Zechariah 7:13

Zec 7:13 Therefore it is come to pass, [that] as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

Ver. 13. Therefore it is come to pass] By a most just and equal retaliation. Distributive justice requireth that men should be punished according to the nature and kind of their offences. "The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways," Pro 14:14. As he makes a match with mischief, so he shall have his belly full of it; he hath sold himself to do wickedness, and he shall be sure to have his payment. With the froward God will show himself froward, Psa 18:26, he will be as cross as they are, for the hearts of them. If they turn the deaf ear to him, he will do as much for them another time. They shall call and cry for help till their hearts and sides ache, but all in vain; he will not come at them. If they pull away the shoulder, he will pull away their supporters, and they shall be "overthrown in stony places," Psa 141:6. If they harden their hearts he will harden his hand, and hasten their destruction. This shall they have of God’s hand, they "shall lie down in sorrow," Isa 50:11.

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_7:13

I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts

God refusing to hear prayer

I.

The negligence of men.

1. They do not hear the dispensations of God in His providence.

2. They do not hear the invitations of God by His servants.

3. They do not hear the commands of God in His Word.

II. The judgment of God.

1. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of regret.

2. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of disappointment.

3. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of fear.

4. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of despair. (G. Brooks.)

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

Zec 7:13-14. Therefore — On this very account; as he cried — As I, by my Spirit in my prophets, called, warned, entreated, and urged them to repent, obey, and live, but they would not; so they cried — In their deep distress, and amidst their overwhelming calamities; and I would not hear — Would not answer, or regard their prayer. But I scattered them — Cast them out of their habitations, and dispersed them through distant countries; with a whirlwind — Suddenly and irresistibly; among all the nations — All the heathen, that hated them and their ways. Thus the land — Once flowing with milk and honey; once full of cities, men, and cattle; was desolate after them — Became waste as a wilderness after they were cast out; that no man passed through — An entire riddance was not only made of its inhabitants, but the very highways were desolate, so that none passed and repassed: and that which was before a pleasant land, became a mere desert.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This wrath is described in Zac 7:13, Zac 7:14. Zac 7:13. "It came to pass: as he cried and they did not hear, so will they cry and I shall not hear, said Jehovah of hosts. Zac 7:14. And I will scatter them with a whirlwind over all nations, who did not know them, and the land is laid waste behind them, so that no one passes to and fro. And thus they made the choice land a desert." The form of the address changes in Zac 7:13. Whereas in the protasis the prophet is still speaking of Jehovah in the third person, in the apodosis he introduces Jehovah as speaking (so will they cry, and I, etc.) and announcing the punishment, which He will inflict upon the rebellious and has already inflicted in their captivity. This address of God is continued in Zac 7:14 as far as וּמשּׁב. The opinion, that the address terminates with לא ידעוּם, and that והארץ commences the account of the accomplishment of the purpose to punish, is not so much at variance with the circumstance, that in that case the last two clauses of Zac 7:14 would say essentially the same thing, as with the fact that והארץ וגו cannot, from its very form, be taken as an account of the accomplishment of the divine purpose. The perfect nâshammâh in this clause does not preclude our connecting it with the preceding one, but is used to set forth the devastation as a completed fact: the land will be (not become) waste. The infliction of the punishment is expressed in Zac 7:13 in the form of a divine talio. As they have not hearkened to the word of God, so will God, when they call upon Him, namely in distress (cf. Hos 5:15), also not hear (cf. Jer 11:11), but whirl them like a tempest over the nations. The form אסערם is the first pers. imperf. piel for אסערם or אסערם, and Aramaic (cf. Ges. 52, 2, Anm. 2). On the nations whom they do not know, and who will therefore have no pity and compassion upon them, compare Jer 22:28; Jer 16:13. מעבר וּמשּׁב (cf. Zac 9:8), that not one goes to and fro in the desolate land; lit., goes away from a place and returns again (cf. Exo 32:27). In the clause ויּשׂימוּ וגו the result of the stiff-necked obstinacy of the fathers is briefly stated: They have made the choice land a desert ('erets chemdâh, as in Jer 3:19 and Psa 106:24), so that they have brought upon the land all the calamity which is now bewailed upon the fast-days.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

he cried--by His prophets.

they cried--in their calamities.

I . . . not hear--retribution in kind (Pro 1:24-26; Isa 1:15; Mic 3:4).

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 sets forth more fully the dreadfulness of this punishment — that they in vain groaned and complained, for God was deaf to their complaints and cryings. When God in some measure fulminates and becomes soon reconciled, he does not seem to be greatly incensed, but when the miserable whom he afflicts by his hand, avail nothing by their entreaties and prayers, it then appears evident that God is in no common degree offended. This then is what the Prophet meant by saying, that they were not heard by God when they cried.

But we must notice what is said of their perverseness; for he says, that God had called, and that he was not heard by them. Now it cannot be deemed an unjust reward, that God should punish the contempt of his word; for how great is the honor by which he favors miserable wretches, when he invites them to himself, and most expressly invites them? When, therefore, the calling of God is thus rejected and despised, do not they who are so refractory deserve what the Prophet declares here — that they would have to cry in vain, as God would be deaf to their groanings?

As to the words, the change of person may embarrass the unlettered, but it is a mode of speaking common to the Prophets, for they assume the person of God in order to gain more authority to their doctrine; and they spoke sometimes in the third and sometimes in the first person: when in the first God himself speaks, and when in the third it is in the character of ministers, who declare and deliver, as it were from hand to hand, what had been committed to them by God. Hence the Prophet in the first clause speaks as God’s minister; he afterwards assumes his person, as though he were God himself. But this, as it has been said, was done with regard to the word delivered. It was, that as he called and they heard not, etc. Who called? It is not right to apply this, as some do, to the Prophet; he, therefore, charges here the Jews, no doubt, with the sin of turning a deaf ear to God’s word. So, he says, they shall call, and I will not hear. It might have been said, “so they shall call, and the Lord will not hear.” There is in the meaning, as we see, nothing obscure or ambiguous.

The import of the whole then is, that God had not threatened in vain by his ancient Prophets; but that as he had denounced vengeance by the mouth of Isaiah, so it had been executed on the Jews, for they had without effect cried, and found God a severe judge, whose voice they had previously despised. We indeed know, that it is a truth often repeated, that the ungodly are not heard by God; nay, that their prayers are abominable; for they profane God’s name by an impure heart and mouth whenever they flee to him, as they approach him without faith and repentance. We then learn from these words, that those who perversely despise God’s word deservedly rot in their own calamities; for it is by no means right or reasonable that the Lord should be ready to hear the crying of those who turn a deaf ear to his voice. It 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.

(13) Therefore it is come to pass.—LXX., wrongly, καὶ ἔσται, the consequence of which mistake is that the following verbs are also put incorrectly in the future. (For the phraseology comp. Mic_3:4; Jer_11:11; Jer_14:12.)

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

And it came to pass - that is, this which God had said, “As He cried and they heard not, so shall they cry and I will not hear, saith the Lord of hosts.” God had often said this. “It shall be too late to cry for mercy, when it is the time of justice.” So Wisdom had said by Solomon; “then, that is, when distress and anguish cometh upon them, they shall call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, and they shall not find Me” Pro 1:27-28. So by Isaiah, “When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of bloods” Isa 1:15. So by Hosea, Hos 5:6, by Micah Mic 3:4, by Jeremiah Jer 11:14; Jer 14:12. It was one message which was verilied in every day of chastisement, “there will be a ‘too late;’” not a final “too late,” until the end of ends comes, but a “too late” for them, a “too late” to avert that particular judgment of God, whereby the sinner’s earthly trial and future were changed permanently .

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

So shall. It seems the past time would be preferable; as Theodoret, St. Cyril, &c., understand it. (Calmet) --- Yet the Jews, whom the prophet addressed, were also reprehensible; and they or their posterity felt the effects of God’s indignation, when he scattered them throughout the world, as we see at present. Septuagint have the future; but Protestants the past tense, "they cried," &c. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Therefore it is come to pass; this is the very cause, and it is just too.

As he cried; my Spirit by the prophets called, warned, entreated, and urged them to repent, obey, and live, but they would not; so they cried, by fasting and howling in their deep but chosen distress, in the miseries they fell under after Gedaliah’s death, yet

I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts. Is it not most just I should disregard their tears for Gedaliah, when after his death they pretended to inquire that they might obey my word, Jer 42:2,3,5,6, yet then they gave my prophet the lie, and contemptuously resolved to do contrary to my word by him, Jer 43:4? Thus you know my resentments of your fasts held on with your sins, saith the Lord.

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

As he cried. As the Lord called to them by the prophets. Just retri-button fell upon them. (Pro_1:24, etc.; Isa_65:12, 13 66:4) So they cried, and I would not hear; rather, so they shall cry, and I will not hear. God will be deaf to their cry, and will give them up to their own ways. (Jer_2:28) In the protasis Jehovah is spoken of in the third person, in the apodosis he speaks in the first.

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

I will scatter them with a whirlwind

Yahweh speaks of how he will scatter the people as if a whirlwind were scattering everything in its path. AT: "I will scatter them as a whirlwind scatters things" (See: Metaphor)

whirlwind

a strong wind that spins very quickly as it moves and can cause damage

delightful land

"pleasant land" or "fruitful land"

translationWords

call

nation

desolate

waste

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And it came about; as He called and they did not hearken the Lord said concerning them in those days: So shall they call and I will not hearken.

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.