גרע

which was made by David after the overthrow of the Moabites, "and David smote the Moabites, and measured them with the measuring line, making them lie down; and he measured two parts to put to death, and one part to keep alive." That the double portion allotted to death was just two thirds, is intimated afterwards, in the fact that "the third" still remained. If we compare Ezek. v. 2 with ver. 12, "a third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee, and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them," it seems natural to suppose, that the double portion of death was to be divided into those who died a violent death by the sword, and those who died by famine and pestilence. But it is decisive against this, that y, to disperse is also used in connexion with a violent death; compare vol. ii., p. 453; Gen. vii. 21; Josh. xxii. 20. At the same time, the similarity between Zechariah and Ezekiel-(the division of the whole nation into three parts, two thirds to be destroyed, and one third to be preserved)-is too striking for it to be regarded as merely accidental. Moreover, it is not merely external, but has a deeper foundation. The prophet takes up the whole of Ezekiel's prophecy, contained in chap. v., and announces a second fulfilment, just as we have already proved that he has done with a similar prediction of Jeremiah (compare the remarks on chap. xi. 13). Ezekiel had already threatened the people, that the Lord would divide them on account of their sins. This threat had been fulfilled, and the people were still suffering the consequences of the judgment, when the prophet announced, that the Lord would make a fresh division on account of their fresh rebellion. The substance of the two prophecies is to be found in that striking and comprehensive picture at the close of Is. vi., in which Isaiah had depicted the fate of the covenant-nation some centuries before. In chap. vi. 11, 12, he announces the utter desolation of the land and the dispersion of its inhabitants into distant countries ;-(the Babylonian catastrophe).—This

1 The passages are not precisely the same; in Ezekiel one third is slain by the sword, one third dies by pestilence and famine, and one third is scattered to the winds and destroyed, with the exception of a remnant, which " escapes the sword among the nations;" in Zechariah, on the other hand, the whole third is represented as preserved.—Tr.

portion of the prophecy is still further expanded in Ezek. v.— He then adds, "but yet in it shall be a tenth, and it is made desolate again." Under the latter we can only understand the fresh overthrow of the national independence by the Romans. And it is this second destruction to which Zechariah here refers. The further predictions of Isaiah respecting the holy seed, which is to be preserved when the whole nation is overthrown, and is to attain to salvation, are in perfect harmony with the concluding words of the passage before us and with ver. 9 (compare vol. ii. p. 5).

Ver. 9." And I bring the third part into the fire, and refine them, as silver is refined, and try them, as gold is tried. He shall call upon my name and I will hear him. I say it is my people, and he saith, Jehovah is my God."

The third part is the true Israel which continues to exist in the Christian Church (cf. chap. xii. 1), the only people of God on earth, the only one which can call the Lord its God. The fire represents the tribulations, which necessarily attend the first introduction of the kingdom of God, the severe conflicts in which the true Israel has to engage, first with the two thirds, but after that, and to a still greater extent, with the heathen (compare chap. xii. 1-9 and chap. xiv). In 1 Pet. i. 6, 7 the apostle wrote, after the fire had already broken out, "wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory." This passage might serve as a commentary upon the one before us. C. B. Michaelis and others, who suppose that the sufferings of the Jewish nation during the whole period of its dispersion are here referred to, have quite mistaken the meaning. In this case unbelieving Judaism would be regarded as the legitimate and sole continuation of Israel. Moreover, refining presupposes the existence of a precious metal; the assaying of gold proves that it is really gold. Both of them, wherever they are spoken of, have reference solely to such as are still in a state of grace. There is almost a verbal agreement between this passage and ver. 10 of the sixty-sixth Psalm, of which David is the author. " for thou, O God, hast proved us,

thou hast tried us as silver is tried." But this earlier passage, upon which ours is based, refers to Israel as still enjoying the grace of God. In the Berleburger Bible there occurs the following note on the Psalm referred to: "by many a furnace of affliction thou has tested the worth and constancy of our faith, hope, and patience, as metals are tested by fire." has

ג

two meanings; to shout out the name of the Lord with love," i.e. to praise him (1 Chr. xvi. 8 and Is. xliv. 5), and “to call upon the name of the Lord with love." In either case the denotes the object, in which the affections of the person, engaged in shouting or calling, repose; and the strict meaning is to shout out, or address, being satisfied with the name of the Lord, that is, absorbed with love in his manifested glory. The phrase, thereL 77. It can never be used as the latter can, in connexion with per.. sons, who address the Lord in a hypocritical manner, or outwardly and superficially alone. Hence it is used with perfect appropriateness in Is. lxiv. 7, as a parallel to "taking hold of the Lord." In Joel iii. 5 it is represented as the sole condition of salvation.

יְהוָה or קָרָא יְהוָה fore, is not perfectly equivalent to

CHAPTER XIV.

All the nations of the earth are collected together by the Lord against his holy city. The city is taken; and the greater part of its inhabitants are either slain by the sword, or led into captivity (vers. 1, 2). The Lord, however, now miraculously interposes on behalf of his own people, who have still been preserved, and the judgment is suddenly transferred from the congregation of the Lord to its enemies. The Lord appears in majesty upon the Mount of Olives, and whilst an earthquake announces his coming to judgment and fills all with dismay, the Mount of Olives is split in two, by which means the valley of Jehoshaphat is extended, and a safe and easy way is opened for the escape of the people of the Lord. The Lord then appears with all his saints to establish his kingdom on the earth (vers. 35). At first thick darkness prevails; but at length, when it

is least expected, the day of salvation dawns upon the elect (vers. 6, 7). A stream of living water then issues forth from Jerusalem, and spreads fertility and life over all the land (ver. 8). The theocracy, which has hitherto been restricted to one single country, now embraces the whole earth (ver. 9). That Jerusalem alone may be exalted, all the mountains throughout the entire land are levelled; the city rises in splendour from her ruins, to rejoice for ever in the mercy of God, and is henceforth secure from every change (vers. 10, 11). When the enemies, who attacked Jerusalem, have been chastised by the judgment of God (vers. 12-15), the remnant will turn unto the Lord, and will come to Jerusalem every year, to celebrate the feast of tabernacles (ver. 16). Any who fail to perform this duty will be visited by severe punishments (vers. 17-19). The distinction between sacred and profane will then cease for ever, and also the intermingling of the righteous and the wicked (vers. 20, 21).

Commentators are for the most part of opinion, that this prophecy is merely a repetition and expansion of chap. xii. 1—9; and many powerful arguments may be adduced in support of this conclusion. A fact of importance presents itself at the very outset, namely, that there is no fixed boundary line, which separates it from the passage referred to. Now, on account of the great similarity in the subject-matter of the two prophecies, such a division would be all the more necessary, if they referred to different events. Moreover, another thing which may be appealed to, as rendering the latter improbable, is the fact that, so far as the emblematical portion is concerned, the prophecy contained in chap. vi. 1-8 corresponds to these two prophecies combined, which certainly renders the conclusion a very natural one, that we have here a resumption of chap. xii. 1-9, the attack of the heathen power upon the kingdom of God, and the glorious victory attained by Zion. Those who would separate this prophecy from chap. xii. 1-9, imagine that, like Rev. xx. 7-10, it refers to the last conflict between heathenism and the church, at the close of the millennium, and to the glorification of the kingdom of God, which immediately ensues. But verse 8 is decisive against this. The living waters, which issue from Jerusalem, cannot be sought on the other side of the thousand

years, as the connexion between this passage and Ezek. xlvii. 1 -12 clearly shows (see vol. iii. page 65). And in addition to this, there is no prophecy in the New Testament, which relates exclusively to the last stages of the Church's history. Such a step in advance as this was not accorded to the Revelation. The prophecy in Ezek. xxxviii. and xxxix., to which appeal has been made, bears throughout an ideal and comprehensive character, and cannot be limited to one particular event at the end of time. Gog and Magog represent the future enemies of the kingdom of God generally (compare my commentary on the Book of Revelation, vol. ii. p. 304). The reasons assigned for separating this passage from chap. xii. 1-9 do not appear capable of being sustained. It is said that in chap. xii. the successful resistance offered by Judah, through the miraculous assistance of God, is apparently represented as preventing the capture of the city by the army of the nations, whereas in the passage before us the coming of a day is announced, in which the army of the nations of the world will take Jerusalem. But this difference is not of any importance, unless by Jerusalem we understand the actual city. If Jerusalem means the Church, the boundary line between taking and not taking becomes a vanishing one. Moreover, even here the capture is only partial; according to ver. 2 only half the inhabitants are carried away, the remainder of the people are not cut off from the city. When it is affirmed that "there is not the slightest trace in chap. xii. of the splendid prospects which are here presented to the people of the Lord," the fact is overlooked that it is not a mere recapitulation of chap. xii. that we have before us, but, as a matter of course, an expansion and continuation also. In chap. xii. we find nothing but the victory over the nations; here, on the other hand, we have the glorification of Jerusalem (ver. 10), the healing waters which issue from Jerusalem (ver. 8), the reception of the heathen into the kingdom of God, the dominion of the Lord over the whole earth, and so forth. The result at which we arrive, therefore, is that the prophecy does not relate exclusively to the termination of the Church's history, but to the whole of the Messianic era from its commencement till its close.

Ver. 1. "Behold a day cometh to the Lord, and thy spoil is divided in the midst of thee."