their clothes, baskets, saddles, and accoutrements of war, and on which Holofernes hung his faulchion, Judith xiii. 6." may be alluded to. Shaw's travels 4to. 221. fol. 287. "Clavorum geminus usus; vel ut supellectilia, quæ ad ornatum vel usum domus parata sunt, ab iis suspendantur; vel ut tabulis, asseribus, trabibus compingendis inserviant." Vitring. in Isai. xxii. 23.

-the battle-bow] Both soldier and commander.

See

-every ruler together] The word way is also used in a good sense, Isai. lx. 17. Judah sball furnish both civil and military goAfter the captivity, Judah again became a well regulated state. "Oppressor. See Michaelis." Secker.

vernors.

5.

the riders on horses] The descendants of the Macedonians, who opposed the Maccabees. Grot. Houbigant.

6. bring them back] We may read 'n' with V. Syr. Chald. See v. 10. Many MSS. and four ed. read 'nawm And I will settle them.

-I have loved them] I have adopted them as my people. 7. shall be] Two MSS. and one ed. read m But Ephraim, as a noun of multitude, may be used plurally. "And they shall be as the mighty men of Ephraim. 6. Ch. Syr." Secker.

8

9

10

11

I will hiss for them, and will gather them; for I

have redeemed them:

And they shall multiply, even as they have multiplied.

For I will sow them among the people; and they shall remember me in far countries:

And they shall preserve their children, and shall

return.

And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,
and from Assyria will I assemble them :
And I will bring them back into the land of Gilead
and of Lebanon;

And there shall not be found sufficient place for them.
And he shall pass through the sea, with distress
unto it,

And shall smite the waves in the sea:

And all the depths of the River shall be dried up:
And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down,
And the sceptre of Egypt shall depart.

8. hiss for them] Or, hist them: make a signal for them by an inarticulate sound. See Bishop Lowth on Isai. v. 26. And see Isai. vii. 18.

9. preserve] The Hebrew verb in Pihel signifies to save alive. See ó Ar. Syr. "Live with: or, bring up." Secker. 10. Assyria] Whither the ten tribes were led into captivity; many of whom returned in consequence of Cyrus's decree. -sufficient] See Ny Numb. xi. 22. Josh. xvii. 16. Judg. xxi. 14.

11. with distress] "F. pro y legendum ut Isai. xi. 15: vel saltem pro Genitivis habendi y et 1." Secker, "And some shall pass over the sea to Tyre." Blaney.

-the River] Nile. God will restore his people in a manner resembling the miraculous passage of the Red Sea and of the river Jordan.

-the pride of Assyria] Hence we are led to think that the Assyrian empire subsisted when this prophecy was uttered.

-of Egypt] "Nulla versio legit, ut n' Gen. xlix, 10. Et reperitur sine termino a quo vel ad quem 1 Sam, Secker.

XV. 32."

12

ZECHARIAH. XI.

And I will strengthen them through Jehovah
[their God;]

And in his name shall they walk, saith Jehovah.

CHAP. XI.

OPEN thy doors O Lebanon,

12. [their God] 6. Ar. supply nns, which the hemistich

seems to want.

-shall they walk[ 6. Ar. and one MS. read

glory.

CHAP. XI.

shall they

1. "That which moveth me more than the rest is in c. 11, which contains a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and a description of the wickedness of the inhabitants, for which God would give them to the sword, and have no more pity on them. It is expounded of the destruction by Titus; but methinks such a prophecy was nothing seasonable for Zachary's time, (when the city yet, for a great part, lay in her ruins, and the temple had not yet recovered her's,) nor agreeable to the scope of Zachary's commission, who, together with his colleague Haggai, was sent to encourage the people lately returned from captivity to build their temple and to instaurate their commonwealth. Was this a fit time to foretel the destruction of both, while they were but yet a building? and by Zachary too, who was to encourage them? would this not better befit the desolation by Nebuchadnezzar?" J. Mede. Epist. Ixi. "This chapter contains a prophecy of a very different cast to the foregoing. The people would not always behave as they ought, and therefore would not always be prosperous. Before their final glorious restoration, an event of a most calamitous nature was doomed to take place, the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, which is plainly foretold, and ascribed to its proper cause, punishment for notorious wickedness. The flock were under the guillance of corrupt and unprincipled pastors, who sacrificed them to their own ambitious views. The prophet by God's command assumes for a while the direction of them, therein becoming a type of Christ the good shepherd; but is soon obliged to resign his charge, with mutual dissatisfaction on both sides. He receives thirty pieces of silver as the reward for bis services, and casts them by divine direction to the potter. After this the prophet is held forth as the type of a worthless shepherd, or a succession of evil governors, who, heedless of the flock, or

2

3

4

5

That the fire may devour thy cedars.

Howl, O fir-tree, because the cedar is fallen;
For that the goodly ones are destroyed.

Howl, O ye oaks of Bashan;

Because the fenced wood is felled.

There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds,
Because their goodliness is destroyed:

There is a voice of the roaring of young lions,
Because the pride of Jordan is destroyed.

Thus saith Jehovah my God:

Feed thou the flock of slaughter;

Whose possessors slay them, and hold not themselves guilty;

And those who sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I am rich:

seeking only to oppress it, at once ruin the flock, and bring destruction on themselves." Blaney.

2. the goodly ones] Trees. The original word is applied to cedars and vines. Ezek. xvii. 8, 23. Under these images the fall of mighty men, and the subversion of the Jewish polity, are represented. "Forest of the vintage: or, defended forests." Secker.

3. the pride of Jordan] The woods on its banks, the receptacles of lions. Jer. xlix. 19. "translated swelling of. Michaelis understands the lofty banks." Secker.

These three verses may be applied to the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. "These three first verses can relate only to the destruction of the city and temple by the Romans, and such was the application made by Rabbi Johanan, when the doors of the temple opened of their own accord before the temple was burnt, which circumstance is attested by Josephus. And the same Rabbi cites this place as the prophecy of Zechariah." Blaney.

4. Feed thou-] This is an address to the prophet, who was to instruct and admonish a people over whom destruction impended.

5. possessors] Their governors and false prophets; who expose them to the sword of their enemies by encouraging them in idolatry, the guilt of which they know not.

-slay them] Twenty-five MSS. and two ed. read 12777. -sell them] Those who in effect sell them to their conquer