_THE DESTROYERS OF JERUSALEM DESTROYED. THE COMING OF CHRIST, AND THE GRACES OF HIS KINGDOM. THE PLAGUE OF JERUSALEM'S ENEMIES. A REMNANT WILL TURN TO THE LORD, AND THEIR SPOILS SHALL BE HOLY._ _Before Christ 517._ THIS chapter goes on to foretel a siege, in which Jerusalem will be taken and sacke... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RESIDUE OF THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF FROM THE CITY— It is impossible to reconcile these words with the state of facts at the time when Jerusalem was taken by the Romans; for at that time, we are well assured by Josephus, who was an eye-witness, not only _all_ that were in the city were eit... [ Continue Reading ]
AS WHEN HE FOUGHT— Literally, _According to the day of his fighting;_ that is, with thunder and lightning, storms of wind and hail, earthquakes, &c. See Psalms 18:7. Habakkuk 3:5; Habakkuk 3:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS FEET SHALL STAND, &C.— Calmet thinks, that by this _cleaving_ of the mount of Olives is meant those incisions which the Romans made in it, to carry matter thence for the siege of the city; not observing that the simile is drawn from things which exceed nature, not from those which happen acc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD MY GOD SHALL COME, &C.— _And_ JEHOVAH _shall go, the God of all holy ones, with thee._ This is a literal translation of the Hebrew text, and affords a sense beyond exception or improvement. The same Jehovah, of whom it is said Zechariah 14:3 that he would go forth and fight against the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, &C.— How this will be fulfilled we cannot know till the time of its completion shall arrive; for a fact certainly, not a simile, is here again delivered. We know that in the Scripture, _light_ denotes _joy_ and _prosperity,_ and _darkness_ adversity. See Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE DAY— _An extraordinary, or very singular day._... [ Continue Reading ]
LIVING WATERS SHALL GO OUT, &C.— Here again, real waters, not the figurative ones of baptism, or of the Christian doctrine, are meant; for these waters go out only to the east and to the west, whereas the evangelical waters went forth into all quarters of the world. Houbigant; who, instead of _forme... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SHALL BE KING, &C.— Upon this grand conversion and restoration of the Jews, and coming-in of the fulness of the Gentiles, God shall be glorified with one mind and one mouth over all the earth. _There shall be one Lord, and his name shall be one._ A _name_ was so peculiar an adjunct to a... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE LAND SHALL BE TURNED, &C.— _And he shall surround the whole land as a plain, from Geba even to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem; which shall be high, and shall stand firm,_ &c. The latter part of this verse describes the extent of the new city of Jerusalem, which the Jews were to rebuild and inhab... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS HAND SHALL RISE UP, &C.— _And the hand of one shall cleave to the hand of another._ Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JUDAH ALSO SHALL FIGHT AT JERUSALEM— _And Judah also shall fight for Jerusalem._ Not only, _the Lord shall fight,_ (see Zechariah 14:3.) but also _Judah._... [ Continue Reading ]
OF ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH— If, according to the opinion of many learned commentators, by going up to Jerusalem to worship, and to keep the feast of tabernacles, be only meant a conformity to the worship of the one true God, or, which is the same thing, to the Christian religion, there can be... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT HAVE NO RAIN; THERE, &C.— _Upon them shall be the plague wherewith the Lord,_ &c. Houbigant. The reader will observe, that the prophet, foretelling the blessings arising from the restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian faith, draws his images from the old di... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY, &C.— This and the following verse seem to imply the promise of universal peace and holiness; blessings often mentioned in the prophets as concomitants of the flourishing state of Christ's kingdom. The meaning of the passage therefore is, that the _bells,_ or furniture of war, belonging... [ Continue Reading ]