according to the Altenburg manuscript. *)
From Luther's lectures, which probably began at the end of 1525 and were completed in the first months of 1528. Printed in 1886.
Translated from Latin.
Preface on the Prophet Zechariah.
From the preceding prophets and from Haggai it can be seen what Zechariah wanted, and also what all the prophets who prophesied to the Israelite people after the Babylonian captivity intended, namely that they would deal above all with one thing, that the remnants of the people, scattered and miserably afflicted by the captivity, would be strengthened and encouraged, so that they would not despair, would not put their trust in the divine promises that were promised to them by the future king. It would happen that they would be fulfilled; the King Christ would finally come, no matter how desperate the situation was, how much the land was devastated, the people scattered and miserably perished. In order for this to happen, the people had to be restored according to the flesh, your future King Christ was promised. And in order that the prophet might persuade the people of this, he awakens their faith by many visions and speeches, by all of which he wants to strengthen the wavering hearts, so that in such a perilous state of affairs they will not harbor mistrust, but will take a hand, begin to cultivate the land, and bring to pass the before
The Lord will help them, as he has promised.
The purpose of all this is that we should know that God does not want anything to be done among His people, and that He does not approve of anything unless His word is given beforehand, by which we become completely certain of His will. But he does not approve what we do according to our own counsel or by ourselves, however godly it may seem to us. And this is done so that he may make us quite sure in our consciences that what we do at his command pleases him in every way, while what we devise for ourselves without the word of God is highly displeasing. And those who want to establish something in matters of godliness without God's word cannot be certain in their consciences that it will please God. The consciences must necessarily always waver and confess that they do not know whether the work is pleasing to God. Therefore, the prophet strengthens the consciences with a rich and diverse
*Of the more recent finds about this prophet (four different manuscripts) we give here only the Altenburg manuscript, which contains the first thirteen chapters. The Zwickau manuscript No. 6 brings only pieces that reach up to the sixth verse of the tenth chapter. In between, there are large gaps, e.g. the sixth and seventh chapters are completely missing; only the first four chapters are complete. The Erlangen edition has included only the ninth and tenth chapters of this manuscript in the exk.]. oxp., tom. XXVII, p. 420 The Weimar edition brings everything that this manuscript offers in the form of notes to the Altenburg manuscript. Another Zwickau manuscript, No. 36, contains a "tediously circumstantial elaboration" of what is offered about the first four chapters in the manuscript just mentioned, about which the Weimar edition makes this judgment: "This manuscript has no value in Zechariah as a reworking of a piece of the previous one. Therefore, the Weimar edition gives as a sample only the preface, vol. XIII, p. 670 ff, and in notes what has been preserved from the Hall manuscript. In contrast, the Erlanger gives this manuscript completely, exoA. opp., tom. XXVIII, ^>. 205 -282. - We have given the approximate date according to the Weimar edition. Our writing is printed for the first time in the Erlangen edition, 6X6L. opp., boru. XXVIII, p. 7, then, improved in many places, in the Weimar edition, vol. XIII, p. 546. According to the latter we have translated.
Comfort by the word of God this wretched people, who, oppressed by the lamentable captivity, hardly dared to breathe, so that the consciences would be completely sure that God would stand by them and give prosperity to what they had begun, since he testified to his will with such rich words. And this intention of the prophet can be inferred from the circumstances. For the things of Israel stood at that time [g" that in the whole environment of the Jewish country also not a people was, which did not persecute Israel most bitterly, mock, rejoice over the accident of Israel, namely over the fact that its possession and property were destroyed, Israel itself however into the captivity was led. There was nothing 1) that could have given Israel hope of restoration. According to the judgment of the flesh it seemed quite impossible that the kingdom should be restored, receive a king, and become glorious as never before. There was no room for hope. Therefore the prophet strengthened the so weak and discouraged people by many speeches and visions and nourished their faith.
But all this is written for our instruction, so that we may learn that God is absolutely so, that he proclaims things that are quite impossible for our comprehension and our reason, that nothing rhymes less with each other than his word and our judgment. They even argue constantly with one another.
1) In our template: garbage nou ernt. It seems to us that riori must be erased.
so that afterwards, when the things that have been promised have come to pass and have been accomplished, our glory may perish, but He may be glorified who makes everything out of nothing, out of impossible things quite possible, since nothing is impossible for Him, as Christ says, so that after our free will, our counsel has come to shame, we may ascribe everything to Him. For so much is lacking that something is owed to our powers, that they are even something that is highly contrary to the word of God; they do not believe the word, they consider it impossible. Thus the prophet here beautifully shows this weakness of the hearts in the people, who are frightened by the difficulty of the matter, by the uncleanness of the priest etc., as is written in the third chapter. But the prophet takes all things out of their sight and refers them to the word of God: God will fulfill his word, even if all creatures oppose it, since he makes life out of death, righteousness out of sin, the greatest riches out of the greatest lack, in short, everything out of nothing, and calls that which is not, that it may be etc. [It is most necessary that in every challenge we keep this in mind, that we trust in God, learn to command ourselves to him, that he will snatch us away from all reasoning, that we would not even have dared to hope for it. Namely, this is the cause and custom of prophecy, as it can also be useful to us, so that we do not think we are merely reading a history when we read what happened to Israel.