Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 14

Verse 1

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh — Jerusalem had her day, and knew it not, Luke 19:42 (Jerusalem was not Jerusalem, the vision of peace saw not the things that belonged to her peace); God therefore will have his day of vengeance, as she had of visitation. He hath his season, his harvest for judgment, Matthew 13:30 ; and when wickedness is ripe in the field he will allow it to grow no longer, lest it shed and spread, but cuts it up by a just and seasonable vengeance. These Jews were by their own confession the children of them which had killed the prophets, Acts 2:23 ; and, by killing the Lord Christ with wicked hands, they had filled up the measure of their fathers, Matthew 23:31-32 ; what could therefore the Lord do less to a nation so incorrigibly flagitious than bring wrath upon them to the utmost, 1 Thessalonians 2:16 "than send forth his armies and destroy those murderers, and burn up their cities?" Matthew 22:7 . When God did this execution here mentioned is hard to say: whether by Antiochus Epiphanes, or rather Epimanes, as some truly called him, for that, being exceedingly mad against the Jews, he "persecuted the Church of God, and wasted it," Acts 26:11 Galatians 1:13 . Or by the Roman spoilers at that last devastation under the command of Titus. Or by Cosroes, the Persian, and Homer, the Arabian, who successively harassed and razed Jerusalem, rifling the houses, ravishing the women, killing whom they pleased, and making the rest pay dearly for the very heads they wore; which servitude lasted till Godfrey of Bullin set them at liberty, so the Gloss here senseth it. Or lastly, by Gog and Magog, that is, by the Great Turk (for Magog is the Scythian nation, from whom came the Turks, lords of Meshec and Tubal, that is, of Cappadocia and Iberia; where they first began to reign), as is before hinted, I take not upon me to determine. Most comentators understand it to be the last overthrow of the Romans. The Spirit might have an eye to the Anti-christian persecutions of the orthodox professors of the Romish Edomites.

And thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee — Freely and fearlessly, none rising up to make them afraid, the vanquished shall be so disabled and dispirited. Thus the silly doves are glad to save themselves by flight, not fight; sometimes they sit in their dove cots, and see their nests destroyed, and young ones killed, not daring once to rescue or revenge.

Verse 2

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

For I will gather all nations — The Romans, that styled and held themselves lords of all nations, and who had levied a mighty army out of all nations to fight against Jerusalem. See Joseph. B. J. III 1, 3. Or Gog and Magog, with all his armies and associates, Ezekiel 37:4-6 , shall compass the beloved city, Revelation 20:8-9 . See Zechariah 14:1 . See Trapp on " Zechariah 14:1 " Would any man take the Church’s picture? then let him, saith Luther, paint a silly poor maid sitting in a wood or wilderness, and compassed about with hungry lions, wolves, boars, and bears, …, and in the midst of a great many furious men assaulting her every moment; let him give her, say I, that of Martial for her motto,

“ In me omnis terraeque, aviumque, marisque rapina est. ”

And the city shall be taken — Non tamen ad exitium, sed ad exercitium. Not yet for destruction but for a lesson. I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage (saith the Lord, Jeremiah 12:7 ). I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. At which times there is usually, as at Athens when taken by Sulla, ανελεης σφαγη , a bloody butchery.

And the houses rifled — As at the sack of Constantinople by the Turks; where the soldiers are said to have divided money among themselves by whole hatfulls; and were therewith so enriched, that it is a proverb among them to this day, if any grow suddenly rich, to say, he hath been at the sacking of Constantinople. The Emperor had in vain many times with tears requested to have borrowed money of his covetous subjects, to have been employed in the defence of the city; but they would still swear that they had it not, as men grown poor for want of trade; which, in few days after, their enemies found in such abundance, that they wondered at their wealth, and derided their folly, that possessing so much, they would bestow so little in the defence of themselves and their country.

And the women ravished — These are the common calamities of war; in the lawless violence whereof those three commandments, "Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal," as they are ranked together in the law, so they are usually violated together; hence Isaiah 13:16 "Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished." The Irish rebels bound the husband to the bedpost while they abused his wife before his face. In the time of King Edward III the French soldiers at Winchelsea, in Sussex, took their lustful turns upon a beautiful woman in the Church, and at the time of divine service, until they had turned her out of the world, as a learned man phraseth it, Donec mulier fatigata spiritum exhalaret While a weary woman to breath out her life. (Walsing.).

And half of the city shall go forth into captivity — An evil, an only evil, threatened Deuteronomy 28:15-68 , and fulfilled to the utmost upon this nation, so shamelessly, so lawlessly wicked, as can hardly be peered or paralleled. I have noted before, that this their last captivity and dispersion is such, as that one of their own Rabbis concludeth from thence that their Messiah must needs be come, and they must needs suffer so much for killing him. They used to say that there is still an ounce of the golden calf in all their public calamities. There is another thing lieth more heavily upon them to this day, were they but sensible of it. Let us be sending up, and sighing out for them that of the Psalmist, "Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad," Psalms 14:7 .

And the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city — A remnant shall be reserved, as it were for royal use; whether a third part, as Zechariah 13:8 , or a half, as here, it is not much material; in numeris non est anxie laborendum, saith Calvin here; for the direct number it is neither here nor there, as we say. God shall reserve unto himself a set and select number. He who comforteth those that are cast down speaketh this to his, for encouragement. The Church may be shaken, not shivered; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, 2 Corinthians 4:9 .

Verse 3

Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations — Some read it, among those nations; he shall be the Archistrategus, the commander-in-chief of those armies, which he hath brought together against Jerusalem, to revenge upon her the quarrel of his covenant. But I like the other way better; because it is purposely spoken for the comfort of saints in evil times. When therefore there is dignus vindice nodus, et periculum par animo Alexandri, as he was wont to say, when it is time for God to arise, that his enemies may be scattered, and those that hate him flee before him; he will arise and have mercy upon Zion; he will awake, as in the days of old; he will come forth from his holy place to the rescue of his praying people. "There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah," Psalms 76:3 . There he appeared "more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey." There he did, and there he will; for this is a common and current Scriptural medium. God shall fight against those nations, the very rod of his wrath, Isaiah 10:9 ; which, after he hath worn to the stump, he will cast it into the fire. The wicked are called God’s sword, Psalms 17:13 . But it will fall out with them as with that sword which Hector gave Ajax: which as long as he used it against his enemies it served for help and defence; but after he began to abase it to the harm of harmless beasts it turned into his own bowels.

As when he fought in the day of battle — With his own bare hand, as it were, Isaiah 52:10 , and in a miraculous manner, as he did for Israel at the Red Sea, for Joshua, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, …, and as he shall do at that last great battle against Antichrist and his adherents, Revelation 20:8-10 , which is here haply pointed at. Let the Lord but arise only and his enemies shall be scattered; but if he once take hold of shield and buckler for defence, draw out the spear and sword, these weapons of offence, and appear as a man of war, Exodus 15:3 , or as a Lord and victor of wars (so the Chaldee there hath it), he will charge through and through, he will "burn them together," Isaiah 27:4 , and in the same place, 2 Samuel 23:7 .

Verse 4

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives — That is, he shall so put forth his power for the defence of his people, as if he did visibly appear among them, and beheld the fight from the top of a mountain; like as Xerxes used to pitch his tent on high, and stand looking on his army when in fight, to encourage them, and to send out orders. From this mount it was that God departed, after many former departures, from Jerusalem, Ezekiel 11:23 . And what wonder, when as Har Hamischa, the mount of unction, was become Har Hamaschith, the mount of corruption, 2 Kings 23:13 ? the bold Jews having set up their idol in this mount Olivet, even in the sight of the Lord; so that he never looked out of the sanctuary but he beheld the vile hill of abominations. From this mount it was that our Lord Christ ascended into heaven, Acts 1:11-12 . There he was apprehended by the Jews, John 18:1 Matthew 26:30 ; there therefore it is prophesied that he shall stand against them by the Romans, say some, out of Joseph. B. J. vi. 3, and that when these things should come to pass the Jews might know that their utter destruction was near at hand. So God showed unto the Ninevites on what side their city should be taken; and what at that time should be the power and the attempts of the enemy against them, Nahum 2:1-13 ; Nahum 3:1-19 , and yet neither of these repented for all this. Others, more probably, hold that here is promised such a powerful presence of God for the relief of his people as shall far exceed the glory that appeared the promulgation of the law, when the mouutains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs, Psalms 114:6 ; so terrible also was the sight, that Moses said, "I exceedingly fear and quake," Hebrews 12:21 . I also see and tremble at the resemblance (said a holy man) between that giving of the law and the requiring of it at the last day. In the one mount Sinai only was on a flame; all the world shall be so in the other. To the one Moses (that climbed up that hill, and alone saw it) says, "God came with ten thousand of his saints"; in the other, thousand thousands shall minister to him, and ten thousand thousands shall stand before him. Hereunto some refer that obscure passage in the next verse, "The Lord my God shall come and all the saints with thee," and that at the day of judgment Christ shall descend with all his angels into mount Olivet, which hangs over the valley of Jehoshaphat, that there he may plead with all nations, for his people, and for his heritage Israel, whom they have scattered, and parted their land, Joel 3:2 . Further they say, that mount Olivet shall then be shaken with a very great earthquake; so that it shall cleave in the midst, and leave a very great valley; it shall enlarge the valley of Jehoshaphat, that it may be able to receive those that are there to be judged by Christ. Thus Lessius, Sa, a Costa, a Lapide, who also citeth for his purpose, Clemens Remarius, lib. vii. Constit. Ap. cap. 33, speaking thus, Mons ipse Oliveti gloriae venientis cedet et in quatuor partes dissectus longissime diffugiet, ut tribunali iudicis theatrum totius orbis assistat, i.e. Mount Olivet shall give place to the glory of Christ when he cometh; and being cleft into four parts, it shall fly far asunder, to the end that the theatre of the whole world may stand before the tribunal of the judge. Thus he, and surely the following Zechariah 14:6-8 , …, seem to favour this interpretation, and to have relation to the last day. But in prophecies not yet fulfilled, as this may be one, it is better and more sure to expect and stay for the explication by the event than to give it without any certain ground.

Verse 5

And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.

And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains — Or, ye shall flee the valley of the mountains, sc. of mount Olivet, made by God, Zechariah 14:4 by whom the Romans were set to work to garrison mount Olivet against the Jews; and, by digging down a great part of it, to fill up the brook Kidron, or the town ditch, and to bring a wall (wherewith they compassed about the whole city) through the midst of this mount; whereby the city was greatly pressed, and much annoyed. This mountain ye shall flee (as many of you as are Azal; that is, separated: confer Exodus 24:11 Isaiah 43:4 ), and repair to Pella, a place of rest provided for you. Not without some perturbation of spirit (though causeless), as in common calamities it happens; and the like shall befall the very elect also at the last day, till they have recollected themselves, till they remember that now their redemption draweth nigh.

And ye shall flee — sc. With utmost haste and fright; death being that terrible of terribles, as the philosopher calleth it, Nature’s slaughterman, hell’s purveyor.

Like as ye fled from before the earthquake — Which might be as sad and as sudden at that at Pleures, in Rhetia, A.D. 1618, Aug. 25, the whole town was overcovered with a mountain, which, with its most swift motion, buried 1500 people (Alst. Chronol.).

In the days of Uzziah king of Judah — Whether this earthquake occured just at that instant time when Uzziah offered incense, and was therefore smitten with leprosy (as the Jewish doctors affirm), I have not to say. But of the horror of it, besides Amos 1:1 , Josephus relateth, that a mountain towards the west cleft in sunder and removed from its proper place the space of four furlongs, or half a mile; and farther it had proceeded, had not a great mountain towards the east stayed its course. Camden reporteth the like hereunto to have happened in Herefordshire, A. D. 1571, Cal. Martij 12; about six o’clock in the evening, a great hill lifted up itself with a huge noise, and ascending into a higher place, carried along with it trees, flocks of cattle, sheep cotes, walked about from Saturday night till Monday noon, overturned a certain chapel that stood in its way. This kind of earthquake philosophers call Brasmatia, shaking of the earth.

And the Lord my God shall come — q.d. Let scoffers doubt and deride, saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?" My God will effect with his hand what he hath spoken with his mouth, he will, he will, Habakkuk 2:8 . There is an emphasis in the word "my" ( q.d. The God whose I am, yea, ολως εκεινος , wholly his, as Aristotle saith of a servant), and another in the following apostrophe.

And all the saints with thee — The prophet, in a holy indignation at his hearers’ obstinace and untractableness, turns him thus to God; like as doth old Jacob, Genesis 49:18 ; and our blessed Saviour cried out with the people’s perverseness, Matthew 11:25-26 . See Trapp on " Genesis 49:18 " See Trapp on " Matthew 11:25 " See Trapp on " Matthew 11:26 "

Verse 6

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the light shall not be clear, [nor] dark:

And it shall come to pass in that day — That is, saith Diodati, after the destruction of antichrist, shall the Son of God come in, who shall bring the Church into its glory; where without any vicissitude or variation of day and night, of calamity and prosperity, of knowledge and ignorance, it shall enjoy eternal light by the sight of God, Isaiah 60:19-20 Revelation 21:23 ; Revelation 22:5 . Thus he. Between this fall of antichrist and the consummation of all some place the full and final restoration of the Jews, and make this a description of that glorious Church they shall then erect. There shall be no darkness, but perpetual light. It shall not be, saith our prophet here, sometimes clear, sometimes misty, (variable and uncertain weather, now fair, now foul), but one day, not of day and night; for in the evening, when night is wont to come, it shall be light; as if he should say, it shall be always day and no night, ανεσπερος ημερα , a nightless day, a morning without clouds, a clear shining after rain, as David in another case, 2 Samuel 22:4 , and as with the Hyperboreans, the whole half year is said to be but one continuous day; so that they sow and reap in a day.

Verse 7

But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, [that] at evening time it shall be light.

Which shall be known to the Lord — And that should suffice us, without further curious inquiries, de re nobis et toti mundo abscondita (Calvin), concerning the set times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power, Acts 1:7 . The Muscovites use to say in a dark point, in a difficult question, God and our great duke know all this; and in other talk, all we enjoy health, and life, and all from our great duke; therefore let us leave all to him. Should not we much more to God? Time hath already confuted those learned men, who from Daniel 12:11 pitched their calculation for the Jews’ restoration upon the year 1650. Those that shall live a few years longer shall see what will become of their confidence, who have undertaken to prove, out of Daniel and the Revelation, that the prophetical numbers come to an end with the year of our Lord 1655, because then the seventh trumpet shall sound; and then the six thousand years from the creation of the world do expire, as they compute.

Verse 8

And it shall be in that day, [that] living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem — i.e. Abundance of spiritual graces, frequently in Scripture compared to waters, for their cooling, cleansing, quickening property, Isaiah 44:3 Ezekiel 36:25 ; Ezekiel 47:1 ; John 7:38 . And of these waters, without all doubt, our baptism, ordained of God, is a figure and sacrament. "Living waters" they are called; that is, running, as a spring, not standing, as a pool. The godly esteem of life by that stirring they find in their souls, Isaiah 38:15-16 "In all these things is the life of my spirit"; else they lament as over a dead soul. O live, live (saith a reverend man, Dr Harris), live quickly, live much, live long. Many live more in a day than others in a year; for life consisteth in action; and so much every man liveth as he acteth graciously. Up, therefore, and be doing something of worth; whereof ye may testify that ye have lived. And for this, get a principle of life, the spirit of life which is in Christ Jesus, and then, if ye live in the Spirit, ye shall also walk in the Spirit, Galatians 5:25 , and not fulfil the lusts of the flesh, Zechariah 14:16 . The waters of the sea, though by their natural course they follow the centre, yet, by obedience to the moon, they are subject to her motion; and so turn, and return, ebb and flow, and are kept in continual motion, to keep them from corruption; so those that are spiritual, though naturally they are carried downward, and the best that of themselves they can do is but dead work; yet, so far as they are spiritualized, heavenlized, they are acting for God, and all their deeds are wrought in him, John 3:21 . It is their great care to wear out, not rust out; to burn out, not to be blown out; yea, to flame out, not to smother out; to serve out their generation, as David did, not to idle it out; to live their utmost, and not (as Job 27:15 ; Job 27:23 ) to be buried, before half dead.

In summer and winter shall it be — Such is the perennity and perpetuity of true grace; it ever flows - more perennis aquae, perpetual waters. As it is not like the river Araris, of which Caesar saith that it cannot with eyes be discerned whether it flows forward or backward, so slow and still is its motion; so neither is it like the brook Cherith, that dried up before the prophet, because there had been no rain in the land, 1 Kings 17:7 ; or like the river Novanus, in Lombardy, which (saith Pliny) at every midsummer solstice swelleth and runneth over the banks; but at midwinter is clean dry; but as the waters of the sanctuary, Ezekiel 47:4-5 , …; and as the pool of Siloam, which served all Jerusalem, and was for every use to the citizens; or Hezekiah’s water courses, 2 Kings 20:20 Nehemiah 3:15-16 , whereunto some think that the prophet here alludeth. "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this he spake," saith the evangelist, "of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive," John 7:38-39 .

Verse 9

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

And the Lord shall be king over all the earth — At the sounding of the seventh angel the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and over, Revelation 11:15 ; Revelation 11:17 . Cosmographers tell us that if we divide all the known world into 30 parts, the heathen’s part is as 19 of this 30; the Mahometans’ as six, the Christians’ as five only. And of those that profess the name of Christ, three parts, at least, of those five are possessed by idolatrous Papists; who say they believe in one only true God, but indeed set up many he saints and she saints, whom they adore with divine worship; and therein are no better than Pagans. Hence they are called Gentiles, Revelation 11:2 , and are said to worship devils, Revelation 9:20 cf. 1 Corinthians 10:20 . Cardinal Bembus saith of their St Francis, that he was in numerum Deorum ab Ecclesia Rom. relatus. At Rureround, in Gelderland, a play was acted by the Jesuits, A. D. 1622, under the title of the apotheosis of St Ignatius, the founder of that order. In the year 610 Boniface IV ordained the feast of All-saints, after that he had obtained of the emperor the idol temple at Rome, called the Pantheon; wherein he placed the Virgin Mary in the place of Cybele, the mother of the heathen gods. Now the time is yet to come (and oh that it were come!) that, all false worship laid aside and abandoned, the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in; and from the Jews, as some gather from this text compared with others, shall the gospel go out to all nations of the world, Isaiah 2:3 , who with one consent shall submit themselves to Christ. Asshur and Egypt, all those large and vast countries, the whole tract of the east and of the south, shall embrace the faith of Christ and be converted, Isaiah 19:23-25 ; Isaiah 27:12-13 Micah 7:11-12 Psalms 68:31 ; Psalms 72:9-11 Revelation 21:14 . O dieculam illam! O for a short time. Neither need we think it incredible; God can hiss for them and fetch them in suddenly; he can cause a nation to conceive and bring forth in one day, Isaiah 66:8-9 . A text that Cardinal Pole, in a letter to Pope Julius III, abused, by applying it to the bringing in of Popery again so umversally and suddenly in Queen Mary’s days.

Shall there be one Lord — Be the gods of the heathen good fellows, saith one, the true God is a jealous God, and will not share his glory with another. Be it that to Pagans and Papagans A hostile formation:= Papist, Popish (with allusion to pagan ). ŒD there are gods many and lords many; to us there is but one God, and but one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. As for all others, say we of them, as that heathen once did, Contemno minutos istos Deos modo Iovem propitium habeam, I care not for those petty deities, so long as Jehovah favoureth me. Hear, O Israel, saith Moses, Deuteronomy 6:4 , Jehovah, thy God, Jehovah is one. The Hebrew word there used for one hath Daleth, the last letter, which also stands in number for four, extraordinary great in the original; Hebrew Text Note to signify, say the Jewish doctors, that this one God shall be worshipped in the four corners of the earth.

And his name one — That is, one way of worship; all superstitions being abolished, see Micah 4:5 . Or, "his name," that is, his glory, as Psalms 8:1 , his transcendant excellency shall be super eminent; he shall have a name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee may bow. Thus the word "name" is used both in divine and human authors, Genesis 6:1-4 . Men of name, that is, of renown; so Numbers 1:16 ; Numbers 16:2 Acts 1:15 , the number of names, that is, of the chieftains that were fit to act in the election. Contrary whereunto is men without name, Job 30:8 , men written in the earth, Jeremiah 17:13 , shrouded in the sheet of shame, and whose happiness it is to be forgotten in the city, Ecclesiastes 8:10 . - ingloria vita recedit. So the poets call eminent and famous men Nomina, as Ovid doth Augustus:

“ Vive tibi, et longe Nomina magna fuge. ”

And speaking of some famous person, he

saith,

“ Claros inter habens nomina clara viros. ”

Verse 10

All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and [from] the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses.

All the land shall be turned as a plain — Or, shall be compassed about as a plain, ut aequore plano, so the Tigurine translation. God shall enlarge the bounds of his Church; he shall lay all level, that people may come in amain from all parts. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth, Luke 3:5 "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellence of our God," Isaiah 35:1-2 . The prophet here showeth that all the land shall be inhabited, from one end unto another; from Geba, the northern confines, to Rimmon, the southborder, Joshua 15:32 ; Joshua 15:57 . And from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first (or old) gate, Nehemiah 3:6 , which stood westward, unto the corner gate, see 2 Chronicles 26:9 ; 2 Chronicles 25:28 or the gate that looketh eastward. The limits of the Church shall be greatly enlarged; the rough and rugged mountains being made as the smooth and pleasant champaigns. The faithful shall pass from Geba to Rimmon, from the mountains of myrrh and hills of frankincense, Song of Solomon 4:6 , to the pomegranates, for so Rimmon signifieth, and from the plenty of that fruit there this place seemeth to have taken its name (Masius in Joshua 19:18 ); that is, from humiliation and supplication for pardon and power against corruption, to love and good works, looking up and pressing hard toward, the high prize proposed unto them; as the many grains within the case of the pomegranate do point, and, as it were, all look up together, unto the crown or circle that is without, upon the head of it.

To the king’s winepresses — Which were on the west side, where the former two half-compasses did meet to make up a whole compass. Certain it is, that Jerusalem was a very large and spacious city, comprehending almost four miles, at least, say those that have written of it. There was in it the upper and the nether town, whence it is called, Je-rushalaiim in the dual. There was afterwards the old town and the new, called Boretha, or Caenopolis. But, Ezekiel 40:41-49 , God showeth the prophet a new temple, larger than all the old Jerusalem put all together; and a new Jerusalem, larger than all the land of Canaan; by these very dimensions showing that these things cannot be understood but spiritually. And the new Jerusalem in the Revelation, as it lieth foursquare, looking every way to the four corners of the earth (like as Constantinople doth, which is, therefore, said to be a city fatally founded to command), so the measure of it is twelve thousand furlongs, Revelation 21:16 ; which, according to some, make no less than 1500 miles.

Verse 11

And [men] shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.

And men shall dwell in it — Heb. They shall dwell in it, sc. Multitudes of men. The new Jerusalem, the Church, gathered by the preaching of the gospel, shall not be thinly inhabited, as the wilderness of Judaea was; it shall not lie waste for want of people, as divers parts of Turkey do. It shall not need to call in the country, as in Nehemiah’s days, to replenish it, Nehemiah 11:7 ; but it shall be fully thrust as a hive is with bees, where they hang out on heaps through want of room within; or as Jerusalem was wont to be at the three solemn feasts; or, lastly, as the temple was at those feasts where the people were so crowded that they were glad to stand and pray, for kneel or bow they could not. See Isaiah 51:3 Jeremiah 31:38-40 Obadiah 1:19-20 .

And there shall be no more utter destruction — Heb. Cherem, which the Vulgate interpreted rendereth, Anathema; There shall be no more curse, no execrable or accursed thing; no casting out by excommunication; no cause to do so. See the same Revelation 22:3 . No Canaanite in the Lord’s house, as Zechariah 14:21 . Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no stranger pass through her any more, Joel 3:17 , such shall be her sanctity. Others expound it of her safety and security, as in the following words, Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. See the like Jeremiah 23:6 ; Jeremiah 33:16 "In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, Jehovah Tsidkenu, The Lord our righteousness." A stately name indeed, and that which carries safety in the front of it. In Ezekiel the Church is called Jehovah Shammah The Lord is there; and the Psalmist gives the notation, and this note upon it, "God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early" ( ανικητος και ακινητος ). But the Lord our righteousness is a more august name. It is Christ’s own name; and imports that Christ will save his people from their sins (which would lay them naked to the wrath of God and rage of enemies), he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities, and then he need not fear what man can do unto him, Matthew 1:21 Psalms 130:8 . It was said of Achilles, that he was Styge armatus; but every child of the Church is Coelo, Christo, Deo armatus he hath the peace of God within him and the power of God without him; and, therefore, cannot but be safe as in a tower of brass, or town of war Psalms 90:1 .

Verse 12

And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite, … — The precedent promises that were so great and glorious, the prophet doth now further enlarge and illustrate in the following verses; and, first, the conquest of the enemies, Zechariah 14:12-15 ; next, the profession of Christ among all nations of the world, Zechariah 14:16-19 ; and lastly, the sanctity of the Church, Zechariah 14:20-21 . The conquest of the enemies is set forth, first, by God’s strange judgments upon them, Zechariah 14:12 ; secondly, by the means, both they shall despatch one another; and Judah shall fight bravely against them, Zechariah 14:13-14 ; thirdly, their wealth and substance shall become a prey, Zechariah 14:14 ; fourthly, their horses of service, and all the beasts they bring with them, shall be as strangely plagued as the men themselves, Zechariah 14:15 .

That have fought against Jerusalem — God will go forth and fight against them, Zechariah 14:3 , so that they shall wish they had never meddled. Haec erit plaga qua plagabit. God hath a mighty hand, James 4:9 , and it is a fearful thing to fall into it, Hebrews 10:31 , for who knoweth the power of his wrath? Psalms 90:11 . One stroke of this hard and heavy hand broke the angels’ backs, and cast them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment, 2 Peter 2:4 . Job felt but his little finger, as it were, and yet cries out for help. "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me," Job 19:21 . It had but lightly touched him, and yet he was hardly able to endure it. Oh the bloody welts that God’s hand hath left upon the backs of his best children! Woe, then, to his enemies when he comes forth to fight against them.

Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet — They shall pine away in their iniquities, Leviticus 26:30 ; their beauty shall consume away like a moth, Psalms 39:11 ; they shall melt as wax before the sun, or as the fat of lambs before the fire. God, if he be not unto them as a lion to tear the caul of their hearts in sunder, yet he will be as a moth, and as a worm, insensibly to consume them, Hosea 5:12 ; Hosea 5:14 . If he break not their teeth in their mouths, by smiting them upon the cheekbone, yet he will make them to melt away as waters which run continually; as a snail which melteth, and as the untimely birth of a woman that never seeth the sun, Psalms 58:6-8 . God hath secret ways to waste his enemies, and to bring them on their knees when they are best underset. He can trip up their heels when they are standing upon their feet, and lay them low enough in the slimy valley where are many already like them, and more shall come after them, Job 21:31-32 . God hath a Marasmus, an evil messenger for a malicious persecutor; as he had for Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Maccabees 6:8-13 ; for both the Herods; for Maximiuus, the tyrant; for Philip II of Spain, Charles IX of France, Queen Mary of England, Stephen Gardiner, Archbishop Arundel, Nestorius, Arius, and other odious heretics and enemies of the Church; among whom a Lapide, the Jesuit, reckons here Calvin, and saith, That like another Herod, he died a lousy loathsome death; and for his authority thinks it enough to say, uti refert Bolsecus in eius Vita. as Bolsecus reports in his history. But it must be understood that the lives of Calvin and Beza were spitefully written by this Bolsecus, their sworn enemy, that twice banished and thrice renegade friar (liar I might have said) and physician; for those names his often changes and hard chances have given him. This man, being requested by the Popish side, and it is likely hired by them, to write thus, is in all their writings alleged as canonical.

And their eyes shall consume away in their holes — Physicians tell us of 2000 diseases that annoy man’s body, 200 whereof affect the eyes. All these are part of God’s hosts, which are as much at God’s command as the centurion’s servants and soldiers were at his, when he said but Go, or Come, and they did accordingly, Matthew 8:9 . He can make men’s eyes drop and cease not, without any intermission, as Lamentations 3:49 , till they melt out, as the Hebrew here hath it; even the very same word as before. He can smite men with sudden blindness (as he did the sinful Sodomites, that had eyes full of adultery), such as tormented their eyes, as if they had been pricked with thorns, as the Hebrew word signifieth, Genesis 19:11 . Failing of eyes and sorrow of mind is threatened as a judgment, Deuteronomy 28:65 ; yea, thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt see in another piece of the curse, Deuteronomy 28:34 . See 1 Samuel 2:33 .

And their tongue shall consume away in their mouth — As did the tongue of Nestorius, the heresiarch, eaten out of his mouth with worms. Tho. Arundel and Stephen Gardiner, two bloody persecutors, died of a like disease. Diodati understands all this to be a description of hell torments. Their flesh shall consume, yet never be consumed; for they still stand upon their feet, or subsist, that they may still suffer; having no end, that their pain may be endless. "Their eyes shall consume," that is, saith he, though they be alive and can see, yet shall they be deprived of light in infernal darkness; having neither eyes nor understanding, but only to see and judge of their extreme misery. "Their tongue shall consume away," …, as did the rich glutton’s, Luke 16:24 . Mr Calvin observeth here, that all is delivered in the singular number: his flesh shall consume; his eyes shall melt; his tongue, … (for so runs the original); to note that every one of Jerusalem’s enemies shall taste of God’s wrath, though some of them may haply hold themselves out of the reach of his rod. And, secondly, that God can as easily destroy them all as if he had to do but with one single man.

Verse 13

And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

A great tumult from the Lord shall be among them — He shall frighten them, as he did the Philistines, by a sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, 2 Samuel 5:24 , and the Syrians by a marching noise in the air, causing a panic terror, 2 Kings 7:6 . Therefore some render it, Erit strepitus vel fragor Domini magnus in eis, so 1 Samuel 7:10 ; cf. 1 Samuel 2:10 . Or, he shall exasperate and embitter them one against another; as he did Abimelech and the men of Shechem, by sending an evil spirit between them, Judges 9:23 , that is, by letting loose Satan upon them, that old manslayer, that coal kindler and mischief-maker of the world; and this in a way of just revenge for their treacherous conspiracy against the house of Gideon. Thus God first divided, and then destroyed, the Midianites, by setting every one’s sword against his fellow, Judges 7:23 . So he dealt by the Philistines, 1 Samuel 14:15 ; 1 Samuel 14:20 . So the kings of Syria and Egypt, that succeeded Alexander, and were enemies to the Jews, destroyed one another; so did the primitive persecutors, the Turk and the Persian, the Spaniard and the French. In the year 1526 Charles V, emperor of Germany, set at liberty his prisoner Francis, King of France, upon this condition, among others, that they should join their forces and do their utmost to suppress and root out the Lutheran heresy; that is, the truth of the gospel, out of both their dominions (Scultet. Annal.). But soon after they fell at variance among themselves (the Pope blowing the bellows), whereby the Church had her halcyons, sic canes lingunt ulcera Lazari. so the digs licked the sore of Lazarus.

Shall take the hand of his neighbour — As those younkers A young man generally, in early use esp. a gay or fashionable young man ŒD of Helcath-hazzurim did, that sheathed their swords in their fellows’ bowels. 2 Samuel 2:16

Verse 14

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.

And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem — Shall fight like a lion, and do great exploits for his country; as Judas Maccabeus did; as Hunniades, that club of the Turks, and Scanderbeg, who killed 800 Turks with his own hand, and fought so earnestly sometimes, that the very blood burst out at his lips. So did Zisca, and the rest of Christ’s worthy warriors, who, by faith (and yet by force of arms too), waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, subdued kingdoms, fought the Lord’s battles, Hebrews 11:32 ; Hebrews 11:34 . They saw, by faith, what is on the other side of the shore of this mortality; and that put mettle into them. The valour of the Gauls was admired by the Romans; it proceeded from that instruction they had from their Druids, of the immortality of the soul. The Swedes upon the same ground showed incredible courage in the late German wars; running into apparent danger, like flies into the candle (saith one), as if they had not seen it (The Life of the King of Sweden, by Mr Clark). Faith fears no colours. What brave spirits hath God raised up among us of late, fighting, as it were, in blood to the knees for religion and liberty, resolved either to vanquish or die, as the Black Prince, η ταν η τπι ταν , with that Lacedemonian, either to live with the gospel or die for it! And how valiant the restored Jews shall once be upon their enemies, the Turks, who now hold their country till their iniquities be full, who can tell? Sure it is that Israel, after their victory over Gog, shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God, Ezekiel 39:10 . And then perhaps it is, that

the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, — as a prize or booty,

gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance — Look how Abraham stripped the four kings of their plunder, Genesis 14:16 , Gideon the Midianites, Judg. viii., David the Amalekites, 1 Samuel 30:18 , Jehoshaphat the Ammonites (they were three days in gathering the spoil, it was so much, 2 Chronicles 20:25 ), so it may happen one day with their posterity. The Jewish doctors, have a saying, that whatsoever befell unto the fathers is a sign unto the children; so of Abraham’s victory over the four kings, they write, that it befell unto him to teach that four kingdoms, those kingdoms spoken of in Daniel, should stand up to rule over the world; and that in the end his children should rule over them, and they should all fall by their hand, and they should bring again all their captives, and all their substance (R. Menachem on Genesis 14:1-24 ).

Verse 15

And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.

And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel — All the beasts of service, made use of by the enemy, shall consume in like sort as their masters. First, for a punishment to their owners, who must needs suffer loss thereby: hence Saul was so sedulous in seeking the lost asses. Secondly, to show how God is displeased with, and will severely punish, all that are instrumental to the Church’s calamities or serviceable to their sin. The serpent is cursed, cut shorter by the feet, and made to wriggle upon his belly, yea, confined to the dust for his diet. So God curseth and abhorreth all instruments of idolatry, Isaiah 30:22 Numbers 31:22-23 Deuteronomy 7:25 "The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire"; the very visible heavens, because defiled with man’s sin, are to be purged by the fire of the last day.

Verse 16

And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Every one that is left of all the nations — i.e. That hath escaped the plague, Zechariah 14:12 , and is beaten into a better mind, as those Huns, that, vanquished by the Christians, concluded that Christ was the true God, and became his subjects. God had promised before to subvert the Church’s enemies, but here to convert them, which is far better. And it shall appear to be so, as conversion cannot be hidden: you cannot turn a bell but it will make a sound, and report its own motion. See Galatians 1:23 .

For they shall even go up — sc. To the temple, which stood upon mount Moriah.

To worship the King, the Lord of hosts — To send a lamb (or a homage penny) to the Lord of the whole earth, Isaiah 16:1 .

And to keep the feast of tabernacles — In a due manner, which had not been rightly done (a marvellous thing) all along during the reign of David, Solomon, and all those succeeding reformers, till about these times, as appears, Nehemiah 8:16-18 . The sense of this text is, that the converted Gentiles shall join with the Jews in the sincere service of God, according to his will, and not according to their own brains and fancies; that they shall worship him with the same rites, in the same places and assemblies which they do; that Jehovah may be one, and his name one among them, as Zechariah 14:9 , that there may be no more Jew and Gentile, Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free, but Christ may be all, and in all, Colossians 3:11 . That those two sticks being joined into one, Ezekiel 37:16 , all Israel may be saved, Romans 11:26 , and raised as from the dead, Zechariah 14:16 , the Gentiles also may have their part in the same resurrection. All this is here set forth in such terms and under such types as were then most in request; as of going up to the temple, keeping the feast of tabernacles, …, all which expressions are parabolic, symbolic, and enigmatic; framed to the capacity of the Jews, much addicted to these legal rites and shadows, then in use, but now done away, Colossians 2:17 Hebrews 10:1 ; whatever the Jews conclude from this text for their continuance under Messiah’s kingdom. Christians have their feasts on holy days too, 1 Corinthians 5:8 , yea, their feast of tabernacles in a mystical sense, 1 Peter 2:11 Hebrews 11:1 ; Hebrews 11:9 .

Verse 17

And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.

Even upon them shall be no rain — i.e. Nullam misericordiam assequentur, saith Theodoret; They shall get no good at God’s hand. Judea was sumen totius orbis, bread basket of the whole world, as one saith, a very fat and fertile country; but yet so as that her fruitfulness depended much upon seasonable showers, the former and latter rain; and the prophet seemeth here to allude to that of Moses, Deuteronomy 11:10-11 , … If God did not hear the heaven, and the heaven the earth, the earth could not hear the grain, wine, and oil, nor those hear Jezreel, Hosea 2:22 . Judea was not like that country in Pliny, ubi siccitas dat lutum, imbres pulverem, where drought made dirt, rain made dust; but if the heaven were iron over them, the earth would soon be brass under them, and not yield her increase, Psalms 65:9 Isaiah 30:23 and then where would they be quickly? since animantis cuiusque vita in fuga est, life would be lost if not maintained by daily food. Rain is in Scripture put, 1. Properly, for water coming out of the clouds, Deuteronomy 11:11 Proverbs 16:15 , nourishing the herbs and trees. 2. Metaphorically, for Christ, his gospel and his graces, wherewith the souls of men are made fruitful in good works, Isaiah 45:8 Deuteronomy 32:2 Hosea 6:3 . The want of rain is, on the contrary, made here and Revelation 11:5 a sign of a curse. It waiteth not for the sons of men, Micah 5:7 , but it accomplisheth what God appointeth, Isaiah 55:10-11 . Why it falleth here and now we know not, and wonder.

Verse 18

And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that [have] no [rain]; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

And if the family of Egypt — So called from one Aiguptos, a king there. In the Hebrew it is called mostly Mizraim, from one of that name, Genesis 10:6 ; sometimes, for its power and pride, it is called Rahab, Psalms 87:4 ; Psalms 89:11 Isaiah 51:9 . The family of Egypt is here put for the whole nation (see the like Amos 3:1 ), because, after the confusion of tongues especially, nations took their origin and denomination from the head of some family; as did the Egyptians from Mizraim, Shem’s second son.

Go not up, and come not — But they did receive the Christian religion with the first; had Christian schools, doctors, and professors, alter that St. Mark had there planted a Church at Alexandria, now called Scanderoon. This was before prophesied Isaiah 19:21 "The Lord shall be known to Egypt," … "And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it," …, he shall cause them to pass under the rod, and so bring them into the bond of the covenant, as it is Ezekiel 20:37 .

That have no rain — Others read it thus, It shall not rain upon them. For they also needed rain in some measure, as well as other nations, see Psalms 105:32 , though not so much, by reason of the overflowings of the river Nile, which, if it rise to a just height, sc. of fifteen or sixteen cubits, as Pliny tells us, it makes the land very fruitful: so that they do but throw in the seed, and have four rich harvests in less than four months. Indeed, where the Nile arrives not there is nothing, they say, in Egypt, but a whitish sand, bearing no grass, but two little weeds, called Suhit and Gazul; which, burnt to ashes, and conveyed to Venice, makes the finest crystal glasses. The Chaldee renders it, Non crescet eius Nile. God loves to confute men in their confidences, to dry up their Nile, see Ezekiel 29:3 ; Ezekiel 29:9 Isaiah 19:5-6 as he did for two years together in the time of Cleopatra, a little before Christ s birth, and once before for nine years’ time (Sen. Nat. Quaest. 1. xiv. c. 2).

There shall be the plague — q.d. If they escape the forethreatened evil a worse thing abides them: their preservation from famine is but a reservation to those everlasting burnings, Zechariah 14:12 . And though here they abound even to satiety and surfeit (the Egyptians were wont to boast that they could feed all men, and feast all the gods, without any sensible diminution of their provision), yet at the last day they shall be cut short enough, eat fire, drink brimstone, God himself uttering those or the like words, Isaiah 65:13 "Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit."

Verse 19

This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.

This shall be the punishment of Eyypt, and the punishment — Or sin; indeed, the sin of sins, to slight God’s ordinances and offers of grace; and to neglect so great salvation as is tendered by Christ. This very sin is its own punishment. This is condemnation, or hell beforehand, John 3:19 . This brought Capernaum down from heaven to hell, Matthew 11:23 . Pagans that never heard of Christ shall have an easier judgment than such, Matthew 11:24 , for they shall have a double condemnation. One from the law, which they had broken, wherein Christ found them; another from the gospel, for rejecting Christ and the bath of his blood, to the which even princes of Sodom are invited, Isaiah 1:10 . See John 12:48 Matthew 21:44 . It is with such as with a malefactor, that being dead in law, doth yet refuse a pardon. Danaeus observeth here that mention is made of the feast of Tabernacles especially, 1. Because this feast was now most solemnly kept among the Jews, Nehemiah 8:16-18 , and secondly, Because it was a most evident testimony of the first gathering together of the people of Israel, that is, of a free ordained Church; therefore it was better liked of the people, and a more evident sign of their uniting or knitting together within themselves, as is unto us the holy supper of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 20

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar.

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses — Hanged upon their heads, or about their necks, as Judges 8:26: the Midianitish camels had rich collars and chains about their necks, for ornament’ sake. It was a witty conceit of a modern divine (Dr Stoughton) that many deal with their ministers as carriers do with their horses, lay heavy burdens upon them, and then hang bells about their necks: they shall have hard work and great commendations, but easy commons; good words, but slight wages. This was better than that bald conceit of Theodoret and others, that this prophecy was then fulfilled, when as Constantine the Great (or his mother, Helen, for him) caused the bits of his horse bridle to be made of the nails of the cross of Christ. I confess the word is by some rendered bridles, by others trappings, frontals, collars. It is απαξ λεγομενον , read only here; and hence this variety of interpretations. Calvin renders it stables of horses; which, although they are but contemptible places, and usually stink; yet the prophet saith, they shall be holy to the Lord. Hereby the prophet teacheth, saith he, that God shall so be King of the world, as that all things shall be applied to his worship neither shall anything be of so common and ordinary use that shall not change its nature, and be sanctified to God’s service. The comparison here is made between things profane and the inscription on the high priest’s mitre, which was holiness to the Lord. This is a manifest testimony of a godly mind, when godliness runs through a man’s whole life, as the woof doth through the web; when ordinary actions are done from a right principle and to a right purpose; according to that old and good rule, Quicquid agas, propter Deum agas, "Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," 1 Corinthians 10:31 . Receive every creature with thanksgiving, 1 Timothy 4:14 ; in serving men, serve the Lord Christ; exercise your general calling in your particular; do earthly business with heavenly minds; content not yourself with a natural use of the creature, as brute beasts do, but taste the sweetness of God in all; and in all thy ways acknowledge him, depending upon him for direction and success, consulting with him, and approving thine heart and life unto him. Holiness must be written upon our bridles when we war, upon our caps when we drink (Dr Harris). This is to go the upper way, Proverbs 15:24 , which indeed is both cleaner, shorter, and safer. This is to be of that royal priesthood, that hath for its posy, Holiness to the Lord. This is to be harmless and blameless, the sons of God; known by their holiness, as David’s children were by their garments of various colours: for as he that hath called them is holy, so are they also holy, and that in all manner of conversation and communion too, even when they deal with carnal men and in common matters.

And the pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar — All this must be understood as the spiritual service, which should be in the Christian Church; described by the ancient ceremonial service, as Isaiah 60:7 ; Isaiah 66:23 Malachi 1:11 . And it is to show that the efficacy, force, and operation of the Holy Ghost shall be far more plentiful, through Christ, in the Church of the gospel, than it was in times past, under the law. See Hebrews 8:6 Ephesians 3:5 Isaiah 44:3-4 .

Verse 21

Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.

Yea, every pot in Jerusalem, … — That is, saith Danaeus, God shall as Godlike be worshipped of every faithful person in his own house, as he was of old in his temple by the Jews. Calvin adds, ut quicquid aggrediantur homines sit sacrificium, so that whatsoever good men enterprise shall be a sacrifice. God shall smell a savour of rest from them, they of life and peace from him.

There shall be no more the Canaanite — The merchant, saith the Vulgate, after Aquila and the Chaldee; that is, the Simoniac, the Churchchopper, such money-merchants as Christ whipped out of the temple, 2 John 1:2; 2 John 1:22 John 1:2; 2 John 1:2 :15 . But better render it Canaanite, who were indeed great merchants, Hosea 12:7 Ezekiel 17:4 (the Phenicians, those great merchants, were Canaanites), but here it stands for a wicked man, a hypocrite, that botch of Christian society. Pura erit Ecclesia ab omnibus inquinamentis, saith Calvin; the Church shall be purged of all such pests, see Revelation 22:2-7 , no such owls shall be seen flying in the Church’s welkin. God will, by the due exercise of discipline and otherwise, be daily purging out all scandals, as such men are called, Matthew 13:41 , and causing the unclean spirit to pass out of the land, Zechariah 13:2 . I conclude, with Theodoret, Dominus Omnipotens hanc vocem veram esse hoc tempore praestet, … God Almighty make good this promise unto us at this time: that there may be no cursed Canaanite found among us; but that we may all live according to the doctrine of the gospel, and expect that blessed hope and coming of the great God our Saviour Jesus; to whom with the Father and Holy Spirit be glory for ever. Amen.