V. 1. In the eighth month of the eighth year of King Darius.
Above in the beginning of the Haggai I reminded that these two, Haggai and Zechariah, had been contemporaries. Haggai, however, preceded him by two months, which is indicated by the title of both; Haggai asked in the sixth month, the latter in the eighth month of the second month.
Year [of Darius] prophesied. And under Haggai the foundation of the temple was laid. Zechariah comes at the very beginning of the work and exhorts them to be diligent in the work they have undertaken, so that their hearts will not waver, but will continue steadfastly, without being frightened by the nations dwelling around them, which are all rising up in the land of the Lord.
that they should not continue, for they had resisted them often and very fiercely. Against all this, I say, he calls them to be sure, the Lord will be their protector against all enemies etc. I have also said in Haggai which Darius I take this to be, namely Darius Longimanus, who succeeded Cambyses and the sons of Cambyses in the reign. But this one was favorable to the Jews, which is evident from Ezra, since Ezra writes in the first book [Cap. 6) that Darius sent a letter that the people should not be prevented from completing the building that had been started etc. The seventy interpreters, however, count the kings of the Persians differently than I counted them in the table I published, but I do not think I was mistaken. For about this matter the historians are divided, and perhaps it is still undecided which of them has the more correct opinion etc.
V. 2. The Lord was angry with your fathers.
[Vulgate: Iratus est Dominus iracundia.] A Latin would not have added iracundia, but it is added after the Hebrew manner. For this is how the Hebrews speak: I rejoice with joy, I desire with desire, I am angry with anger, which a Latin simply says: gaudeo, desidero, irascor rejoice, I lament, I am angry). But he begins his prophecy with the repetition of the past calamity; he reminds and scares that they should not be faithless against God's word, as their fathers had been, as if to say: you have the clear word of God, likewise God has given you two witnesses, Haggai and me. Therefore, you must obey this word, which is more valid than all sacrifices. But you are frightened by the difficulty of obeying, by the impossibility of the matter, by the exceedingly bitter enemies, by the present destruction of all goods. But do not worry about all this, beware, these shall not be causes that keep you from obeying GOtte, as your fathers did not obey GOtte.
So the flesh always has such things that it can pretend and put against it that it is
do not follow the word of God, as also those in the Gospel (Luc. 14, 18. ff.) 1) say: "I have taken a wife, I have bought [five] yoke of oxen, I cannot come." And even nowadays many fear for their wives, children, goods, friends, positions of honor, good reputation, otherwise they would freely confess the gospel. But there must be no causes by which led, we GOtte not follow. Namely, this is the weakness and blindness of the flesh, as if God in truth could not give you more, who has also given you that because of which you stand in fear. The Germans use to say, and very well and Christianly, "GOtt still has more than He has ever forgiven." Therefore, if one must let his wife go for God's sake, let her go, let the children go, houses, friends, good name; God has goods enough that He can give back if it serves His honor, since He has also clearly promised (Marc. 10, 30.) that we shall receive a hundredfold, even in this life, if we suffer harm for His honor, and finally attain eternal life. But [Ps. 34, 11.], "The rich have need and hunger: but they that seek the Lord have no lack of any good," as it is written in the Psalm. For which of the two, thinkest thou, is better: to lose goods, wife, and children, yea, even life; or to lose the Lord, who is able to make alive, just, and holy, yea, who is also able to form a new heaven and a new world? It will certainly be better to leave the temporal goods than to be deprived of the eternal and of God Himself. But because the flesh looks only at the present things and at the damage of goods, as they say in Proverbs, a story is told to a deaf person.
V. 3. Thus says the Lord of hosts.
The prophets and the Scriptures everywhere call God "the Lord of hosts" (dominum exercituum the Lord of hosts) because zeba [XXX] means war service or army. He is therefore the HErr of the men of war or war service. This is certainly a wonderful
1) In our template: Mattü. 22.
This is the title of God, which is held up to us not only for instruction but also for comfort. For instruction it is used in this way, as if to say: All those must be men of war who confess the name of this King or Lord. Always must they be in arms and in battle array, as Job also [Cap. 7, 1.] says, "Must not man always be at war on earth?"' We have the bitterest and most powerful enemies, not only against good morals, but also against the Word, which is the greatest evil. The world thinks of death for us, it threatens that it will snatch away our life along with our goods. Likewise, our flesh is a very near army, the enemy in our own house. This weighs us down with the care for the nourishment of our body and those who are with us, it incites us to shameful deeds. Then Satan does not cease to attack us through evil spirits [Eph: 6, 12] with despair against faith, through the revelation of sin, by frightening the conscience and provoking it to despair in every way, by not ceasing to come after us and to seek whom he may devour, as Peter Cap. 5, 8. says in the first epistle. Thus it is necessary that we prove ourselves to be valiant warriors, since we are attacked by the most powerful enemies, and serve in war under God our Lord. Then he is called "the Lord of hosts" for our comfort, so that we may know that he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world [1 John 4:4]. For he overcame the world, Joh. 16, 33. since even the prince of this world has nothing in him [Joh. 14, 30.], but he overcame the world and the prince of the world; but he obtained the victory for us. Therefore, this is our comfort, that this our dear Duke faithfully assists us; he fights for us in the battle line. He fights for us with us, so that we do not fall into doubt, no matter how great our troubles may be. And this is the reason why the prophet Zechariah uses the word "the Lord of hosts" three times, as if to say: "Why are you afraid? What is it that grieves you? Be confident, the Lord fights for you, he goes before you as a leader in the war and fights in the battle line etc.
Return to me, says the Lord of hosts.
Because this passage has been used by all sophists to assert free will, it must not be passed over in silence; but they conclude in a quite inconsistent way, so that anyone who does not lack the judgment of sound reason can also judge this inconsistency. But they conclude in this way: The Lord says: Turn to me and I will turn to you, so we have free will. I deny the inference which is drawn from a verb in the imperative to the indicative. For what kind of conclusion is this: The law says: Love God with all your mind, with all your strength, so I can love? Namely, such is our great and terrible blindness, when, deprived of divine grace, we once follow the light of nature and our reason in matters of religion. And we see that the most learned and excellent men of our time, on whom kings and princes turn their eyes, suffer from this blindness today. Here it is not said what I can do, but what I should do. For it is a word of the law, "Return ench to me." And so this passage serves not for our free will, but against free will. Thus the jurists say, and rightly, that by evil morals good laws are produced. For this is why laws are made public, because what is demanded by the law is not done. For if I demand something from someone, I immediately convince him that what I demand is not done by him, otherwise I would make the demand in a foolish way. And so also an ABC child can laugh at this inconsistency. Now if this had to be admitted to the assertors of free will, then they would certainly have all laws of the whole scripture for themselves, with all of which they could confirm the powers of free will. In general, there is a twofold "turning" here. One is our turning to God, the other is God's turning to us. It is something completely different when God turns to us than when we turn to God. But the Lord demands conversion from us, not as if we could do it with our own strength, but as if we could do it with our own strength.
so that, having recognized our weakness, we may plead for the help of the Spirit, through whose action we may be converted. And this then is the conversion of the gospel. For conversion is twofold, that of the law and that of the gospel. The law only commands, but nothing is accomplished; but it is accomplished by the gospel, when the Spirit is added, which renews the hearts, and then God is converted to us. This is a conversion of peace, that is, that we are not only righteous, but also full of joy, and delight in the goodness of God. This is what Paul desires for Christians everywhere: "grace and peace."
V. 4. Do not be like your fathers.
He makes them aware of the past misfortune, as I have reminded them above, and urges them above all, so that he may move them, 1) not to doubt the word of God, which is the main purpose of all prophecies.
Turn from your evil ways.
The prophet speaks in the spirit, therefore he also judges things spiritually. For the prophets condemn, call godlessness and idolatry and evil ways, what seems good to the carnal sense, what cannot be approved otherwise than by the judgment of reason. Thus the Jews, led by their opinion and the appearance of goodness, instituted new services and customs to worship God; but because they had invented all this themselves, because it was invented by them, it did not please God, as we also said at the beginning. Therefore, the prophets condemned all this and testified that it was idolatry, not worship. So also today this carnal thought is very contrary to the Gospel, that it cannot be effective in many, since the appearance that it is right still deceives them; such is the hypocrisy of human statutes. And this is what the prophet here calls "wicked ways," and deals with them in such a way that they, frightened by the example of the fathers, would like to drop their presumption.
1) Instead of psrWonsst we assumed xsrmovsat.
and learn to cling to the word of God alone, which is demanded everywhere by the whole of Scripture. But because the flesh cannot help but always remain the same, despising the word and approving of its own, which it has devised, 2) he adds:
But they did not obey and did not pay attention to me, says the Lord.
On obedience and heedfulness was all power, as it always is until the end of the world. For thus the prophets everywhere say: God has not commanded burnt offerings, but it is the word which I have commanded them, that they should obey my word which I speak to them [1 Sam. 15, 22.] etc. But because the word of God has this in itself, that it commands things which are impossible according to the opinion of the flesh, therefore we leave the word and despise it, and follow our feelings and the things which we see laid before us, as we have said above in abundance.
V. 5. Where then are your fathers and the prophets?
As if he wanted to say: Now you see that the fathers and the false prophets have suffered their punishment, who ruled safely before the captivity and considered my word a mockery, since I spoke to them in vain through the right prophets. Behold how there are none now; the kingdom is distraught, they themselves are carried away into captivity, and have perished exceedingly miserable. Namely, this is how I avenge the word, which is to terrify you, so that at least, instructed by this example of the fathers, you may be terrified by this wrath, seeing that because of the contempt of the word both the fathers and the prophets, both the disciples and the masters perished, who did not cease to oppose my word and wanted it to be destroyed in every way. But they perished while the word is still there unharmed. This is an excellent threat, which should rightly frighten us, so that the word is also close to our hearts, that we do not neglect it unconcernedly, as if it does not concern us,
2) Because the postscript would be missing, we have deleted it here.
and we despise it as a cold thing. Otherwise, we too will suffer punishment for neglecting and despising the word, like them.
Are they still alive? (Nunquid in sempiternum vivent?)
In Hebrew the word "forever" means an indefinite time, which is quite clear in the day from the 21st chapter of the second book of Moses [v. 6.]: "He bores through his ear with an awl, and he shall be his servant^forever." In this passage it cannot mean eternity, but a certain length of time, that is, forever and continually he shall be his servant. So also here the opinion is as if to say, Behold how your fathers and the prophets deceived themselves, who spoke such things as pleased them, now that they are utterly destroyed. Do they still live unharmed? For so according to the sense that must be read in the indicative, what the Hebrew language says according to its way in the future tense. But the false prophets promised their listeners peace, justice, God's favor and security in all things, a secure kingdom and a quiet life. They said: Peace, peace! and yet was not peace [Jer. 6, 14.], as also Micah Cap. 3, 11. repeats: "Is not the Lord among us? There can come no evil upon us." To such speeches they made, the Lord alludes here in the prophet, as if to say: If their promises had been true, they would surely still be alive and reigning.
V. 6. Is it not so that my words and my judgments, which I commanded by my servants the prophets, have come upon your fathers?
Rather, this is what has happened to them: since they wanted to preserve themselves, but wanted my word to be destroyed, therefore the evil has fallen back on their heads, because the laws and ceremonies that I commanded made them guilty and plunged them into ruin, since they neglected them. So also today what is written in the Law and the Prophets testifies against the Jews, and judges that they are worthy of punishment because of the transgression. By the way, instead of legitima, which we can use [in
of the Vulgate] are properly translated by the word ceremonies.
That they should turn and say, As the Lord of hosts commanded us to do, and we went and did, so hath he done unto us.
I think that this is simply said in this opinion: Now, struck by the law and instructed by experience, they feel the vengeance of the Lord, and now recognize their error, for the sake of which they are plagued. Now they have finally become ashamed. Before, when they did not want to leave their ways, they did not believe that this would happen, so surely they trusted in their cause. So here the prophet looks at their insolent forehead and their godless stubbornness, in which they were sure and did not even suspect that any misfortune would come upon them, as if to say: Now they no longer walk proudly and pompously, but now they feel the punishing law. This is how the challenge teaches to remember the word [Is. 28, 19]. So also we do not believe the word today, because we are flesh and godless; we despise the faith, and want to experience. But we will undoubtedly experience great misfortune, just as they also experienced, and then, when we, so afflicted by misfortune, would like to repent, it will be over. It is impossible that a great misfortune and misery will not await us because we neglect and despise the Word. I pray to God that it may not befall us also, but "God give His grace that we may die with grace". For just as with the Jews the best and holiest prophets were unable to accomplish anything, no matter how much they, driven by the Spirit of God, admonished the people against their godless nature, so we too must completely despair that we will accomplish anything, that the flesh will leave its ways, that is, that it will not be godless and unbelieving against every word of God. But it does not believe until it already sees, affected by the misfortune and surrounded, that it is lost without salvation. Therefore, one must command the matter to God.
So far, we have completed the first sermon of the prophet, which is after the manner of the law. For he administers the office of the law, making consciences fearful.
to humble them and bring them to self-knowledge. For this is the way of the Holy Spirit, that he first humbles, and then brings back safely those who are humbled and damned or cast into hell. The spirit of Satan acts quite differently, promising salvation with great boasts, so that he may make an empty pretense to the wretched and careless consciences. After he has thrown them into the error of godlessness through the hypocritical pretense, he cannot lead them back again etc. Therefore, in the case of those who are cast down, in the case of the humbled and dismayed hearts, eill follows very great and wholly evangelical consolation. And so the prophet has followed the right order of the Spirit.
V. 7. in the fourth and twentieth day of the eleventh moon, which is the moon Sebat, in the other year (of the king) Darius.
This is the second sermon of the prophet, which he held long after. For the books of the prophets must be divided into many sermons, as I have reminded you several times in the case of other prophets. But, as I have said, he abundantly comforts the afflicted people who are frightened by the rebuke. He also intersperses much of Christ everywhere through his entire prophecy. That is why Christ and the apostles also cite many testimonies from this prophet. And that what I have said about the sermons of the prophets is true, that they were preached at different times, that they did not complete everything in one sermon, is already shown very clearly in this passage, since we see that the prophet was in hiding for almost three months after the first sermon. For in the eleventh month he began this, but the previous one in the eighth, so that we see that the prophets were not always in one fervor and heat of the Spirit, but that they preached sometimes this, sometimes that, at completely different times after the revelation of the Spirit. For such is the Holy Spirit, as Christ says in John (Cap. 3, 8.] says of the wind of the G-spirit: "He
1) Instead of Kaue irt our pattern is to read kirne, referring to sermormm.
blows where it will, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. For the Hebrews, March is the beginning of the year. If one counts the months from this in right order, the eleventh of March will be January, which they call Sebat (the beginning [of the year then follows] in a short time). 2) And so he began this sermon in January.
V. 8. I saw by night, and behold, a man sitting on a red horse etc.
There is no difficulty, because we only hold on to the intention and the cause of the event, so that no one may invent difficulties in vain. This is in brief what it is about: A comforting face is shown to the prophet, which he is to interpret to the afflicted and distressed people, which all circumstances indicate, and thus, since the prophet had a certain face, the people should not doubt that they had a favorable God and a gracious father. For this is how God generally associates signs 3) with words, so that human weakness may be strengthened in the most certain way, to which all the words and works of God cannot appear otherwise than impossible. Therefore, it costs much that this fear be cast out and the heart become courageous, so that it does not doubt that God will take care of it and that it has a gracious God. For what is there greater than that the dear God is favorable to the wretched man who is full of sins, that God looks upon him, takes care of him etc.? The benefit of these things is certainly incomprehensible, and only those who have experienced them can understand them. For when the heart has taken on this confidence, that it believes that God will take care of him, that God will be favorable to him, that He will stand by him in all distress as the most faithful protector and companion, then he is no longer a man who believes this, but is completely of divine nature (divinus), since he has a divine fervor and power in his heart,
2) We cannot derive any other sense from the words: "(prima ^nominative pluralis] drevi)".
3) Thus the Zwickau manuscript: si^na eum verbis, while our original offers: eum si^rn" verda.
By which the heart is kindled, and rises up against all fear, against all enemies that set themselves against him, in short, against all creatures. Therefore, because the greatness of the matter is so great, we have need of the word so often and abundantly, that we may finally be fortified etc. Now let us look more closely at all the pieces of the face.
By night.
Night undoubtedly denotes the condition of this people; for as the people were constituted in heart (that is, what thoughts they had), so is the face. For there was no light among the people, that is, no gladness, no joy, but fear of conscience, sadness and downcast hearts, all of which the word "night" indicates. Therefore, to those who completely lacked all help, who were already in the midst of death, came the light and exceedingly rich consolation, of which, however, they did not think that it would happen as will follow. For at first sight, everything was terrible; it seemed that a greater evil threatened than the red horses among the myrtles that were in the meadow etc. That is why the prophet is frightened when he sees all this. For the weakness of the human heart is such, so great is its fear and terror, that it flees even that which will bring it good and comfort, even salvation, and doubts in sorrow, thinking that everything will be ruinous for it. So here the prophet in the person of the people was afraid of this vision, which promised nothing but the highest comfort and peace. We also flee from God when he throws us into poverty or illness, which are certain signs of divine favor; immediately, I say, we despair of God's goodness and favor toward us, and seek salvation in the creatures. Thus, we cannot help but think the most fearful thing about any sign or word of God. Namely, this is what the word of the prophet means when he says:
V. 9. My Lord, who are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee who these are.
I think that the angel who rides (whom the Hebrew language, according to its way of speaking [in the Vulgate], calls a man who mounts a horse; the Latins speak differently) is the same as the one who speaks to the prophet. But I do not think there is much in it if someone assumes different ones. Now all these riders agree that the land is inhabited and quiet, that is, that the Lord is gracious. Now no battles were to be feared, no kingdoms would rise against Judea etc. That this is the right and true opinion that the face has, all circumstances will testify when they are examined and tested. First of all, the myrtle is a lovely and cheerful tree, as the pagans also invented that it was consecrated to Venus for this reason. For they used the myrtle to be merry and dance under it, just as we Germans, when we indicate a very lovely place, say: "under a green lime tree". This is known from many poems. The angel on horseback is there among the myrtles, that is, among the cheerful trees, signifying a very great cheerfulness. So these two spectacles, the rider and the myrtle, argue with each other, as if he wanted to say: You fear the horses, as if they foreshadowed the future war, but be confident, I have settled all wars, and indeed settled in the midst of peace. Then:
In the floodplain.
This is also a safe and pleasant place. For in the valleys are lovelier and more pleasant places than on the mountains, which are the abode of wild animals; as we say in German, "In the pretty green meadow."
"The red, brown and white horses" denote the most powerful nations, as the Medes, Persians and others. And so he indicates that the kingdoms of all these nations, though they are exceedingly mighty and warlike, will not rage against Israel, but will be at peace, as if to say: These kingdoms are unharmed and mighty, they are not destroyed or broken; they are horses, but they [the kingdoms] are at peace, I have made them quiet.
The horsemen are undoubtedly the angels through whom God rules this visible world, which is clear from the epistle to the Hebrews [Cap. 2, 5]: "For God has not subjected to angels the world to come, of which we speak. As if he wanted to say: this visible world he has subjected to them, since he has made them ministering spirits, Hebr. 1, 14. Likewise [Ps. 91, 11.]: "He has commanded his angels over you, that they guard you in all your ways." Christ says [Matt. 18:10], "Their angels which are in heaven do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. "etc. But there are four kinds of horsemen or angels in this vision. This prophet delights in the number of four before other prophets, because the number of four will also follow several times afterwards. But by these four kinds he designates the peoples of the four regions of the world, that is, Israel will have peace with all the peoples of the whole world, so that there will be nothing at all that could cause the shattered Israel to despair, but since all things are at peace, it will be comforted and encouraged.
Zero but with the colors of the horses we do not agree at all well with each other. Of the red ones (rufos) we know for sure which one it is, because it is the red color, "rothfarb". Varii, of which the moderns say that they have such a color, which the Latins call spadices [brown], which also occurs in Virgil. 1) But I am not yet sure what this color is, I think it is paniceum, which is reddish, like purple, and we call such horses "the brown white horses". 2) Glaucus is a bluish color, like the color of the sea. These we want to call "the apple-gray stallions". But our commentators say that these four kinds mean four kingdoms, that of the Persians, Chaldeans etc. It does not seem to me that we should interpret it in this way, but I think that all the kingdoms in the four regions of the world or of the heavens are meant, so that this number four refers more to the distribution of the regions of the world, that is, of the morning, of the evening, of the midnight, and of the night.
I> The words: "which... occurs" are missing in the Weimar. - Virg. OsorZioa, lid. Ill, v. 82.
2) Here the manuscript has the marginal note: Here the scribe doubts whether he has understood the doctor correctly.
ternight and the noon. And also this can indicate the colors, each of which almost coincides with an area of the world.
What is left of the chapter is easy, because it is clear from the image or the face itself, since nothing else is dealt with in the whole chapter than that the face is explained and shown.
V. 10. These are the ones the Lord has sent to cross the land.
This is the interpretation of the face, as if he wanted to say: "You are very afraid, you are fainthearted, frightened by the savagery of the hostile nations. You do not support the work done in the house of the Lord, you fear the violence and the weapons of the neighboring nations, but be confident: every cause of all evil is taken away, because the Lord cares for you. He has sent angels for you to see the land, whose service the Lord uses in the government of all kingdoms, for they are ministering spirits. Namely, we are not at all abandoned that the rulers and superiors of the world, the angels, are sent out to collect customers. For this is the meaning of the word: "the Lord has sent them", that it indicates their office, namely that they will take care that nothing bad happens to Israel and Judah from these peoples in the whole world, who were the most hateful against them before.
V. 11. 3) And they answered the angel of the Lord that kept among the myrtles.
In Daniel Cap. 12, 1. it is prophesied that the great prince Michael will make himself out, who will stand for the people of the Lord etc., and it is considered that this one is the angel among the myrtles.
And behold, all countries sit still.
The word "be still" (quiescendi), which is also here, is often used 'in Joshua and in the book of Judges [Jos. 11, 23. Judges. 3, 11. 5, 31. 8, 28.]: "And the land ceased (quievit) to war," that is, all is pacified, there is no more wrath and cruelty of the kingdoms, there are no more troubles and
3) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
Wars more. Thus, the opinion here is: the whole country is inhabited in safety, each one enjoys his own with peace.
V. 12: How long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem?
Up to now the prophet has interpreted the vision, that it is proclaimed that everything is happy and prosperous, and with the message the vision agrees completely. For as the angels speak, so it is also in the appearance.
Now follows a striking out and great power of consolation, 1) and this passage is exceedingly sweet and extraordinarily comforting. Now the prince Michael himself intercedes for the people that the Lord may have mercy on Jerusalem, which, as I have said, all serves to strengthen the afflicted people completely. It is therefore as if he wanted to say: Lord, your people alone is miserable and fearful, alone laden with misfortune before all the other peoples in the whole world, while it is fitting for this one to be in the highest confidence and in glory. But nowhere is the land less cultivated than in your land, nowhere is there less peace than in the people of peace, while in the meantime the other peoples are secure and in prosperity. So vehement is the prayer by the quarreling [with God, which is based on the divine promise, as if he wanted to say: If you do good to the heathen, why do you not rather do good to your own, to whom you promised that you would help them, of whom you said that you would preserve them against the attacks of all nations on earth etc. ?
Over whom you have been angry these seventy years.
He answers himself by an objection, as if he heard the Lord reply that it is not yet time to help Jerusalem, and says: Now is the time for the people to be made glorious again according to the promise of the seventieth year. But this prophecy is found in Jeremiah Cap. 29:10: "When seventy years are ended at Babylon, I will visit you, and will give you my gracious word.
1) Instead of kxpositionis in our original, we have assumed eonsolationis according to the Zwickau manuscript.
Raise above you" etc. By this promise they were preserved, as many of them were preserved in the captivity, otherwise none would have been saved, since the captivity opposed the promise of the eternal kingdom of David. For what seemed less true than that the throne of David would be eternal after both the king and the people were taken away? Therefore the Lord added another promise, so that they would not doubt that even though they were captives, they would return to their land and be glorious.
V. 13. Kind words and comforting words.
Not for the sake of the prophet, but for the sake of the people, but it is revealed to the prophet, so that he may announce it to the people, so that he may strengthen the broken hearts and make them firm, as if to say: Do not be afraid, but rather be confident and rejoice; the Lord speaks comforting and sweet things.
V. 14. Preach and speak (clama).
The prophet is commanded to announce these exceedingly rich consolations to the people. The word clamare, as it is taken here, must actually be translated by the word "preach," so that the office is indicated; for this word is also frequent in Moses. But he prescribes to the prophet what he should preach:
I have been very jealous about Jerusalem and Zion.
This is a very beautiful passage, as I have said, and contains such great comfort as nothing before. All the words are spoken very appropriately: the zeal he assigns to his people, the anger to the Gentiles. But the zeal is actually a wrath, which includes love by nature, as a man has a zeal over his wife. In short, it is a hatred of evil against the beloved object, "a kind, loving hatred or wrath," as the wrath of parents is against children who err. Therefore, by this single word, the Lord removes all suspicion of anger, as if to say, "My zeal against Jerusalem has been great, but now that a
When the end is made, the wrath is overcome by love; it has not been both a wrath and a zeal. The dear God loved this people for the sake of His Christ, who was to be born from the flesh of this people. Therefore, he bore the vices of this people with displeasure, as a man cannot bear the love of others for his wife, and again the woman against the man.
V. 15. But I am very angry with the proud Gentiles.
That is, I have been jealous over Jerusalem, all to her credit, because I have loved her. But against the Gentiles I am angry, and with a great wrath; I will destroy them all from the foundation of the world, because they are rich. Namely, this he hates in the Gentiles, that they are much, great and rich, that is, that they trust in their strength and power; trusting in these they despised God and God's people. So the pride and the hope or the trust in themselves he hates in the Gentiles.
Because I was just a little angry.
He explains what the zeal is, and it is the opinion: I did not want my people to be ruined and abandoned; I only chastised them for their good; I wanted to heal them, not kill them. Thus he certainly comforts the afflicted hearts, and certainly with the kindest words. For what could be more sweet and pleasant than to know that God chastises no differently than a father; when the heart feels this, there is much more sweetness in the knowledge of the Father's will than pain over the chastisement, since this feeling in the heart that He is our Father alleviates all pain that is certainly felt when we are chastised. Therefore, this word can also serve as a consolation in every adversity, when God pushes us into poverty, into shame, into the cross; when He lets us snatch away what is ours, we should always say in this way: "Let go, God does not mean it badly," He does everything out of a fatherly attitude, it is a fatherly zeal; He cannot always be angry. When this happens, "it is more than half done".
But they help to perish.
This saying is also wonderful, and no less comforting than the previous one. And it is the opinion: The heathen give help to each other; they conspire against my people, that they would destroy them completely, so that not even the name would remain, as the [137th] Psalm repeats the words of the heathen [v. 7.]: "Clean off, clean off, down to their ground." And this conspiracy of the heathen he calls, "help to destruction." This word, as I have said, is exceedingly lovely, since the Lord indicates that not only is he not angry with us when he chastises us, but that he hates the rod with which he chastises us. Therefore this passage is worthy of attention, which can also serve us for comfort, if we are chastised by our adversaries according to the will of the Lord for a good and godly thing, that we should know that it is a fatherly rod, that nothing evil threatens us; then that the Lord also hates the adversaries. When we know this, we are enlivened by the joyful spirit that we can gladly suffer the hand of the Lord, bring vengeance home to the Lord, and despise the enemies, no matter how much they rage and rage.
V. 16. 1) I will turn again to Jerusalem with mercy.
For now I have mercy, I promise mercy; I will chasten no more, because I cease to be angry. This is certainly an exceedingly rich promise; if it falls into a man's heart and bears fruit, he is a master of death, sin, and hell; so nothing at all can be to terrify such a man. And who, trusting in such exceedingly rich divine promises, should not dare to build a castle that reaches to the clouds?
For this purpose, the room cord is to be drawn in Jerusalem.
He uses a paraphrase by which he indicates that the city itself is to be rebuilt, not just the temple.
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
pel, as if he wanted to say: So great will be the peace and security that the craftsmen can safely and, as it were, sleepily continue to build the city, that they will not hurry from fear and be forced to interrupt the work undertaken, as before.
V. 17: My cities shall prosper again.
That is, not only Jerusalem, but also the land of Judah and all the other cities of my country shall be in prosperity. Here is a very fitting word in Hebrew, which we cannot well render by a Latin word. But it can be translated literally according to the Hebrew like this: nor shall my cities be scattered with goods, that is, there shall be various cities scattered here and there, and each one shall not lack its goods. He does not intend the abundance of goods, but the distribution.
No doubt the prophet spent many sermons on these exceedingly rich promises (after all, he could hardly explain the strength and greatness of these promises through many sermons). So they could certainly also give us a quite extensive and rich content for many sermons, so exceedingly lovely and full of consolation is everything. When the prophet examined this in relation to all circumstances, when he applied it to the individual cities according to the magnitude of the calamity, he had many sermons to preach, just as everything is worthy of very ample treatment. For what could be more comforting to the wretched and afflicted consciences than to hear that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt, the cities restored to their former dignity, the people made glorious by the Lord? All the Gentiles thought that this people had been destroyed; they thought that it had perished. And since the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed to the utmost, they finally heard that the Lord had chosen Jerusalem again, that he was favorable to her and wanted her to prosper.
V. 18. And behold, there were four horns.
This is another face that confirms the comfort of the previous one. But what I have remembered above from the number four is
also here also to note. "Horns" everywhere in Scripture, even nack) the historical view, mean kingdoms. This is especially evident from Daniel. Therefore the four horns mean the kingdoms, which are distributed after the four world gegeuden.
V. 19-21. 1) These are the horns that scattered Judah together with Israel and Jerusalem etc.
Here [in v. 21] he does not interpret the forge, as it might seem according to our unrhymed translation, but according to the Hebrew way he "construed" it. For the Hebrew language is wont to put the relative first and the demonstrative after it, as is evident from the first Psalm [v. 4]: Like chaff, which the wind scatters. Likewise in another Psalm [Ps. 68, 17.j: The mountain on which God desires to dwell on it. Since our interpreter has not taken this into account, he has confused the order of the construction. But according to the Hebrew [v. 21] it is correctly read this way: He said, These horns which scattered Judah man by man, and none of them lifted up his head: to deter the same these came etc. But a Latin would construe thus: These are come to deter all that Judah hath scattered etc. But the opinion is: These are come, that they put to flight, that they frighten and drive away from my people all kingdoms of the whole world violence and tyranny, which they threaten. But there is an apt word here, which our interpreter has translated by the verbum deterrere ["to deter"]. Moses also used the same word in the first book, Cap. 35, 5: "And the fear of God came upon all the cities that were round about them."
The Lord sends his word in such abundance, when he has mercy on us, that there is no measure; he pours himself out so completely, and his goodness and kindness have no end. But when he is angry, there is no measure of wrath; for when he takes away his word, wrath always follows wrath, so great is the calamity.
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
and the frightening blindness. But when he promises that he will be a father, he gives himself completely, there is nothing of bitterness, no terror, everything is well and pacified. So we see here how great and how various consolations, how great vehemence her very good and gracious father used to revive and strengthen the trembling and bruised hearts, so that they should fear nothing more, but believe that they would have a gracious father. So highly does GOtte deserve that he strengthens and comforts a fearful and frightened conscience, so that man finally returns to him. For such a fear of conscience is beyond measure frightening and great, for conscience is such a tender, weak and incapable thing that, once it is frightened, it can hardly be set right again with great care, with the greatest consolations of the divine word, lest it continue to despair more and more from day to day. This is not known to those who in our times write much about the organization of human life. If
If they had learned even once how great the anxiety and horror of a troubled conscience would be, how terrifying the fear, they would easily desist and not press so hard for life. The dear Lord knows his own body, he knows our weakness, therefore he sees that we are in need of so many lovely promises and consolations. "Oh Lord God, it is a much greater thing that such a conscience should be raised than those who believe etc.
And this is the historical meaning of the first chapter, that the fearful hearts should be encouraged and strengthened, so that they will not let themselves be deterred by any force to continue building the house of the Lord that they have started. There is nothing so difficult, nothing so cruel, that they should fear it; the Lord will stand by them, he will not allow the heathen to rage against his people according to their liking and to destroy them miserably (he calls this "scattering man by man"), nor will he allow them to lift up their horns, that is, to "go through with their heads".