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Selected Verse: Zechariah 12:1 - Young's Literal
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Zec 12:1 |
Young's Literal |
The burden of a word of Jehovah on Israel. An affirmation of Jehovah, Stretching out heaven, and founding earth, And forming the spirit of man in his midst. |
| |
King James |
The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
JERUSALEM THE INSTRUMENT OF JUDGMENT ON HER FOES HEREAFTER; HER REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION. (Zac 12:1-14)
burden--"weighty prophecy"; fraught with destruction to Israel's foes; the expression may also refer to the distresses of Israel implied as about to precede the deliverance.
for Israel--concerning Israel [MAURER].
stretcheth forth--present; now, not merely "hath stretched forth," as if God only created and then left the universe to itself (Joh 5:17). To remove all doubts of unbelief as to the possibility of Israel's deliverance, God prefaces the prediction by reminding us of His creative and sustaining power. Compare a similar preface in Isa 42:5; Isa 43:1; Isa 65:17-18.
formeth . . . spirit of man-- (Num 16:22; Heb 12:9). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
The burden of the word of the Lord for - Rather, "upon (see at Nah 1:1, p. 129) Israel." If this prophecy is a continuation of the last, notwithstanding its fresh title, then "Israel" must be the Christian Church, formed of the true Israel which believed, and the Gentiles who were grafted into them. So Cyril; "Having spoken sufficiently of the Good Shepherd Christ, and of the foolish, most cruel shepherd who butchered the sheep, that is, antichrist, he seasonably makes mention of the persecutions which would from time to time arise against Israel; not the Israel according to the flesh, but the spiritual, that Jerusalem which is indeed holy, "the Church of the Living God" Ti1 3:15. For as we say, that "he" is spiritually a Jew, who hath the "circumcision in the heart," Rom 2:29, that through the Spirit, "and not" in the flesh "through the letter;" so also may "Israel" be conceived, not that of the blood of Israel, but rather that, which has a mind beholding God. But such are all who are called to sanctification through the faith in Christ, and who in Him and by Him, know of God the Father. For this is the one true elected way of beholding God."
Since the Good Shepherd was rejected by all, except the "poor of the flock," the "little flock" which believed in Him, and thereupon the "band" of "brotherhood" was dissolved between Israel and Judah, "Israel" in those times could not be Israel after the flesh, which then too was the deadly antagonist of the true israel, and thus early also chose antichrist, such as was Bar-Cochba, with whom so many hundreds of thousands perished. There was no war then against Jerusalem, since it had ceased to be (see the notes on Mic 3:12).
But Zechariah does not say that this prophecy, to which he has annexed a separate title, follows, in time, upon the last; rather, since he has so separated it by its title, he has marked it as a distinct prophecy from the preceding. It may be, that he began again from the time of the Maccabees and took God's deliverances of the people Israel then, as the foreground of the deliverances to the end ).
Yet in the times of Antiochus, it was one people only which was against the Jews, and Zechariah himself speaks only of the Greeks; Zac 9:13; here he repeatedly emphasizes that they were "all nations" (Zac 12:2-3, Zac 12:6, Zac 12:9). It may then rather be, that the future, the successive efforts of the world to crush the people of God, and its victory amid suffering, and its conversions of the world through the penitent looking to Jesus, are exhibited in one great perspective, according to the manner of prophecy, which mostly exhibits the prominent events, not their order or sequence. : "The penitential act of contrite sinners, especially of Jews, looking at Him "whom they pierced," dates from the Day of Pentecost, and continues to the latter days, when it will be greatly intensified and will produce blessed results, and is here concentrated into one focus. The rising up of God's enemies against Christ's Church, which commenced at the same time, and has been continued in successive persecutions from Jews, Gentiles, and other unbelievers in every age, and which will reach its climax in the great antichristian outbreak of the last times, and be confounded by the Coming of Christ to judgment, is here summed up in one panoramic picture, exhibited at once to the eye."
Which stretcheth forth the heavens - God's creative power is an ever-present working, as our Lord says, "My Father worketh hitherto and I work" Joh 5:17. His preservation of the things which He has created is a continual re-creation. All "forces" are supported by Him, who alone hath life in Himself. He doth not the less "uphold all things by the word of His power," because, until the successive generations, with or without their will, with or against His Will for them, shall have completed His Sovereign Will, He upholds them uniformly in being by His Unchanging Will. Man is ever forgetting this, and because, "since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as from the beginning of the creation" Pe2 3:4, they relegate the Creator and His creating as far as they can to some time, as far back as they can imagine, enough to fill their imaginations, and forget Him who made them, in whose bands is their eternity, who will be their Judge. So the prophets remind them and us of His continual working, which people forget in the sight of His works; "Thus saith the Lord; He that createth the heavens, and stetcheth them out; He that spreadeth forth the earth and its produce, who giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein" Isa 42:5; and, "I am the Lord who maketh all things, who stretcheth out the heavens alone, who spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself" Isa 44:24; speaking at once of that, past in its beginning yet present to us in its continuance, but to Him ever-present present; and of things actually present to us, "that frustrateth the tokens of the liars" Isa 44:25; and of things to those of that day still future, "that confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers" Isa 44:26 : the beginning of which was not to be till the taking of Babylon. And the Psalmist unites past and present in one, "Donning light as a garment, stretching out the heavens as a curtain; who layeth the beams of His chambers on the waters, who maketh the clouds His chariot; who walketh on the wings of the wind; who maketh His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire; He founded the earth upon its base." Psa 104:2-5. And Amos, "He that formeth the mountains and createth the winds, and declareth unto man his thoughts" (Amo 4:13, add Amo 5:8); adding whatever lieth nearest to each of us.
And formeth the spirit of man, within him - Both by the unceasing creation of souls, at every moment in some spot in our globe, or by the re-creation, for which David prays, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" Psa 51:10. He who formed the hearts of people can overrule them as He wills. Cyril: "But the spirit of man is formed by God in him, not by being called to the beginnings of being, although it was made by Him, but, as it were, transformed from weakness to strength, from unmanliness to endurance, altogether being transelemented from things shameful to better things."
Cyril: "It is the custom of the holy prophets, when about to declare beforehand things of no slight moment, to endeavor to show beforehand the Almightiness of God, that their word may obtain credence, though they should declare what was beyond all hope, and (to speak of our conceptions) above all reason and credibility." |
| The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917] |
burden
Zechariah 12-14, from one prophecy, the general theme of which is the return of the Lord and the establishment of the kingdom. The order is:
(1) The siege of Jerusalem preceding the battle of Armageddon (Zac 12:1-3);
(2) the battle itself (Zac 12:4-9);
(3) the "latter rain" in the pouring out of the Spirit and the personal revelation of Christ to the family of David and the remnant in Jerusalem, not merely as the glorious Deliverer, but as the One whom Israel pierced and has long rejected (Zac 12:10);
(4) the godly sorrow which follows that revelation (Zac 12:11-14);
(5) the cleansing fountain (Zac 13:1) then to be effectually "opened" to Israel. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| "Burden of the word of Jehovah over Israel. Saying of Jehovah, who stretches out the heaven, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him." This heading, which belongs to the whole prophecy in ch. 12-14, corresponds in form and contents to that in Zac 9:1. The burden of Jehovah over Israel stands by the side of the burden of Jehovah over the land of Hadrach, the seat of the heathen power of the world (Zac 9:1). And as the reason assigned for the latter was that the eye of Jehovah looks at mankind and all the tribes of Israel, so the former is explained here by an allusion to the creative omnipotence of Jehovah. Only there is nothing in our heading to answer to the words "and Damascus is his rest," which are added to the explanation of the symbolical name Hadrach in Zac 9:1, because Israel, as the name of the covenant nation, needed no explanation. The other formal differences are very inconsiderable. על answers substantially to the ב (in בּארץ, Zac 9:1), and signifies, notwithstanding the fact that massa' announces a threatening word, not "again" but "over," as we may see by comparing it with משּׂא אל ישׂ in Mal 1:1. The reason for the massa' announced is given here in the form of an apposition, נאם יהוה standing first like a heading, as in Psa 11:1; Sa2 23:1; Num 24:3, Num 24:15. The predicates of God are formed after Isa 42:5 (see also Amo 4:13), and describe God as the creator of the universe, and the former of the spirits of all men, to remove all doubt as to the realization of the wonderful things predicted in what follows. יצר רוּח וגו, the forming of the spirit within man, does not refer to the creation of the spirits of souls of men once for all, but denotes the continuous creative formation and guidance of the human spirit by the Spirit of God. Consequently we cannot restrict the stretching out of the heaven and the laying of the foundation of the earth to the creation of the universe as an act accomplished once for all tat the beginning of all things (Gen 2:1), but must take these words also as referring to the upholding of the world as a work of the continuously creative providence of God. According to the biblical view (cf. Psa 104:2-4), "God stretches out the heavens every day afresh, and every day He lays the foundation of the earth, which, if His power did not uphold it, would move from its orbit, and fall into ruin" (Hengst.). |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
The burden of the word of the Lord - This is a new prophecy. It is directed both to Israel and Judah, though Israel alone is mentioned in this verse.
Which stretcheth forth the heavens - See on Isa 42:5 (note).
Formeth the spirit of man within him - Then it is not the same substance with his body. It is a Spirit within Him. |
9 Then, indeed, fathers of our flesh we have had, chastising `us', and we were reverencing `them'; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of the spirits, and live?
22 and they fall on their faces, and say, `God, God of the spirits of all flesh -- the one man sinneth, and against all the company Thou art wroth!'
17 For, lo, I am creating new heavens, and a new earth, And the former things are not remembered, Nor do they ascend on the heart.
18 But joy ye, and rejoice for ever, that I `am' Creator, For, lo, I am creating Jerusalem a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
1 And now, thus said Jehovah, Thy Creator, O Jacob, and thy Fashioner, O Israel, Be not afraid, for I have redeemed thee, I have called on thy name -- thou `art' Mine.
5 Thus said God, Jehovah, preparing The heavens, and stretching them out, Spreading out the earth and its productions, Giving breath to the people on it, And spirit to those walking in it.
17 And Jesus answered them, `My Father till now doth work, and I work;'
1 The burden of a word of Jehovah on Israel. An affirmation of Jehovah, Stretching out heaven, and founding earth, And forming the spirit of man in his midst.
2 Lo, I am making Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the peoples round about, And also against Judah it is, In the siege against Jerusalem.
3 And it hath come to pass, in that day, I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples, All loading it are completely pressed down, And gathered against it have been all nations of the earth.
4 In that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I do smite every horse with astonishment, And its rider with madness, And on the house of Judah I open My eyes, And every horse of the peoples I smite with blindness.
5 And leaders of Judah have said in their heart, `Strength to me `are' the inhabitants of Jerusalem, In Jehovah of Hosts their God.'
6 In that day I make the leaders of Judah As a hearth of fire among trees, And as a torch of fire in a sheaf, And they have consumed -- on the right and on the left -- all the peoples round about, And Jerusalem hath inhabited again her place in Jerusalem.
7 And saved hath Jehovah the tents of Judah first, So that become not great against Judah Doth the beauty of the house of David, And the beauty of the inhabitant of Jerusalem.
8 In that day cover over doth Jehovah the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And the stumbling among them hath been in that day as David, And the house of David as God -- As a messenger of Jehovah -- before them.
9 And it hath come to pass, in that day, I seek to destroy all the nations Who are coming in against Jerusalem,
10 And I have poured on the house of David, And on the inhabitant of Jerusalem, A spirit of grace and supplications, And they have looked unto Me whom they pierced, And they have mourned over it, Like a mourning over the only one, And they have been in bitterness for it, Like a bitterness over the first-born.
11 In that day, great is the mourning of Jerusalem, As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon,
12 And mourned hath the land -- every family apart, The family of the house of David apart, And their women apart; The family of the house of Nathan apart, And their women apart;
13 The family of the house of Levi apart, And their women apart; The family of Shimei apart, And their women apart,
14 All the families that are left, Every family apart, and their women apart!
10 A clean heart prepare for me, O God, And a right spirit renew within me.
8 The maker of Kimah and Kesil, And the turner to morning of death-shade, And day `as' night He hath made dark, Who is calling to the waters of the sea, And poureth them on the face of the earth, Jehovah `is' His name;
13 For, lo, the former of mountains, and creator of wind, And the declarer to man what `is' His thought, He is making dawn obscurity, And is treading on high places of earth, Jehovah, God of Hosts, `is' His name!
2 Covering himself `with' light as a garment, Stretching out the heavens as a curtain,
3 Who is laying the beam of His upper chambers in the waters, Who is making thick clouds His chariot, Who is walking on wings of wind,
4 Making His messengers -- the winds, His ministers -- the flaming fire.
5 He hath founded earth on its bases, It is not moved to the age and for ever.
26 Confirming the word of His servant, The counsel of His messengers it perfecteth, Who is saying of Jerusalem, She is inhabited, And of cities of Judah, They shall be built, and her wastes I raise up,
25 Making void the tokens of devisers, And diviners it maketh mad, Turning the wise backward, And their knowledge it maketh foolish.
24 Thus said Jehovah, thy redeemer, And thy framer from the womb: `I `am' Jehovah, doing all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, Spreading out the earth -- who `is' with Me?
5 Thus said God, Jehovah, preparing The heavens, and stretching them out, Spreading out the earth and its productions, Giving breath to the people on it, And spirit to those walking in it.
4 and saying, `Where is the promise of his presence? for since the fathers did fall asleep, all things so remain from the beginning of the creation;'
17 And Jesus answered them, `My Father till now doth work, and I work;'
9 And it hath come to pass, in that day, I seek to destroy all the nations Who are coming in against Jerusalem,
6 In that day I make the leaders of Judah As a hearth of fire among trees, And as a torch of fire in a sheaf, And they have consumed -- on the right and on the left -- all the peoples round about, And Jerusalem hath inhabited again her place in Jerusalem.
2 Lo, I am making Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the peoples round about, And also against Judah it is, In the siege against Jerusalem.
3 And it hath come to pass, in that day, I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples, All loading it are completely pressed down, And gathered against it have been all nations of the earth.
13 For I have trodden for Me Judah, A bow I have filled `with' Ephraim, And I have stirred up thy sons, O Zion, Against thy sons, O Javan, And I have set thee as the sword of a hero.
12 Therefore, for your sake, Zion is ploughed a field, and Jerusalem is heaps, And the mount of the house `is' for high places of a forest!
29 but a Jew `is' he who is `so' inwardly, and circumcision `is' of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, of which the praise is not of men, but of God.
15 and if I delay, that thou mayest know how it behoveth `thee' to conduct thyself in the house of God, which is an assembly of the living God -- a pillar and foundation of the truth,
1 Burden of Nineveh. The Book of the Vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
1 In that day there is a fountain opened To the house of David And to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, For sin and for impurity.
11 In that day, great is the mourning of Jerusalem, As the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon,
12 And mourned hath the land -- every family apart, The family of the house of David apart, And their women apart; The family of the house of Nathan apart, And their women apart;
13 The family of the house of Levi apart, And their women apart; The family of Shimei apart, And their women apart,
14 All the families that are left, Every family apart, and their women apart!
10 And I have poured on the house of David, And on the inhabitant of Jerusalem, A spirit of grace and supplications, And they have looked unto Me whom they pierced, And they have mourned over it, Like a mourning over the only one, And they have been in bitterness for it, Like a bitterness over the first-born.
4 In that day -- an affirmation of Jehovah, I do smite every horse with astonishment, And its rider with madness, And on the house of Judah I open My eyes, And every horse of the peoples I smite with blindness.
5 And leaders of Judah have said in their heart, `Strength to me `are' the inhabitants of Jerusalem, In Jehovah of Hosts their God.'
6 In that day I make the leaders of Judah As a hearth of fire among trees, And as a torch of fire in a sheaf, And they have consumed -- on the right and on the left -- all the peoples round about, And Jerusalem hath inhabited again her place in Jerusalem.
7 And saved hath Jehovah the tents of Judah first, So that become not great against Judah Doth the beauty of the house of David, And the beauty of the inhabitant of Jerusalem.
8 In that day cover over doth Jehovah the inhabitant of Jerusalem, And the stumbling among them hath been in that day as David, And the house of David as God -- As a messenger of Jehovah -- before them.
9 And it hath come to pass, in that day, I seek to destroy all the nations Who are coming in against Jerusalem,
1 The burden of a word of Jehovah on Israel. An affirmation of Jehovah, Stretching out heaven, and founding earth, And forming the spirit of man in his midst.
2 Lo, I am making Jerusalem a cup of reeling To all the peoples round about, And also against Judah it is, In the siege against Jerusalem.
3 And it hath come to pass, in that day, I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all the peoples, All loading it are completely pressed down, And gathered against it have been all nations of the earth.
2 Covering himself `with' light as a garment, Stretching out the heavens as a curtain,
3 Who is laying the beam of His upper chambers in the waters, Who is making thick clouds His chariot, Who is walking on wings of wind,
4 Making His messengers -- the winds, His ministers -- the flaming fire.
1 And the heavens and the earth are completed, and all their host;
13 For, lo, the former of mountains, and creator of wind, And the declarer to man what `is' His thought, He is making dawn obscurity, And is treading on high places of earth, Jehovah, God of Hosts, `is' His name!
5 Thus said God, Jehovah, preparing The heavens, and stretching them out, Spreading out the earth and its productions, Giving breath to the people on it, And spirit to those walking in it.
15 And he taketh up his simile, and saith: `An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor -- And an affirmation of the man whose eyes `are' shut --
3 and he taketh up his simile, and saith: `An affirmation of Balaam son of Beor -- And an affirmation of the man whose eyes are shut --
1 And these `are' the last words of David: -- `The affirmation of David son of Jesse -- And the affirmation of the man raised up -- Concerning the Anointed of the God of Jacob, And the Sweetness of the Songs of Israel:
1 To the Overseer. -- By David. In Jehovah I trusted, how say ye to my soul, `They moved `to' Thy mountain for the bird?
1 The burden of a word of Jehovah unto Israel by the hand of Malachi:
1 The burden of a word of Jehovah against the land of Hadrach, and Demmeseh -- his place of rest: (When to Jehovah `is' the eye of man, And of all the tribes of Israel.)
1 The burden of a word of Jehovah against the land of Hadrach, and Demmeseh -- his place of rest: (When to Jehovah `is' the eye of man, And of all the tribes of Israel.)
1 The burden of a word of Jehovah against the land of Hadrach, and Demmeseh -- his place of rest: (When to Jehovah `is' the eye of man, And of all the tribes of Israel.)
1 The burden of a word of Jehovah against the land of Hadrach, and Demmeseh -- his place of rest: (When to Jehovah `is' the eye of man, And of all the tribes of Israel.)
5 Thus said God, Jehovah, preparing The heavens, and stretching them out, Spreading out the earth and its productions, Giving breath to the people on it, And spirit to those walking in it.