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Commentary Critical and Explanatory

Zechariah 8:16,17

These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

-The promised blessings are connected with obedience-God's covenanted grace will lead those truly blessed by it to holiness, not licentiousness.

Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour - not that the truth should not be spoken to foreigners too; but he makes it an aggravation of their sin that they spared not even their brethren. Besides and above all outward ordinances (; ), God requires truth and justice.

Execute the judgment of truth and peace. Equitable decisions tend to allay feuds and produce peace.

In your gates - the place where courts of judicature in the East were held.

Verse 17. For all these are things that I hate - therefore ye, too, ought to hate them. Religion consists in conformity to God's nature-that we should love what God loves, and hate what God hates.

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See also Zechariah 8:16,17 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Zechariah 8:16. _SPEAK YE EVERY MAN THE TRUTH_] See Zechariah 7:9....

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT YE SHALL DO - He exhorts them to the same duties, to which the former prophets had exhorted their fathers, Zechariah 7:9, and, as before, first positively to truth and peace;...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 8 _ 1. The restoration announced (Zechariah 8:1) _ 2. The peace of Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:4) 3. The return to the land (Zechariah 8:6) 4. The blessing of the land and the people ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    ZECHARIAH 8:4 F. A beautiful description of the result of the restoration of peace and safety. During the troublous past Jerusalem had been no place for feeble old age or for children. The sympathetic...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    SPEAK, &c. Compare Zechariah 8:19; Zechariah 7:9. EVERY MAN. Hebrew. _ish_. App-14. EXECUTE, &c. See note on Zechariah 7:9....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _the judgment of truth and peace_ Rather, TRUTH AND THE JUDGMENT OF PEACE JUDGE YE, as in R. V. margin. Jerusalem would indeed "be called a city of truth" (Zechariah 8:3), when alike in the private in...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    "The ground upon which the promise rests is given in Zechariah 8:14-15, and it is closed in Zechariah 8:16-17, by the addition of the condition on which it is to be fulfilled." Keil....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    THE FIFTH STATEMENT. Zechariah 8:14-17 RV. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: As I thought to do evil unto you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith Jehovah of hosts, and I repented not; so aga...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    8:16 execute (c-16) 'Judge,' as ch. 7.9....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    REITERATION OF GOD'S PROMISES CONCERNING JERUSALEM The whole chapter is made up of ten short oracles each introduced by the formula, 'Thus saith the Lord of hosts' (except Zechariah 8:3). God has com...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    IN YOUR GATES] The gate was the market-place where all business transactions took place: see Ruth 4:1. EXECUTE THE JUDGMENT OF TRUTH AND PEACE] be fair-minded and peaceable. 20, 23. The gathering in o...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    GOD REMEMBERS HIS PROMISES ZECHARIAH _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ CHAPTER 8 V1 Again, the word of the *LORD of Everything came (to Zechariah). (The *LORD told him) to say this. V2 ‘This is what the *LORD...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    (14-17) As the Captivity had been brought about by God’s decree, so, too, the Restoration. The people, therefore, need not fear, if only they do that which is righteous in His sight....

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    JUDGMENT OF TRUTH AND PEACE — _i.e.,_ in accordance with the true facts of the case, and such judgment as would tend to peace between man and man. (Comp. Zechariah 7:9; and contrast Malachi 2:8.)...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    אֵ֥לֶּה הַ דְּבָרִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר תַּֽעֲשׂ֑וּ דַּבְּר֤וּ...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Zechariah 8:1 "THE SEED OF PEACE" Zechariah 7:1; Zechariah 8:1 THE Visions have revealed the removal of the guilt of the land, the restoration of Israel to their standing before God, the revival of...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    TRUTH AND LOVE MUST PREVAIL Zechariah 8:1-17 In his third answer Zechariah dilates on the prosperity awaiting the chosen city. The Lord had returned, to dwell there, and the old men and women who wer...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The third answer was full of grace. It declared that God was jealous for Zion, that He had returned to it, and that therefore its prosperity was assured, notwithstanding that these people saw only the...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Of peace, or perfect. Shew no partiality._...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    Lectures on the Minor Prophets. W. Kelly. Zechariah was plainly a contemporary of Haggai. Like him he dates his prophecies from the second imperial power of the Gentiles; but he goes a great deal far...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    Zechariah exhorts them here to true repentance, by showing that more things were to be hoped for than what they saw with their eyes; and at the same time he shows that it was not enough for them assid...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS CHAPTER S 7, 8, 9, AND 10. The prophecy, from chapter 7 to the end of the book, has for its special object the introduction of the Messiah in Israel, with the consequen...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    THESE [ARE] THE THINGS THAT YE SHALL DO,.... Which were duties incumbent on them, and which it became them to perform, under a sense of the favours bestowed on them, to show their gratitude to God, an...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    These [are] the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: Ver. 16. _These are the things that ye shall do_] Heb. T...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _These are the things that ye shall do_, &c. But these my promises of good to you are conditional, and the performance of them will depend upon your observing the laws of justice and righteousness; _S...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    These are the things that ye shall do, as an evidence of the new relation which obtained between them and Jehovah, the God of the covenant, SPEAK YE EVERY MAN THE TRUTH TO HIS NEIGHBOR, this being the...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE RESTORATION DESCRIBED...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    THE POSITIVE ANSWER (vv. 1-17) In this chapter the Lord gives a wonderfully positive answer to the question ofZechariah 7:2. The positive answer is found only in His own great and effective work to...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    EXECUTE THE JUDGMENT OF TRUTH AND PEACE: _ Heb._ judge truth, and the judgment of peace...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    9-17 Those only who lay their hands to the plough of duty, shall have them strengthened with the promises of mercy: those who avoid their fathers' faults have the curse turned into a blessing. Those...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT YE SHALL DO; you to whom I am returned, whom I have promised to bless, you have something to do that the blessing may come upon you, and look you do it. Beside building the t...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Zechariah 8:16 things H1697 do H6213 (H8799) Speak H1696 (H8761) man H376 truth H571 neighbor H7453 judgment...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    THE RESTORATION OF GOD'S PEOPLE IS AT HAND (ZECHARIAH 8:9). God describes what the land had been like as a result of His forsaking it, but He wants them to know that He is now giving them another cha...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Zechariah 8:9. Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the month of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of th...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    Zechariah 8:1. _Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury._ Because t...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Jehovah's unchanging purpose to restore Jerusalem and bless Israel in the Kingdom. CHARACTERS: God, Zechariah. CONCLUSION: Jerusalem, the city of God, and Israel, the people of God, have G...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Zechariah 8:2. _I was jealous for Zion with great fury,_ to purge her sins, and with great compassion and special mercy to bring back her children and restore her temple. What other nation, overrun an...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour _ TRUTH Concisely stated, the doctrine of the text is, think truth, love truth, speak truth, and do truth--live in its atmosphere, make it your ruling...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    ZECHARIAH—NOTE ON ZECHARIAH 8:1 God is renewing his presence with his people. He is reaffirming his purpose to bless the nations through them. ⇐...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    CRITICAL NOTES.] ZECHARIAH 8:16.] Just as in ch. Zechariah 7:9, first positive (Zechariah 8:16), then negative (Zechariah 8:

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION ZECHARIAH 8:1 § 4. _The Lord promises to show his love for Zion, to dwell among his people, and to fill Jerusalem with a happy lace._ ZECHARIAH 8:1 AGAIN; rather, _and_. This chapter con...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Now again the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the LORD; I am re...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Peter 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:6; Amos 5:15; Amos 5:24; Deute

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Judgment of truth — True judgment. Peace — That may restore, and settle peace among you. Gates — The places of judicature, where the judges sat....

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