IN THAT DAY - The time of calamity referred to in the close of the previous chapter. This is a continuation of that prophecy, and there was no reason why these six verses should have been made a separate chapter. That the passage refers to the Messiah, is apparent from what has been stated in the no... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BRANCH OF THE LORD - צמח יהוה _y__e__hovâh_ _tsemach_. “The sprout” of Yahweh. This expression, and this verse, have had a great variety of interpretations. The Septuagint reads it, ‘In that day God shall shine in counsel with glory upon the earth, to exalt, and to glorify the remnant of Israel... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT IS LEFT IN ZION - This “properly” refers to the remnant that should remain after the mass of the people should be cut off by wars, or be borne into captivity. If it refer to the few that would come back from Babylon, it means that they would be reformed, and would be a generation different f... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE LORD - That is, “after” God has done this, then all that are written among the living shall be called holy. The prophet in this verse states the benefits of “affliction” in purifying the people of God. He had said, in the previous verse, that all who should be left in Zion should be called... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD WILL CREATE - The meaning of this verse and the next is, that God would take his people into his holy care and protection. The idea is expressed by images drawn, in this verse, from the protection which he afforded to the Israelites in their journeying from Egypt. The word “create” mean... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE SHALL BE A TABERNACLE - The reference here is to the “tabernacle,” or sacred “tent” that God directed Moses to make in the wilderness. The image of the cloudy pillar mentioned in the previous verses, seems to have suggested to the mind of the prophet the idea of the tabernacle over which t... [ Continue Reading ]