V.1-3. And I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, a man had a measuring line in his hand. And I said, Where goest thou? etc.
This is also a new sermon and a new vision, there are three angels. The first one appears with a cord or measure. The other one, who is used to speak with the prophet, who is Michael, goes out, that is, he comes forth into the vision. For in Hebrew to go forth is as much as to stand out, to come into place. This angel is to interpret the vision, as he did before. The third angel also comes forth and commands your angel Michael what he is to say to the prophet. And, as far as I understand, because the two angels bump into each other and meet, this is the opinion that the angel Michael wants to come forth and point out to the prophet the face of the physical Jerusalem, how it is to be built; but before he does this, the third angel comes to meet him and commands him to speak about the spiritual Jerusalem. For this whole chapter speaks of the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, of the kingdom of Christ, which was signified by Jerusalem. That is why I have spared the allegories or secret interpretations in the previous chapter, because the prophet himself points them out and gives them here.
2 For after he has sufficiently comforted in the previous, first chapter, and promised with two visions and many words, how Jerusalem should be rebuilt bodily and temporally, he continues, before he continues to preach about the bodily Jerusalem, and shows how it should be with Jerusalem afterwards, when she now stands there in a temporal building, and says: it should not remain so, but
The angels said, "Let there be such a great Jerusalem, which cannot be measured, but shall be without walls, as far as the earth is, that God Himself will be a fiery blue around it. Therefore the angel appears with the measuring rod, just as the prophet's and the people's heart stands; for they do not yet know of any other Jerusalem, ohn which is measured and has its space, how long and wide it is bodily. For we have often heard how the faces appear, according to which the people are minded in the heart, so here Zechariah, because he measures in the heart the bodily city Jerusalem, must also see the measuring cord. But it is interpreted to him much differently, namely, that [it] shall become an adequate city, according to the fleshly room etc.
(3) For the man or angel with the measuring line should certainly know how long and wide Jerusalem would be, or that he would not need to know, since the people knew and saw before their eyes how large it should be. Therefore the measuring line goes to another measurement, namely, to the spiritual Jerusalem, and the man with the measuring line is Christ, our Lord, the only builder of the new Jerusalem.
4. but that he has the measuring cord in his hand means that he distributes the Holy Spirit with his gifts, to each his measure and modest portion, as Paul teaches Rom. 12, 6. 1 Cor. 12, 7. ff. and Eph. 4, 11. For Christianity goes no further, nor is it narrower, than as far as the Spirit of Christ reaches and is given. This is the spiritual measuring.
1) In the Erlangen and German Wittenberg:' "Geschicht"; whereas in the Jena our reading is. In Latin: vision^s. The latter is also confirmed by K 33. 35. 37 and 67 in the first chapter.
But he reaches as far as the world is, as he speaks through the prophet Joel [Cap. 3, 1.]: "I will pour out my spirit over all flesh", that is, over all men in all the world. Not that all men receive the Holy Spirit, for that several part persecutes him. Neither does he say that he will put or give his Spirit into all hearts, but that he will pour out his Spirit on all flesh, which is nothing else than that the Holy Spirit is sent by the word of the gospel upon all men in all the world, and offered to them all, and so hovers over all men in the world where the gospel is preached. Just as Christ says [Luc. 11, 20] that the kingdom of God has come upon the Jews, since he cast out devils by the Spirit; and Matth. 10, 7. and Luc. 10, 9. 10. commands the apostles to say to the unbelievers: "The kingdom of God has come upon you", and to depart from there. All of which is said, "The gospel has come to you, and in it and with it has hovered over you, and has been there and offered Christ's kingdom, that is, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit with all grace. But you did not want it etc. That therefore this measuring, and the Holy Spirit being poured out upon all flesh, is nothing else but the Holy Spirit being offered in all the world by the word to all men, hovering over all and being there, ready to help them, heaven being open as far as the world is, no place being shut out; and all these things being begun at Jerusalem, and from thence coming into all the world in like manner. Thus the physical Jerusalem has become a spiritual one.
(5) Behold, this is called great comfort, that the Jews are promised not only to build again the perishable temple and the perishable city of Jerusalem, and the perishable land of Judah, but also immediately thereafter an everlasting Jerusalem. For the prophets, as I have said above [1 ff] and in Habakkuk [Cap. 2, § 2 ff], hang and tie the two Jerusalem and the two kingdoms to each other, as the spiritual Jerusalem to the physical one, and the throne of David to Christ's throne, in their prophesying to indicate that Christ should and must come, when the physical Jerusalem and the Jewish reign
would still be standing. For he was to start at the same and make a spiritual, eternal one out of it. Therefore also in Zechariah, in the midst and under the prophecy of the physical Jerusalem to be built, the prophecy of the spiritual Jerusalem must be mixed in and attached. Since Jerusalem has been destroyed and the reign of the Jews has ceased for so long, Christ's kingdom must have come and the prophecy must have been fulfilled.
6th And because we have come to the interpretation, we want to bring the visions in the first chapter also to Christ's kingdom, about which they publicly indicate happiness according to the letter of the fleshly Jerusalem. To the first: The angel who holds and prays among the myrtles, and proclaims the sweet, living, comforting words, is Christ Himself, who prays for us, and represents us to the Father through His blood [Rom. 8, 34. Heb. 7, 25.], who lay in the right prison of Babel, that is, under the devil, the prince of the world [Jn. 16, 11.], in sins and death, seventy years, that is, all our lives. For seventy years is almost the time of human life, as the 90th Psalm, v. 10. says. He also proclaims to us from God the sweet, comforting gospel, in which is forgiveness of sins and redemption from death, by which the right Jerusalem is also built and inhabited by God.
(7) The fact that he rides a red horse signifies his miraculous warfare and victory. For a horse is a beast of war, as we have said [Cap. 1, § 35]. He himself says afterwards, Cap. 10, 5, that he will prepare Judah like a well-armed horse for battle. Such a horse is the humanity of Christ, in which he fought for us against the devil, death, and sin, but only with restraint and suffering. For the angel keeps still among the myrtles and does not lash out. Therefore, the same horse must also be red, to signify his blood, which he shed for us.
(8) Among the myrtles, that is, among the Jews, he did this. For the myrtles are tame and cultivated trees. So the Jews were not a wild, desolate, forsaken people like the Gentiles, whom the 96th Psalm, v. 12, also calls wild trees when it says: "All the trees of the forest rejoice," but they had the fathers, the prophets, God's laws,
Service, promises, so that they were drawn to the best, until Christ.
9. in the floodplain or in the bottom, not on a mountain, means the synagogue and Jewish people, which in Christ's time was low and despised by the Gentile rulers, whom the 76th Psalm, v. 5, calls "mountains of robbery". For Judaism was under the Romans and was completely oppressed; that is, at the end of the Jewish reign Christ came to make a mountain out of the meadow above all the mountains, Isa. 2:2.
The other angels, which kept behind him with red, brown, and white horses, and were sent into all countries, are the dear apostles and their successors, who proclaim peace and quietness of conscience in all countries, by Christ's command. That some are red means those who, according to the Lord Christ, have also shed their blood, as St. Peter, James, Paul. The brown ones, which are not quite red, nor white, mean those who have not shed their blood or been killed, but have suffered much in life, as. St. John, Lucas, Athanasius, Hilarius and the like. The white ones are those who have suffered nothing in their bodies, but have also been in honor, and have led a pure, innocent life, as. St. Ambrose, Augustine and their like. These all answer to the man among the myrtles, that is, they do submissively and obediently what Christ commands and interprets to them.
The other face also belongs here, full of the four builders. For they are the apostles and teachers, sent into the four places of the world, not only to build up Christendom with the Word, but also to strike down and subdue with the Word of God those who oppose it, as the wise and prudent, as the pagans and heretics were, as St. Paul says in 2 Cor. 10:4, 5, that our weapons are not carnal, but mighty through God, to break down all prudence that exalts itself against the knowledge of God 2c, as he also teaches Titum [Cap. 1, 9.] to destroy bishops who are mighty in doctrine. For we see that in the end the gospel has remained above, and has disturbed both tyrants and heretics.
12. but that such visions are strange and cruel to the prophet, means that flesh
and blood shuns and shuns the work of God and the cross of Christ and His own, for it cannot understand it; it looks too small to do such a great thing, just as these builders are too small to deter and turn away the horns of the heathen. Men of war should have appeared with armor and cannon, with horses and chariots. What shall ball men get? So it seems nothing at all, when tyrants and heretics rage, that the Christians should win. There are horns, that is, kings, against the builders, and lie on high.
(13) So all the sayings and doings of our God are foolish in the sight of men. He hangs and hounds builders in all the warlike kingdoms. With building he wants to conquer. Who has ever heard this more? And above [Cap. 1, 11], when he proclaims peace and quiet tranquility, he lets horses be seen, which serve for war, and wants to build zero again with wars, or have peace. But this is how it is in the spirit. When one preaches the gospel, all these things happen: one makes and keeps peace, and wars all the same; one builds and breaks all the same. Against the unbelievers and heretics goes warring and breaking; with the believers goes peace and building. And indeed he does not say here that he would break the horns by the builders, but that he would scare and turn away. For the gospel does not hurl itself at the kings, nor overthrow them, but so strongly comforts them against their raging that they create nothing with the Christians, and must finally give way to the cross, and let the Christians remain. That is enough of the interpretations. Now let us look at one part of the text.
(14) Enough has been said about the man with the measuring cord and the three angels. Let us hear the words of the third angel, which he says to the other angel:
V. 4. Go, tell the boy, and say, Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, before the great multitude of men and cattle that shall be therein.
These words may not be understood of the fleshly Jerusalem, for she was built
1) This "siehet" is given in Latin by viZstur.
with walls, as a city is to be built, as we read in Ezra [Cap. 4, 12] and Nehemiah [Cap. 6, 15. 7, 1. ff]. So it did not happen that Jerusalem was without walls, without being desolate. But he says here that it shall not be desolate, but inhabited, so full that there shall not be a wall before a great multitude of men. For this is the reason why it should be without walls, that there should be so many men and cattle in it. Now it must be admitted that a city is not forced to be without walls because so many people are inside; suburbs can be added and also walled up. In short, so many people will never live together that it would not be possible to build a wall around them, and so they would have to remain open for the sake of the crowd. Since, according to all custom, walls are built first where the greatest number of people live together, the contradiction should be promised.
(15) But, as it is said [3], this is to signify that Jerusalem should become such a great village, as far as the world is, around which a wall cannot be made, only for the sake of the multitude of men. For who will build such a wall, when all the world dwells within, if men multiply without ceasing? That is, as we have said 4], the kingdom of Christ shall come upon all the earth, and the blessing promised to Abraha shall be spread among all the Gentiles [Gal. 3, 14.ff So Lyra leads a Jewish master or rabbi over this prophet, who says that in the time of Messiah Jerusalem shall become so great that her walls shall be the end of the world. He has seen something; yet the Jews do not believe. It cannot be spoken of the bodily Jerusalem.
16 He also speaks of the cattle, that so much should be in them. But what shall the cattle do in the kingdom of Christ, if they are not left in the flesh of Jerusalem, but go into the suburbs? But because he speaks of Jerusalem, that it should be like a large village or town, without walls, he also includes that which is used to be in villages and towns. For in cities there are walls, towers, horses, armor, defenses, and all that belongs to the battle; item, court, scholars, rain.
and what belongs more to secular authority. But in the villages there are farmers and cattle, and what serves for food. This is another indication that this is to be a spiritual Jerusalem, in which there is to be no physical warfare or strife, but only the nourishment of the soul in secure peace. Thus men and beasts are two kinds of Christians, the strong and the weak. For the strong are men, and can instruct and carry the beasts, that is, the weak, outwardly, as St. Paul teaches Romans 14:1 and 15:1.)
V. 5. I will, says God, be a fiery wall around them.
(17) Again, we see that this is to be a spiritual Jerusalem. It shall be without walls, and yet have a wall. yet have a wall. Where God Himself is the wall, and there is no physical wall, there must certainly be a spiritual city. For God cannot be a physical wall.
(18) Are not these words exceedingly comforting and sweet? Where are the Christians here who believe this? Give me one who believes this saying to be true and believes that God is around him as a fiery wall wherever he walks or stands. Of whom should he be afraid? There have been many kings who had two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand men around them. In the past, Attila, the king of the Hungarians, had five hundred thousand men with him, so that he frightened not only the Roman Empire but also the whole world; and the Turk also has many people around him. Yes, the king of Persia, Xerxes, had eleven hundred thousand men with him. Now, all these in a heap, what are they against him who has God as a fiery wall around him? Beggars they are, and poor, defenseless people; and with all such great food and heavy armor, since much rises and much belongs to it, they do not like so much that they would be sure of their life for a moment. Attila, in his happiest night, had to choke on the blood that used to weld out of his nose, and the king of Persia had to escape with a barge from the sea. But a Christian
1) The words: "Zum dritten" are missing in the Erlanger.
He has no pay for his people, neither armor nor food, he goes free, and has a fiery wall around him, which keeps his life safe for eternity.
19 The 125th Psalm, v. 1, 2, also sings beautifully: "Those who trust in the Lord will not fall, and will remain forever, like Mount Zion. There are mountains round about Jerusalem, and the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even for ever." Mountains are around Jerusalem, and the Lord Himself is around His people. Mountains are better than walls; indeed, who wants to fight against a city over mountains? But here it is even stronger and more certain that the Lord himself will be a fiery wall. Who will or can fight against and through fire? In order that God may comfort us, as He will not only be a wall to protect us, but also be terrible to our enemies, and consume them like fire; which He also proved before in the case of the children of Israel, Exodus 14:19, 25, when the angel of God with the fiery cloud stood between the Egyptians and Israel, so that they could not come together all night, until in the morning God threw the Egyptians into the sea and destroyed them. Likewise read the second book of Kings, Cap. 6, 16. 17. how the prophet Elisha showed his servant fiery mountains and horses around the city, and said: With us are many more than with them.
(20) But this requires faith, because God keeps His fiery walls so hidden that not only can no man see them, but He also causes His own to be persecuted and strangled, as if He had not drawn a straw or a cobweb around them, let alone a fiery wall. Therefore the flesh is too weak, it cannot understand nor believe such sayings and comforting promises; the Holy Spirit must give and teach.
[And I want to be in it, and I want to be glorious in it. 2)
21. lastly, he will also be in the glory, that is, he will be with his Spirit in the Christians, dwelling with them, teaching them and guiding them, so that they may have glory, that is, he will do by deed, that they may not have
1! In the original (according to the Vulgate): fourth.
2) This keyword is found in the German Wittenberg edition and in the Jena edition.
They should not only boast and defy God with a good and happy conscience, as if they were sure that God is their own and that they are God's own, but they should also be praised in all the world, above all nations with their idols, as if they could not do to their nations as God does to His people. For this is also what St. Paul says in Romans 5:11: "Not only this, but we boast of God," that is, we defy and insist on it with a happy conscience, and are sure that God is ours, takes care of us, is fire and wall, mountain and armor around us. Again, of the unbelievers he says Rom. 3:23: "They lack the glory which they ought to have in God." This is the honor or glory that he wants here, since he says that he will dwell with honor in Jerusalem, just as before they were scattered with all shame, and could not boast that God dwelt with them and was their own, nor could they be otherwise described in all the world than that they had forsaken their God, and were now without God. Therefore, it follows:
V.6. O, o! flee from the midnight land, says the Lord; for I have scattered you to the four winds under heaven, says the Lord.
(22) Having promised the spiritual Jerusalem, that it should be future soon after the earthly Jerusalem, when it is rebuilt and made ready, he now exhorts and exhorts the Jews together to come from all countries and help to make ready the earthly Jerusalem, for the sake of the future spiritual Jerusalem, which is to be awaited in the earthly one. For there it shall begin, and from thence it shall spread abroad. And I will therefore say, Because it is so, that I will make of the small earthly Jerusalem a great and glorious spiritual Jerusalem, and will be the wall thereof, and dwell therein with great honor, that ye shall no more be ashamed among the heathen, as those that are without God, and forsaken of me: Come ye therefore, flee, flee from the midnight land, that is, from Babylon and Assyria, whither ye are carried captive by the kings of Assyria and Babylon. And not only you, the same, shall come from the north, but also
All the others also, whither they flew round about in the time of the destruction; all of them, all of them round about, and from all places, come again, and restore Jerusalem, that ye may be made partakers of the honors to come. And specially he calleth unto the Jews and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem before all, saying:
V. 7. O Zion, who dwell with the daughter of Babylon, escape.
023 For the same citizens of Zion shall be the first to receive it, because Christ should come of the tribe of Judah. And fine he calls them Zion, though they are yet at Babylon. For they do not belong to Babylon, but to Zion. He also says especially, "You who dwell in Babylon," and does not say, "You who are a stranger in Babylon," as the Scripture says of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that they were strangers in the land [Gen. 21:34, 26, 3, 37:1]. With this the prophet indicates that many of the Jews have become completely Babylonian, and have set themselves to remain there forever, as those who have come over there with wife and child, house and goods among the Gentiles, and have let their fatherland Zion go, and despise it. For not all the Jews went up again to rebuild Jerusalem; indeed, the less part, as Ezra [Cap. 2, 2. ff. 8, 1. ff.] well indicates. As it is always the case that God's word has the lesser part of disciples. Therefore the prophet touches them, and gives them a sting, as if he should say: Oh dear Jews, you are citizens of Zion, how you forget your fatherland, and despise the future promises of Christ, and sit down in Babylon, and no longer want to be guests and prisoners there, but citizens, and dwell there; let your wife, child, house, goods and friends endure and hinder you, so that you do not also come and help to build. Be ashamed of yourselves that you want to be Babylonian, if you are Zionist. Who has ever despised his fatherland? Is it not natural, as all Gentiles say and experience testifies, to love the fatherland?
024 So this preaching was done, that it might be sent to Babylon to admonish the Jews that believed not, or were slothful, or were negligent, or were hardened. For there is no doubt that there were many of the Jews who
have had their mockery of the word of God, as that it was impossible to restore Jerusalem, so shamefully destroyed, much more impossible that it should become so glorious. For God's word is always such that it pretends to be foolish and impossible things, at which reason must be annoyed by its cleverness, and faith can hardly stand here. Therefore many will have mocked at that time, and said: Awe yes, go and build, you shall build something fine; you are skilled to sing like the donkey; and likewise. Just as the citizens of Succoth and Pnuel also mocked Gideon. Judg. 8, 6.7 For God's word must be a mockery to reason, and few there be that believe 1) it. So he himself will confess afterwards [Cap. 8, 6.] that some have considered it impossible, some a mockery, since he says: "And if it seems impossible before these others, should it therefore also be impossible before me?" Item, Cap. 4, 10: "Who is he that despiseth these few days?"
25 Therefore he also meets their thoughts, when he says above [P. 6. 1): "O flee from the land of the midnight; for I have scattered you to the four winds under heaven." As if he should say: Flee, flee and escape; let nothing endure you in Babylon, nor in other places. Whoever does not want to go, let him stay there, be it wife, friend, property or honor. Do not think that it is impossible or disgraceful to restore Jerusalem. For I, who have scattered you abroad, and have put you to shame, am able and willing to gather you again, and to make you honourable. The Gentiles did not do it, but I scattered you; otherwise they would have had to leave it. So I can help you again; what are you looking for in the land that lies toward the midnight and toward the darkness, which is a vain misfortune? Return to your homeland, which lies toward noon and toward the light, which means happiness and salvation. So it is very difficult to leave the world and cling to the word that the prophet must use these words, "flee" and "escape", 2) that is, you must do violence to yourselves and consider freshly, otherwise it will not come off. For Adam is too heavy, and holds too hard.
The words: "are, the" are missing in the Erlanger. The Wittenberg and the Jena have our reading.
2) Wittenberger: reminded.
As St. Paul says Rom. 7, 19. 20. Gal. 5, 17. that flesh and spirit fight against each other. Therefore it must be jerked and torn out and broken through. This is what 1) he means here: "O Zion, escape," that is, break away, and let nothing be too dear to you in Babylon.
But here you see, 2) that it is the custom of the Scriptures to understand the whole world around by the four winds under heaven, or by the four oerters, evening, morning, noon, and midnight. In which way Christ also speaks Matth. 24, 31: "He will send his angels with trumpets to gather his elect from the four winds" etc.
(27) Item, that the inhabitants of all the cities and the villages belonging to them are called daughters. So here the "daughter of Babylon" is called the people of Babylon, and afterwards [v. 10; Cap. 9, 9]: "Rejoice, you daughter of Zion," So, when Jacob announces the divine blessing over Ephraim in Gen. 49, 22, he says that the daughters are in regiment, that is, the cities in the country should have a principality and regiment. For to have a regiment in the land is a great gift and a gracious blessing from God. Item, in the book of Joshua we find, how the cities with their daughters, that is, with their associated spots and small towns or villages are divided [Jos. 15, 45. ff. 17, 11.], that it is even a Hebrew way to speak so, and we do not speak so in German.
V. 8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; He hath sent me unto the Gentiles which spoiled you: the glory is gone. He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye.
28 Here he explains and further deletes the promise of the spiritual Jerusalem. But the text in Hebrew reads thus: For thus says the Lord of hosts, after glory he has sent me to the Gentiles etc. The word [XXXX XXX]according to glory, is a
little dark, because we do not understand the Hebrew language kind well, or the Holy Spirit has so darkly wanted to speak here of Christ out of
1) In the German Wittenberg and in the Erlangen: nennet.
3) but - again.
thoughtful counsel. We have this much certainty that this message is to take place after the glory, which is indicated by the words "after the glory", that is, afterward, when the glory is before. But what glory he means, the text does not give, therefore he makes many thoughts and various interpretations.
29 The first may be that Christ should come after the glory, that is, of the kings of Babylon and Persia, that is, when they have now perished and their kingdoms are over; lest the Jews should think that Christ would come so soon, because the empire of Persia was still standing. Therefore he wants to say, the glory of the empire must first go away, he will not come at the time of the empire. In this way Paul also speaks of the Antichrist in 2 Thess. 2, 3, that he should come, but not before, because the Roman Empire was gone. In order to understand the text more clearly, we have translated and arranged it in this way: "He has sent me to the Gentiles; the glory is gone."
(30) The other opinion may be, that Christ should come after the glory of the Jewish people, that the Holy Spirit should thereby indicate how the earthly Jerusalem and the fleshly kingdom should cease through Christ's coming. For this is how it happened: When Christ was present, the tribe of David had lost the rule, and the Machabees from the priestly tribe ruled, then the Romans and Herod; so that the glory of the Jewish kingdom was gone, and some of foreign blood were kings. For Jacob had also proclaimed beforehand in Gen 49:10 that the tribe of Judah would have princes and teachers until Shiloh the Messiah came. For after that, when Christ was come among the Gentiles, and was preached, Jerusalem also was distressed, because the glory was already departed. On this opinion the text must stand thus: After the glory he sent me; or, He sent me when the glory was departed, that he might tell the time, and give a sign, when the new Jerusalem should begin, even when they should see that their glorious kingdom was ended, and that they had strangers for kings. Then they should look to him and wait for him. I like this interpretation best, and
Methinks it is right, because it agrees with the saying of Jacob Gen 49:10. And because he speaks to the Jews, it is believable that he speaks of their glory, of which they held most dear and coveted highly.
The third opinion, which is not far from this next one, is that not only the time of the future kingdom of Christ would be determined, but also the manner and form, which Christ and his kingdom would lead outwardly, to the extent: You Jews want to understand us prophets carnally, as if we preach about a bodily, earthly kingdom of Christ, which would be glorious and splendid before the world (as happened before and now). No, all that will then be over and have an end. Forsake this, and hold that it is all that was to come to pass; but this kingdom, which is to come after this, will outwardly be seen as dishonest, shameful and wretched. For it shall lie under the cross. So after the glorious earthly kingdom will come a poor, miserable kingdom, according to outward appearance, so that you will no longer be allowed to gape and hope for the glory of a worldly kingdom.
32 For that these words speak of Christ and his kingdom is easily proved. First, that it has never happened that this prophet Zechariah was sent to the Gentiles whom they had robbed. For he should have gone to the Assyrians, the Medes, the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, and, as he says hard before, to the four winds, that is, to all the Gentiles, and preached; for all these Gentiles did evil to the Jews and robbed them. On the other hand, this did not happen, nor will it ever happen, that the Gentiles, to whom the Jews had to be subjected, would in turn have robbed the Jews, as the text here says in a dry way. The Assyrians may have been robbed by the Chaldeans, the Chaldeans by the Persians, the Persians by the Greeks, the Greeks by the Romans, and so on, but never by the Jews. But Christ fulfilled this text; he came to all the Gentiles through the gospel, and also brought among himself spiritually those who had previously been among the Jews, his people, bodily. This is also indicated by the words in which he speaks:
33 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; After glory hath he sent me unto the Gentiles. Who is this Me? Is it Zechariah? No; for it is written before, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, He hath sent me. With all force the text forces that the Lord of hosts himself speaks here in his own person, and says: "He has sent me." He who speaks is also sent; the Lord of hosts sends the Lord of hosts. For no one can send himself, for by sending he testifies that there is another who sends, and another who is sent. Thus all the Jews confess, and it is true, that this name "Lord of hosts" is not assigned to anyone in Scripture, except to the right natural God, who is only One. Therefore, it is here that in the same unified Godhead, the two personalities must be both right, natural, unified God, both the sender and the sent.
34 And this saying confirms that our Lord Jesus Christ, sent full of God the Father (as the Gospels teach), is right natural God with the Father. For where here the sent person should not be God himself, the text (as the Scripture should read) should read thus: The Lord says: Go, do this, talk to that; so that he turns to another, and does a command. But here he turns to no one, nor commands anyone, 1) but the person who speaks in God's place remains, and tells what he is commanded. "Thus saith the Lord, He hath sent me"; this is spoken in German enough, that the Lord speaks and confesses that he is sent; just as he writes above (Cap. 1, 16], "Thus says the Lord, I will return to Jerusalem," and the like. There one hears that God speaks full of Himself, and He who turns to Jerusalem is no one but the same God who says it of Himself. So there is also no one who is sent, but the Lord, who says such things full of himself.
35And, what is more, look at the sequence in the text, and you will find that the same person who says, "The Lord has sent me to the Gentiles," quickly speaks in one tone and in one voice.
1) In the old editions: ichts.
He who touches you touches the apple of my eye," which is certainly spoken by God Himself, because it is a divine promise. Now it is the same person who says before in the same speech: "He has sent me to the Gentiles", and then follows: "He who touches you touches the apple of my eye." And if it should be said in Zechariah person, how would it read? What sense would it make for him to say, "He has sent me to the Gentiles who have robbed you; whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye?
(36) The stiff-necked Jews and the quarrelsome clowns may twist and invent here, and pretend that in one speech in the prophets various persons are mixed in; but they will not twist this for me, that God here says of himself that he is sent by God; the text is too bright. For where an I follows after the words: Thus saith the Lord," that same I is certainly the Lord Himself, as is proved by all the Scriptures of the prophets, and also enforced by all tongues with all power. How should it read if I introduced the words of a prince and said: Thus says the prince: I have commanded to provide for the poor etc., and such I should not interpret the prince, but my person? It suffers neither reason nor the languages kind otherwise, than that it interprets the person who is introduced to speak.
(37) This then is the sum of this text: You Jews have hitherto suffered shame and harm from the Gentiles, as you have no God; now let it be otherwise. I will be your God from now on, and so I will be sent and come into the flesh myself as a prophet and teacher. Before I sent prophets, but now I myself will be sent and come to be a prophet and teacher. But so will I come a prophet, and be sent, that my preaching shall not come unto you alone, but shall go into all the world unto all nations: for I will be sent unto all. When this happens, I will come near enough to you, because I will take care of you myself. Therefore, "he who touches you touches the apple of my eye". For indeed I will be everywhere with the Gentiles, because I will be sent to all; therefore you will not be without me, nor I without you, wherever you are in all the world.
World, I must be touched when you are touched.
(38) Much could be said of these words if there were time and space. For in the word "sent to the Gentiles" the whole man Christ is included with his ministry. He is God, as we have heard; but if he is to be sent, he must also be man. For to be sent in Scripture means to receive the ministry of preaching among men. Because God is sent, he must become a preacher; he cannot be a preacher, he must be a man, like the other prophets, because angels cannot dwell with us. If he is to be man and God, he must be conceived and born without sins. For God cannot be a sinner; therefore he must be made man by the Holy Spirit, from a woman without a man, that is, from a virgin. If he is to be a prophet to all the Gentiles, he must have such a nature that he can be and teach everywhere; which need not be this mortal life, for it could not do that. So then he must be mortal, as born of a woman, and yet become immortal, that is, he must rise from death, and be spiritual master everywhere through the word itself. There is no room to speak further of this now; it has been briefly enough indicated, and otherwise often abundantly deleted.
39 Let the words be accepted: "He who touches you touches the apple of my eye"; this should be the protection and comfort in Christ's kingdom, which is truly unspeakable. He does not leave it at that, that he wants to be a fiery wall around us, but says here, we are so dear to him, as the apple of his eye. Well, that is a lot. How shameful our unbelief still is, so often such comforting promises are held out to us, that we should not honor and keep them differently. It is too far from our mind, because it is much different in reputation, that he lets us be persecuted so horribly. The Baptist St. John was beheaded for the sake of a harlot [Matth. 14, 10.], does this mean: "Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye"? So do all the other martyrs and saints.
40 The pope and his people have to know this saying for their benefit, that whoever has not paid interest, or whoever has not paid the interest, has to pay the interest.
The clergyman has broken off the property, he has touched the apple of the Lord's eye. So one had to help the Scripture, God grant, we are Christians or not. But let the devil go with his own.
(41) But if there be a Christian, and he believe these things to be true, beloved, what shall he think when he looketh upon him that harmeth him? Of course, he must not think much of anger or vengeance; he must not only be patient, but also merciful and pitiful toward his enemy, saying, "Oh, you poor man, what are you doing? Do you do nothing to me, but reach into the eye of the one who, alas, is too powerful for you, and is called God etc. From this he is moved not only to suffer patiently, but also to plead, yes, even to die for his enemies, if he would save them from the wrath, which they grasp into your eyes. Now nothing is more unpleasant^ than to make a lot of fumbling in the eyes. In order that God may show Himself to us for comfort, to the enemies for terror, how disgusting and tender He is to tolerate when we are touched, so that it is not necessary for us to be angry or to take revenge. He does not deny that we must be touched, because he says, "He who touches you"; but let him not prosper who refrains.
042 Therefore he will say, Ye Jews, ye are hitherto afflicted of the heathen round about. Now therefore let us make it henceforth, that not only these Gentiles, but all the Gentiles that afflict you, shall afflict me. They shall come down again, and be among you that are Christians, and hear me; as follows:
V. 9 For, behold, I will weave my hand over them, and they shall be a spoil to them that served them; that ye may know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.
(43) He still speaks who professes to be sent by God, and yet presents himself as a God who is mighty in all the world, and wants to make the Gentiles a prey for the Jews; which he claims to be such a great miracle that he boasts that one should notice that he is sent by God. And again he boasts that he is sent by God, and yet he says that he wants to make the Gentiles, as a God, a prey; he wants to be God,
and yet be sent by God. Of which we have said above 34 ff.] have said enough, as this place powerfully proves that Christ must be right God and man.
44 And to confirm that he should bring the Gentiles to the obedience of faith through the word, Rom. 1:16, he now declares the work for which he is sent, and that he should bring about such obedience, saying, "I will weave my hand over them. etc. As if to say, For this purpose I am sent to the Gentiles who have robbed you, not only to defend you, so beautifully and kindly that whoever touches you will touch the apple of my eye, but further I will make it so that they in turn will become your spoil^ who before had to be their subjects. For above [v. 8.], when he says, "He hath sent me unto the Gentiles"; "he that toucheth you" etc., is cut short, and badly said of sending, nothing at all/ how he should direct the sending, or what the command would be. That the Jews might fill the gaps in such speech with such a carnal mind, and think: Because he is sent to the Gentiles to create so much that no one should touch us, he will accomplish this with horse and chariot and mighty warriors, and defend us by force. But in order to counteract such reasoning, he has not only set it beforehand that he will first be sent "after glory", and that his command will be carried out without worldly pomp and glory, but also here himself indicates the way in which it will happen: "I will weave my hand over them"; not your sword, not your bow, but my hand shall do it, and so do that I will weave it over them.
(45) There we see that it shall not be with the stroke of the sword, but God's hand will do it. For the word "weave" here does not mean to lift up the hand, as he usually speaks, as it is written in the Psalter now and then [Ps. 106, 26. Ps. 21, 14. Ps. 10, 12.]: "He lifted up his hands to strike them down"; item, "Arise, O Lord, let your right hand be lifted up" etc., but it means to go over and float, just as the priests weaved their sacrifice before the altar in the four places of the
1) Erlanger: Anbeute.
World; therefore it is called Webeopfer or Webe [4 Mos. 8, 11. 21. 3 Mos., 30.]. So also he will here weave his hand over the Gentiles, and let it hover in the four places of the world (that is, in all the world), not to overthrow them, or to cast them down to the ground; for that is, to lift up or exalt his hand over them, but by his Word and Spirit he will weave and hover over the Gentiles in all the world, so that they will be converted, and give themselves kindly and willingly to the spoil, and to servile service, both to God and to the apostles; as Paul writes that the Macedonians did, 2 Cor. 9, 2. For this hand weaving is a kind, gracious weaving. In which way he also speaks Ps. 68, 10: He will let a gracious rain weave and float now and then. For it is the same word that is written here.
46 And such a work, he says, should be a sign by which it should be known that God has sent him, that is, it will be believed that Christ, the true God, has been sent by God. For it is also an unheard-of, unspeakable work, that Christ is thus accepted in the world; as St. Paul also boasts 1 Tim. 3, 16. and says: "It is publicly hastened great, godly mystery, which is revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, appeared to the angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed by the world, taken up into glory." For if we consider how foolish it is in the sight of reason to preach that a Jewish man is the Son of God and Lord over all, when He Himself was crucified and died by His own people [Rom. 9:5, Apost. 2:36], and how mightily all that is high in the race has opposed it; and how even the apostles acted without all weapons and resistance, but also with much suffering and death in it, we must say that it is not a man's thing. Otherwise it would have perished a thousand times over from so much resistance. Yes, because it pretends such foolish and impossible things, it would have had to fall soon by itself. But now all kingdoms and all races, which were against it, fall, and it remains above all and before all. Therefore there must be a divine power behind it, which keeps it against all devils, all kings, all wise men, all saints of the world, so that it will not fall.
the Jews should henceforth take hold of it and (as he says here) learn that this Christ was sent by God; yet they do not.
47) This is called by St. Paul [1 Tim. 3, 16] a great, godly mystery, which the world believed, no matter how hard it persecuted it at first; and it was preached to the Gentiles, no matter how horribly the devil fought it with his mighty ones. It also appeared to the angels, that is, in heaven it is manifest before the angels, and not so hidden in word and faith as in the world. It was also revealed in the flesh to the world, through Christ's own person and His apostles, who, though they had flesh and blood as other men, yet it was revealed to them. And is justified in the spirit; for though it is condemned and foolishness in the sight of reason, yet where there is spirit and faith, it is accepted and approved as the word and work of God. Summa, it fills heaven and earth, must and will be everywhere, with God, before the angels, in the saints, among men, in the world, on earth etc. But it is called and remains a secret; therefore it is hidden from men in word and faith; only before God and the angels it is before the eyes and revealed.
(48) Whoever does not want to know that Christ was sent by God will certainly have no excuse, and is worthy of being blinded and hardened. He has proven himself enough, and he has let it be known that he will weave his hand over the Gentiles in such a way that not only those who robbed them before, but still rob them every day, will go among them; and in short, that Christ has no friends but those he makes from his enemies. And where he should kill his enemies, he should also make no more Christians, and so would pluck out the wheat with the tares [Matth. 13, 29.]. Where would St. Paul be, if he should be strangled, since he was an enemy? So the 110th Psalm, v. 1, sings of Christ's kingdom, that he shall reign among his enemies; and the 45th Psalm, v. 6, that the nations shall give themselves under him in the midst of the king's enemies. And here in Zechariah he speaks that he should be sent, not to the Jews or friends, but to the enemies, to the Gentiles.
The ones who rob him and their robbers, that his kingdom is of a different kind than the worldly kingdoms, and that all he does is to make friends out of joy, so that he receives all good things and suffers all evil from them.
But the worldly kingdom makes enemies out of friends, so that it takes good and demands, and neither wants nor can suffer anything bad. For how would a worldly king remain if he should neither demand nor take anything from his subjects or friends, and should suffer all evil, punish nothing, let himself be fooled and fooled by everyone? It does not work, nor is it suitable in a worldly kingdom; therefore, since the Jews also wanted to have worldly kings, 1 Sam. 8, 11, he let them know what burdens and burdens they would have to bear, which they did not need before under the judges and prophets, since God Himself ruled through them. Follows:
V. 10. Rejoice, and be glad, O daughter of Zion: for, behold, I come, and will dwell with thee, saith the Lord.
50 This is an exhortation to them that are despised, and are under the cross, as the Jews were at that time, to confirm the next promise of Christ's mission. As if to say, "Since all these things are now present, and Jerusalem is to be restored for the sake of these great things, you should not be idle, sluggish, or unenthusiastic, as the unbelievers are, but should build and build with courage, freshness, and gladness, for the sake of the good and great hope of the goods to come under Christ's kingdom.
51. "For I come and will dwell with you," that is, I will rule myself, and shall no longer be a worldly kingdom, but I myself will dwell with you spiritually, through the gospel and faith; all of which the Holy Spirit works, as St. Paul Eph. 3, 17 teaches that Christ dwells in us through faith; and Isaiah Cap. 66, 1 speaks that God does not dwell in earthly houses, as also St. Stephen Apost. 7, 49. But these are all spiritual and high words, since faith is necessary; that I poor man should believe that God dwells with me, and yet I am outwardly in the body of the devil and of all the world.
I am a sinful man who falls many times and is frail, so that it is an incredible thing to be God's dwelling place here.
V.11. And in that day shall many nations be brought unto the Lord, and shall be my people; and I will dwell with thee, that thou mayest know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
52 Then he repeats again that he will dwell with the Jews, so that not only the Jews but also the Gentiles will be devoted to him, and become a nation of Jews and Gentiles, as if they were all Jews. So that the Jews would not think that he wanted to dwell only with them as Jews, as was said above [v. 10], he extends the same promised dwelling also to the Gentiles, and wants to dwell with the Jews, not only as Jews, but also as gathered together with the Gentiles, so that the Gentiles and the Jews will be one thing, and will sound alike. This miracle is greater than any other, and by it, as he himself says here, it should be evident that he was sent by God. For when one sees how the Gentiles and the Jews were so hostile to each other, it is impossible to believe that both should become more and more One People of God, and one must confess that it was a great miracle of God, so that the apostles and disciples themselves could not believe it for the first time, Apost. 8, 13. 14. 9, 21. 10, 25. 11, 2. ff., and hardly came to it, that God had to give St. Peter a sign from heaven, Cap. 10, 10. ff., and the apostles held a great concilium about it, Cap. 15, 1. ff.
(53) He also gives it to be understood that because the Gentiles are to become his people, Moses' law is to cease. For Moses was not given to the Gentiles, and yet they are to be given to the Lord himself, not to Moses, and to become the Lord's people, not Moses' people, that he may dwell with them together with the Jews. For this dwelling place, which he repeats twice and includes the Gentiles, cannot be the physical dwelling place in the temple, but, as has been said, must be spiritual, since he also dwelt with them before without such a promise, and this new promise goes to another, new dwelling place.
V. 12: And the Lord shall inherit Judah for his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
(54) This is spoken in a proverb, and drawn from the physical inheritance to the spiritual, in this way: When all these things come to pass, that God makes Jews and Gentiles one people, and dwells with them, then it shall come to pass that the Lord shall possess Judah for an inheritance [Ps. 2:8], which hitherto has been so often spoken of, so often desired, and yet has not wanted to take place bodily. Then Jerusalem will be chosen rightly, so that from now on no one will be able to resist. Thus Christ says John 15:1: "I am a true vine," drawn from the physical vine to the spiritual. Item, so Zechariah will also say in the next chapter [Cap. 3, 10.]: "At that time one will invite the other under his fig tree", that is, in Christianity this will happen right at first, that one now does it bodily, and one invites the other as a guest. For he does this here, and says that it is to take place "in the holy land". For on the earthly land many unbelievers dwell and remain, who do not let it be a holy land, nor are they God's inheritance for his part.
V. 13. Let all flesh be still before the Lord, for he has arisen from his holy place.
55This is an admonition to all the world, that he may show how he has spoken here of such Judah and Jerusalem, which all the world has come to know.
1) In the Jenaer and in Walch: ..das Recht". Even the Latin translator has given "recht" by a noun: illa luetitiu, while vere should have been put, as the context shows.
goes. For if he meant the earthly land of Judah alone, what need was there for him to cry out to all the world to be silent before the Lord? The Jews alone should be silent, who would be alone before him. But now he speaks: "Let all flesh be silent before the Lord," as if the Lord were before all flesh. Now the opinion is that because God wants to do this in all the world, and dwell among Jews and Gentiles everywhere, everyone should be silent, that is, give room, let God rule and do it, Let no one oppose him, let no one resist him, and let no one think himself too wise, pious, powerful, nor rely on men, but let everyone let him rule, and confess himself a sinner, a poor, lost man before him, so that he may be helped. For this reason the Lord has gone to his holy place, that is, he has come forth and preached about himself and made it known to all the world that he alone will do all things, that he alone is able to do all things; as Christ says in Matth. 28:18: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
(56) And especially this little word "be silent" means to be silent, as those who speak and rumble with words are called silent, as Caleb called the people of Israel silent when they murmur, Numbers 13:31. This indicates that Christ alone reigns with the word, and he alone should speak, be heard, and be believed; false teachers, heretics, and those who want to be wise should keep their mouths shut before him and in his kingdom. Truly, a necessary admonition, but one that is little kept. For where Christ speaks in one place through one mouth, there the devil will also go, and with ten mouths he will wash and chat. His kingdom is in speaking; therefore he must suffer vain and much pleading, and is a perpetual wrangling with words and preaching.