Zechariah 11:1

Open thy doors, O Lebanon,.... By which may be meant, either the temple of Jerusalem, which was built of the cedars of Lebanon; "the gates of which are said (w) to open of themselves forty years

Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. Open thy doors, O Lebanon - i:e., the temple, so called, as being constructed of cedars of Lebanon, or as being lofty and conspicuous, like that mountain (cf.

CHAPTER 11 The destruction of Jerusalem, . Under the type of Zechariah is showed Christ’ s care for the flock, the Jews; and their rejection for ingratitude and light estimation of him, . The type and curse of a foolish shepherd, . This chapter is minatory, and foretells the ruin of Jerusalem and the temple, this second temple, by the Romans, and the captivity of the Jews under them, for their rejecting of Christ; so the times of this chapter must be laid about the death of Christ and downwards. Open thy doors, O Lebanon; either the temple, because built with cedars of Lebanon, so the temple is called, ; or Jerusalem, or Judea, whose boundary northward this mountain was: if all these do not fully suit with the text and context, perhaps this added may. Lebanon, a high and great mountain, boundary between Judea and its neighbours on the north, is here spoken to open its gates, its fortifications, raised to secure the passages, which through the hollownesses of the mountain, the deep and dismal straits, lead into Judea, and would be first attempted by the enemy that first invades the northern parts of Judea. These garrisons or fortresses are foretold like to be easily taken, as if they opened of themselves, and the Romans would have easy entrance by this means into Judea. That the fire; either figuratively, the rage of the enemy, or the wrath of God; or literally, fire by the enemy kindled in the houses and buildings in Judea, and in Lebanon itself. May devour thy cedars; palaces built with cedars, or else figuratively nobles, princes, and eminent men.

Zechariah 11:1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars.Ver. 1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon] This chapter is no less comminatory than the two former had been consolatory. The tartness of the threatening maketh men best taste the sweetness of the promise. Sour and sweet make the best sauce; promises and threatenings mingled serve to keep the heart in the best temper. Hypocrites catch at the promises, as children do at deserts; and stuff themselves therewith a pillow as it were, that they may sin more securely. Here therefore they are given to understand, that God will so be merciful to the penitent, as that he will by no means clear the guilty. That is the last letter in God’ s name, Exodus 34:7, and must never be forgotten. It is fitting that the wicked should be forewarned of their danger; and the godly forearmed. This chapter hangs over Jerusalem as that blazing star in the form of a bloody sword is said to have done for a whole year’ s time, a little before that last destruction of it, that is here foretold five hundred years before it happened. Open thy doors, O Lebanon] i.e. Lay open thou thyself to utter ruin; for it is determined, and cannot be avoided. Lebanon was the confine of the country on that side, whereby the Romans made their first irruption, as by an inlet. Doors or gates are attributed to this forest; because against Libanus is set Antilibanus, another mountain; which is joined into it as it were with a certain wall; so that these were and are narrow passages and gates, kept sometimes by the kings of Persia by a special officer, Nehemiah 2:8, and fortified by nature; yet not so strongly but that the Romans broke in this way, and much wasted the forest, employing the trees for the besieging of Jerusalem, as Isaiah 14:8. (Hence it is here called the forest of the vintage, or the defenced forest, Zechariah 11:2 marg.) The Chaldee paraphrast by Lebanon here understandeth the temple, which was built by the cedars of Lebanon; and Ezekiel 17:3, Lebanon is put for Jerusalem; which also had in it that house of the forest of Lebanon built by Solomon, 1 Kings 7:2, wherein he had both his throne of judgment, 1 Kings 7:7, and his armoury, 1 Kings 10:17. So that by Lebanon may be very well meant the whole country of Judea; but especially the city and temple, the iron gates whereof opened themselves of their own accord, that had not been open in seven years before, and could scarcely be shut by twenty men, saith Josephus (Lib. vii. de Bell. Jud. cap. 12). This happened not long before the city was taken by Titus, whereupon Rabbi Jonathan, the son of Zechariah, cried out, En vaticinium Zechariae, Behold the prophecy of Zechariah fulfilled; for he foretold this, that this temple should be burned, and that the gates thereof should first be opened.

XI. (1-3) Here, as in Zechariah 9:1-8, we have intimation of an invasion of the land of Israel from the north, only, whereas in the former case Philistia, as well as Syria and Phœnicia, was to be the sufferer, here it is “the pride of Jordan that is to be spoiled.” Some have considered the first three verses of this chapter to be a distinct prophecy by themselves. To this supposition no valid objection can be made. But the terms of the prophecy are so vague that it is impossible to decide with any degree of satisfaction to what particular invasion it refers. It might be descriptive of any invasion which took place from the north, whether Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, or Roman. Others take these verses as introductory to the prophecy that follows, and consider them to be descriptive either of a storm breaking over the country (comp. Psalms 29 and, with some, Isaiah 2:10-22) from the north, or else of some terrible visitation which would come upon the land, similar to the invasions which had taken place in the days of old. In any case, these verses have so little necessary connection with what follows, that it will make little difference to our interpretation of the remainder of the chapter which of the above theories we adopt. (Compare for similar expressions, Isaiah 37:24; Isaiah 14:8; Jeremiah 25:34-36.)

CHAPTER XI The commencement of this chapter relates to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity, probably by the Babylonians; at least in the first instance, as the fourth verse speaks of the people thus threatened as the prophet's charge, 1-6. The prophet then gives an account of the manner in which he discharged his office, and the little value that was put on his labours. And this he does by symbolical actions, a common mode of instruction with the ancient prophets, 7-14. After the prophet, on account of the unsuccessfulness of his labours, had broken the two crooks which were the true badges of his pastoral office, (to denote the annulling of God's covenant with them, and their consequent divisions and dispersions,) he is directed to take instruments calculated to hurt and destroy, perhaps an iron crook, scrip, and stones, to express by these symbols the judgments which God was about to inflict on them by wicked rulers and guides, who should first destroy the flock, and in the end be destroyed themselves, 15-17. Let us now view this prophecy in another light, as we are authorized to do by Scripture, Matthew 27:7. In this view the prophet, in the person of the Messiah, sets forth the ungrateful returns made to him by the Jews, when he undertook the office of shepherd in guiding and governing them; how they rejected him, and valued him and his labours at the mean and contemptible price of thirty pieces of silver, the paltry sum for which Judas betrayed him. Upon which he threatens to destroy their city and temple; and to give them up to the hands of such guides and governors as should have no regard to their welfare. NOTES ON CHAP. XI Verse 1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon] I will give Mr. Joseph Mede's note upon this verse:- "That which moveth me more than the rest, is in chap. xi., which contains a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and a description of the wickedness of the inhabitants, for which God would give them to the sword, and have no more pity upon them. It is expounded of the destruction by Titus; but methinks such a prophecy was nothing seasonable for Zachary's time, (when the city yet for a great part lay in her ruins, and the temple had not yet recovered hers,) nor agreeable to the scope. Zachary's commission, who, together with his colleague Haggai, was sent to encourage the people, lately returned from captivity, to build their temple, and to instaurate their commonwealth. Was this a fit time to foretell the destruction of both, while they were yet but a-building? And by Zachary too, who was to encourage them? Would not this better befit the desolation by Nebuchadnezzar?" I really think so. See Mr. J. Mede's lxi. Epistle. Lebanon signifies the temple, because built of materials principally brought from that place.

1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon] The passage is highly poetical and dramatic, but in its first reference literal and physical. In the path of the invading army stands Lebanon, at once the pride and bulwark of the land. As the priestly herald of the approaching host (quasi esset Dei fetialis, Calv.), the prophet summons it to open wide an access, and to surrender to the reckless torch of the fierce foe its goodly pines and noble cedars. Comp. 2 Kings 19:23; Isaiah 37:24; Isaiah 14:8.

Open thy doors, O Lebanon - Lebanon, whose cedars had stood, its glory, for centuries, yet could offer no resistance to him who felled them and were carried off to adorn the palaces of its conquerors

OF THE ENEMIES, Zechariah 11:1-3.These verses do not form an independent piece, nor are they to be connected with Zechariah 11:4 ff., for the opening words of Zec 11:4 show that there a new prophecy begins.