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Zechariah

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In the fourth year of King Darius, the LORD’s word came to Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev. See also: Nehemiah 1:1 Zechariah 1:1 Ezra 6:14-15The people of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem Melech and their men to entreat the LORD’s favor, See also: Zechariah 8:21 Jeremiah 26:19 1 Kings 13:6and to speak to the priests of the house of the LORD of Armies and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?” See also: Zechariah 8:19 James 4:8-10 Hosea 4:6Then the word of the LORD of Armies came to me, saying, See also: Isaiah 10:16“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me? See also: Zechariah 1:12 Isaiah 58:4-6 1 Corinthians 10:31When you eat and when you drink, don’t you eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? See also: 1 Corinthians 11:20-21 1 Corinthians 11:26-29 Colossians 3:17Aren’t these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and its cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’” See also: Isaiah 1:16-20 Jeremiah 17:26 Jeremiah 7:23The LORD’s word came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus has the LORD of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother. See also: Micah 6:8 Psalms 82:2-4 Proverbs 21:3Don’t oppress the widow, the fatherless, the foreigner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.’ See also: Jeremiah 5:28 1 John 3:15 Proverbs 22:22-23But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. See also: Nehemiah 9:29 Jeremiah 8:5 Hosea 4:16Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law and the words which the LORD of Armies had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the LORD of Armies. See also: 2 Chronicles 36:16 Nehemiah 9:29-30 Ezekiel 11:19It has come to pass that, as he called and they refused to listen, so they will call and I will not listen,” said the LORD of Armies; See also: Proverbs 1:24-28 Isaiah 1:15 Jeremiah 14:12“but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” See also: Jeremiah 23:19 Deuteronomy 28:33 Deuteronomy 28:64

See also: Cross references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), derived in part from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Notes · Haydock (1859, public domain)11 notes

Notes in English 19th-century Catholic commentary by Fr. George Leo Haydock, shown as published.

These notes keep the polemics of their time: some speak harshly of the Jewish people or of other Christians. The Church teaches otherwise today. The Jewish people may not be blamed for the death of Christ (Nostra Aetate 4; Catechism 597–598), and Christians of other communities are our brothers and sisters in the Lord (Unitatis Redintegratio 3). Christian unity

Zechariah 7:1

Ver. 1. Casleu, in our November or December. C.

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Zechariah 7:2

Ver. 2. And. Sept. from; (S. Jer.) or, "to Bethel sent Sarasar and Arbesesar, the king and his men, to render the face of the Lord propitious." H. --- These were Persian governors under Darius, (S.

Jer.) or Cutheans, (Theod.) or Jews, at a distance from the temple, though in the country. M.

---But they seem rather to be some who had not returned. C.

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Zechariah 7:3

Ver. 3. 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 that fast after the temple is rebuilt. See this query answered v.

19 of the following chapter. Ch. --- The third of the seventh month (v. 5) was also a fast, on account of the death of Godolias, (C.) during the captivity. 4 K.

xxv. 8. 25. W. --- Sept. "Has the sanctification entered hither in the fifth month, as they ( or I) have done?" &c. H. --- Fasting and lamentation are styled sanctification, because they promote it; curatos quoque sanctificat; (S. Jer.) if the proper conditions be observed. H.

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Zechariah 7:5

Ver. 5. Years, from the ruin of the temple till the fourth of Darius. --- Unto me?

Did you grieve for the injury done to me; or was your sorrow caused by your own loss? The prophet gives not a direct answer; but sufficiently shews that exterior works of themselves are of little value.

Whether the Jews entered into his sentiments or not, they still observe these fasts, though he said they should be changed into days of rejoicing. C. viii. 19.

C. --- The fast was good, but imperfect, wanting works of charity. S. Greg. W.

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Zechariah 7:6

Ver. 6. Yourselves, to gratify the senses more than from necessity, and without doing it for God's glory. H.

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Zechariah 7:7

Ver. 7. Prophets. He alludes to Is. lviii. 3. See also Jer. xiv. 12. Joel ii. 12. The Jews were always too much attached to the letter, without minding the spirit of the law, being zealous for corporal rather than for spiritual works. --- South.

Several of these cities were occupied by the Idumeans. --- Plain, or Sephala, which afterwards became flourishing and populous. C.

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Zechariah 7:9

Ver. 9. Judgment. Avoid sinning, when you fast. W.

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Zechariah 7:10

Ver. 10. Devise. Sept. "wickedly remember in your hearts each one the evil of his brother." H.

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Zechariah 7:11

Ver. 11. Depart, so to leave the burden on their partner. Heb. C. --- Lit. "giving way;"

recedentem. Sixt. V. recedentes. Sept. "they gave a contemptuous back," (H.) like a slave, whom the whip cannot correct.

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Zechariah 7:12

Ver. 12. As, &c. Heb. "of Samir;" a stone used to polish jewels. Sept.

"disobedient."

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Zechariah 7:13

Ver. 13. So shall. It seems the past time would be preferable; as Theodoret, S.

Cyr. &c.

understand it. C. --- Yet the Jews, whom the prophet addressed, were also reprehensible; and they or their posterity felt the effects of God's indignation, when he scattered them throughout the world, as we see at present. Sept. have the future; but Prot. the past tense, "they cried," &c. H.

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License: Notes by Fr. George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), from the Douay-Rheims Bible with Haydock's commentary (first ed. Thomas Haydock, Manchester/Dublin, 1811–1814; New York: Edward Dunigan & Brother, 1859); New Testament notes compiled with Fr. Benedict Rayment. Public domain. Digital text: "The Haydock Bible", Internet Archive (archive.org/details/TheHaydockBible), uploaded 2011 under the Public Domain Mark. · Credits and licenses

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