Zechariah 2:7

Zec 2:7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest [with] the daughter of Babylon.

Ver. 7. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon] q.d. Is Babylon a fit place for thee to abide in? what comfort canst thou take in such lewd company? Save thyself from this untoward generation, Act 2:40 "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense," Jer 51:6-7. Shortly after this exhortation to the sons of Zion Babylon revolted from the Persians, and was taken and sacked by Darius in the fourth year of his reign (that is, two years after this prophecy was uttered) by the help of his friend Zopyrus. Two things should prevail with the people of God to shun the society of the ungodly. 1. Infection of sin, which is more contagious and catching than the plague. Though Lot learned not the evil manners of Sodom, yet his daughters did. 2. Infliction of punishment, Zec 9:2; Zec 9:4. Hamath lay so nigh Damascus in places that she fared the worse for her neighbourhood. See for both these, Rev 18:4, and say, if at any time forced to be in bad company, "Oh that I had wings of a dove: for then would I flee away, and be at rest," Psa 55:6. Or, if this "Oh" will not set thee at liberty, take up that "Woe" to express thy misery, "Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech."

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Zec_2:7

Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter Babylon

Separation from the world, the duty and privilege of a Christian

Zechariah prophesied at Jerusalem after the return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon; and one great object of his ministry was to stir them up to a more lively sense of the peculiar duties and privileges which their deliverance brought with it.

In the text he is addressing that part of the nation which were still remaining in the land of Chaldea. As their dispersion had been the effect of Gods righteous displeasure, so the way now opened for their return was no less clearly an evidence of His returning mercy and favour. But many were unwilling to return; the real cause of their so deciding was their indifference to religion, their distrust of Gods Word, and their backwardness to obey Him and to show themselves His servants. To them came the admonition of the text. Can we make application of this passage to present times, and point out its spiritual sense? The world is now, to Christians, what Babylon was then to the Jews. By the world, is meant this world, in respect to its moral state; to its habits, maxims, and practices; to its principles, fashions, and ways: the world as it is now corrupted through the depravity of man. By Christians is meant all who are so called; all who, by name and profession, are Christians. They are born and grow up in the midst of the worlds sin and iniquity. From their earliest infancy they are surrounded by its examples, exposed to its allurements, and made familiar with its practices. What they are taught to admire and covet most, are the things of the world. But they belong, not to the world, but to Christ. They are professedly the subjects of that spiritual kingdom which Christ has established in the world. They cannot possess and enjoy their privileges while living in the world. The Jews must return home to Judea before they could rejoice as Jews. And what must Christians do, if they would rejoice as Christians? They must arise, and turning their backs on the world, must comply with the proclamation of the Gospel. Come out and be separate. It is one part of the salvation of the Gospel, that it delivers us from this present evil world. If persons would sincerely come to Christ for deliverance, He would surely set them free. The persons with whom we would plead are those who, under the garb of a Christian profession, manifestly retain a worldly spirit, and by their conformity to the fashions and follies of the world, betray its influence over their hearts. Consider--

1. The inconsistency of such a state with your profession of Christianity.

2. The shamefulness of it.

3. The danger of your present state. If you walk not as a Christian now, you will never be owned as a Christian at last.

4. The happiness which will result from complying with the admonition in the text. (E. Cooper.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By fleeing from Babylon, and coming to the Church.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

O Zion . . . daughter of Babylon--Thou whose only sure dwelling is "Zion," inseparably connected with the temple, art altogether out of thy place in "dwelling with the daughter of Babylon" (that is, Babylon and her people, Psa 137:8; Isa 1:8).

After the glory--After restoring the "glory" (Zac 2:5; Isa 4:5; Rom 9:4) of Jehovah's presence to Jerusalem, He (God the Father) hath commissioned ME (God the Son, Isa 48:16, the Divine Angel: God thus being at once the Sender and the Sent) to visit in wrath "the nations which spoiled you." Messiah's twofold office from the Father is: (1) to glorify His Church; (2) to punish its foes (Th2 1:7-10). Both offices manifest His glory (Pro 16:4).

toucheth . . . the apple of his eye--namely, of Jehovah's eye (Deu 32:10; Psa 17:8; Pro 7:2). The pupil, or aperture, through which rays pass to the retina, is the tenderest part of the eye; the member which we most sedulously guard from hurt as being the dearest of our members; the one which feels most acutely the slightest injury, and the loss of which is irreparable.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Prophet repeats the same thing, though briefly, and in other words: but while he briefly touches on what he meant to say, he confirms and renders more plain the contents of the former verse. He shows that it was a very great disgrace that Babylon should become as it were the grave of Sion; for God had chosen that mount as the place where he was to be worshipped. Babylon, we know, was a filthy cavern, accursed by God. It was therefore to subvert, as it were, the order of nature, for the Jews to bury, so to speak, the holy mount of God in that infernal region. This mode of speaking appears on the first view somewhat harsh, but it is yet most suitable; for by Sion the Prophet means the Jews, who were still dispersed in Chaldea. The temple had not indeed been moved from its place, but only burnt and destroyed by the Chaldeans, and there was no other temple built among the Babylonians. What then does the Prophet mean by saying, O Sion, who dwellest with the daughter of Babylon, return to thine own place? He even reminds the Jews that they were bound, as it were, to the temple; for it was a sacred and an indissoluble bond of mutual union between God and them. (1 Kings 6:13.) For when God proposed that a temple should be built for him on mount Sion, he at the same time added,

“I will dwell among you; this is my rest.” (Psalm 132:14.)

Since the Jews, then, became united to their God, the temple ass introduced as a pledge of this sacred union. Thus justly and fitly does the Prophet give the name of Sion to the Jews; for they were, as it has been said, tied as it were to the temple, except they meant to deny God. Hence he says, “Is it right that you should dwell among the Chaldeans? for ye are as it were the stones of God’s temple. There is therefore for you no fixed and permanent abode except on mount Sion, as you are in a sense that very mount itself.” Therefore he says, “Sion, hasten and return to thine own place; for it is strange and preposterous that thou shouldest dwell with the daughter of Babylon.”

In short, the Prophet shows that God’s favor ought not to have been rejected, when he stretched forth his hand, and gave them a free liberty to return. As then God thus appeared as the deliverer of his people, the Jews ought not to have remained exiles, but immediately to ascend to Jerusalem, that they might again worship God. And why did the Prophet mention this? that the Jews might know that they had nothing to fear, though surrounded with dangers; that though Satan suggested many perils, many difficulties, many troubles, yet the grace of God would not be defective, or evanescent, or fallacious, but that he would complete his work, and not disappoint those to whom he had once testified, that there would be to them again a quiet habitation in the land of Judah. It now follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(7) Daughter of Babylon means inhabitants of Babylon, as (Zec_2:10) “daughter of Zion” means inhabitants of Zion. (With the whole passage comp. Isa_48:20; Jer_51:6; Jer_51:9; Jer_51:45.) LXX. for “O Zion,” εὶς Σιῶν—comp. a somewhat similar mistake in Eze_21:15 (Zec_2:10, LXX.).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. Deliver thyself] Lit. “Ho, Zion, deliver thyself: thou that dwellest with, &c.” The reason for this urgent call to escape, viz. the impending judgment upon Babylon, follows immediately, Zec_2:8-9. In like manner Jeremiah (Jer_50:8; Jer_50:10; Jer_51:6; Jer_51:45), and before him Isaiah (Jer_48:14; Jer_48:20), connects the punishment of Babylon with the escape of Israel. The immediate reference of those prophecies is to the taking of Babylon by Cyrus, which preceded and led to the return from the 70 years’ captivity. But the prophecies reach on, in the largeness of their terms, to the final and utter destruction of Babylon, and include such later calls to escape as that of Zechariah here. The immediate reference here would appear to be to one or both of those occasions in the reign of Darius, on which Babylon “had risen against the Persians and made an effort to regain its independence”. “What these dangers were may be seen from the great inscription of Darius cut into the rock at Behistun, and supposed by Sir H. Rawlinson to have been executed in the fifth year of the reign of Darius (two or three years after this prophecy was uttered). That inscription records two great rebellions in Babylonia, and two captures of the city of Babylon, one effected by Darius in person, the other by one of his generals. The Jews in Babylon who did not listen to the prophetic warning suffered no doubt severely in the confusions of that period; while those who returned to Palestine, and obeyed the command to flee out of Babylon, delivered their souls, that is their lives, and were not cut off in her iniquity.” Rev. C. H. H. Wright, Bampton Lectures, 1878.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deliver thyself, O Zion,.... Or make thy escape, you that belong to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and ought to have your abode there, and not in Babylon: flee from thence,

that dwelleth with the daughter of Babylon; in any of the antichristian states, who are the daughters of Babylon, the mother of harlots, Rev 17:5 so it may be rendered, "that inhabits the daughter of Babylon" (k); dwells in any of the cities, towns, and villages, belonging to it.

(k) , , Sept.; "habitatrix filiae Babel", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius; "vel inhabitans filiam Babel", De Dieu.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Dwellest with the daughter of Babylon - The unusual idiom is perhaps chosen as expressive of God’s tenderness, even to the people who were to be destroyed, from which Israel was to escape.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Deliver thyself: the proclamation for free return is published; up, then, and be gone.

O Zion; O ye people who should dwell in Zion, ye daughters of Zion.

Dwellest; keepest in Babylon when thou mightest go to Jerusalem.

With the daughter of Babylon: perhaps this intimates that which kept many Jews in Babylon, wives or mistresses.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Deliver thyself. Escape from the danger. O Zion. The exiled Jews are thus designated. Septuagint, Eiv Siwzesye "Go to Zion, and save yourselves." That dwellest (thou that dwellest) with the daughter of Babylon. The inhabitants of Babylon are called "the daughter of Babylon," in analogy with the common phrases, "the daughter of Zion," "the daughter of Jerusalem". (comp. Jer_46:19) There is soma reproach implied in the clause, as if these Jews were content to dwell and remain in this heathen city. The immediate danger that menaced Babylon arose from two severe rebellions, in the course of which the city was twice taken. The first revolt was headed by Nidinta-Bel, B.C. 519, who was slain by Darius at Babylon. The second took place under Arakha, B.C. 514; he was defeated by a general of Darius, named Intaphernes, taken prisoner and crucified. A record of these occurrences is found in Darius"s inscription on the rock at Behlstun, translated in "Records of the Past," vol. 1. The merciless Persians would doubtless treat the inhabitants of the captured city with their wonted cruelty.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deliver thyself - Accept of thy deliverance.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was coming forth He is the one with the measuring line in his hand.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.