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. Ver. 1. _The burden of the word of the Lord_] That is, a declaration of his mind and counsel for Israel's comfort and... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem. Ver. 2. _Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling_] Or, slumber, or poison. A metaphor taken from a cup of generous wine, but empoiso... [ Continue Reading ]
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Ver. 3. _I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone_] Such a stone as that wherewith the woman brake... [ Continue Reading ]
In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. Ver. 4. _I will smite every horse with astonishment_] Great is the strength of the horse a... [ Continue Reading ]
And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem [shall be] my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. Ver. 5. _And the governors of Judah_] The dukes or chieftains (אלפי); meaning the Maccabees, who wear not any kingly crown, but were only governors, rulers, comma... [ Continue Reading ]
In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, [even] in Jerusalem. Ver. 6. _In t... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify [themselves] against Judah. Ver. 7. _The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first_] Or, as at first, _sc._ when they came out of Egypt, and had n... [ Continue Reading ]
In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David [shall be] as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. Ver. 8. _In that day shall the Lord defend, &c._] _Prosequitur eandem sententiam,_ saith Ca... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Ver. 9. _I will seek to destroy_] I will make inquisition and diligent scrutiny; I will draw them out of their lurking places to execution; as Saul went to seek David upon the rocks of... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitt... [ Continue Reading ]
In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. Ver. 11. _In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem_] _Magnificabitur luctus_ (so the Hebrew hath it), their mourning shall be greatened, their heaviness heightened, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;_ Ver. 12. _And the land shall mourn_] Not the generality of the Jews (unless it be at their last general conversion, that res... [ Continue Reading ]
All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. Ver. 14. _All the families that remain_] Out of every family of this people God will have some converts, "A remnant according to the election of grace," Romans 11:5. A thing so incredible, that to persuade it the prophet may h... [ Continue Reading ]