Zechariah

CHAPTER 8

Seven Oracles: Judah and Zion Restored.

I am intensely jealous for Zion,^a

stirred to jealous wrath for her.

I have returned to Zion,

and I will dwell within Jerusalem;

Jerusalem will be called the faithful city,^{* b}

and the mountain of the LORD of hosts, the holy mountain.

Old men and old women will again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of old age.^c

Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in those days, should it seem impossible in my eyes also?^d—oracle of the LORD of hosts.

I am going to rescue my people from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun.

Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words which were spoken by the prophets when the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid^* for the building of the temple.^f

the vine will yield its fruit,

the land will yield its crops,

and the heavens^* will yield their dew.

I will give all these things to the remnant of this people to possess.

Just as I intended to harm you when your ancestors angered me—says the LORD of hosts—and I did not relent,

Three Oracles: Judah and the Nations.

The fast days of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months^{* j} will become occasions of joy and gladness, and happy festivals for the house of Judah.^k So love faithfulness and peace!

There will yet come peoples and inhabitants of many cities;^l

In those days ten people from nations of every language will take hold,^m yes, will take hold of the cloak of every Judahite and say, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

* [8:3] Faithful city: a unique biblical epithet for Jerusalem, signaling the importance of the holy city and its leaders for establishing justice in society (see also vv. 8, 16, 19). Holy mountain: Jerusalem and its Temple, the sacred center of the holy land (2:16) and of the whole world.

* [8:9] When the foundation…was laid: December 18, 520 B.C., the date of the Temple refoundation ceremony, marking the beginning of the project to restore the Temple (see Hg 2:10, 18, 20).

* [8:12] Vine…land…heavens: future prosperity, reversing the hardships of Hg 1:10.

* [8:16] Gates: important gathering places in ancient Near Eastern cities, where legal proceedings were often carried out.

* [8:19] Fast days of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months: all these fast days were probably held in connection with Jerusalem’s demise. The fasts of the fourth month (commemorating the departure of Judahite leadership from Jerusalem, 2 Kgs 25:3–7) and of the tenth month (marking the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, 2 Kgs 25:1) were added to the fasts of the fifth and seventh months mentioned in Zec 7:3 and 5 (see notes).

a. [8:2] Zec 1:14.

b. [8:3] Is 1:26.

c. [8:4] Dt 4:40.

d. [8:6] Jer 32:27.

e. [8:8] Zec 13:9; Jer 31:33.

f. [8:9] Hg 1:14.

g. [8:13] Gn 12:3; Ps 72:17.

h. [8:16] Eph 4:25.

i. [8:16] Zec 7:9; Dt 21:19; 22:24; Ru 4:1, 11.

j. [8:19] Zec 7:1–3; Mt 9:14–15.

k. [8:19] Is 35:10; Jer 31:13.

l. [8:20] 1 Kgs 8:43.

m. [8:23] 1 Sm 15:27; Tb 13:11.