Zechariah 7:14

14 As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”

Zechariah 7:14 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 7:14

But I scattered them with a whirlwind
Denoting the fierceness of his wrath, and the strength of his fury, seen in their dispersion: among all the nations whom they knew not;
such as the Babylonians, Medes, and Persians, people before unknown to the Jews: thus the land was desolate after them;
that is, the land of Judea was destitute of inhabitants, or had but few remaining in it, after the Jews were carried captive into Babylon; for the rest, after the death of Gedaliah, fled into Egypt: that no man passed through, nor returned;
neither from Egypt, nor from Babylon, until the seventy years of captivity were ended; nor indeed did any from other nations pass through and fro, or settle in it, during this time, that we have any account of: for they laid the pleasant land desolate;
either the Israelites by their iniquities, which were the cause of it; or the Babylonians, as the instruments of God's vengeance. This pleasant land is the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey; the glory of all lands, for its great fruitfulness, and delightful situation; and especially for being the seat of the divine Majesty, and where his people dwelt, and where his temple was, and he was worshipped; see ( Ezekiel 20:6 ) ( Deuteronomy 8:7-10 ) .

Zechariah 7:14 In-Context

12 They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.

13 “Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

14 As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”