Commentary on Zechariah

^A And that I may not excessively lengthen the subject and weary some of those who will read these commentaries, I shall henceforth proceed to the clarification of the words themselves.

CHAPTER ONE

VERS. 1. *In the eighth month of the second year, under Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying.*

In one and the same year, both the most divine Haggai and the marvelous Zechariah began their prophecy; but the former in the sixth month, ^B and the latter in the eighth, so that it is manifest that the former preceded this one in prophecy by two months. They make mention of the times that they might also declare the season of the return, and clearly teach us that at that time the Hebrew king did not reign. Moreover, they also point out the truth of the prophets who had prophesied before the captivity; for those men had predicted not only the siege of Jerusalem, and its conquest, and servitude, but also the time of the captivity, and the return from Babylon. Since, therefore, all things had reached ^C their end, and the time appointed for them had passed away, and according to the predictions they had enjoyed liberty, rightly did the blessed Haggai and Zechariah record the second year of the reign of Darius the Persian. For in this year, the seventieth year of the city’s desolation was completed; and this is possible to learn from the prophecy itself. He teaches also from what father he was born, and who was his father; because many false prophets at that time were prophesying lies, and it was happening, as is likely, that some were even of the same name as the prophets. That, therefore, the commonality of names might not harm the truth—by false pronouncements being presented to all indiscriminately as if they were truly foretold—the prophet has made himself known ^D from his lineage. Then he narrates what he was commanded to say.

VERS. 2. *The Lord was angry with your fathers with a great anger.*

The prologue of the prophecy is full of wisdom, and appropriate for those who were being instructed in divine things at that time; for having a fresh memory of the things that had happened to their fathers, and learning that the cause of those unspeakable calamities was the just movement of God, they were eager, as is likely, both to say and to do those things which would render the merciful Master propitious, and would procure for them an abundance of good things. And that this is the scope of what has been said, the following words bear witness. For he says:

VERS. 3, 4. *And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord...*

Almighty: Turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you, says the Lord of hosts. And do not be as your fathers, whom the prophets who were before them denounced, saying: Thus says the Lord Almighty: Turn from your evil ways, and from your evil pursuits; and they did not listen, and they did not pay attention to me, says the Lord Almighty.* ^A Knowing, he says, how great were the things I enjoined upon your fathers through the prophets, and how, because they spoke against me, I delivered them over to utter destruction, flee from the imitation of them, and pay attention to the things spoken by me, that you may enjoy my providence. For the passage, "Turn to me, and I will turn to you," signifies this. Similar to this is what was said elsewhere: "They turned their backs upon me, and not their faces." For he who does not deign to listen earnestly to the divine oracles bears a close resemblance to one who turns away and gives his back. He says, therefore, that if you should be willing to pay attention to my laws, you shall obtain my providence. And teaching that it is effortless for Him to grant them the full abundance of all good things, He frequently called Himself "the Lord Almighty" and "the Lord of hosts," so that they might learn that He who rules and is king over all, inasmuch as He is Maker and Creator, and being Lord of the very hosts, both easily changes the natures of things, translates from prosperity to adversity, and restores to prosperity those held fast by misfortune.

VERS. 5, 6. *Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets? shall they live forever? But receive my words and my statutes, which I command in my spirit to my servants the prophets, which overtook your fathers.* ^B Observe, he says, the truth of my words, in that even though the prophets have departed from life, and your fathers have been delivered over to punishment, these [original-script column: see facsimile] remain, proclaiming the truth through the actual events, even while they have no prophets who wrote them to act as their advocates; for those men received the doom of death. They cry out and testify that nothing false was spoken by them. Receive, therefore, with readiness the things offered to you by the all-holy Spirit through the prophets. *And they answered, and said: As the Lord Almighty has determined to do to us according to our ways, and according to our pursuits, so he has done to us.* They assented to what was said, and acknowledged the truth, and received a perception of their offenses, and declared the prediction to be true, the indignation just, and the chastisement to be congruent with the sin.

7. *On the four and twentieth (day) of the eleventh month,* ^C

^A this is the month Sabat, in the second year under Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, son of Barachiah, son of Addon, the prophet. Being a Hebrew prophet, he used the Hebrew method of counting. The Hebrews acknowledge the month Xanthicus as the first; for so the great Moses legislated for them, exclaiming clearly: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be the first for you among the months of the year." Counting from that point, then, for those who begin to reckon, the eleventh month will be found to be Sabat, which is called Peritius by the Macedonians. The prophet therefore says that in this month, the second year not yet being completed, he received again the power of divine grace; for whether he says "word," or "speech," or "inspiration," or "hand," he signifies the operation of divine grace. Having been enlightened by this, and having seen a certain vision, he left it written for us, and says:

VERS. 8-11. "I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood between the shady mountains, and behind him were horses red, and spotted, and varied, and white. And I said: What are these, Lord? And the angel who spoke in me said to me: I will show you what these are. And the man who stood between ^B the mountains answered and said to me: These are they whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of the Lord who stood between the mountains, and said: We have walked to and fro through the whole earth, and behold all the earth is inhabited and is at rest." It is plain that those whom he saw are the invisible Powers, sent into ministry, according to the divine Apostle, for the sake of those who shall inherit salvation. Their natures, however, are not what are seen—for these are incorporeal—but the Lord of them and of all things conforms their appearance according to the need in each case. And the divine Scripture teaches us this openly, showing their diverse forms. For Daniel saw them in one way, and Ezekiel in another, and Isaiah and Micah with other figures. They are not, however, of many forms, but are incorporeal spiritual natures, and the Lord fashions their visions as is necessary. This He also did in the case of the divine Zechariah. For He shows him the angel who presided over the people—and this was holy Michael, as the angel who conferred with Daniel said. For he says ^D as follows: "There is no one who assists me among all these except Michael your prince." Him he sees riding upon a horse because of the speed of his actions. But the horse, red in color, shows indignation against the hostile nations; for irascibility brings to mind blood and redness. The mountains declare not only stability, but also the loftiness of those angels destined for our succor. The woody and shady mountains, indeed, designate the divine providence, which the blessed ^C

David promises to those who have hoped in God: "For he who dwells," he says, "in the aid of the Most High, shall abide in the protection of the God of heaven." And again, "He shall overshadow thee with his shoulders." And elsewhere, "In the shelter of thy wings thou shalt protect me." And the pillar of cloud covered the people of Israel in the desert. ^B For this reason, here too, the angel presiding over the people was seen standing in the midst of the shady mountains, indicating the divine succor through them. But those around Aquila and Symmachus have translated "mountains" as "myrtle trees"; it is a fragrant plant, and has the power to cool the heat of illnesses. And so this also signifies the future consolation of the Jews from the God of all. As he saw behind him also red, dappled, various, and white horses, he asks, desiring to learn, what is the cause of the things being shown. He is taught by the first angel seen, who stood between the shady mountains, that they were sent to inspect the whole earth; and in confirmation of the things spoken, those seated on those horses of all kinds said to the angel standing over those mountains, that they had traversed the whole inhabited earth, and found it enjoying peace and calm. ^C But hearing this, the angel who was entrusted with the protection of the people, and being very indignant that while all were enjoying peace, the people placed under him were still struggling with myriad calamities, offers a prayer to the Lord: "O Lord Almighty, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, which you have disregarded? This is the seventieth year." It should be known that the time of the former captivity was completed in the first year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, the good and benevolent Lord, who, by the experience of evils, also counted the time of the prediction; and we have demonstrated this more accurately in our commentary on Ezekiel. But the seventy-year period of the desolation of Jerusalem was completed in the second year of the reign of Darius. ^D This number must be started from the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, under whom the city was captured. For if anyone begins searching from then, he will find this time to be completed in the second year of the reign of Darius the son of Hystaspes. This, therefore, the angel who cares for the people entreats of the God of all, that He might look upon both the prophecy and the time completed, and that He might not overlook for too long the city consecrated to Him and surrendered to total desolation. [13] Receiving this prayer, the Lord, the prophet says, "answered the angel who was speaking in me with good words and consolatory speeches." And he does not speak of another angel here than the one who stood between the mountains: but the very same one who was both speaking to him and supplicating for the people. Moreover, he says that he spoke within him, because he did not use words, and [did not use] the voice of the movement of the tongue and the percussion of the air.

^A Confiding, therefore, in the kindness of God, the holy angel commands the prophet to cry out and say:

15. Thus saith the Lord Almighty: I have been jealous for Zion and for Jerusalem with great jealousy. And I am very angry with the nations that take counsel together; for I was indeed a little angry, but they conspired for evil.

He says that he will no longer endure to overlook the things being dared against Jerusalem, but will exact penalties from those who have exceeded the measure of the punishment decreed against it, and have dared to bring upon it evils greater than those condemned. For as for me, in exacting punishment from it, because it had transgressed my laws, I stripped it of my providence; but they, having received confidence from this, did not want to find any satiety in the evils against it. Wherefore, using a just zeal, I will spare it, while from them I shall exact justice for their undertaken audacity. ^B [16, 17] Then he also sets forth the measure of mercy, and promises the completion of the building of the divine house, and the renewal of the city, and the restoration of the walls. For this is what he declares: "The measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem." But again the holy angel commanded him to cry out, and he said: "Thus saith the Lord Almighty: Cities shall yet be spread abroad with good things, and the Lord shall yet have mercy on Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." He will indeed grant an abundance of good things to many cities of Judea—for this is what he indicated by saying: "Cities shall yet be spread abroad with good things"—but nevertheless, he will still prefer Jerusalem to the others and will provide [it with] its ancient privileges. It is necessary to note, however, that he did not promise them happiness for eternity, but indicated a certain time by saying "yet," showing beforehand that when the heir arrives, the law, which acts in the capacity of a steward and guardian, will prove unnecessary, and along with it the place which had received the worship according to it.

[18, 19] Then he turns the discourse to the narration of another vision, and says that he saw four horns, and learned by interrogation from the angel that these are the ones which had scattered Judah and Israel. [20, 21] Then he says again that the same number of workmen were shown to him by the God of all, that he again inquired, and heard that: «These are the horns which scattered Judah and Israel: and these are gone out to sharpen them with their hands. The four horns are the nations that lifted up a horn against the land of the Lord, to scatter it.» ^D He says, therefore, that the invisible powers were commanded by the God of all to incite and to sharpen these nations against one another,

^A so that by means of one another they might pay the penalties for the wrongs they committed against Israel. For this is what he signaled: «To sharpen them against their hands.» He says "four," not indicating the number of certain nations, but because the sections of the world are four: the east, the west, the south, and the north. They came upon them sometimes from one place, sometimes from another: at one time the Assyrians and Babylonians; at another time the foreigners, the Egyptians; at other times the Idumeans, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. He called "four horns" those who had come upon them from the four sections. Over these he set an equal number of invisible powers, inciting them against one another so that, by one another, they might be made to pay the penalties for the things they dared to do.

CHAPTER II

^B [1, 2] Then he transfers the narrative to another vision, and says that he saw a man carrying a surveying line, and then he asked him where he was going; and that he said he was going to measure Jerusalem, so as to learn what its length and breadth were. He also adds this to the narrative, that the angel who was echoing these words to him stood there, and another angel who arrived to him exhorted him to run to that young man who was carrying the measure, and to say:

«Fruitful shall Jerusalem be inhabited, from the multitude of men and cattle in her midst. And I will be to her, says the Lord, a wall of fire all around, and I will be the glory in her midst.» ^C See now, he says, do not make the measures of the city small, but, learning from me—the Lord of both you and this city—how great a multitude of men and four-footed animals will dwell in it, trace out the size corresponding to the multitude of the inhabitants. For in addition to these, I myself, by my grace, shall be a wall to her, unconquerable and impassable. For he called this a "wall of fire." For just as it is impossible to cross a great pyre, so it is impossible to be overcome for one who is guarded by the grace of God. Not only will I provide all security for her, but I will also make her illustrious, so that her glory may travel everywhere. ^D The prophet saw all these things: the care of the presiding angel, the path of the other angels, and the dimensions of the city, so that he himself might firmly receive the good promises concerning Jerusalem, and the people might believe the things said with precision, seeing not only words presented, but deeds prefigured. Immediately, therefore, after showing these things to the prophet, he commands him to cry out:

6, 7. «O, O, flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; because I will gather you from the four winds of the heaven, says the Lord. Be saved in Zion, you who dwell in the daughter of Babylon.» Having these promises, do not only take heart, you who have already returned, but also you who still dwell in Babylon according to your own resolve (for having been permitted to return, you delayed): hasten to come to your own fatherland, which I will not be long in bringing back to its former prosperity. 8, 9. «For thus says the Lord Almighty: After glory he has sent me to the nations that have spoiled you;

for he who touches you, touches as it were the pupil of his eye. For behold, I will bring my hand upon them, and they shall be spoils for those who served them, and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.» For he will procure your affairs with such great diligence, says he, that he will consider anyone who approaches to harm you to be touching the pupil of his eye: not that God, who is the God of all, has a body and is divided into members (for He is bodiless and uncircumscribed), but because He manifests by human methods the affection He possesses. ^B The blessed David also asks this care of Him, saying: «Keep me, O Lord, as the pupil of the eye.» Therefore, he says, I will bring all those who have plundered and spoiled you into the power of their own servants, and they shall suffer from them those things which they inflicted upon you; and by these very things you shall discern the truth of the divine oracles. Now these things happened to them typically; but the truth of the prophecy had a clearer fulfillment in us. For the Lord Christ, having routed the demons who were despoiling us, and claiming our mind for themselves, and reducing all the members of our body into their own servitude, has placed them under the yoke of His holy servants. ^C This he has declared more clearly through the divine Isaiah, crying out: «Those whom you feared shall fear you; ambassadors shall be sent seeking peace, weeping bitterly; for the ways of these shall be destroyed.» Thus the demons cried out: «Leave us alone, what have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come to torment us before the time?» And again: «I adjure you, do not torment me.» Thus the girl having a spirit of divination at Philippi called out: «These men are servants of the most high God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.» Thus also, before the victorious martyrs and even to this day, they cry out, and against their will they proclaim their victory and declare their own ^D infirmity. Therefore, He who was sent after glory has given these who once plundered us as spoils to those who were despoiled, so that our nature might recover the ancient glory which the progenitor of the race, Adam, lost when he was deceived, and so that we might recognize the Benefactor, and the Savior of our souls, and the Father who sent Him out of His own goodness. He was sent, however, not as God, but as man.

for as God, He is equal in honor to Him who begat Him. "For I," He says, "am in the Father, and the Father in Me." And: "The Father who abides in Me, He does the works." And: "I and the Father are one." And: "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." But He is sent as man, fulfilling the economy for our sake, not diminishing the divine nature. "For existing in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant." ^A The Prophet therefore indicated to us not only the duality of persons, but also the equality of the persons. "For thus," he says, "says the Lord Almighty: After glory He has sent Me." And showing who it is that sent, he adds: "And you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent Me." Therefore, both the Sender is the Lord Almighty, and the Sent is the Lord Almighty, and there is no difference in dignities. He was sent, however, as I said, humanly, not divinely, fulfilling the economy for our sake; and when sent, He had within Himself the Father who sent Him: "The Father, who abides in Me, He does the works." Consequent to these things, the prophet adds:

^B 10, 11. "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion, for behold I am coming, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. And many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, and they shall be to Him as a people, and they shall dwell in the midst of you; and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent Me to you." Straightforwardly, these things also are suitable for us who have been called from the Gentiles, and have obtained salvation, who are also exhorted to rejoice and be glad, as having the Lord of all as our dweller. It is possible, however, to see also the sensible Jerusalem itself, [being] inhabited by the nations who have believed in the Lord. And here likewise, we are taught both the duality of persons and the equality of the persons.

"For behold I am coming, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord; and you shall know that ^C the Lord Almighty has sent Me to you. (12.) And the Lord shall inherit Judah, His portion in the holy land, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." For from Judah the Master took up the form of a servant, and made that [tribe] His portion and home; and the divine Paul is a witness, crying out: "It is evident that the Lord has arisen from Judah." And showing that He calls not only Jerusalem, but the entire human race to salvation, he adds: ^D

^A Ver. 15. "Let all flesh be awed before the face of the Lord, for He has arisen from His holy clouds." Thus also David says: "To you shall all flesh come;" thus also Isaiah: "And all flesh shall see the salvation of our God." He rightly calls the holy prophets "clouds," as they utter nothing of their own, but, as if from some sea, draw the prophetic rain from the grace of the Spirit. He says that He arose and appeared from these, because, when He had foretold His advent through them and had brought to an end the things He had previously signified, He demonstrated by their truth that the prophecy was divine. If these things are applied by some to the Jews at the time of the return, I do not strongly object. But that the prediction attained a true and certain outcome after the incarnation of our Savior, one can learn from the fact that from that time on, countless thousands of nations, having abandoned their former error, took refuge in the God of all, and a divine people was formed. From that time on, the pious assembly gathered from the nations inhabited Jerusalem. From that time on, all flesh acknowledged the Savior's first coming and trembles at the second appearance. But it is time to return to the explanation.

CAPUT III

^B Ver. 1, 2. "And the Lord showed me Joshua the high priest, standing before the face of the angel of the Lord, and the devil stood at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to the devil: The Lord rebuke you, O devil, and the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you." These things also are a type of our own affairs. For just as that most malignant and wicked devil vehemently opposed Joshua who was high priest and who was offering petitions to God on behalf of the people, so again, the very same enemy struggled against Jesus, the great High Priest ^C according to the order of Melchizedek, He who takes away the sin of the world, wishing to trip Him up. But the Joshua who was the son of Josedec did not rebuke him, but the Lord of Joshua did. Yet when he approached Jesus the Savior of the world, he was rebuked by Him, as by God and Lord, and heard: "Get behind me, Satan." Thus, therefore, having freed Joshua the son of Josedec from the devil, the Lord, as God indeed, added: "Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?" For because they had recently returned from captivity and were bearing the signs of captivity—poverty and complete desolation—He deservedly calls them a "brand." ^D A brand, moreover, is a piece of wood half-burnt, snatched from the fire. Then the prophet narrates again that the high priest was clothed in squalid and filthy garments; but the angel who guards the people, together with the other angels present,

^A commanded them to strip him of that clothing. And teaching that something else is signified through the garments, he added: "And he said to him: Behold, I have taken away from you your iniquities." It was indeed likely that he, as a human being, had also committed some failings. But I think that, as a great high priest, he attributed to himself the iniquity of the people, and as if he had sinned along with them, he offered prayers; and for this reason, he received the forgiveness of the people's iniquity as if it were his own forgiveness. But, he says, having thus been relieved of the mourning apparel, and having received words full of joy, he receives also the robe of priesthood. For he who had said and done those things commanded those standing by to clothe him in the full-length tunic, and to place the miter and the headband upon his head. And ^B when these things had been done, the holy angel testifies to him, and says:

"Thus says the Lord Almighty: If you walk in my ways, and if you keep my mandates, and you will judge my house, and if you keep my court, I will give you [some] who walk about in the midst of those who stand here." ^C Having received the priestly rank, live according to the laws of the priesthood, keeping all the things I have prescribed. For by doing these things, you will live in this honor, and you will transmit the dignity to your descendants, to those from you who will govern this people. For this is what he meant when he said: "I will give you [some] who walk about in the midst of those who stand here."

"Hear now, Joshua the high priest, you and your neighbors who are sitting before your face, for they are men who are spectators of wonders." He says "spectators of wonders" not, as some have presumed, observers of omens and those who practice divination; for he would not have used such words to men of that sort, nor would Joshua himself, being pious, have given his name to a company of that kind; rather, he bears witness to them of knowledge and zeal for divine things. For, being pious, they were constantly observing the wonders and signs given by the prophets, and awaiting the end of them. To these, therefore, and to Joshua, he says what follows: ^D "For behold, I am bringing my servant, 'Orient' is his name. For the stone which I have set before the face of Joshua, upon the one stone are seven eyes." Having adorned the priest, and having removed the mourning attire, and having clothed him in the priestly robe, and having shown him what must be done, and having promised a most lasting succession to his descendants if they should keep the divine laws, he moves to the royal lineage, and promises that he will make Zerubbabel, who is a descendant of Jeconiah and traces his lineage from David, so illustrious and remarkable that he is compared to the most brilliant light of the east. He says that he has set this stone before [the face of the priest with seven eyes.]

^A Neither, however, must we understand these eyes as eyes, nor should the number seven be taken as a specific quantity. For he has called the operation of divine grace "eyes," and he named them "seven" to signify its abundance and greatness. Thus also Anna says: "The barren hath borne seven," not meaning a definite number but denoting a multitude. And blessed David says: "Render to our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom," that is to say, let them pay back manifold for the evils by which they have harmed us. Now, moreover, he calls him a stone because of his firmness and impregnable strength, especially since he is a type of Christ the Lord, who in many places of holy Scripture is called a stone. For the divine David said: "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner." ^B And through the mouth of the divine Isaiah, the God of all says: "Behold I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious, in the foundations thereof, and he that believeth in him shall not be confounded." ^C So likewise blessed Daniel saw a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, and it struck the statue and ground its materials to pieces, and it became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Instructed in these things, blessed Paul cries out: "And they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ." And again: "For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus." Bearing this stone within himself, Zorobabel (for from him the Savior of the world proceeded according to the flesh) is himself rightly called a stone, shining with all kinds of gifts. But as he thus revealed the grace divinely given to Zorobabel, he also predicts the trophies of his brilliant military leadership: "Behold I will dig a pit, saith the Lord Almighty, and I will search out all the iniquity of that land in one day." He predicted these things concerning Gog and Magog, upon whom he brought destruction in one day, and led all together to slaughter, which he figuratively called a pit. ^D When this had come to pass, he says, all those campaigning under Zorobabel, having in fact become victors, will henceforth live securely under their vines and fig trees, inviting one another to feasts, and they will hold banquets, fearing nothing of the hostility of enemies. Having heard these things, the prophet, placed in the vision of so many and such great revelations, stood outside human affairs, and fixing his mind on those things, he seemed to be like one deeply stupified and constrained by sleep; for which reason the holy angel, the one set over the people, who had guided him through all the visions,

^A awoke him, as a man is wont to be awakened from sleep. And he asked him, "What do you see?" and he replied, "I have seen, and behold a lampstand all of gold, and its lamp upon it, and seven lamps upon it, and seven pouring-spouts for the lamps which were upon it. and two olive trees upon it, one on the right of its lamp, and one on the left." And all these things are enigmas of other matters. For here he showed the golden lampstand as a type of Divine Providence, which administers both heavenly and earthly things. And the seven lamps, equal in number to the seven days of the week, demonstrate the perpetual and continuous nature of Divine care; while the pouring-spouts, which pour out the oil, signify the immense liberality of God's kindness. Thus, by the lamp ^B he hinted at the grace which illuminates all things. He called the two olive trees growing on either side the kingdom and the priesthood, adorned by divine grace; and the two branches, which stretched to the lamps, Joshua and Zerubbabel, the one born of the priestly, the other of the royal tribe. For since it seemed incredible and highly improbable to those who used human reasoning that a few, poor men, who had barely and with difficulty escaped that long captivity, could have accomplished such great and illustrious deeds, God confirmed the promise through the things which were shown, teaching that their accomplishment was not by their own power, but by His grace. And we have learned this interpretation from the Lord Himself, who showed that vision; for when the prophet inquired ^C what the enigmas of the things shown were, the divine angel said, "This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying: Not by great power, nor by strength, but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." Neither, O Zerubbabel, looking to your present insignificance, should you despair of the outcome of what has been foretold, nor again, when you have accomplished something glorious, should you ascribe the victory to yourself. For aided by My kindness, you will raise that trophy over those nations. Then he turns his speech toward them. ^D

CHAPTER IV. (Continued)

[[3-9]] sufficient in human strength, and equalize [everything] with grace from above. Know, therefore, that the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall complete it, and by these things you shall learn that, serving the divine words, I have transmitted this prophecy to you.

Vers. 10. “For who has despised the day of small things?” This is similar to the words of God, which are found in Deuteronomy: “I will kill, and I will make to live; I will strike, and I will heal.” For this also implies here that, just as I despised Jerusalem for long days, and condemned her to seventy years of desolation, so it is easy for me to bring her back to her former prosperity. And those who see these things, “shall rejoice, and shall see the tin stone in the hand of Zerubbabel.” They shall know, he says, through experience, that the God who is now despised by them, He himself through Zerubbabel will achieve victory. For he put "tin" in this place because of its worthlessness. For since the divine temple had been burned, and the people had been led into slavery, and the city had been destroyed, and everyone suspected that these things had happened not because of the iniquity of the people, but because of the weakness of the God worshiped by them; he called the divine help a "tin stone" according to their opinion, teaching that this [aid], which is considered worthless and weak by the unfaithful, will manifest its own power through one man, Zerubbabel.

Wherefore, he immediately added: “These are the seven eyes of the Lord, which look upon all the earth.” For the Inspector and Administrator of all things, who sees all things and hears all, He himself will protect Zerubbabel. [11-14] Having said these things, the prophet asks the angel about the olive trees flourishing on either side of the lampstand; he asks about the two branches reaching as far as the lamps themselves, and he learns that these are the two sons of fatness, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. He designates Joshua the high priest, and Zerubbabel the leader, the one springing from the royal [race], the other from the priestly [line].

CHAPTER V

[1-2] After he had confirmed by these varied visions the discourses concerning the kingdom and the priesthood, and had predicted the completion of the edifice of the divine temple, he terrifies his hearers with the threat of punishment, calling them back from vices, and inciting them to virtue: and he shows the prophet a very great sickle ^D suspended and flying through the air, ten cubits wide, and twenty long. [3] And we are taught that this is the curse that goes forth over the face of all the earth. “For every thief, from this time even unto death, shall be punished.”

He calls the punishment a curse—one that spreads over the entire world and is brought upon the workers of iniquity. By these things, both the prophet and the people were taught that the God of all is the judge of all men, and will exact proportionate penalties from all, bringing destruction not only upon those who are impious toward Him, but also upon those who do injury to their neighbor. For let no one think that these threats were uttered only against thieves and perjurers; for He has pronounced the verdict against every sort of lawlessness. For since the whole law and the prophets depend upon these words, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” He has gathered every kind of sin under the categories of theft and perjury. For the violation of an oath is the chief point of impiety, and one who is such is devoid of divine love; while theft reveals injustice toward one’s neighbor, for no one who loves his neighbor will endure to do him wrong. These heads, therefore, ^B encompass other laws, and deservedly He has threatened that punishment to their transgressors.

Verses 5, 6. “And the angel who spoke in me went forth and said to me, ‘Lift up your eyes and see what this is that goeth forth.’ And I said, ‘What is it?’ And he said, ‘This is the measure that goeth forth.’ And he said, ‘This is their iniquity in all the earth.’”

From this we also understand that the Lord of all things manages all things by measure and weight. Thus, when He foretold to Abraham that his seed would be sojourners, He also taught the cause: “For not yet,” He says, “are the iniquities of the Amorites fulfilled until now.” Not yet, He says, have they sinned to a degree worthy of total destruction; therefore, I will not yet suffer them to be delivered to slaughter, but I will await the measure of their iniquity. Thus, having limited the life of the men who were in the time of Noah to one hundred and twenty years, when He saw their sin growing and flooding, He did not await the appointed day, but cut short the determined time, and in the hundredth year brought the deluge of waters upon them all. ^C

Verses 7, 8. “And behold, a talent of lead lifted up, and behold, one woman sat in the midst of the measure. And he said, ‘This is iniquity.’ And he cast her into the midst of the measure, and he cast the talent of lead into her mouth.”

The divine word compares virtue to pearls: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man seeking for fine pearls.” But the debt of sin...

^A is called lead by the Holy Scripture, because this is heavy by nature, and very heavy too is the burden of sin. The divine David teaches us this, saying: “My iniquities are gone over my head; as a heavy burden they have become heavy upon me.” Therefore, the inspired Zechariah also sees sin, appearing in the guise of a woman; for most evils are born of self-indulgence. He sees the punishment, like some lead of very great weight, lying upon the mouth of iniquity, according to the psalmody which says: “All iniquity shall stop its mouth.” And the fruit of sin is shame. So also the blessed Paul says: “Having been freed from sin, you have been made slaves to righteousness. What fruit, therefore, did you have then in those things of which you are now ashamed?” The prophet, therefore, was taught that God had loosened the sin of the people and brought the punishment to an end. ^B Indeed, he sees two women with wings, being carried with a certain sound; and he says that their wings resembled those of a hoopoe—a bird that is very swift, having little flesh, but wings larger than its body. These, he says, having taken that measure, were carried through the midst of the air. I inquired of the divine angel where they were carrying the measure, and I was taught that they were setting off for Babylon, so as not only to place it in the city, but also to build a house for it, and to set it there for its own needs. For, he says, just as I defined a fixed time for the desolation of Jerusalem, and then again deemed it worthy of pity and forgiveness, I shall not thus show mercy to Babylon, but it shall receive ^C perpetual punishment for its many acts of impiety.

Chapter VI

distress, the mission of evil angels. ^A Thus also the inspired Zechariah sees the black horses having driven toward the northern parts of the world, and by this he signifies the destruction of Babylon. "And the white ones were going out behind them," not that they might grant the good things to them, but that, once those had been punished, they might lead the remaining captive Hebrews back to Judea. "And the red ones were going out toward the land of the south," threatening evils to the nations rising up against Jerusalem; for by the red color the discourse signifies indignation.

^B 7. "And the various and the grizzly ones were going out, and they were seeking, and as they were looking to go round the earth; and he said, Go, go round the earth. And they went round the earth." He calls "earth" here, not the land of Israel, but the whole world. He calls them various and grizzly, as managing all things and punishing where it is necessary, and conferring benefits where it is proper.

8. "And he cried, and called me, and spoke to me, saying, Behold, those going out to the land of the north have made my spirit rest in the land of the north." For, he says, I brought a just punishment upon the Babylonians, which they had owed for a long time, but for the sake of my long-suffering they had not yet paid. After these visions, the prophet is ordered to take the gifts brought by the captives, but not indiscriminately from all, but from the princes, and from those useful to it, and from those who have acknowledged it. For those who, he says, have received a sense of the evils, and have known the cause of the captivity, and have learned its usefulness, let them bring the gifts. ^C Then he makes mention of the names Eldai, and Tobiah, and Idei. He is also ordered to enter "into the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah," now coming from Babylon, and to take silver and gold, and from these to fashion a crown, and to encircle the head of the high priest Joshua, and to convey the divine words to him, and to say:

12, 13. "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Behold a man, Orient is his name, and he shall rise up from beneath him, and he shall build the house of the Lord. And he shall receive virtue, and shall sit, and shall rule upon his throne; and the priest shall be at his right hand, and peaceful counsel shall be between them both." He predicts all these things ^D as concerning Zerubbabel, not as if he were not yet born, but as though he had not yet received the hegemony. He calls him Orient, since he rose like light for those at that time inhabiting Jerusalem, who were being afflicted by bitter evils and were spending their time in a dark night. This man, he says, will also finish the divine house, and will be seated upon the royal thrones, and will count the high priest worthy of all honor, and will have such concord with him

^A so that he does nothing without his counsel. Nor did He promise these things to them alone, but also to those who await the unfading crown, whom He calls useful and who have recognized it. Furthermore, the one who provided the substance for the crown, Josiah son of Zephaniah, will be deemed worthy of the glory resulting therefrom; for this is what he said: "And for the grace of the son of Zephaniah." Then he also speaks concerning the divine places:

"And for a psalm in the house of the Lord. (Ver. 15.) And those who are far off from them shall come, and shall build in the house of the Lord; and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you." For not only shall you who are present do these things, but those also who dwell far from you shall run together from every side and shall share with you in these beautiful labors. ^B "And it shall be, if you will obediently hear the voice of the Lord your God." These things, he says, shall come to pass, and shall receive their proper end, if you obey the divine words.

CHAPTER VII

Verses 5, 6. "Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying: If you fast or lament in the fifth and in the seventh (month), and behold for seventy years, have you fasted to Me? And if you eat or drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?" Do not think, ^D He says, that I derive any profit from your fasting; for even if you should ten thousand times

afflict yourselves with mournings and lamentations, and perform the fast in the fifth and seventh months, I shall derive no benefit from it. And that this is so, the time of the captivity is witness; for during seventy years you offered me no service of fasting. Just as, therefore, you enjoy the pleasure that flows from eating and drinking, so too you should reap the benefit that flows from fasting. But do not think that this teaching is new; for long ago and long since I have ceased not to say these things through the prophets to your forefathers and fathers.

^B V. 7. "Nunquid enim, is not this," he says, "the word which the Lord spoke by the hand of the prophets who were before? When Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, and her cities round about, and the mountain and the plain were inhabited?" Having thus shown the antiquity of the proclamation, he teaches in detail what those things are that serve him: "Judge just judgment, and let each one perform mercy and compassion towards his brother. (V. 10) And do not oppress the widow, and the orphan, and the sojourner, and the poor; and let not each of you remember the malice of his brother in your hearts." I said, he says, to your fathers, that they should judge and bring forth a fair and just sentence, and to use mercy towards neighbors; not to oppress with power those who were drawing the heavy yoke of widowhood, and those who were lamenting their orphanhood, nor to take the weakness of the poor as a pretext for greed; and in addition to these, to loathe resentment, and not to avenge themselves on those who began the injustice. These things, indeed, I said, but they did not wish to obey. "But they gave," he says, "a rebellious back." And as they received scourges, they fell ill with insensibility. For he called the rebellious back "stolid," by a metaphor taken from whipped servants who derive no profit from it.

^C "And they hardened their ears so as not to hear. (V. 12) And they set their heart to be disobedient, so as not to hear My law and the words which the Lord Almighty sent by His Spirit, by the hand of the prophets who were before." But they reaped the fruit of disobedience. "For there was great wrath from the Lord Almighty." (V. 13) "And it shall be," he says, "just as I said, and they did not hear Him, so they shall cry, and I will not hear," says the Lord Almighty. He changes the form of the tense; for he speaks of those things that have already happened as if they were future: for "they shall cry," instead of "they cried," and "I will not hear," instead of "I did not hear," he has set down.

[index: entries preserved]

VERS. 14. "And I will cast them out into all nations, which they did not know," that is, I have cast them out. "And the land shall be desolate after them, from one passing through, and from one returning," that is, it is desolate, as what follows shows. For he changed the figure and says: "And they have set the chosen land into desolation." He has discoursed concerning the disobedience of their ^A fathers and the punishment of them. For it would not have been fitting to threaten such harsh things again to those who had undergone bitter slavery, and had recently been delivered from it, and had not yet rebuilt the city.

CHAPTER VIII

goods you do not accept the hope. ^A Yet it behooves you, knowing the power of the One who promises, to accept what is said without doubt, and to believe that I shall deem my people worthy of all salvation, and having gathered them from every side, I shall bring them back to their ancestral land; and I, as is my wont, shall make my manifestation in Jerusalem. For this is what he says: "I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem." And he indeed shall be called my people; but I shall be named his God, not as formerly falsely, but in truth and in righteousness.

9. "Thus saith the Lord Almighty: Let your hands be strengthened, you who hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, since the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and the temple, since it is being built." ^B Having, he says, the consolation from my promise, build the divine house with great confidence, so that you may perform the legal services therein, and receive the divine graces through it.

10. "For before those days, the wages of men were not for profit, and the wages of cattle did not exist, and for him who went out and for him who came in there was no peace from the tribulation." For when you were neglecting the building, he says, the labor of men wasfruitless, and the wages of cattle were useless; but all were established in continuous fear, both those dwelling abroad and those dwelling at home. "And I will send forth all men, each to his neighbor." For I, on account of the negligence regarding divine things, stirred up constant troubles among you. ^C But now, seeing your zeal for the building, I shall give you before all other things the gift of peace; and you shall enjoy the fruits of the land, with rains abundantly provided from above.

13. "And it shall be, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be in a blessing." For men are accustomed, even when invoking curses, to bring forward those who have fallen into calamities, and to say: "May you suffer such things as so-and-so has suffered," and when praying well, they are accustomed to offer the mention of those to whom divine blessing has fallen. ^D "Take courage, and be strengthened in your hands." (vv. 14, 15) "For thus saith the Lord Almighty: As I thought to do evil to you when your fathers provoked me, saith the Lord Almighty, and I did not repent—so have I determined and devised in these days to do well to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah." Just as, he says, I showed the threats of punishment to be true, so also to the good dispensations I will put a finish.

^A And so, having emboldened them, he again urges them toward virtue and explains what things must be done.

"Take courage" (Vers. 16). "These are the words which you shall perform." Before all things, he commands them to cherish the truth. "For you shall speak," he says, "the truth each man to his neighbor." Then, he also commands those who are quarreling over any matters to pursue peace. "For you shall judge a peaceful judgment in your gates." And that they should cast out from their souls the remembrance of injuries:

Vers. 17. "And let no one of you think evil of his neighbor in your hearts." And that those who swear should make their oaths valid, and should loathe falsehood. "For do not," he says, "love a false oath; for I hated all these things, says the Lord Almighty."

Then, since he had said above that he receives no utility from fasting (and he said this on account of those who thought that God was worshiped and served by this alone), after having taught all the forms of virtue, he legislates the fast ^B along with these.

Vers. 19. "Thus says the Lord Almighty: The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast shall be to the house of Judah for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and you shall be glad, and love truth and peace." It is not obscure that he names the fourth, and the fifth, and the seventh, not of the week, but of the month, because he also added the tenth. Fasting, he says, do not be grieved on account of the abstinence from food, but rejoice on account of the utility which springs from the hardship; and both with the fast and without it, have the disposition concerning truth and peace. It must be noted, however, that the other interpreters, specifically Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, did not say to fast the fourth, and the fifth, and the seventh, and the tenth, but the three ^C spoke in the same way of the fast of the fourth, and of the fifth, and of the seventh, and of the tenth; so that it is evident that he commanded a fast in the fourth, and in the fifth, and in the seventh, and in the tenth month.

Vers. 20-22. "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Many peoples shall still come, and inhabitants of many cities. And the inhabitants of five cities shall assemble together into one city, saying, 'Let us go to pray before the face of the Lord Almighty.' And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to propitiate the face of the Lord." So noble and renowned will Jerusalem be, ^D that it will urge those living in other cities to visit one another, and to stir one another up to piety, so that having left what is possessed in

^A their hands, they may come together to this city and seek the favor of God. And [each one] says, "I also will go, and I will depart with you." And they will do this, not only those whose lineage is from Jerusalem, but also foreign nations longing to partake of the divine assistance. These things indeed happened in a shadowy way after the construction that took place under Zerubbabel; but after the appearance of our God and Savior in the flesh, it is possible to see every land and sea running together to that city, and longing to see the places of the saving passions. The things that follow also correspond to these.

^B Ver. 23. "Thus says the Lord Almighty: In those days ten men from all the languages of the nations shall take hold of the hem of a Jewish man, saying, 'We will go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.'" Thus, those from the nations who were deemed worthy of the calling longed for the holy apostles, who traced their lineage from the Jews, believing that through them they would partake of salvation. So the Philippians longed for the divine Paul; so the Thessalonians, so the Corinthians, so all the nations; thus blessed Onesiphorus ran into the city so that he might offer to him the debt of service; thus blessed Titus, thus Trophimus, having followed him even unto extreme dangers. But if, when the Jews returned from Babylon, some of the nations marveled at the extraordinary manner of their liberation, and believed their God to be the true God, and, having followed some of the Jews, longed to learn the truth from them, this does not harm the things said by us, but rather it bears witness to the truth. For the things of old were a type of our things. It is fitting for the image to have a resemblance to the archetype. ^C So if this account is true according to the Jews, it is also true according to us, for those things are a shadow of these. But let us return to the sequence of the interpretation.

CHAPTER IX

Vers. 1, 2. "Assumption of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus is his sacrifice (but those around Aquila interpreted: And in Damascus is his rest): because the Lord looks upon men."

Vers. 3. "And all the tribes of Israel, and Emath in its borders." ^D Or, according to the other interpreters: "And in Emath which borders on it." He predicts, therefore, that these cities also, which once lived impiously—Hadrach, and Damascus, and Emath—having been delivered from their former error, will offer sacrifices to God. For He who looks upon all men, and not only the tribes of Israel, will also take care of these. Now Hadrach is a city of Arabia; and Emath is what is now called Epiphania; and holy Scripture calls the great Emath Emisa. These, therefore,

^A being illuminated by the light of the knowledge of God, will do what is fitting.

"And Tyrus, in that they were very wise" (vv. 3-5). *And Tyrus built herself a fortification, and heaped up silver as the dust, and gold as the mire of the streets. Therefore, the Lord will possess them, and will strike her power into the sea, and she shall be consumed by fire. Ascalon shall see, and Gaza shall fear, and shall be in great pain, and Accaron, because she is ashamed of her transgression; and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ascalon shall not be inhabited.*

Tyrus, he says, and Sidon, priding themselves on their wealth and trusting in their fortified walls, shall be delivered to every kind of calamity. For some of their possessions, the sea having overflowed, shall show to be submerged; others shall be consumed by fire, the God of the universe delivering this judgment against them. But as for what he says, "The Lord will possess them," this is how it is to be explained: Since they withdrew themselves from divine providence, they shall experience the power of His strength. Ascalon and Gaza, seeing this, shall be in great fear, and will continue to mourn along with Accaron; for she is ashamed—that is, Tyrus—over her transgression. "But moreover, I will cause the kingdom of Gaza to cease, and I will show Ascalon naked of its inhabitants, and I will cause aliens to inhabit both it and Azotus." For what he says, "Ascalon shall not be inhabited," refers to the men of that time whom He delivered to slaughter and servitude; wherefore He added:

(VV. 6, 7). *And aliens shall dwell in Azotus, and I will destroy the pride of the foreigners, and I will remove their blood from out of their mouth, and their abominations from between their teeth.* A mother of benefit, therefore, is the correction applied by God. For on account of this, He says that the foreigners also have ceased from their former lawlessness and impiety, and have received the knowledge of God. For this He made clear by immediately adding: *And these also shall be left for our God, and they shall be as captains in Juda, and Accaron as the Jebusite.* For, having loathed the sacrifices of the idols with which they were previously filled, they will place themselves under the providence of God and, being enrolled along with the people of Juda, they will shine like certain captains ^D and will be worthy of equal honor with those who dwell in Jerusalem. These He called Jebusites; for this place was formerly called Jebus.

(V. 8). *And I will set up for my house a rampart, so that none may pass through, nor return, and no oppressor shall come upon you any more, for now I have seen with my eyes.* I will make my house conspicuous, and I will fill my people with power, so that those who attempt to attack them ^D

^A should not return, nor reach their own homes, but there receive their punishment. And as for the others who see their sufferings, they shall remain at home, restrained by fear, and shall not dare to undertake a war against the people; for this is the protection I have determined to provide them for the present. These things, however, received their fulfillment under the Maccabees, while Judas, Jonathan, and Simon were conducting the war; for after the victory, they enslaved the cities of the foreigners, and in their place settled Jews, and moreover, they ensured that many of those same people were taught the true religion.

But the exact fulfillment of the prophecy was seen after the appearance of our Savior; for now, having renounced the error of idols, ^B both the Ascalonites and the Accaronites and the other foreigners have received the light of the knowledge of God; and those who have been appointed from among them to shepherd them shine forth like certain tribunes and generals. For which reason, the all-holy Spirit, in prophesying those things, also points out the cause of these good things and cries out through the prophet:

Ver. 9. "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes to you, righteous and saving; he is humble, and mounted upon a beast of burden, and a young foal."

These things have their clear interpretation through the events themselves; for the King who was prophesied came, and by his own righteousness put an end to sin, and by his humility destroyed the pride of the devil, ^C and by using the foal of an ass, he has as worshippers kings who are carried in chariots adorned with gold and precious stones. Of this foal, the blessed Jacob also prophesied, saying: "Binding his foal to the vine, the foal of his ass."

Ver. 10. "And he shall destroy the chariots from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the war-bow shall be destroyed, and there shall be a multitude and peace from the nations."

By using this moderation, he says, the greatest King of all destroyed the chariots from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, having overthrown their boldness and their frantic kingdom; he destroyed also ^D the war-bow, and granted peace to the nations through the Roman peace, and bestowed facility upon the heralds of the truth. For when the empire became one, the uprisings of the nations against one another ceased, and peace was established throughout the whole world, and the apostles who were entrusted with the proclamation of piety traveled without fear, and wandering through the inhabited world, they hunted men for life. And the most paradoxical thing of all is that he who had nowhere to lay his head, he who used the foal, desired and took hold of every land and sea. This

moreover, the prophetic word foretold: ^A “And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth.” I marvel at the stupefaction of the Jews, who most impudently attempt to interpret this prophecy concerning Zerubbabel. For that Zerubbabel did not hold the whole of Palestine, but only Judea, the Jews themselves would concede; but the prophet predicted that he who sat upon the foal would rule over the entire inhabited world. Furthermore, we know that Christ used a foal, but that Zerubbabel did this, no one among those who have written of divine things has said even to this day. If therefore the Lord Christ used the foal according to the prophecy, and held the inhabited world, and is believed and preached to be the true God, and brought to an end the kingdom of Ephraim and Israel, the prophet foretold these things about him, and the prophecy has clearly attained its end. What follows also accords with these things.

11. “And you, by the blood of your testament, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit that has no water.” ^B For those, he says, whom you have purchased and delivered with your precious blood, these you have sent forth with the salutary tablets of your Testament, so that they might preach liberty to all, having freed them from the pit that has no water. And if anyone wishes to understand this pit as either eternal death or the error of idols, he will not stray from the truth. For thus says the God of all through Jeremiah: “My people have done two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and they have hewn for themselves broken cisterns, which cannot contain water.” ^C In this way he characterized the laborious and useless worship of idols. For those laboring miserably in the worship of idols reaped no fruit from these things, and moreover suffered the loss of true life. When men were bound in this pit, the Lord Christ, unbinding and drawing them out, and gifting them with liberty through his precious blood, sent them forth unto the way of life, having given them the New Testament. To these he says again:

12. “You shall sit in the stronghold as prisoners of the congregation, and for one day of your sojourning I will render double to you.” ^D For instead of those bitter bonds, I have bound you about with other, most sweet bonds of my love, exhorting you to sit beside me, and to be instructed in my laws, and to be guarded by a strong protection, and instead of your former captivity, to enjoy at once liberty and life. For concerning these things, he says, I will render double to you.

13. “Because I have bent you, Judah, for myself as a bow,

I have filled Ephraim, and I will raise up your children, O Zion, against the children of the Greeks, and I will handle you as the sword of a warrior.” He calls Judah and Ephraim those who derive their lineage from these, whom he prepared for war against the children of the Greeks, having given them weapons not carnal, but mighty to God for the destruction of strongholds, so that they might cast down human reasonings and every height lifting itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. These, he said, he had bent as a bow and handled as the sword of a warrior. Through these he dissolved the empty arts of the philosophers; through these he taught the world piety. Concerning these, the prophetic word says thus: “Your arrows are sharp, O Mighty One, in the heart of the enemies of the king.” ^B But indeed, for the Macedonians also, the prophecy had its fulfillment in a type. For when the children of Zion had brought war upon the Greeks, they put the many thousands of the Macedonians to flight, and having erected a trophy, they returned victorious, and they raised up the altar that had been destroyed. These things they performed, with the God of all fighting for them, and providing invincible assistance. For this is what the prophet also says.

14. “And the Lord shall appear over them,” and his arrow shall go forth as lightning, and the Lord God Almighty shall sound with the trumpet, and shall go in the tumult of his threatening. Wishing to defend them, he shall strike them with thunders, and shall strike them with terror by lightnings, and using the clouds as if they were slings, he shall cast at them heavy hailstones, and with these he shall confound them. “And they shall drink,” he says, “their blood as water.” ^C This is to say, they shall reap as much pleasure as possible from the victory. For he does not speak of the drinking of human blood; for how could he, who forbids the eating of the blood of beasts even to those who were before the law, and to those under the law? “And they shall fill the altar as vials,” that is to say, with the sacrifices taken from the spoil.

16. “And the Lord their God shall save them in that day, as sheep his people; for holy stones are rolled upon his land.” For on account of the saints, God shall save the others also, and as sheep proper to those who are coming, he will deliver them from the wild beasts.

17. “For if anything is good of his, and if anything is beautiful from him, grain for the young men, and wine giving a sweet odor to the virgins.”

CHAPTER X

1. “Ask of the Lord rain at the proper time, early and late: the Lord has made appearances, and he shall give them winter rain, to each herb in the field.”

^A He says: He himself provides both grain and wine, so that the young men may be strengthened by the grain, and the virgins may enjoy the joy that comes from the wine. For in this place, too, he has put wine for joy. Knowing these things, therefore, ask for the early and late rain at the proper time from Him who is able to give it. For He is himself the provider of rain and the creator of those other things which are accustomed to occur for the terror of men, for He has made lightnings into rain. He called such things "appearances" as being things that terrify men; yet through these, fruits are also born from the earth. The true God, then, both performs and bestows such things.

VERS. 2. “But those who spoke uttered labors, and the diviners spoke false visions and false dreams; they consoled in vain; therefore they were dried up like sheep, and were afflicted, because there was no healing.” Having brought the entire flock of the devil into the midst—the diviners, the astrologers, the interpreters of dreams—he refuted their falsehood and demonstrated their punishment.

VERS. 3. “My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit my lambs.” For those who ruled badly I delivered into captivity, but the subjects I brought back from there, and deemed them worthy of my care. “And the Lord God Almighty shall visit his flock, the house of Judah; and he shall set them as his own handsome horse in battle.” I will show them, he says, in the time of war, like a horse exulting in beauty and strength, ^B and charging fearlessly against their faces, and it shall not require other aid.

VERS. 4, 5. “For from him, he says, he looked, and from him he set, and from him his bow in the spirit of anger; from him shall come forth every one who drives into the same. And they shall be as warriors treading the mud of the streets in battle, and they shall stand in the battle line, because the Lord is with them, and the riders of horses shall be confounded.” They will not use foreign arms, he says, nor will they hire foreign soldiers; but from among themselves shall be the commander, from among themselves all the prefects of the ranks; they themselves will achieve victory by performing deeds with distinction, and like mud they will trample the phalanx of the enemies. For just as mud yields to the feet of those walking over it, so those others also will be put to flight, and in fleeing they will be pierced through, ^C because the Lord of all is in charge of this strategy.

VERS. 6. “And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will cause them to dwell.” When, he says, I have thus slaughtered all their enemies, I will ensure that they dwell in peace in their ancestral land. And indicating the reason, he added: “Because I loved them...” ^D

and they shall be as though I had not cast them off.” ^A For I will, he says, so cause them to flourish that they will not even have the sensation of the captivity that occurred, seeing their former prosperity. “For I am the Lord their God, and I will hearken unto them. (7.) And they shall be as though they were the warriors of Ephraim, and their heart shall rejoice as with wine, and their children shall see and be glad, and their heart shall rejoice in the Lord.” For, he says, being their Lord and God, I will receive their petitions, and I will render them victorious, and I will ensure that they spend their time in all gladness. And their children, in like manner to them, will spend their time in all pleasure, priding themselves in me and exulting in my power. 8. “I will signify to them [the signal], and I will receive them, and I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied as they were many.” And they shall, he says, be increased in a multitude, having received the blessing of prolificacy, so that, not being satisfied with their own cities, they shall be transplanted into other cities, and also become a cause of salvation to others through them. For this is what he signified by having said: 9. “And I will sow them among the peoples, and those far off shall remember me, and they shall rear their children.” For, he says, seeing their earnest piety, they will take all manner of care of them. 10. “And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and from the Assyrians I will receive them, and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and to Lebanon, and there shall not be left any of them.” And I will, he says, bring them back also from Egypt and from Assyria, and I will ensure that they dwell in their ancestral land, and I will fill the land of Gilead with them, and I will grant them an abode as far as Lebanon itself, and nothing will be an obstacle to them, since I will deliver to destruction all who attempt to make war against them. For this is what is indicated by: 11. “They shall pass through a narrow sea, and they shall strike the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the rivers shall be dried up.” ^D For when they are caught in the greatest dangers, and were nearly despairing of salvation (for he called their difficult situation a narrow sea), they struck the waves of their enemies and rendered them, as it were, deep rivers—dried up—having consumed their hosts there. “And all the pride of the Assyrians shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall be taken away. (12.) And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God, and they shall boast in his name, says the Lord.”

^A Egypt, he says, shall be destroyed from its foundations, and the pride of the Assyrians shall be broken; and indeed these [people], who formerly served them, shall by my help become distinguished and celebrated among all.

CHAPTER XI

VERSES 1, 2. “Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, and let fire devour thy cedars. Let the pine howl, because the cedar is fallen.” Therefore, all you who derive excessive spirit from power, and who imitate the height of Lebanon through the phantasy of arrogance, prepare yourselves to endure the impending punishments. But you who are inferior to them (for these he calls the pine), seeing the destruction brought upon the more powerful, lament your own calamities. “For the pine,” he says, “howls, because the cedar is fallen.” And explaining what he said through metaphor, he added: “For the optimates have become very miserable, howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the planted forest has been cut down.” (VERSE 3.) “A voice of shepherds lamenting, because their magnificence is made miserable: a voice of roaring lions, because the roaring ^B of the Jordan is afflicted.” Tropically, according to his customary manner, he has expressed everything. For by lions and shepherds he designates kings and princes; by the planted forest, an unfruitful principality. He said that all these, who had indeed taken up great spirit against the Jordan but were cast down in their hope, would mourn and lament. By the Jordan, he signified the land of the Jews: for the river flows through it. These things, then, did the divine Zechariah predict concerning the future prosperity of the Jews after their return. Next, however, he prophesies the calamities by which they were to be afflicted on account of their iniquities.

VERSE 4. “Thus saith the Lord Almighty: Feed the sheep of the slaughter.” But who fed these, if not the Lord Christ, who cries out in the holy Gospels: “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep?” ^C But let no one dare to belittle him because he is called a shepherd. For he, for the sake of our salvation, was named not only a shepherd, but also a lamb and a sheep. And what do I say, a sheep and a lamb? For he was even called a curse and sin, that he might expiate both the sin and the curse of men. To him, therefore, the Father says: “Feed the sheep of the slaughter,” because he chose to take the form of a servant, that he might liberate the nature of men from slavery. As a man, therefore, not as God, he receives these commands: for as God, he exists equal to the Father; but as a man, he cries out: “I do not speak from myself. I have received a commandment as to what I should say and what I should speak.” Thus, even in this… ^D

^A place, he is commanded: “Feed the sheep of slaughter.” And instructing for what reason he so addresses them, he adds:

5. “Those who possessed them were slaying them, and did not repent, and those who sold them said, ‘Blessed is the Lord, and we have become rich,’ and their shepherds took no pity on them.” For, being led by impious kings and lawless priests, they suffered ten thousand different evils at their hands. The history of the Maccabees and the volumes of Josephus are full of these accounts. For, having received the disease of ambition and love of money, they made the priesthoods venal, and bought the dignity which in no way belonged to them. Hence, ten thousand evils befell the Jews. For this reason, he threatens the shepherds with punishment, while he takes all possible care of the sheep. But concerning the impious, he says:

6. “Therefore, I will no longer spare the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord. And behold, I deliver the men, each into the hands of his neighbor, and they shall cut up the land, and I shall not deliver them from their hand.” ^B But those others, he says, because of their own lawlessness, I leave neglected, while I shall take every care of the more gentle. For this is what he made clear by what he subsequently added.

7. “And I will feed the sheep of slaughter in the land of Canaan.” Some have thought that this signifies Palestine; but to me it seems to signify the land of foreigners, for through “Canaan” he intimates the foreigners. He says, therefore: “I will take under my care those who from wherever among the nations determine to believe in me. And I will take to myself two rods: the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Binding; and I will feed the sheep.” He calls the nations and the Jews two rods. For there were two general doctrines of old: one teaching piety, which prevailed among the Jews; the other professing the error of idols, by which, in various ways, all the ^C nations of old were held. From these, therefore, and from those, he says, I will gather the sheep, and from both I shall form one fold. This is also what he said in the holy Gospels: “And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” For he mingled those who believed from the nations with those who believed from the Jews and fashioned one fold.

8. “And I will remove three shepherds in one month.” He refers to the kings of the Jews, and the prophets, and the priests ^D

for by these three orders they were shepherded. And to show the cause, he adds: ^A “And my soul shall be weighed down against them; for their souls were enraged against me.” This the Master himself teaches more clearly through the prophet Jeremiah, saying: “I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given my beloved soul into the hands of her enemies; my heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest; it has uttered its voice against me, therefore I have hated it.” And indeed he also cries out through Isaiah: “I waited for it to do judgment, but it did iniquity, and not righteousness, but a cry.” Since, therefore, they approached me in a beast-like manner, as if roaring, and thirsting for my slaughter, [he says to the shepherd:] “Let that which is dying die, and that which is failing fail, and let the rest devour each one the flesh of his neighbor.” ^B And all these things must necessarily happen to those stripped of the divine providence.

10. “And I will take my staff, the beautiful one, and cast it away in order to break my covenant, which I disposed for all the peoples of the earth.” For since those who accepted the proclamation of the knowledge of God have been separated by the divine winnowing-fan, and, like grain of a sort, have been separated from the chaff, it is absolutely necessary for the chaff to be consumed by unquenchable fire, according to the voice of the great John.

11. “And it shall be broken on that day.” And that he is not saying these things about all those from the nations, but only about the unbelievers, what follows bears witness: ^C “And the Canaanites shall know that the sheep are kept for me, for it is the word of the Lord.” He calls the Canaanites those who have believed from the nations, inasmuch as they are foreigners; but he calls them sheep worthy of protection, because of the faith they have acquired. These, he says, having beheld the destruction of the unbelievers, will learn through experience that the prophetic word is a divine word. Having said these things about those from the nations who had not believed and who had believed, he shifts the discourse to the Jews, and says:

12, 13. “And I will say to them: If it is good in your sight, give my wages, or refuse.” “And they weighed my wages—thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me: Cast them into the smelting furnace, and consider if it is genuine, in the manner in which I was tried for their sake. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them ^D into the house of the Lord, into the smelting furnace.” These things, as I think, stand in need of no interpretation, as the history of the holy Gospels contains the

for interpretation. For there, too, Judas sold the Lord for a similar number of staters, and having been struck by repentance, he returned them to those who had given them; but when they did not wish to receive them, he cast them away and departed, having received the just reward for his iniquity—I mean the ^A noose—from the judge of iniquity, the devil. Thus also here, the Lord asks of them faith as a reward for His beneficence, but they gave the thirty pieces of silver in its place; and He Himself orders the prophet to test, as if in a fire, whether this is a worthy reward for the benefit. He, however, said that he had cast them into the house of the Lord, which he rightly named a "smelting furnace." For in it, those who approach through repentance are renewed as if in a smelting furnace, casting off the rust of sin and obtaining divine ^B loving-kindness. Therefore He says:

14. "And I cast away the second rod, 'The Cord,' to break the covenant between Judah and Israel." For by these words He separated the believers from the unbelievers, and deprived the rest of His own providence. And the things we see now confirm the prophecy. For the Jews have been stripped of prophets, and priests, and kings, and temple, and ark, and altar, and propitiatory, and candlestick, and table, and the other things through which the worship according to the Law was carried out, and they have also been deprived of ^C care from above; and having become scattered, and strangers, and exiles, driven from their fatherland, they serve those who preach Christ against their own will. They renounce His sovereignty, yet they perform the service of servants to His servants. They suffer from such great insensibility and apathy. Now, the Prophet, after having foretold these things concerning our God and Savior Christ, and having rebuked the hardness of heart of the Jews, rightly transfers the prophecy straightway to the anti-Christian enemy of God, whom the Jews expect, as they themselves say. The Lord also spoke ^D of this to them in the Holy Gospels: "I have come in the name of my Father, and you did not receive me; another comes in his own name, and you will believe him." The blessed Paul also said this same thing concerning them: "Because they did not welcome the love of the truth so that they might be saved, God will send them a working of error so that they might believe the lie, that all might be judged who have not believed the truth, but have taken pleasure in iniquity." Such things too does the divine Zechariah, having received the energy of the divine Spirit, foretell.

15, 16. "And the Lord said to me: Take for yourself still the pastoral implements of a foolish shepherd. For behold, I am raising up a foolish shepherd over the earth: he will not visit that which is failing, and he will not seek that which is scattered, and he will not heal that which is broken, and that which is whole he will not

^A direct, and he will devour the flesh of the elect, and he will twist their ankles. These bitter and grievous narratives the Lord also predicts in the holy Gospels: “There will be,” He says, “a great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world, nor shall be; and unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the sake of my elect those days will be shortened.” The Prophet says the same things, namely, that “He will devour the flesh of the elect, and will twist their ankles,” signifying by these things the magnitude of the evils. He calls their shepherd unskilled, or, according to other interpreters, foolish, namely one whom the artifice of the devil has deceived, and who is ignorant of their certain destruction. Moreover, Divine Scripture is accustomed to name the fool also the impious. “For the fool,” it says, “has said in his heart: There is no God.” When the Prophet has thus indicated his beastly mind, he also signifies his future destruction.

Verse 17. O you who pasture vain things, and you who have abandoned the sheep!

^A clearly foretells the calamitous things that will befall them on account of their unbelief.

Chapter XII

^B 4 Vers. 1. « The burden of the word of the Lord upon Israel: Thus saith the Lord, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in him. » It is not I, says the Prophet, who am recounting these things to you, but the Maker and Fashioner of this whole universe; He who even now fashions bodies in the womb, and commands souls to be created together with them—He it is who speaks through me.

Vers. 2. « And behold, I will make Jerusalem as a threshold which is moved for all the peoples in the circuit, and in Judea: and there shall be a siege against Jerusalem. » I will cause, he says, this city to be easily vulnerable and easily conquered by all the nations; I will show it to be like a threshold that is shaken and about to fall, so that the enemies, seeing it stripped of My providence, may attack and besiege it, and inflict upon them the evils that arise therefrom.

Vers. 3. « And it shall be in that day, I will make Jerusalem a stone that is trodden upon by all the nations: every one that treadeth upon it, mocking shall mock: and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. » For because they rejected that precious, chosen, and honorable stone, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, ^C which became the head of the corner, treating it like a reprobate stone, I will cause it to be trampled by all those who riot and gather together for the sake of insult. Indeed, the events themselves bear witness to this prophecy; for it is possible to see the place, once holy and august, now being trampled upon. But these things happened to them after the cross and that madness; before this crime, however, they unceasingly enjoyed divine protection. For this is what the prophetic discourse teaches, with the God of all promising that he would strip the Macedonian nations—when they descended upon them—of the natural boldness of their horses, and would involve them, along with their riders, in madness and cowardice, while deeming the house of Judah worthy of His providence. For this is what He indicated when He said:

Vers. 4, 5. « In that day, saith the Lord almighty, I will strike every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and upon the house of Judah I will open my eyes, and all the horses of the peoples I will strike with blindness. And the commanders of Judah shall say all in their hearts: ^D We shall find for ourselves those who inhabit Jerusalem, in the Lord almighty their God. » Nothing, he says, shall the horses of these men differ from those who are blinded;

they shall wander hither and thither, so that the leaders of the Jews, having taken confidence, shall say to one another, «Jerusalem shall be filled with inhabitants by the inclination of God.»

^A VERS. 6. «In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah as a firebrand among wood, and as a torch of fire in stubble; and they shall devour on the right hand and on the left all peoples round about.» For even as, he says, a firebrand ignites woods, and a flame consumes stubble, so shall these destroy the enemies attacking them from every side. «And Jerusalem shall dwell yet in herself,» that is, she shall live separately from the nations according to the law. This gift, however, she possessed until she raged against the Savior.

VERS. 7. «And the Lord shall save the tabernacles of Judah as at the beginning, that the glory of the house of David be not magnified, and the elation of the inhabitants of Jerusalem over Judah.» For they shall know by experience that, without the divine inclination, they have been able to achieve nothing of note. And having learned this, they shall neither pride themselves upon royal power nor trust in the magnitude of the walls.

VERS. 8. «And it shall be in that day, the Lord shall protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is infirm among them in that day shall be as the house of David; and the house of David as the house of God, as the angel of the Lord before them.» Their hope also shall depend upon divine providence. Therefore the Lord shall protect them with every kind of ^B aid, and shall fill them with such strength that the very weakest of them shall be compared to the royal house (for this is what he called the house of David); and the royal house shall imitate the inviolable sanctity of the house of God, so that all may flee to it as to a divine temple, or become more confident as though to an angel sent for their salvation. For so much glory did Judas and Jonathan gather from their victory that neighbors, neighboring regions, and those nearby snatched at their alliance most greedily; and not only the nearby, but even those who lived many days' journey away, both the Romans dwelling in the western coasts and the Spartans, embraced their ^C alliance with the greatest eagerness.

VERS. 9, 10. «And it shall be in that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a Spirit of grace and mercy.» But I, indeed, overwhelmed them with so many and such great benefits, handing over the enemies that were waging war against them to various types of death, and opening up for them the fountains of mercy, and filling them with all grace; yet they, when I came to them, repaid me with contrary deeds, and, having nailed me to the cross and fastened me with nails, they pierced my side ^D with a soldier's lance, and did not cease their mockery.

^A Yet, in a little while, they shall see me appearing with divine majesty, and they shall lament their own madness, and they shall imitate the mourning of a first-born youth, no differently than those who weep for him while beating their breasts.

“For they shall look,” he says, “to me, whom they have pierced, and they shall lament for him with a lamentation as for a beloved, and they shall grieve over themselves with sorrow as for a first-born.” (v. 11) “In that day the lamentation of Jerusalem shall be great, like the lamentation of a pomegranate orchard cut down in a field.” For just as woodcutters, cutting down a great number of pomegranate trees, produce a loud noise, so the mourning of these people shall ring in the ears of all mortals. And it is not without reason that, leaving aside other trees, he has chosen the image of the pomegranate; ^B but because he compared their grief to the mourning for a beloved and a first-born—and the pomegranate is a type of charity, having its seeds very closely connected and united—he rightly declared their lamentation to be similar to the felling of these trees.

v. 12-14. “And the land shall mourn by families: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves. The family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Simeon by itself, and their wives by themselves. All the remaining families, each family by itself, and their wives by themselves.” By this he says that, having been divided by families, both husbands apart and wives apart shall do this. ^C And he mentions not only the tribes, but also the clans, both that of David, which received the promises concerning the Lord Christ, and that of Nathan, who, prophesying at that time, had heard the prophecies of David, and he himself brought his own oracles to him. And after having mentioned the tribe of Levi and that of Simeon, he added later, “All the remaining families, each family by itself, shall mourn, and their wives by themselves.” And the Lord also predicted this in the holy Gospels: “Then shall they see the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.” ^D It is clear that all those who did not accept the divine preaching will mourn, awaiting their own destruction. But these things will be at the time of the consummation. In the meantime, however, he says, I shall protect them, although I am not unaware that it will come to pass that, when I come to heap benefits upon them, they will drag me to the cross. Even so:

CHAPTER XIII

v. 1. “Every open place shall be for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for a transformation and for an aspersion.” But Symmachus

^A says: “There shall be, he says, an open fountain for the house of David.” And who this fountain is, the Lord Himself teaches through Jeremiah: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water.” And in the holy Gospels He says: “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.” And: “The water that I shall give him shall be a fountain of water springing up into life eternal.” This was opened to the house of David, because from that lineage He took (and assumed) human nature. It was opened also to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for the transition made from the Old Testament to the New, and for the aspersion of holy baptism, through which we have received the remission of sins. At that time, says the Lord of hosts:

VERS. 2-4. “I will destroy the names of the idols from the earth, and there shall be no more remembrance of them; and I will take away the ^B false prophets and the unclean spirit from the earth. And it shall be, if a man shall prophesy any more, his father and his mother that brought him forth shall say to him: Thou shalt not live; for thou hast spoken lies in the name of the Lord. And his father and his mother that brought him forth shall bind him, when he prophesieth. And it shall be in that day, the prophets shall be confounded, every one from his vision, when they shall prophesy, and they shall be covered with a garment of hair, because they have lied.” It is clear that this also came to pass through those who believed in Christ. For He says, I will not only extinguish the falsehood of the idols, but I will also deliver those given to divinations and possessed by the evil spirit from this error. For such piety shall occupy the inhabited world ^C that neither father nor mother shall spare a son attempting to divine, but rather will bind him with chains, and inflict stripes upon him, and threaten him with death. And all those who choose to foretell false things, seeing the power of piety, shall wrap themselves in a mournful garment. For what He says, “They shall be covered with a garment of hair,” this is what it signifies. And they shall be seized by such great fear that they shall renounce it, and say to all: From the moment I was born, I was taught this art by my parents, to embrace the cultivation of the land instead of that error.

VERS. 5, 6. “For he shall say, he says, I am no prophet; for I am a man tilling the ^D earth, and a man has begotten me from my youth. And they shall say to him: What are these wounds in the midst of thy shoulders? And he shall say: I was wounded in the house of my beloved.” For he shall receive such wounds from his parents that for a long time he will bear their clear marks; and being asked by those who see them from where he received these injuries, he will say plainly that his parents, as ones who loved him, inflicted these wounds upon him.

with their swords; they shall kill their sons and daughters, and shall burn their houses with fire. Then he shows the benefit that will arise from this.

Vers. 48. *And I will take away impiety from the land, and all women shall be instructed, and shall not do according to their impieties.* For when these have endured such things, he says, and have been delivered to stones and swords and fire, every city will reap an advantage, learning what are the rewards of impiety. And here again he called cities "women."

Vers. 49. *And your impiety shall be given upon you, and you shall receive all the sins of your desires, and you shall know that I am the Lord.* You shall bear the fruits of your impiety, he says; for you did not receive it by necessity, but by will and desire. But from the very punishment you will gather the greatest benefit, by which you shall recognize me as Lord. May we obtain such recognition, not taught by the experience of evils, but by perceiving divine benefits, and abominating our ungrateful disposition, and being renewed day by day by divine memory, and inflamed with the love of God by the operation of the most Holy Spirit, and awaiting the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, with the Holy Spirit, now and always, and for the ages of ages. Amen.

VOLUME X. CHAPTER XXIV

Vers. 1, 2. *And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying: Son of man, write for yourself the name of this day, from which the king of Babylon has set his face against Jerusalem, from this day.* He taught us the time when the Babylonian marched against Jerusalem. While he was besieging the city, the prophet signifies beforehand to those who had already been taken captive the evils that were to overtake them. Wherefore, also, the Lord, showing forth the truth of the prophecy, commands him to note the day on which the enemy began to attack the city, so that both from the time and from the outcome of events, both those who had already been reduced to slavery and those who were being besieged might learn that God had predicted these things concerning them from the beginning: and not because of the enemy's...

strength, but because of their own unbelief, they were delivered up to ruin. "You see, brother," he says, "how many tens of thousands there are of the believing Jews." These things God pronounced through the divine Zechariah: that two parts would be utterly destroyed because of their unbelief, but the third, having been refined in the trials and proved genuine, would be called His people, naming Him Lord and God. And this, God says through another prophet: "If the number of the children of Israel were as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved." This, too, the blessed Zechariah said through the words that follow.

CHAPTER XIV

VER. 1. "Behold, a day of the Lord is coming, and your spoils shall be divided in you." ^A Clearly, it is the enemies who are dividing these.

VER. 2. "And I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be captured, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be defiled; and half of the city shall go out into captivity; but the rest of my people shall not be cut off from the city." ^B For it is said that when Vespasian and Titus were preparing to make war, the faithful of that time left the city by revelation. And this too the Lord Christ commanded through the divine Gospels: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its end is near; then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let not him who is on the housetop go down to retrieve anything from his house." Concerning these, he also predicted through the blessed Zechariah that, ^C "The remnant shall not be cut off." (VER. 3.) "And the Lord shall go forth in battle against those nations, as on the day of his engagement in the day of war." He sets the battle in array, however, not fighting for the Jews, but leading the forces against them. "And the Lord my God shall come, and all his holy ones with him." He means the orders of the angels.

VER. 4. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east." For from where He was taken up into heaven, thence He gives victory to those campaigning against the Jews. Then He says that the mountain will be divided into four parts, so ^D that one part will tend toward the east, another toward the west, the third toward the north, and the fourth toward the south. "For it shall be split, he says, the mount of Olives, half of it toward the east, and half of it toward the west [and] sea, a very great chasm; and the half of the mountain shall incline toward the north, and half of it toward the south, a great valley. (VER. 5.) And the valley of the mountains shall be filled as far as Jassa, and it shall be blocked up, as it was blocked up from the face of the earth

^A during the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Now, by "mountain," I think he refers to the phalanx of the enemy, which was divided for the siege of Jerusalem; some occupied its eastern side, some its western, while others kept watch over the north, and others the south. It was likely that the mountain itself should endure this division, as God was showing His anger against them. For indeed, when they nailed the Lord to the cross, darkness was poured out over the whole world, and the earth, being shaken, hastened to become a ready-made tomb for them, and the mountains let loose their wings against them. He says, therefore, that these mountains having been rent, the passes of the valleys will be blocked up, just as happened at the time of the great earthquake under Uzziah. For if, on account of that king, who had sinned less and had unlawfully dared to usurp the priesthood, the Lord of all shook the earth so greatly, it is just that these men should suffer greater calamities, having dared even greater impieties. ^B For they did not, even when they saw the creation stirred to its depths at the daring deed of the cross, accept the remedies of repentance. Wherefore the Prophet, leaving behind those things that came to pass at the time of the punishment, transfers his word to the events of the day of iniquity.

(VER. 6.) "For in that day," he says, in which the Savior of the world shall be crucified, "there shall be no light." And history (the Gospel) has taught this: "For from the sixth hour until the ninth, there was darkness over the whole world," so that all men might be witnesses to the truth of the prophecy. "But it shall be cold and frost for one day." And of this, the evangelists are witnesses, as well as the leader of the apostles, warming himself at the fire in the courtyard.

(VER. 7.) "And that day shall be known to the Lord." For God knew all things from the beginning. "And it shall not be day, nor night." For if I wish to call that day a day, the darkness ^C of midday prevents me; and if I wish to name it night on account of the darkness, the light that appeared until the sixth hour and after the ninth forbids me. This is also what the Prophet foretells: "And at evening there shall be light." Then follow the good things born from this.

(VER. 8.) "In that day, living water shall go out from Jerusalem, and half of it to the former sea, and half of it to the last sea." By this, he signifies the saving preaching, which ran throughout the whole world and filled both the East and the West with divine doctrine. And according to historical events, one may see the truth of the prophecy. For on that day, from the holy side, the fountain of salvation was opened, from which ^D

we received the double libations of the mysteries—the water, I say, and the blood, which he who saw has testified to. The one cleanses us and frees us from sins; the other nourishes, and waters, and causes things to flourish. He also explains the season in which these things came to pass. ^A “In summer and in spring it shall be so.” For because some divide the year into two parts, into winter and summer, while others divide it into four parts, into spring, summer, autumn, and winter, he has set down both because of the impudence of the Jews, so that he might show the truth according to both their ways of thinking and that of the others. For whether you divide the year into summer and winter, the beginning will be of summer, when these things shall come to pass; or if you say there are four seasons, know that the time for this is spring. Then he whom you nailed to the cross shall openly reign over the world, and error regarding the multitude of gods shall utterly perish.

VERS. 9. “And the Lord shall be one, and his name one, circling all the earth and the desert.” For not only the Jews shall understand these things, but also the nations, both those that dwell to the south and those that dwell to the north of Jerusalem, who formerly lacked the knowledge of God. For the prophet said this.

VERS. 10. “From Gabaa even to Remmon ^B toward the south of Jerusalem: but Rama shall remain in its place, from the gate of Benjamin even to the first gate.” By these things he designates Bethlehem. For the blessed Matthew, when he was narrating the slaughter of the children, brought forward the prophetic testimony, crying out: “A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children.” He says, moreover, that when those ungodly ones were removed, the faithful shall inhabit even the land pertaining to Benjamin.

VERS. 11. “And there shall be no more anathema, and Jerusalem shall dwell confidently.” By anathema, he signified alienation from God. ^C For those who have believed in Christ will no longer be devoted to idols, but will inhabit Jerusalem with piety. Having predicted these things, he turns his speech to Gog and Magog, and to those who with them waged war against the city of Jerusalem. For he says:

VERS. 12. “And this shall be the ruin, whereby the Lord shall smite all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall flow out from their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” ^D He teaches what kind of divinely-inflicted punishments they shall be given over to; for it will be that their bodies shall consume, and

^B their eyes shall be plucked out, and their tongues shall utterly decay. And the Lord of all, having deprived them of the use of their own minds, shall cause them to rush against one another, so that they may be sent to their deaths by each other's own hands. But the Jews, campaigning under the leadership of God and becoming mere spectators of the slaughter, shall plunder their wealth, carrying off a very great amount of gold, and silver, and costly clothing. For the horses, along with the donkeys, and mules, and camels, shall be given over to destruction along with the men.

^B 16. “And it shall be, that everyone who is left from all the nations that came against Jerusalem, shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles.” Once this victory has been achieved, he says, such fear shall fall upon the rest of the foreign nations that they shall run yearly to Jerusalem, and offer reverence to the Lord of all, and celebrate the feast of Tabernacles together with the people; for the season of this feast is suitable for journeys, being a summer time.

17-19. “And it shall be, whoever of all the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, even these shall be added to them, and there shall be no rain upon them. But if the tribe of Egypt does not go up and come there, then upon them shall be the plague with which the Lord shall strike all the nations, as many as might not go up to keep the feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the sin of Egypt, and the sin of all nations, as many as might not go up to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles.” As many, he says, of the nations as have chosen to be pious, and then have neglected those things which they had well and nobly set out to do, and do not arrive according to custom at the aforementioned festival, these shall suffer the same things as those who made war and received their ^C punishment. For these too, he says, “shall be added to them, and there shall be no rain upon them,” meaning that they shall enjoy no benevolence. Whether they be Egyptians, or some others who have marveled at the power of God, if they neglect this feast and do not offer to God the reverence due at it, upon them also, he says, shall be the ruin, because they sin grievously who, having learned the weakness of their own idols, and having clearly seen the strength of God, nonetheless remain in their former sloth.

20, 21. “On that day, that which is upon the bridle of the horse shall be holy to the Lord Almighty, and the pots in the house of the Lord shall be ^D as bowls before the face of the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem