Zechariah 7

1. Chisieu. Or, “Kisleu.” The Babylonian or Chaldee word, used after the Captivity.

2 when they had sent into the house of God, etc. Rather, “when Bethel sent Sherezer,” etc. “They of Bethel,” R.V.

3 to speak unto the priests. It was the priest’s duty (see Mal. ii. 7) to direct the people in the worship of God, and the observances of His law; see note on ver. 5.

5 in the fifth and seventh month. These two fasts were of merely human appointment; that of the fifth month commemorating the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians; that of the seventh the murder of Gedaliah: see 2 Kings xxv. 8-10, 25; Jer. xli. 1-3; lii. 12-14. The question was whether, when the seventy years of captivity were expired and the Temple was rebuilt, these fasts should be continued. The Jews still retain them in their calendar.

did ye at all fast unto Me? Have your fasts and your feasts been seasons of true humiliation before God, or of real thankfulness to Him? The answer is indicated in ver. 10; cp. Isa. i. 11-20; lviii. 3-6.

7 the plain. This “plain” is the low country along the coast of the Western Sea, the “Shephelah.” These parts were probably at this time almost depopulated, the “lowland” being the track of the great armies passing between Egypt and Asia.

9. Thus speaketh. Rather, “Thus spoke”; i.e., to your ancestors: see Isa. i. 23; lviii. 6, 7; Micah vi. 6-8.

11 and pulled away the shoulder. See Neh. ix. 29.

12 hath sent. Rather, “sent.” So ver. 13, “it came to pass”: see note on ver. 9.